Leela Bunce
Performer
Clown, Actor, Theatre-Maker
Photo by Guy Bellingham Photography
I'm Leela, I make meaningful, quirky, devised theatre that shines a light on untold stories, with humour and heart.
I am also one half of Shoebox Theatre and very proudly Somerset-based.
CURRENT AND PAST PROJECTS
I absolutely loved playing Babs in Wassail Theatre's epic Apples & Angels, a beautiful immersive modern fairytale set at Burrow Hill, Somerset this September.
I am delighted to be part of the company developing
THE OWL MAN
(Over the Wall Productions)
in partnership with Strode Theatre.
https://overthewallproductions.com/
Photos by Pauline Burr
Photo by Jonathan Sawyer
We were hugely fortunate to receive Arts Council England funding for the R&D for a new show exploring land rights and enclosures
Tomorrow the Fox
(or The Tragedy of the Commons)
working with the brilliant
Dan Gaisford
(When the Eye Has Gone),
Shane Morgan (Roughhouse Theatre) and
Emma Callander (Theatre Uncut)
with kind support from Strode Theatre
Shoebox Theatre
The Library of Lost Memories
Shoebox Theatre is
Ged Stephenson and Leela Bunce.
The Library of Lost Memories is a devised clown show exploring dementia, memory and identity. With a brilliant Somerset-based creative team, we toured the SW in 2019 and have plans to tour more widely once it is possible to do so. Supported by Take Art and Arts Council England.
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"Brilliantly crafted, performed, thought provoking....a delight"
"A wonderful piece of theatre - exquisite clowning and storytelling with real emotional punch."
Audience Feedback
Devised and Performed by: Leela Bunce and Ged Stephenson
Sound design: Jules Bushell
Lighting design: Joe Rockett
Design: Mumblecrust Theatre
Direction & Dramaturgy: Matthew Floyd Jones
Tour Technician: Stuart Comley
"A Walk on the Wild Side"
Shoebox Theatre have a new Covid-safe outdoor/promenade clown show for Summer 2021 exploring nature and connection, which premiered at the Norton-sub-Hambdon Show Safari on June 19th.
Next shows August 1st, Croscombe
August 30th, BARNfest @Strode Theatre
Devised and Performed by
Leela Bunce & Ged Stephenson
with artist support from the Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton (thank you!)
After years of running acclaimed cabaret show Night of the Bluestockings in London (Time Out Critics Choice), The Bluestocking Society are BACK, with our touring theatre-cabaret show
SECRETS OF THE BLUESTOCKINGS
"...a riotous sell-out success.
Definitely recommended!"
Theatre Royal, Nottingham
Telling the fascinating stories of trailblazing, little-known women in history, Secrets of the Bluestockings is "like Horrible Histories meets a WI meeting meets a MI5 recruitment drive."
(The show has always been technically self-sufficient
and we have adapted it to be
fully socially distanced and Covid-safe while restrictions continue)
Devised and Performed by:
Leela Bunce, Heather Tyrrell, Emma Waterford
Direction and Dramaturgy by: Matthew Floyd Jones
For the last three years,
the Bluestockings have
also made original pieces
about the voyage of the
Mayflower for the
Illuminate Rotherhithe
Festival, in partnership
with Sands Films.
My solo show, produced by the brilliant Finger in the Pie Theatre Company & directed by Alexander Parsonage, was a five-star hit at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012 and toured the UK Spring 2015. TOP 10 BEST REVIEWED SHOWS OF EDINBURGH FRINGE 2012 – THE LIST
Using clown and puppetry, and based entirely on true stories, the show told the story of women's experience on the Home Front in World War 2
AUDIENCE REACTION TO WAITING FOR STANLEY AT EDINBURGH FRINGE
Devised by Leela Bunce and Alexander Parsonage
Performer/Puppeteer: Leela Bunce
Direction: Alexander Parsonage
Movement Director: Robin Guiver
Puppet Designer: Oliver Smart
Lighting and Sound Design: Ed Elbourne
Design: Fiammetta Horvat
Produced by: Finger in the Pie Theatre Company
REVIEWS
Cream of the Fringe – ★★★★★
This charming solo performance by Leela Bunce captured my attention and my heart from the off. The performance is compelling and affecting; humorous, moving and vibrant...The design of the piece is stunning and inventive, with beautiful use of props and music. Highly recommended!
Fest Theatre (FEST BEST) – ★★★★★
With endearing warmth and beguilingly subtle humour
EdinburghGuide.com – ★★★★★
It’s been a long time since I’ve been swept off my feet. But tonight, my heart remembered the joyous call of love. Waiting For Stanley is the reason the weather has been so nice at the Fringe this year. It is the friendly glow and cosy warmth that the city has been missing. It is the sunshine of the Fringe...
Endlessly inventive and blessed with a charming central performance by the female lead, the beauty of this show can be felt all around. Hilariously funny as well as deeply poignant, this is a show that you simply have to see. A work of pure genius.
Hairline Fringe – ★★★★★
The performance of Leela Bunce is simply delightful. Whether she is leading the audience in a rousing chorus of daisy-daisy or miming the characters stiff upper lip as her son is evacuated from the city, the audience can find easy empathy with her portrayal. Superb and extremely touching, ‘Waiting for Stanley’ might just be the show not to miss at the Fringe 2012
Theatre Guide London – ★★★★★
A warm, moving, cheering hour, this is a theatrical experience that cleanses your soul and sends you out feeling that life is, all things considered, pretty good.
The List – ★★★★
Leela Bunce is the architect of this captivating one-woman performance, opening each box of tricks to reveal a world rich in imagination. Never has a pile of socks had such an illustrious career in metaphor.
Fringe Review – ★★★★★
This is fast paced physical theatre combining clowning, puppetry, mime and visual storytelling delivered with panache, humour and warmth. Bunce’s performance is outstanding, the pace never flags and each story element moves seamlessly into the next, punctuated at intervals by the next delivery of letters... This show offers so much more than an entertaining hour for physical theatre enthusiasts – it is a master class for any performer, as well as a poignant reminder of the incredible resilience of our mothers and grandmothers who fought on the home front.
"This charming solo performance by Leela Bunce captured my attention and my heart from the off"
OTHER WORK
Sublime Boudoir, New York, 2017
Photo Credit: Allan Amato
I was thrilled to be asked to reprise my role of the Housekeeper as part of the brilliant cast of Sublime Boudoir, an immersive theatre and cabaret show set at the achingly beautiful Alder Manor in Yonkers, New York
One Minute Theatre Festival 2020
Monologue by Maxine Ridout-Prime for Theatre Nights Digital Edition
A dream come true being cast as the Tuppence half of Agatha Christie's famed detective duo Tommy and Tuppence in Tricity Vogue's brilliant touring show "Blue Murder",
Performed by Dusty Limits, Tricity Vogue,
Leela Bunce, Michael Roulston and Champagne Charlie. Such a delicious vintage treat!
Photo by Clive Holland
Photos by Pauline Burr
I have worked with East London based Chiffchaff Children's Theatre for the last ten years, playing Baby Bear and the puppeteer in Jill Murphy's Peace at Last and Whatever Next, at Leytonstone Library, Woolwich Bathway Theatre and Greenwich Theatre
IN SEARCH OF CINDERELLA 2021
I was overjoyed to be part of the brilliant cast and crew of In Search of Cinderella, a unique pantomime, written and produced by Richard Crowe (Over the Wall) for the people of Somerset, filmed in various of the county's fantastic arts venues. It premiered online on
20 January 2021, a much needed bit of fun and laughter in the depths of lockdown 3!
Photos by Greg Veit