Petra Massey
Encyclopedia
Petra Massey is a British actress, and a physical theatre
performer in stage, film and television. Petra is best known for British
television
playing the "enhanced human" Sandstrom in the BBC2 Sci-Fi comedy
series
Hyperdrive
2006-07.
She studied a BA (Hons) in Performing Arts at Middlesex University
. Trained with Philippe Gaulier
and John Wright
in London.
Massey has traveled the world performing both her street show and solo theatre
show Panic. On return she joined stunt theatre/pyrotechnic company KKG in Switzerland
and regularly somersault
ed off motorbikes, dangled from 60ft cranes
and was once shot from a fire-fuelled pond in a shopping trolley
. There she met her Spanish, German and English cohorts and founded the physical theatre company Spymonkey
, creating both Stiff and Cooped.
She returned from a three year contract performing at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas
with Spymonkey in Cirque Du Soleil
's erotic cabaret
Zumanity
.
Currently Massey is writing and developing a new Spymonkey show called Moby Dick which is being directed by Jos Houben. The show will tour the UK from Summer 2009.
Physical theatre
Physical theatre is used to describe any mode of performance that pursues storytelling or drama through primarily and secondarily physical and mental means. There are several quite distinct but indistinct traditions of performance which all describe themselves using the term "physical theatre",...
performer in stage, film and television. Petra is best known for British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
playing the "enhanced human" Sandstrom in the BBC2 Sci-Fi comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Hyperdrive
Hyperdrive (TV series)
Hyperdrive is a British television science fiction sitcom series produced by the BBC created under the working title of "Full Power." BBC2 broadcast two series in 2006 and 2007, A third series is yet to be commissioned and the actor Kevin Eldon has indicated that is unlikely to be...
2006-07.
She studied a BA (Hons) in Performing Arts at Middlesex University
Middlesex University
Middlesex University is a university in north London, England. It is located in the historic county boundaries of Middlesex from which it takes its name. It is one of the post-1992 universities and is a member of Million+ working group...
. Trained with Philippe Gaulier
Philippe Gaulier
Philippe Gaulier is founder of École Philippe Gaulier, a theatre school located in Sceaux, near Paris. He trained with Jacques Lecoq from 1965 - 67. Then became a teacher at École Jacques Lecoq from 1976 - 80. Gaulier is also a playwright and has worked as a clown and theatre director...
and John Wright
John Wright (theatre director)
John Wright is an English theatre director.-Told By an Idiot:John Wright is an international director of theatre and is a co-founder and an artistic director of Told by an Idiot where he has directed most of their repertoire including: Aladdin at the Lyric Theatre, I Can’t wake up, On the verge of...
in London.
Massey has traveled the world performing both her street show and solo 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...
show Panic. On return she joined stunt theatre/pyrotechnic company KKG in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and regularly somersault
Somersault
A somersault is an acrobatic exercise in which a person does a full 360° flip, moving the feet over the head. A somersault can be performed either forwards, backwards, or sideways and can be executed in the air or on the ground...
ed off motorbikes, dangled from 60ft cranes
Crane (machine)
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...
and was once shot from a fire-fuelled pond in a shopping trolley
Shopping Trolley
"Shopping Trolley" was a 2006 single by English songwriter Beth Orton. It was released as a 2 CD single set and 12 inch vinyl , and an early version of the title song can be purchased from iTunes.-CD: EMI / CDEMS 694 United Kingdom :# "Shopping Trolley"...
. There she met her Spanish, German and English cohorts and founded the physical theatre company Spymonkey
Spymonkey
-Works:*1998, 2000 Stiff… Undertaking Undertaking - 2000 Total Theatre Award at the Edinburgh Festival*2001, 2005-2006, 2008 Cooped*2003-2005 Zumanity for Cirque du Soleil*2007 Bless*2009 Moby Dick-Members:...
, creating both Stiff and Cooped.
She returned from a three year contract performing at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino
New York-New York Hotel & Casino
New York-New York Hotel & Casino is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip at 3790 Las Vegas Boulevard South, in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by MGM Resorts International.-Description:...
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
with Spymonkey in Cirque Du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
's erotic cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
Zumanity
Zumanity
Zumanity is a resident cabaret-style show by Cirque du Soleil at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The production was unveiled on September 20, 2003. It is the first "adult-themed" Cirque du Soleil show, billed as "the sensual side of Cirque du Soleil" or "another side...
.
Currently Massey is writing and developing a new Spymonkey show called Moby Dick which is being directed by Jos Houben. The show will tour the UK from Summer 2009.