Aylesbury's home grown comedy team, The Ubound Sketchbook set for tour

Formed in 2016, the Sketchbook is just one of a variety of theatrical projects presented by Queens Park Arts Centre’s Unbound Theatre company, who’ve achieved fantastic success in the Vale since it launched in 2014.

Following a string of successful sketch shows, improv evenings and live podcast recordings at Queens Park’s Limelight Theatre, the Unbound Sketchbook have compiled a special show of their very best material, and are now hitting the road to bring their sketches to new audiences.

Dario Knight, the Creative Producer of Unbound Theatre and Theatre Manager for Queens Park, says of the tour: “This is the culmination of three years’ hard work from the Sketchbook team and it’s a thrill to see them going out to fly the flag for Unbound and for Queens Park Arts Centre”.

“There’s a thriving artistic community in Aylesbury Vale and Queens Park is the hub, heart and home of that creativity. We’re incredibly proud to see our brilliant team of local actors reaching brand new audiences”.

The team will be performing the show at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Second Space (7 Sep), The Old Town Call Cellar Club in Hemel Hempstead (13 Sep), the David Evans Court Theatre in Tring (20 Sep), Wycombe Arts Centre in High Wycombe (21 Sep), the Players Theatre in Thame (27 Sep) and the Pump House in Watford (12 Oct).

These dates follow the Sketchbook’s popular appearance at the inaugural Exeter Fringe Festival at the start of August.

“I don’t think any of us would have predicted we’d be heading so far afield with the tour,” says Dario, “Performing in Exeter was wonderful and we can’t wait to bring the show back home again.”

Sketches in the show include a farmer and a pirate having the ultimate ‘battle of the accents’, a demonstration of what happens when a self-service checkout develops a conscience, and a dire example of why dictators should not have access to social media.

Along the way the team will also introduce audiences to the world’s most inept hitman, take a look inside a disastrous ‘positivity in the workplace’ seminar, and chart the evil machinations of one of the team’s best-loved characters – the nefarious supervillain, Professor Chaos!

Queens Park Arts Centre’s Unbound Theatre have been behind several high-profile theatre projects since launching in 2014.

In 2019 alone they’ve worked with Aylesbury Town Council on the highly- acclaimed walking play Lost in Time, performed at WhizzFizzFest for AVDC, and staged an ambitious production of Shakespeare’s Antony& Cleopatra, alongside half a dozen other shows.

“I think it’s fair to say we’re one of the busiest local theatre companies around,” says Dario, “In 2019 alone we’ve got twenty different projects lined up, ranging from specially-commissioned plays for local events to the ever-ambitious Queens Park Pantomime”.

“We’re always keen to work with new actors, writers and directors, and new volunteers are always welcome to join our talented costume, scenery and prop makers. We’ve worked with more than ninety people over the last five years and more and more are joining all the time”.

Tickets for the Unbound Sketchbook tour are on sale now directly from the venues’ website. For more information about the Sketchbook, and about Queens Park Arts Centre’s Unbound Theatre in general, visit www.qpc.org, call 01296 424332 or email [email protected].