About 

ARREST is an international touring theatre company that is excited to bring its unique and exhilarating form of theatre to the US. After a successful and lauded tour in Mexico, as part of the Day Of The Dead festivities, ARREST will introduce audiences to this most unique theatrical fusion that merges the old with the new.

ARREST's theatrical vision merges traditional theater craft with highly skilled practitioners in grand, exhilarating and inspiring venues.

ARREST is the fusion of dance, ballet, opera, voice, aerial, instrumental performances and moving image.  Each show is custom developed to inspire audiences whilst transforming some of the worlds great and beautiful venues. ARREST also draws on a range of genres to reach out to and engage with a an array of communities. This can be from Classical to Hip Hop and Ballet to Contemporary Dance. Each show built to reflect the diversity within our society.

Performance spaces can range from 600 year old cathedrals through to modern atriums in skyscrapers and huge old abandoned warehouses that saddle some of the words well known cities.  Each venue is different and each has it’s own character. This is one aspect that makes ARREST so unique.

The essence of ARREST is that each vocalist is trained in the age old Italian craft of Bel Canto. Bel Canto's origins lie in the fifteenth century and were developed at a time, with a range of crafts people including composers, musicians, architects, dancers and others, to provide societies with a direct alternative to real life connection in the form of storytelling. Traditionally passed down from generation to generation through the mentor/apprentice model, at the end of the twentieth century the craft was almost lost. An almost 'perfect storm' in the late 1950's would have seen theatre, in its most pure and effective form, disappear. The likes of Maria Callas, Ethel Merman, Howard Keel and Alfred Drake, to name a few, would have represented the last bastion of this most engaged theatrical technique.

Through the incredible work of Dr Graham Clarke, and others, has seen this technique continue to exist and to this day is gathering momentum. Dr Clarkes work has uncovered a greater understanding behind the technique and a science now underpins what was verbally handed down from generation to generation. 

The benefit of this technique is that audiences are able to connect directly with each performer. Through microphones and speakers the connection between audience and performer becomes two-dimensional, thus, the communication is one of observation rather than participation. ARREST departs from this popular model and uses the acoustic of each space, along with truely live musicians and bel canto vocalists, to provide an encapsulating and moving experience.

Audiences will be engaged as the performers are trained to fill every space without the use of amplification.  Musicians and vocalists bring each venue to life whilst audiences become immersed in the music and choreography. With moving image changing the shape of each venue, audiences will become immersed through a newly created world around them. Physically and emotionally, each audience member will have the opportunity to feel something. 

We believe that theater is for the masses. The one commonality in all of us is our humanity. Theater provides the opportunity for everyone, no matter ones creed, colour, religion or background, to gather, engage and be moved. At a time when technology is providing fantastic opportunities in a range of areas across our societies, it's critical that we have the opportunity and access to live and engaged theater. As great as technology is, it cant provide or replicate the human connection in a three dimensional form.

Close to 500 years of practice has shown us how effective theater, through Bel Canto, can be. We can see this in the theater venue design around the world as well as compositional and orchestration philosophies, all developed with scientific modelling in the 1580’s through the decade long work of the Florentine Camerata in Italy. These music structures are evidenced through our composers beginning from the 1600’s in Monteverdi to Mozart later and the musical theatre duo, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II in the mid 20th century. These artists composed from the same Florentine Camerata 'Code' and of course through highly engaged and the physical sounding of the performers, physical dance and highly skilled musicianship.

ARREST brings together performers who have worked on London’s West End, through opera houses in Europe, world renowned musicals in major cities, from Cirque Du Soleil, The Australian Ballet and some of the worlds best contemporary dance companies . ARREST prefers to engage communities and cultures through the collaboration with local musicians from national symphony orchestras and incorporates moving images that are custom made by world class editors and directors to create an experience like no other. ARREST also draws on world class choreographers, stage designers and costume people to thread each story together. Through minimalist sets and stunning costume design these crafts people create the wonder and beauty that is ARREST.

Utilizing custom developed rigging and cutting edge visual technology, ARREST uses the brilliance and character of each space to further articulate a truly unique piece of immersive theatre. Our patented technology allows us to dispense with large sets and staging which allows the individuality and substance of each space to take on a different form in every performance. ARREST's unique staging means we have low impact whilst providing an accessible and engaging theatrical experience.