“2010 is an important time for this exciting young company”. James Haddrell, Executive Director, Greenwich Theatre
Simply Told was established in 2009 to create inventive, inquisitive theatre.
Technically astute and creatively daring, we aim to establish a dialogue between the audience and the artist, between perception and reality, between the real world and the world of the imagination.
Mixing magic, theatre, installation and storytelling, Simply Told aims to create worlds of wonder where the audience are free to roam or to dwell. This immersive approach means that every Simply Told performance is shared yet unique, communal yet personal, haunting yet fleeting.
Simply Told is supported by Greenwich Theatre’s Artist Development Programme.
We are:
Jon Armstrong
Jon was previously director of Asylum Theatre Company and Rolemop Arts. His credits include the European premiere of the stage adaptation of Samuel Beckett’s Mercier and Camier, and Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent, co-produced by the Yvonne Arnaud & Greenwich Theatres. He is English language script editor for Neue Monopol Film, Berlin, and his poems have appeared in a number of publications. He is also a senior lecturer in technical theatre, and is currently undertaking academic research into the integration of magic techniques into theatre.
Jennifer Porteous
Jennifer is an experienced writer and production manager. She has produced work for Asylum and Rolemop Theatre Companies, as well as co-writing Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent, before co-founding Simply Told with Jon Armstrong in order to pursue her goal of creating theatre that connects.
Productions
Past
Mercier and Camier (2001) - Asylum Theatre
The Secret Agent (2007/8) - Rolemop Arts
Present
Summerland (2009/10) - Simply Told
The Alpha Project (2010) - Simply T0ld
Future
If you’re reading this (2011) - Simply Told
Dido and the Audience (2011) - Simply Told
Reviews
“The production brilliantly captures the complicity and mutual dependence upon which these characters base their existence” - The Brighton Argus
“Technically slick and effortlessly professional” - The Wharf London
“Entertaining and thought-provoking” - Daily Info Oxford
(Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent, written & produced by Jon Armstrong & Jennifer Porteous)
‘Stylish, keyed-in and stoic” - The Reading Evening Chronicle
(Samuel Beckett’s Mercier & Camier)
Our work has previously been supported by:
Arts Council England
Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
Greenwich Theatre
Penguin Classics
Joseph Conrad Society
Canterbury Festival
Brighton & Hove City Council
Southern Theatre Arts Centre
Foxrock Foundation
