COME WATCH VINCE RINSE!

Northern Ireland's longest-running theatre company, Big Telly is delighted to be presenting their new and exciting production; The Thief.

The Thief tours Ireland, from 19th February through to 26th March 2004 and looks at the relationship between film, reality T.V. and theatre.

Marking the company's 17th year in operation, The Thief, a one man-show, written by artistic director Zoë Seaton, illusionist Paul McEneaney and composer Paul Boyd, and starring Michael O'Reilly, promises to be an unmissable theatrical event that fuses together illusion, film and the raw energy and inventiveness of one of the country's most ground-breaking theatre producers.

Meet Vince. He works in an office. He wears a tank top, lives in a basement and regularly holds his breath underwater for 3 minutes. He watches a lot of TV and he likes games. But don't play against him because he always wins. Luck favours the prepared mind. And Vince is ready.

There's nothing unusual about The Thief except for mind reading, an experiment with a razor-sharp hunting knife, and a high-risk water escape. Words like innovative, contemporary and edgy don't come close. See for yourself. On film, guest stars include James Nesbitt, some of the cast of BBC's Give My Head Peace, members of the UTV Live team, Sinead Quinn from Fame Academy and Gerry Kelly.

The Thief is an escapist multi-media comedy where a man discovers he can control what he sees on screen. Suddenly the remote's out the window and everything on the box is in Vince's reach. Celebrities lose out when our very own couch potato helps himself to their stuff. The perfect power trip escalates out of control when the film fights back and reality is blurred forever. On stage is a guy called Vince who can read your mind...underwater. Come. Watch Vince rinse.

This outstanding new show is for anyone with a fascination for fame or celebrity. A far-fetched feat of technical precision and choreographed chaos with continuous film, first class effects and the confusion of illusion.

Using magic, manipulation and a multitude of celebrities, The Thief, is bursting with so much vigour and imagination it would be a crime to miss it!

Big Telly Theatre Company is a professional theatre company formed in 1987 and based in Portstewart, Northern Ireland. The company designs and delivers theatre productions, interactive workshop programmes and community creativity projects, which it mainly tours throughout Northern and Southern Ireland. It concentrates on the visual potential of theatre through fusion with other art forms such as dance, music, circus, magic and film to create a unique sense of spectacle. Big Telly's work is driven by a determination to offer audiences entertainment that surprises, stimulates and ignites the imagination.