Quarantine was established in 1998 by directors Richard Gregory and Renny O’Shea with designer Simon Banham. They make original theatre, performance and public events with and about the people who are in it. Whatever form it takes, their work begins and ends with the people in the room. Over the last 18 years, they’ve collaborated with a shifting constellation of artists, performers and people who’ve never done anything like this before. Their work seeks to create the circumstances for a conversation between strangers.
Quarantine’s work is about the here and now. In its form, content and process of creation, it examines the world around us. They’ve made 30 original pieces of work of varying scale: family parties, karaoke booths, cookery lessons, radio broadcasts, reading rooms and journeys in the dark for one person at a time – as well as performances on stage for audiences in seats. They’ve worked with philosophers, soldiers, chefs, children, florists, opera singers and countless others. The work is made out of lengthy and intimate research with its performers, often working with people who are rarely seen on stage.