JOHANNES ON

Who is Johannes Factotum? ... And what about his friends

Johannes Factotum and Friends is a collective of inter-disciplinary arts and media professionals producing film, theatre, music and interactive experiences and working in the education sector.

400 years ago Robert Greene tried to insult Shakespeare by calling him “an absolute Johannes Factotum” (which means ‘jack-of-all-trades’ in Latin). It was meant as an insult; then, just as today, many people think that a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ is a ‘master-of-none’.

But, in actual fact, much of Shakespeare's success as a writer was achieved because of his many interests, not despite them. That's why his work is so rich, so multi-faceted and why it appeals to so many people.

Harold Raitt (aka Johannes Factotum) is often described as a ‘Renaissance man’. He can make films, build websites, direct a play, sing you a song or help you inspire young people. He enjoys working with people with similarly wide horizons, so his Friends include actors who sing and play many different instruments, filmmakers who are interested in education, graphic designers who also use their computers to produce experimental music and composers who specialise in writing for film and theatre.