A Song and Dance
Action Hero
Information
Time: 7:30pm
Tickets: Pay What You Can (Recommended Price £16)*
*All orders subject to a £2 transaction fee
Running Time: 1 hour
Age Recommendation: 12+
This event takes place in person in our Council Chamber
Priority booking is now open to BAC Champions and Hive Members.
General booking opens Friday 24 July at 12pm
A performance about masking, performing and ‘acting the part.’
After their 2023 sell-out run of The Talent, Action Hero are back and definitely not making a scene.
Lost inside a recurring nightmare filled with the phantoms of his disapproving ancestors, a reluctant actor returns to the stage. In an attempt to conquer an 8-year period of intense stage fright, he replays his own life story and starts to lose the plot.
But he’s not going to make a big song and dance about it.
Instead, he’s determined to keep the show on the road, re-writing his anxiety dreams live on stage with you, the audience, in the hope of banishing the ghosts of performances past.
“Thrillingly funny and strange. Beckett’s hip, pop-culture savvy descendants”
Time Out
“I have never seen a show from these artists that didn’t make you sit up a little straighter and want to peer a little more closely” Stagedoor
Reviews for previous work
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Biography
Action Hero create artworks that explore what is it to be human now. From stage to page to audio to immersive interaction, they create structures for people to experience alternative ways of being together. Previous projects have toured to more than 40 countries across 6 continents, to both critical and popular acclaim.
They have been shortlisted for the Live Art Prize, a Total Theatre award, and won an Off West End award for Best Performance, and a Critics Table award for Best Touring Show. They were recently longlisted for the 2025 Artangel Open.
Creative Team
Created by Action Hero
Text Gemma Paintin and James Stenhouse
Direction Gemma Paintin
Performer James Stenhouse
Dramaturgy Deborah Pearson
Costume Ray Gammon
Lighting Design Alex Fernandes
Developed with funding from Arts Council England.
Access
PRE EVENT INFORMATION
This event takes place in person in our Council Chamber. This space is on the first floor, with step-free access via a lift.
If you have booked a ticket you will receive an email from us before your performance detailing important information about your visit.
PERSONAL ASSISTANT/COMPANION TICKETS
If you require the assistance of a friend or helper to attend, we can make a free ticket available for your companion. You can book access companion tickets online or contact the Box Office to book by emailing boxoffice@bac.org.uk.
To book a free access companion online:
- Log in to your account here
- Go to ‘Other preferences’ and tick ‘I require a personal assistant/companion’.
- Choose the performance, date and seats you would like and if you add at least 2 tickets to your basket, then one of these will automatically become free.
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
Content
- Haze
- Discussion of mental health themes
- Audience participation
All performances will be Relaxed. We invite you to make yourself comfortable and move around if you need to and if you need to leave the performance at any point you will be allowed to return to the space when you feel ready.
We want our shows to be as accessible to as many people as possible.
We offer tickets to most shows on a Pay What You Can basis throughout the year.
Tickets for Council Chamber performances in 2026 start at £12.50, and we have recommended pricing to help you choose a price that works for you.
We know that ticket price is a huge barrier for some. If you can afford to pay the recommended price or more, choosing to do so supports those that can’t. It makes it possible for us to continue to offer Pay What You Can and welcome those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend.
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