Lucky Seven Interview with Beyond Repair Entertainment

Over the past few years we have thoroughly enjoyed working alongside London based performance entertainment agency Beyond Repair across our private events. So it is a delight to include them in our interview series to learn more about the creatives behind the brand. Jane Coulston, BRE’s CEO was gracious enough to answer seven inquisitive questions. Enjoy.

1. We love that you are a female led team, and that you are keeping the creative fires of performance art alive. There’s so much humour, artistry and incredible flexibility in some of your performances. How have you seen the perception of your art change since your days as a young trainee performer?

We love that we are a female led company too! We even have a female Musical Director and CFO! Being flexible and meshing both artistry and humour feels like it’s in our DNA, creation cannot happen where there is fear, stress or too much control. You have to let everyone breathe and play to let the creativity flow! That is when the best work is created.

Things have changed a lot since I was a young performer, particularly with the growth of social media, there is so much of the ‘finished product’ out there rather than the challenges. It is the blood sweat and tears that makes a great creative or performer. I think if I was a young trainee or performer now I would struggle to see that patience and perseverance gets the best results and that you should compete with nobody but yourself. Much easier to see it that way as a woman in her 40’s!

2. Your core team is small but how big is your network of performers? and what genres do you cover?

We have a really large pool of exceptionally talented performers, last year we worked with 560 performers to give some reference. Everything from dancers, singers, circus performers, live graffiti artists, face painters, actors, musicians, aura readers, magicians, spoon players, stilt walkers, rappers and poets! Literally every genre and skill to be  honest….we will run out of room if I mention them all!

3. Over the years you have worked with some big brands and at huge events. What has been your most spectacular event you have worked on?

Such a difficult one to answer! Our favourite Marble Private event was our Live Thriller show at a private event, 21 dancers made up the cast and we brought the Thriller music video to life in a bespoke graveyard created by the Marble team! When guests arrived our performers shocked and terrified them en route to the mansion house on what we called the ‘Scare Safari’. It was brilliant! If I had to name another, a recent one was bringing the musical Wicked to the Natural History Museum for The Financial Times. It really had that WOW factor!

4. Where do you see performance art heading in the next ten years and how do you ensure you stay fresh and on top of your game?

I think in a world full of AI and online distractions live performance cannot be replaced or replicated. Audiences will never get bored of seeing the real thing in front of them, theatre is so in the moment and authentic and it always will be. I do however think that tech will continue to be integrated and meshed with live performance. We are working on lots of fun interactive performances that bring this together and we have only just started so that is the future for us – so much scope for this to develop.

5. What are your most popular styles of performances? Is there one in particular you are most proud of creating?

It has to be our UV performances as they are our flagship offering and nobody does black light theatre like we do! We created a UV dance film many years ago that creates David Bowie’s face from a trio of dancers with a clever use of paint and perspective – very proud of that one!  Also, we LOVE creating a musical so we are always proud of the unique approach we have to that.

6. What advice do you have for party hosts and wedding couples, who may not have considered performance entertainment before and don’t know where to start?

Consider sharing what moves you both with your guests. We all have art of some description that helps define who we are and what we like. Share that with the people who love you – it’s a beautiful gift.

7. If you were in a performance costume and the wind changed and you had to stay in that character for the rest of your life, which character would it be (of your performances)?

You can see more of BRE’s work via their

Photo by Beyond Repair Entertainment, Words by Jane Coulston, BRE