All projects

A selection of projects in which Fran has been involved can be found below.

A Cat Escapes

Performer and facilitator | Adventures in Learning

“The most exciting and motivating project I’ve done in 22 years of teaching.” 
Claire Lound, participating teacher at Furzedown Primary School

Jasmine the kitten has been cat-napped, and Varjak Paw himself contacts the class to ask for their urgent help.

Alone in a small room, Jasmine learns to type, and communicates with the pupils by email. Over six interactive episodes the class must work together to help Jasmine escape and find her way back to Varjak. A final twist in the narrative brings two live performers to the class to deliver a dramatic finale.

How can Jasmine design a structure that will allow her to see out of the window? What is the terrifying black ghost that follows her around? Can pupils distract the cat-nappers for long enough to allow Jasmine to escape?

Linking closely to the Key Stage 2 curriculum, A Cat Escapes is Coney’s flagship Adventure in Learning and has been enjoyed by more than 1,500 primary school pupils across the UK.

Based on the award-winning Varjak Paw novels by S. F. Said, the adventure casts pupils as heroes in an engrossing, responsive narrative that motivates them to learn.

Adventures in Learning

Adventures in Learning are interactive stories that take place in the classroom to motivate formal learning. They’re made with all the attention to detail and artistic values that characterises Coney’s work for adults, but are constructed in close collaboration with teachers to create an engaging narrative framework within which learning can be delivered.

Fran is a regular contributor to Adventures in Learning, having worked on projects including Arabian Nights, Inspiration Days, A Cat Escapes, and Rhyme Rocket.

coneyhq.org/learning-participation

Passion of Christa

Director, Writer, and Performer| Union Chapel

Chrysalis Opening © Janet McKenzie — © Janet McKenzie

A meditative, sensory-based theatrical experience devised by four female performers.

On Good Friday, the story of the Passion is retold and reimagined through the eyes of a female Christ. An evening of performance, ritual and music exploring suffering and grief from a unique perspective, in the atmospheric Union Chapel.

The Passion of Christa is a piece of Sacred Theatre. It’s an inquiry into the possibility of Christ
representing aspects of the Feminine Divine – Christ as darkness, death, descent, chaos, bodily
sensation, emotion, vulnerability, grief, rage, despair. It’s an inquiry into the paradigm of order and
authority that wants to shut that down and ‘crucify it’.

We asked ourselves the question who is the suffering Christ? We asked ourselves who is Christa? We considered our own experiences, as women, growing up within a church tradition.

Our vision of Sacred Theatre is a coming together of artists through heart connection and a
commitment to deep intuition, with the intention of creating a space where ‘the Gods can descend’.

About Union Chapel

Since 1992, Union Chapel has been hosting concerts and events – this has grown over the years and it now has hundreds of events a year. Readers of Time Out have voted it London’s Favourite Venue an amazing three times.

unionchapel.org.uk

Witch

Director, Creator, and Performer | Union Chapel

At Halloween, when the veil is thin between the world of the living and the dead, Union Chapel hosts an immersive theatre piece exploring the witch craze that took place across Europe during the 15th to 18th centuries. This is a rare chance for audiences to go behind the scenes at Union Chapel and be taken in small groups on a chilling tour.

The witch trials took place in a widespread moral panic that malevolent Satanic witches were operating as an organized threat to the established church. The Union Chapel is an ideal setting to revisit these harrowing tales of suspicion, torture and intrigue.

Created by Boe Huntress, Fran Moulds, and Julieta Kilgelmann.

Audience Feedback

“Powerful, important, feminist storytelling. I was terrified, moved and engaged. Exceptional acting.”

“Intense, fun and unexpected. I really loved it, it made my Halloween.”

“Truly immersive and interactive, based on a true story. Political and feminist.”

“An atmospherically rich, powerful production.”

About Union Chapel

unionchapel.org.uk

The Borough

Performer (Ellen, 2013) | Punchdrunk

A theatrical journey through Peter Grimes’ Aldeburgh. Lines between spaces, performer and spectator blur to create an unforgettable experience. This version sets the story somewhere between George Crabbe’s poem The Borough and Britten’s masterpiece, Peter Grimes. It takes audience members on individual theatrical journeys around Grimes’ town, following in his footsteps and hearing Britten’s score.

“Punchdrunk’s gift has always been the ability to make it feel as if you’ve been plunged into a parallel universe. The spooky beauty of this latest work is that they achieve it, not within an enclosed space, but on the streets of Aldeburgh in broad daylight.” ☆☆☆☆ The Guardian

About Punchdrunk

Punchdrunk works to create the unforgettable theatrical experiences of the future. The company has pioneered a game changing form of theatre in which roaming audiences experience epic storytelling inside sensory theatrical worlds. Blending classic texts, physical performance, award-winning design installation and unexpected sites, the company’s infectious format rejects the passive obedience usually expected of audiences.

Fran has worked for Punchdrunk since it was founded in 2000, and has also been a regular creator/performer for Punchdrunk Enrichment since 2009.

punchdrunk.org.uk

The Crash of the Elysium

Performer (Ipswich 2012, Manchester 2011) |Punchdrunk

The Crash Of The Elysium was a live Doctor Who theatre adventure created especially for children and families and was conceived in close collaboration with Doctor Who’s creative team at the BBC, including Stephen Moffat and Tom McRae. The show has played to an audience of nearly 7,000 in Manchester and Ipswich.

“Phenomenal” Susannah Clapp, The Observer

“Not for the faint of heart or short of breath” Alfred Hickling, The Guardian

“Awesome, wicked, fantastico, the best thing ever, epic, ten out of ten. A mere adult can only concur.” Paul Valley, The Independent

About Punchdrunk

Fran has worked for Punchdrunk since it was founded in 2000, and has also been a regular creator/performer for Punchdrunk Enrichment since 2009.

punchdrunk.org.uk