David Cassel (Hotch)

David Cassel is an actor, writer and director. Author of "The Pavement Stage (Perspectives on Street Theatre)" a book about globalisation, spin and their effects on street performance between the years 1977 and the present. Presently the only book on the subject.

Called "Hotch" by 20th century street performers and buskers which was the name of his clown "Hotcha Chmarzinski the One Man Parade" created under the direction of Canada's Richard Pochinko. Predominately independent throughout his career, he has written, produced and toured over 20 live stage shows, 25 short films and a large volume of outdoor performances to over 30 countries. He has organised numerous outdoor festivals, speaks five languages and has been involved with multimedia development since its infancy. Digital design and its integration with live performance has been instrumental in his quest for a balanced cultural equation.

From 1980 through 1988 he was the Artistic Director of two arts organisations in Canada. The Interlude Physical Theatre Company, which produced and toured general audience and children's content through the theatres and school systems, and The Nebulous Rebels Performance Association which presented experimental multimedia content that fused performance with elements of film, video and other technologies. He operated two production facilities, The ION Centre in Calgary (with The One Yellow Rabbit Performance Troupe) and The Multipurpose Rumpusroom in Edmonton. From these facilities he oversaw the creation of numerous theatrical and multimedia productions and presented his work at Canadian festival events such as The Edmonton International Street Performers Festival (1985 and 86), Vancouver's Expo 86 and the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

From 1993, after 5 years of travelling to Asia, Australia and Europe as a solo street performer, he founded The Sticky Plant Network, a comedy based theatre and digital design company, in Melbourne, Australia. Noted for his work in outdoor theatre, he appeared at over 500 festivals worldwide during his 30 years of touring. In 1993, he and his partner Rex Boyd were awarded Best Act for their production of "Fritz und Otto" in Kingston, Canada. His production of "Hotch's 3D Teevee" received numerous awards for Best Act in Australia and "Space Commander" was awarded Outdoor Performer of the Year in 1995 at the Rotterdam Streettheater Festival.

Space Commander was an unusual street show about a superhero who wanted to prove that he could fly. It was one of the first street shows based completely on the relationship principle and succeeded based on the performer's ability to befriend the audience. To perform the finale he used 10 people picked at random from his audience to help him create the appearance of danger. He would then stand on two of them and jump into the air, landing in the arms of the remaining eight.

His facility in Melbourne from 1995 until 2003 was a not for profit rehearsal and production hall called the Multipurpose Rumpusroom. It housed, amongst other arts oriented events, a weekly juggling club and dance classes which were available to the public for a donation. Hat passing financed many of the companies activities which replaced conventional public funding practices. This allowed classes and rehearsal space to be provided to the public at extremely low fees.

From 1995 through 2004 he collaborated with English comedienne and writer Abigail Collins. As a comedy team called "Sticky Planet" they created and toured 12 shows throughout Australia and Europe, with casts of up to 35 people. Their most successful production was as the comedy duo Cassel Collins. Their show, "Sid and Lena", was a morality tale about two Australian kids trying to make it big in entertainment during the era of globalisation. In a strange parallel with the script of their show, over 3 years the show moved off the street and onto the stages of Australia until eventually appearing at The Adelaide Festival Centre as part of the International Cabaret Festival. They also appeared as part of the Gent International Street Theatre Festival in Belgium.

After 10 years of frantic activity, The Multipurpose Rumpusroom closed in 2003 after restrictions on street performing in the city of Melbourne made performing in public spaces more difficult. After 9/11, the general tone of Australia shifted from openness to caution.

From 1997 until 2005, Cassel wrote, produced and toured a number of educational plays targeted at students in both the primary and secondary school systems in Australia. Plays included "The Unusual Suspects", "The George Bass Story", and "Rockin the Vote", a project commissioned by the state touring authority Regional Arts Victoria and designed to teach kids about the democratic system. The play drew attention to the similarities between Monarchism and Fascism as part of its main subject. Six months later, the Howard government revised and legislated new Sedition laws that placed the content of his play outside the law at which point the writer decided it would be best to leave Australia.

The Cassel Collins Comedy team left Australia to appear as the principal clown duo in the Icelandic production of "The Return of Houdini" in Reykjavík, 2005 where the partnership ended.

Cassel went on to produce and tour a physical theater performance called "The Agency", which focused on Cultural Imperialism and the effects that business and politics have had on art into the 21st century. The show toured Japan, Germany, Poland, Belgium and Holland.