

THE MAN WHO
Thought He Knew Too Much
A HIGH-OCTANE WHODUNNIT
Wes Anderson meets Hitchcock meets Spaghetti Western in this multi-award-winning, intercontinental, inter-genre, cinematic caper of accusations, accidents, and accents. Roger, a Frenchman in 1960's New York, has spent years following the same predictable routine, until a minor delay saves him from an explosion. Throwing his ordered world into chaos, Roger chases his would-be assassins around the globe. Raucously funny and endlessly inventive, this Lecoq-trained theatre company delights and stuns with live, original music and virtuosic acrobatics in this fast-paced, OFFIE-finalist whodunnit.


About Voloz
Voloz Collective makes theatre that is fast-paced, immediate and visceral and aims to remove cultural and economic barriers to accessing theatre by bringing international theatre to underserved populations. Rather than engaging audiences' rational brains, we ignite audiences’ imaginations with a whirlwind of images and sounds, to tell stories that can be understood emotionally before they are understood intellectually. Voloz’s work doesn’t rely on intricate sets, sound, and lighting to tell a story, but instead utilises the body, voice, and object theatre to spark the imaginations of theatre aficionados and first-time theatre-goers alike.

The Team

Olivia Zerphy (She/Her)
Co - artistic director and performer
Olivia Zerphy is a director, actor, and producer who specializes in devised physical and object theater. As a director, recent works include The Crawl (Spiegeltent, Brighton Fringe), feature film The Crack with Goldfish productions (premiering Summer 2025), La Poussière, a bi-lingual, female-lead adaption of The Grapes of Wrath (La Factorie, Normandy) and Handel’s Serse (Associate Director, Opera Holland Park, London). Olivia was part of the devising team and is currently a member of the European and American touring casts of Wakka Wakka’s The Immortal Jellyfish Girl (NY Times Critics Pick). In 2021 Olivia was directed by Peter Brook in a workshop performance of The Tempest Project and The Man Who at Paris's Bouffes du Nord theater. Olivia is a recipient of the Maguire Fellowship and the Thatcher Kazan Memorial Prize for excellence in directing. She has studied at Vassar College, Moscow Art Theatre School, and L’école Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq.

Paul Lofferon (He/Him)
Co - artistic director and performer
Paul is an actor based in Paris, France. In September of 2018, he played a leading role in Theatre de La Feuille’s Madman in several cities throughout China. In 2022, he joined a research group led by Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne around the show The Man Who at Les Bouffes du Nord. He also played Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Irina Brook, and Polixenes in A Winter’s Tale alonside Alex Lawther, directed by Sylvain Levitte. He is currently rehearsing for the new musical Orso et le secret des étoiles , opening this fall at Le Grand REX in Paris before embarking on a european tour.

Sam Rayner (He/Him)
Co - artistic director and performer
Sam is a director, movement director and performer - working across theatre, opera and stand-up comedy. He is currently Resident Director of BACK TO THE FUTURE (West End). As director, Sam's work includes A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and SERSE for Opera Holland Park (“fantastically detailed”, The Guardian / “a tremendous success”, Broadway World), MAN OF 100 FACES (The Guardian’s “Readers’ Favourite Shows of 2022”) and FIVE YEARS WITH THE WHITE MAN (both for King's Head Theatre). Sam’s movement direction credits include JACK WHITEHALL: AT LARGE (Hammersmith Apollo/NETFLIX); LEO REICH: LITERALLY WHO CARES?! (Greenwich House/Soho Theatre/HBO); and JORDAN BROOKES: BLEED (Soho Theatre).

Emily Wheatman (She/Her)
Co - artistic director and performer
Emily is a Paris and London-based actor. Emily’s previous work includes working with Manic Chord Theatre and performing in their 5* show Don’t Let Go, performing in La Poussière at La Factorie in Normandy and writing and performing with the Leeds Tealights in their award-winning Edinburgh sketch-comedy show in 2015. Her comedy work has been described as ‘Energetic and clever humour’ (EdFringe Review) and she received a special mention in the 2020 Mandy Comedy Competition: 'clever humour’.

Frederick Waxman (He/Him)
Composer, Musician
Frederick is a London based composer and musician. In 2021, he founded Figure in order to pursue his passion for historically-informed performance. Frederick has led Figure in performances of Requiems by Fauré and Charpentier at Union Chapel, an immersive performance of Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri at the Swiss Church in London ★★★★ The Times), and in June 2022 he first brought Figure to Opera Holland Park with Handel's Serse, prompting The Guardian to label the group as one to watch.

Alexander Burnett (He/Him)
Performer (understudy)
Alexander is an American actor and puppeteer based in Paris. Recent credits include The Immortal Jellyfish Girl Off-Broadway (Wakka Wakka Productions) and Betty (Ohlavaka Ensemble). Catch him in the original comedy The Crawl this summer at the Edinburgh Fringe (Pleasance, directed by Olivia Zerphy). Alexander also teaches theatre in secondary schools in France with Drama Ties. This is his Voloz Collective debut.

Jonny Venvell (He/Him)
Musician (Alternate)
Jonny is a London-based musician. After training as a classical oboist and singer at Cambridge, he moved to London and became immersed in the city’s Brazilian music scene, performing with the samba band Rhythms of the City and founding his own group, Novos Londrinos, in 2021, where he plays drums. The band has played at top London venues including Green Note, Jago, Jamboree, and Grow Hackney, and is set to release its debut EP—recorded at Abbey Road Studios—and perform at Glastonbury Festival this year. Jonny is currently pursuing a Master’s in Jazz Drum Performance at the Guildhall School of Music. Beyond performing, he co-founded Encore Musicians, one of the UK’s leading musician-booking platforms, which was acquired by Mixcloud in 2024.
Workshop
INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICAL THEATRE AND DEVISING
- 26th APRIL 2025 -
Join Voloz Collective for a dynamic, hands-on introduction to physical theatre and devising!
This free workshop is open to all — any age, any experience level. Whether you’re brand new to theatre or already passionate about devising, this is a chance to jump in, get moving, and discover new creative tools in a fun, supportive environment.
We’ll explore the fundamentals of physical theatre and ensemble storytelling through playful games, guided improvisations, and collaborative scene-building — all rooted in the Lecoq-inspired techniques that Voloz uses in our own creative process.
No experience needed — just curiosity and a willingness to play!
Date and Time: Saturday 26th april 2025 / 3:30pm - 5pm
Where: The Island, Nelson Street, Bristol, BS1 2BE
Price: FREE
10+
To sign up, email

Tour dates
24 - 26 April 2025
Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol
17 May 2025
The Pleasance Theatre, London
10, 12 & 13 July 2025
Skillinge Teater, Skillinge (Sweden)

Awards and Press



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Broadway World

Theatre Bubble

BruceOnTheFringe

The Scotsman

WhatsOnStage

Daily Mail

Broadway Baby

North WestEnd UK

The List

Merv' Stutter

Bristol 345

Everything Theatre

Theatre Weekly

The RECS

EdFest Reviews

UK Theatre Web

Zone Critique

Starburst Magazine

The ReviewHub

Dark Chat







"This is physical theatre at its most immaculate"













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