FOLLOWING Hijinx's success at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with Meet Fred, the company, in association with Blind Summit, will be taking it on tour with it starting in Cardiff on Friday, January 20.

The show mixes puppetry and live performance by a cast of actors with and without learning difficulties to bring to life a potty-mouthed puppet who fights prejudice every day.

Fred is a two foot tall cloth puppet who just wants to be part of the real world: get a job, meet a girl and settle down.

But when threatened with losing his PLA (Puppetry Living Allowance), Fred’s life begins to spiral out of his control.

Meet Fred follows an outsider who tries to make his mark in a world in which he needs a lot of help, the show shines a light on how tasks like going on a date or finding a job present a myriad of problems.

In an incisive and comical way, Meet Fred exposes the ridiculous situations some of the most vulnerable in society encounter when their support is taken from them, exploding the myth that “we are all in this together”.

The 2017 tour of Meet Fred has been dedicated to the memory of actor Martin Vick who was part of the original cast as the ‘stage manager’ and one of its devisers. Martin, a renowned clown performer who had Down’s Syndrome, died in December 2016.

Hijinx are one of the UK’s leading inclusive theatre companies. From their base in Cardiff, they create shows with casts that always include actors with and without learning disabilities, and tour them across the UK and Europe.

The cast of Meet Fred includes two actors with Asperger’s Syndrome and one with Down’s Syndrome, working as equals alongside four actors without learning disabilities. Hijinx are revenue funded by the Arts Council of Wales.

Blind Summit are one of the UK’s leading contemporary puppetry innovators. Their shows The Table and Citizen Puppet have enjoyed success in recent years, both at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and on extensive national and international tours.

The show will be performed at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff on Friday, January 20 and Saturday, January 21.

For more information or tickets please contact Chapter Arts Centre on 029 2030 4400.