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          The Family Hoffmann's Mystery Palace

    Cahoots NI have completed their six week tour of The Family Hoffmann's

    Mystery Palace around Northern Ireland and Ireland.  In true side show style,

    the Family Hoffmann in their beautiful circus tent, have performed in

    eighteen different locations, performing seventy eight shows in total.

    The show combined elements of cabaret and vaudeville, an extravaganza of live

    music, illusion, circus and magic. 

    See what the critics had to say...

   Cabaret Meets Vaudeville

    Belfast Telegraph May 25, 2009

    By GRANIA McFADDEN

    THE FAMILY HOFFMANN'S MYSTERY PALACE - Clifton House, Belfast

    Looking round at the rapt faces of the children watching the show, it's clear

    that Cahoots has captured the market and the imagination in the magical

    world of children's theatre. But it's not just the little ones who are clambering

    to see this latest show from director Paul McEneaney and his musical

    accomplice Ursula Burns. The rest of us rolled up to see the show with equal

    enthusiasm.

    The Hoffman's small top is pitched in the grounds of Clifton House

    throughout Belfast 's Children's Festival. The audience squeezes in to the

    tent, where the cast bursts onto the stage with music, song and magic. It's a

    mixture of cabaret and vaudeville, led by Burns' musical turn on harp,

    keyboard and accordian.  Every inch of this set is packed full of the magic

    and memories of the world's greatest illusionists. Entertainment as it used to

    be, and all the better for that!

     Cahoots NI invite you into the magic circle

     Culture NI, May 2009

     By Jane Coyle

    Adelaide Scarzez was a magician, dancer and performer, known

    internationally as the Queen of Magic. One of the biggest stars of Victorian

    music hall and vaudeville, she began her career as an assistant to her

    husband, the renowned French magician Herrmann the Great, and ended it

    with the ignominy of a one-woman show in a small, shabby circus tent on

    Coney Island.

    But whether performing on the world's great stages or to a handful of

    indifferent holidaymakers, Adelaide never faltered in her mantra that the show

    must go on.

    In this, Cahoots NI's most complete, atmospheric show yet, Christina Nelson

    goes for broke as the expansive, exotic Adelaide, presenting her irresistible

    brand of popular entertainment to audiences of rapt children and their equally

    wide-eyed adult companions.

   Director/writer Paul McEneaney (himself a member of the Magic Circle) has

   created a headily intimate little space, which allows tantalising, close-up

   glimpses of mind boggling sleight of hand conjuring and illusions.

    Steve Bamford's colourful set, framed in scarlet plush velvet curtains, is

    enclosed in an old-fashioned striped tent - reminiscent of those used by the

    old fit-up companies - whose troupes of travelling players invited the public to

    enter into brave new worlds of wonder and imagination.

    The show and its novel presentation cleverly capture the spirit of these heady

    days, playing on village greens, school yards, seaside promenades, football

    pitches… anywhere, in fact, where there is an eager passing trade.

    Nelson's wild-haired Scarzez is joined by some of the finest magicians of her

    day: the Davenport Brothers, the Fox Sisters, the Great Lafayette, David

    Devant, PT Selbit and Chung Ling Soo, the Chinese magician who invented

    the bullet trick – and who was discovered not to be Chinese at all, when his

    mask slipped as he died on stage in a bungled stunt, organised by his wife.

    Hugh Brown, Caolan McBride, Nicola Cunningham, Maryke Del Castillo and

    Timmy Hannington are the performers entrusted to deliver a non-stop

    succession of stunning magical feats, all to the sounds of Ursula Burns's

    bewitching music, played and sung live by composer, cast and fellow

    musician Thomas L Muinzer.

   The show's timing is perfectly judged at a rattling 40 minutes, during which the

    pace and interest never falter. And the tricks come thick and fast – a watch

    donated by an audience member disappears, only to re-emerge in a locked

    cage; a fragile girl is packed into a casket and pierced with spikes and swords;

    a skinny man performs an incredible balancing act on a pyramid of chairs;

    and a ghost emerges intact from a tiny box. Through it all is threaded the

    emotion of Scarzez's poignant personal odyssey.

    The history of magic is full of marvellous tales and larger than life characters.

    McEneaney's sure touch with young imaginations is here working at full

    stretch and with a talented, attractive ensemble cast at his disposal, the

    resulting mix is a sure-fire artistic and box office success.

   

               

          And remember…….the closer you look, the less you see!

    SUMMER WORKSHOPS

    Cahoots NI have put together 5 fantastic workshops that are on offer this

    summer.  Check out the flyer below for all the info...

    THE HONEY POT PILOT TOUR

    Cahoots NI have completed the pilot tour of 'The Honey Pot' - a new mini-theatre

    show designed specifically for pupils and staff in special schools.  This project

    visited six special schools and has enabled the company to develop and

    research the project while building links with staff and pupils.

    Cahoots NI hope to expand 'The Honey Pot' to tour to all special schools

    throughout Northern Ireland in Feb/Mar 2010.

     Some comments from staff about The Honey Pot:

    'It was terrific. You engaged all the pupils. It was very visual (excellent for the

     hearing impaired) and funny. Kids love slapstick!'

    'Excellent that they came to classroom thus accessible for all; little dialogue

     which was appropriate for this level; good use of bright colours etc. very

     appropriate multi-sensory experience; perfect length of time'

    'The short session we had was excellent - lots of 1 on 1 interaction with pupils.

     The performers were very animated and worked well with the pupils.'

    'Enjoyed everything about the show; in particular one child who tolerates

     VERY little got up to dance and generally had a ball!!  Very worthwhile;

     children loved it.'