About Us
History of the beautiful, psychedelic and accessible Hummadruz
From early experiments with ultra-violet light at 90s rave parties to performing in front of millions on Britain’s Got Talent, Stuart Bawler has always followed his curiosity. What began with fire juggling in the hills of mid Wales has evolved into a professional company of freelance dancers, circus and puppetry artists, illusionists and musicians who collaborate to bring a sense of awe, wonder and joy to people of all ages, abilities and creative interests.
How we started
In 1992, fresh out of a drama degree in Aberystwyth, Stuart lit up Wales’ festival scene with fire and juggling shows for festivals in mid and north Wales. This was a period when ultraviolet (UV) light began to be used in the rave and club scenes, and Stu wondered, what if … I could use that to create theatrical performances?
His first show with UV was a hit with clubbers at Howard Garden Art College, Cardiff: surprisingly, rather than dancing, they sat and watched for the full hour. Walkabout performances at the legendary ‘Universe’, ‘Oxygen’ and ‘Eclipse’ warehouse parties followed, and Stu started to hone his ability to produce captivating, awe-inspiring experiences for audiences.
He soon began teaching a ‘UV Theatre Class’ at Llanover Hall Arts Centre, Cardiff, for 8-14 year olds, and made a first TV appearance with his composer brother, Stafford Bawler combined live techno and UV spectacle for HTV Wales’ ‘Electric Chair’ Welsh music show.
In the meantime, Stu had become Theatre Director and Youth Theatre Leader at the much loved Llanover Hall Arts Centre in Cardiff, combining this with more performances including the first professional Hummadruz show in Llanover Hall.
Throughout the 90s and 2000s, Stu continued to create spectacles, productions and collaborations involving fire, juggling, UV theatre and workshops; one festival performance even drawing the audience away from the headliners, Alien Sex Fiend! 25 young performers aged 16-25 form part of Hummadruz’ next production, based around the structure of the 1940s Disney film, ‘Fantasia’, and involving dance, circus, puppetry and spectacle. Over half of those young artists now work in film, TV, theatre, journalism, stand-up comedy, film festivals, printed media and the wider arts sector.
More theatrical, UV, community arts, youth theatre, circus and fire experiences followed and in 2011, Hummadruz presents a 20 minute performance to celebrate the refurbishment of Llanover Hall. Audience members suggest they apply for Britain’s Got Talent. They apply, get straight through to the televised semi-final in Birmingham and receive two yes’s and two no’s, watched by a live audience of 2000 plus a few million TV viewers!
In the following few years Hummadruz begin to secure backing to be able to up their game, work with other creative freelancers, and tour to more places.
Hummadruz 1994
Howard Gardens
& Llanover Hall
How we evolved
First, in 2012 the British Council/Erasmus fund a tour by Hummadruz and Llanover Hall’s Senior Youth Theatre of Rick Wakeman’s ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’, combined with ‘Eye Wonder’ another fantasia-style show, and the show is also performed at the Green Man Festival. They secure approval from Pink Floyd, Frankie goes to Hollywood and others to use their music.
In 2014, Stuart leaves Llanover Hall and starts Hummadruz Ltd, based at Cardiff’s Coal Exchange. By this point, Hummadruz is an occasional team of around 7 freelance artists: dancers, circus and puppetry artists, illusionists and musicians.
Over the last decade or so, with support from Arts Council of Wales Hummadruz has toured seven theatre productions across Wales, the UK and into Europe (Ozora Festival, Hungary), to venues ranging from Taliesin, Swansea to Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff. A range of work continues, from a UV reimagining of Holst’s ‘The Planets’, to a tribute to The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper album; live collaborations with legendary electronic musicians, Eat Static to regular appearances at festivals, clubs and parties. In 2019, Hummadruz help Nozstock win the ‘Mind-Blowing Spectacle’ Award for Festivals for their fire shows and labyrinth.
Stu realises that, being largely non-verbal, his shows are accessible for people who are deaf or have complex disabilities, and he begins to devise workshops for Sense Cymru and eventually learns Makaton, beginning to devise shows specifically to integrate a visual sign language into all future shows. This education/participation work evolves, and soon Stu starts a 9-year (so far) series of UV theatre projects in Welsh schools as part of the ACW Lead Creative Schools (LCS) scheme.
A chance meeting with Welsh composer Lenny Sayers at an LCS training course, sparks the idea of bringing together UV theatre with live classical music, and the start of an inspiring long-term professional collaboration, resulting in a number of shows with live classical musicians from BBC NOW and WNO.
Green Man 2012, BGT 2011
Who we are now
After Covid shut down our live performances, ACW fund a project to make short UV videos of a proposed future production, ‘When the Dragons Came Back to Wales’, a story written by Stu with initial compositions by Lenny Sayers.
In 2023 the full story of ‘Dragons’ finally toured Wales, supported by Newport Riverfront Theatre and Sense Cymru, and with an orchestra of 10 musicians, the very best from BBC NOW. As with all Hummadruz performances, the production was entirely non-verbal (Makaton was integrated throughout) and for family audiences. Some props are made by PMLD participants at Sense Cymru.
In Autumn 2025, we’re touring Wales with a new show, ‘Straeon Rhyfeddol o Gymru/Amazing Stories from Wales’, combining ‘Dragons’ with ‘UFO’, which is also composed by Lenny. The show will involve local youth theatre groups rehearsing and performing alongside professional dancers. The show is supported by Sense Cymru, Monmouthshire County Council, and Spontaneous Productions, and again, some props are made by participants at Sense Cymru.
The show also features music performed live on stage by quadruple amputee and now award-winning musician Stafford Bawler on Theremin alongside our live orchestra of ten. Stafford is by now an award-winning sound designer, known for his work on video games. This show will be an inspiration for people of all abilities, showing what you can create in extraordinary circumstances. The shows captivate the senses and imagination, resulting in joyful, awe-inspiring and accessible performances that are quite simply, OUT OF THIS WORLD!
Owl and the Pussycat & Eat Static in Brixton
Full list of Hummadruz shows
1996 – First Hummadruz show in Llanover Hall
2005 – ‘Fantasia’ Llanover Hall Senior Youth Theatre production
2011 – Britain’s Got Talent appearance
2012 – ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ + ‘Eye Wonder’ tour
2013 – ‘The Planets’ tour (Taliesin Swansea, Galeri Caernarfon, Theatr Y Werin Aberystwyth, Mwldan Cardigan, WMC Cardiff)
2014 – Hummadruz Ltd is established, based at Cardiff’s Coal Exchange. ‘Eye Candy’ UV show tours Festivals
2015 - Re-staged ‘The Planets’ at the WMC Cardiff, sells out Christmas show
2016 –Stu starts a 9 year series of UV Theatre projects in Welsh schools as part of the ACW Lead Creative Schools scheme (ongoing)
2017 – Research and development collaboration with composer Lenny Sayers: ‘The Quangle Wangle’s Hat’ + an excerpt from Rimsky Korsakov’s ‘Scheherazade’. Live classical musicians from BBC NOW
2017 – ‘The Summer of Love’, a tribute to the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles ‘Sgt. Pepper’ album tours festivals, Sense Cymru and the Borough Theatre Abergavenny
2018 – Performances with Eat Static at The Globe, Cardiff; Earth Day at Electric Brixton, London and at Lakota, Bristol
2019 – ‘Atomium’ tours festivals, celebrating 50 years of the Moon Landings, using the music of Karl Bartos and Wolfgang Flur from Kraftwerk. Performed also at Tactile Bosch showcase. First Fire Labyrinth at ‘Blue Lagoon’ Festival in Pembrokeshire.
2020 – COVID shuts down our discussions with RWCMD to collaborate and perform and also shuts down our performance of “Atomium” at “Blue Dot” Festival, underneath the Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope
2020 - Short UV videos of proposed future production, "When the Dragons Came Back to Wales”
2023 – ‘When the Dragons Came Back to Wales’ tour with an orchestra of 10 musicians
2025 – Straeon Rhyfeddol o Gymru/Amazing Stories from Wales – ‘When the Dragons Came Back to Wales’ + a new piece, ‘UFO’, with composers Lenny Sayers and Stafford Bawler and musicians from BBC NOW and WNO.