Floating is the name of a stage production created and performed by "emerging Welsh performance artist" Hugh Hughes, in collaboration with British touring theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 company Hoipolloi

Hoipolloi

Hoipolloi are a British touring theatre company committed to creating new work for theatre that imaginatively engages their audience and makes them laugh...

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It tells the story (which Hughes insists is true) of the Isle of Anglesey floating away from the mainland of Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 and voyaging around the world. Hughes performs alongside actor Sioned Rowlands. Hughes introduces the story to the audience and re-enacts the story, playing himself, with Rowlands playing all the other parts.

Floating won a Total Theatre Award at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe

2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe

-Events:2006 was the first Fringe following the introduction of the new legislation banning smoking indoors. During a photocall at the Assembly Rooms for a play in which he was playing Winston Churchill, the actor Mel Smith lit a cigar, flouting the ban...

. Following its run in Edinburgh, the show has continued to tour to venues and festivals across the World including Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...

, Barbican Centre

Barbican Centre

The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...

, Barrow Street Theatre

Barrow Street Theatre

Barrow Street Theatre is an Off Broadway theatre venue located in New York City's historic Greenwich House. Previously home to Drama Dept. the space was leased to Barrow Street Theatre in 2003 and has been home to long-running Off-Broadway hits, Bug by Tracy Letts and Orson's Shadow by Austin...

 in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and PuSh International Performing Arts Festival

PuSh International Performing Arts Festival

The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is held in Vancouver, British Colombia each year. Produced over 20 days each January, the PuSh Festival presents work in the live performing arts: theatre, dance, music and various hybrid forms of performance...

 in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

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Since Floating, Hugh Hughes has created two new stage shows, Story of a Rabbit

Story of a Rabbit

Story of a Rabbit is a stage production created and performed by "emerging artist" Hugh Hughes, in collaboration with British touring theatre company Hoipolloi.-Themes:In the production, Hughes discusses his father's death and the impact it had upon him...

 and 360.

In September 2011, BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...

 will broadcast a new version of Floating as an Afternoon Play

Afternoon Play

The Afternoon Play is a long-running drama programming strand, broadcast every weekday at 2.15pm on BBC Radio 4. Each play lasts for 45 minutes, and roughly 190 new Afternoon Plays are broadcast each year....

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External links

• Floating on Hugh Hughes' website
• The Guardian's review of Floating