Ashton Brothers kaarten

Over Ashton Brothers

After the ITS (International Theatre School Festival) in 2001, the Ashton Brothers sign with agent Jacques Senf and begin a process of further developing individual acts and songs and creating a connecting theme for a show. They collect ideas and hold ˜research nights' in which they immerse themselves in their sources of inspiration. They refine their acrobatic skills and write new arrangements. ˜Just like professional sports, a period of working like a dog, a lot of sweat, and then, to the starting line,' say the Ashtons, but the results speak for themselves. In mid-2002 the Ashton Brothers create a spectacular fantasyland with music, ladders, flying cats, acrobatics and lion tamers. Bizarre? Absolutely. But the Ashton Brothers are a resounding success that summer in De Parade (˜The Parade').

On 9 December 2002, their time comes. On that day, the Ashton Brothers' dream becomes a reality in Amsterdam's de Kleine Komedie. The first full evening show, Tragiek van de Onderman (˜Tragedy of the Underdog') opens. Peter de Baan directs and Peter de Jong serves as creative consultant for the acts. Not even they could have expected what comes next. Tragiek van de Onderman plays to rave reviews: ˜The Ashton Brothers are up there with the best' (Het Parool); ˜These guys are going to make it in theatre' (De Volkskrant). Tragiek van de Onderman is so successful that its run is extended another season, and its last performance plays on 29 February 2004. By this time the show has won the British American Tobacco Award (formerly Pall Mall Export Prize) and, with director Marcel de Vré, is produced for a VARA television broadcast in December 2004. January 2005 sees the release of Tragiek van de Onderman on DVD. This television production was recently submitted for the prestigious Rose d'Or and the Banff Television Festival in Alberta, Canada.

Doors also open for the Ashtons internationally. Together with ISH, they play in Riga, Latvia, celebrating that country's accession to the EU; they appear in De Parade in Barcelona, Spain, and play in Oostende, Belgium in the Theater aan Zee Festival. In summer 2005, the Ashton Brothers travel to Casablanca for a series of shows in the Morocco Festival, and in August they are featured at the world-famous Edinburgh International Festival.

In the first half of 2004, the Ashton Brothers begin preparations for their second full show, Ballyhoo!, which premiers in de Kleine Komedie on 15 February 2005. In Ballyhoo!, the magic of the Ashton Brothers (once more under director Peter de Baan and coach Peter de Jong) enters a new dimension. Dutch leading newspapers speak of ˜A total triumph' (Elsevier), ˜Startling' (Algemeen Dagblad) and ˜The Ashton Brothers are almost too good to be able to stay in the Netherlands'. Also the Belgian press is very enthusiastic after the Belgium opening night of ˜Ballyhoo!' in Antwerp. ˜Entertainment of the highest level' writes De Morgen.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines the expression ˜ballyhoo' as ˜A lot of noise and activity, often with no real purpose.' You be the judge.
source: http://www.ashtonbrothers.com/

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