About us

Company Résumé

Jake Goode and Jo Galbraith and Jake Goode met at Liverpool University in 1986, where they gained degrees in psychology and sociology. As The Better Halves they busked their way around the world, also working with The Had Matters, Cirque Bidone and Circo Volante. Over the last twelve years they have developed several diverse acts for all types of events, audiences and media. They founded Other Half Productions in 1999.

The pair has studied acrobatic balancing and clown at L'Ecole National des Arts du Cirque in France and Circus Space in London; acting under Adrian Jackson and Augusto Boal; physical theatre at Fool Time/Circomedia; clowning with Philippe Gaulier and Gerry Flanagan.

Their acts have appeared on television, at the Royal Academy of Arts, The Circus Space Cabaret and a host of international events on four continents. In 1994 they represented The Circus Space in the Circa international circus competition in France; in August 1999 they toured Colombia for the British Council, and in December 1999 they performed for the opening of the Millennium Dome.

As actors they have appeared at Shakespeare's Globe theatre; at TheBridewell in The Beggars Opera, a collaboration with the Bayliss Program of the English National Opera; in tours of A Woman of No Importance, Flat 4D and Short Circuit, which pioneered Forum Theatre in Britain. Jo and Jake appeared in Mincemeat at the Jam Factory in Southwark, London in June 2001. They have worked with Cardboard Citizens theatre company since 1994.

In 2000 they directed and managed A Brief Demonstration of the Mechanics of Global Capital, Refugee Movements and Personal Responsibility in the Modern World - an outdoor show that toured the country. The same year they helped to develop Going Ape , a commission for Creature Feature. They now play the silverback male and adult female gorillas.

Other Half Productions was commissioned to create a spectacular, W. O. N., for the Stoke Newington Festival , as well as a multimedia piece, WatchingMeWatchingYou, for the Millennium Dome and the National Street Arts Festival .

Other Half performed for the Christmas Animation of the European Capitalof Culture - in Porto, Portugal in 2001, and appeared at the Festiva l Iberoamericano for the British Counci l in March 2002. In October 2002 they performed at the Gwacheon Madangkuk Festival in Korea. In autumn 2003 Jake acted in a short tour of Shakespeare's Pericles, the first phase of a collaboration between the Royal Shakespeare Company and Cardboard Citizens, leading to a site-specific production in August of the same year, in which Jo also appeared. Last year they gained a bursary from the Esmeé Fairbairn Foundation to investigate the use of multi-channel audio in street theatre.

Jake and Jo have taught regular workshops for Cirque du Monde, the charity wing of Cirque de Soleil , for whom Jake directed a street theatre show in September. In October he appeared in Visible, a collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company for their Festival of New Theatre in Stratford-on-Avon. This to re-played in March 2005 at the Soho Theatre, and will tour in the autumn

Jo & Jake are members of Equity and visiting lecturers at The Circus Space, where they specialise in acrobatic balancing . They hold certificates (passes with credit) in risk assessment from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, and have public liability insurance for £5 million.

Other Performances have included: