Shpooka family tourist agency: this famous family, originally from Transylvania, Romania specializes in tourism- Veronica and George Shpooka manage a tourist agency in the street! The office of Shpooka Tours with local old fashioned cars is located at the venue chosen by the festival and ARMA theatre, and has a special retro design. Spectators will sign up for tours of the city and can choose an innovative way to see the city; either in a historic, romantic, mysterious, mystic route etc. chosen and pre-prepared by the actors in cooperation with local businesses and citizens. But before they get into the car, they must pass with success the twists and turns of bureaucracy… Then they will be driven, like the royal family, in state-of-the-art cars, accompanied by knowledgeable guides on bicycles, who will introduce them to some characteristic local sites and some legendary neighboring figures.
This is a site specific urban performance based on local research and involves the participation of the local community and the festival audience. The audience meets the backstage of the hosting city: unconventional and marginal people and special venues in the city -from private to public businesses/clubs/sports/offices and less known museums, swimming pools, shops, hair designers, photography studios, restaurants, fountain, park or any eccentric and unique places in the city, while exploring the wild contradictions of beauty and ugliness, truth and humanity. This family is offering the citizens and visitors of the city, to sign up for a unique tour: “to see the city the way you had never experienced it before!”
Show or Residency

Technical info.
The show runs for 3 hours
Every car can hold 4-5 guests and a driver (depends on the size of the car). Each tour is between 15-20 minutes, the tours leave from the tourism agency on the street, led by skilled guides (actors) on bicycles equipped with megaphones, driving in a slow pace so the public can follow the event.

As a show by ARMA theatre company-
6 actors
We arrive 3-4 days in advance to prepare the routes –on location- but we need prior preparation as listed in technical needs.
One dressing room- for 6 people- behind the “tourism office”
Accommodations, meals and travel for 6 people.

As a residency project-
We can work with 10 actors
We need one week before to work with the actors
Two big dressing rooms
Accommodations, meals and travel for the two directors.

Technical:
Contact Person- from the festival to help plan the guided routes- in the city, and make suggestions and local contacts
All police, fire dep. etc, permits.…
3-4 local cars – that are old looking (like Renualt 4, Trabant etc)
3-4 bicycles- old fashioned looking
3-4 portable megaphones – (function on batteries)
A stage with backboards (collisses) to hang the décor and with a sloped ramp for the cars to go on stage. (we enclose a drawing with measurements of this)
One Salon set – colorful- 50’s/60’s/70’s design: 3 seat sofa, 2 seat sofa, 1 armchair, salon table and big carpet
1 office table and 6 chairs- old style + big carpet
Access to theatre requisites- lamps, record player, typewriter, hair dryer, vacuum cleaner etc.
Lights system- basic spot lights- 24 lights + dimmer board. (if at night)
1 long electrical light chain – with colored light-bulbs
1 sound system with CD 2 speakers + 4 microphones and 2 condenser microphones.
A few connections to electricity- for small appliances like hair dryer, vacuum cleaner, record player etc…
A nearby storage or ‘on the site’ guards to take care of the equipment and cars –from first day till departure.