Special finds in London and the battle of the Gayefs

So here we are, myself and LibraryGirl, on holiday in the garden of England quite literally a stones throw from central London. Have we crossed into the capital? Of course we have. Was it worth it? Oh most definitely. Tonight I thought I would just share with you some of the finds we have acquired for the 'Theatre From My Head' library and RTDA book list.

This lovely little selection was actually presented to me by LibraryLady, LibraryGirl's Mum, who had sourced these all in Kent and they are just wonderful. The Cowards are particularly fantastic because they seem unread. However I was instantly drawn to the Dover Thrift editions which I think have the most wonderful covers and readable print inside. These too were near mint copies and I just got stuck in, I am halfway through reading 'The Cherry Orchard' by Anton Chekhov and am really enjoying it. I played Gayef, the same role Stanislavski himself played in the original production I would quite happily wager that I was a better Gayef than him, when I performed it in my BA course and we went very over the top and it was all just very odd. The play itself is of course odd and full of absolutely mental situations like 50 year old women crying over cupboards! Why on earth we thought that the way we should tackle a high comedy like this by completely blowing our characters up to the level of caricatures I do not know but it was great fun. I would highly recommend 'Cherry Orchard' because it is very sad as well as very funny, there is a great pathos to the comedy within the script and it does make this a very satisfying read as well as a great play. So thank you LibraryLady for providing me with plenty of resources for RTDA. Coward is now next on my list of playwrights works to start reading.

This little lot is part one of the haul I got whilst traipsing around West London yesterday. It was a very cold day but completely worth it just for these few tomes and the goodies LibraryGirl discovered.

Noah by Andre Obey first came to my attention a few months ago when I read a review of Gielgud's performance of the play. I have been looking for it ever since and yesterday it was the first book I spotted.

Picasso at the Lapin Agile and other plays by Steve Martin. Steve Martin is someone I grew up watching in films such as Father of the Bride and Parenthood, I never really understood who or what he was until I got into Saturday Night Live and witnessed his madcap comedic style. His writing has been highly respected for many years and this will be my first chance to read one of his scripts.

Brief Lives by John Aubrey is one of those things you hear about but you don't actually know anything about. I had heard good things about this piece and the fact it is another one man show, an ongoing theme for me it seems at the moment, made me want to read it just for the audition monologues potential.

I, Fatty by Jerry Stahl. This one I could get a slap on the hand about, after all it's not a biography really, it isn't about how to perform slapstick. It is in fact a novel about the life of Fatty Arbuckle from the viewpoint of Arbuckle. It just sparked an interest in me and I hope it proves a nice break from all the theoretical and non fiction books I read about people and the world of theatre/film.

The Actors Book of Contemporary Stage Monologues. Sort of self explanatory really isn't it? Granted they are not contemporary now but still reading monologues from plays generally makes me want to see or read the whole piece and that can't be bad can it?

Educating Rita and Others by Willy Russell. More plays, always handy to have and to study.

Timberlake Wertenbaker: Plays 1

Kenneth Tynan Letters. Letters from the great theatre critic, something both LibraryGirl and I are very excited about reading.

And now for my favourite find....

Nine different souvenir brochures from various productions held in the West End over the past 25 years. I was absolutely flabbergasted to actually find these, so many times people buy them and just throw them away after they have been left to rot or gather dust in a drawer somewhere. I collect these because they show a small glimpse of the theatre of that time. Some of these are just brilliant and some are just plain disturbing, I'm looking at you 'The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus', but all have great insight and shed light on a multitude of things. Look for these to turn up in my next set of 'Theatre Programmes' articles.

LibraryGirl and I have enjoyed our holiday so far and the finds keep on coming... I am going to need a bigger library!

Just a Small One: WCTheatre The Theatre of Small Convenience *Repost and Update

The Theatre of Small Convenience

Malvern

Update:

Whilst researching for more Small Theatres for my 'Just A Small One' project I came across a CBBC video about the WCTheatre in Malvern. It is a great little piece and you can view it here. 

Original Post:

Small Theatres are like wonderful little oddities, they are a novelty both in the way they are used and the utilisation of space. This tiny theatre which seats only 12, is decorated in the most elaborate and luxurious manner. It is like something from a Victorian fun fair but it is of course a Victorian Gentlemans toilet converted to theatrical use. I recommend you visit the website as it is truly a sight to behold, especially the special panoramic photo tour you can take of the interior.



For more information go here.

Some of my Dream Roles

Hello again… normal service on Theatre From My Head will now resume.



Last week I was mulling over the various roles I have played in my storied career so far and started thinking about the roles I dream of playing or playing again. I have put together a small list of roles I want to play before my days on the stage are over and those that I wish to revisit.


1. Benedick from ‘Much Ado About Nothing’.


For long time readers of ‘Theatre From My Head’ this should not really come as much surprise as this very character is one whom I have recorded myself playing and was available from my short lived pod casts. Benedick is a middle aged soldier who is afraid of his own loneliness and his feelings and when he faces the woman he loves decides to ridicule and joke with her which eventually leads to them falling out. In ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ this relationship is rekindled and the spark between him and Beatrice is very much still there. The one part of this character that excites me is that he changes so quickly in one scene he is mocking love and his friend Claudio for falling for a girl when suddenly, whilst he is hiding, he overhears gossip about how Beatrice is madly in love with him which causes him to suddenly declare how much he will love her (he says he will be ‘Horribly in love with her’) and that it matters not how he has always scorned her advances and women in general. This is a man who wants to be loved and love in return without it weakening him. Benedick’s speech in Act II is one of my audition monologues and one of my favourite pieces of the Bard’s prose.


2. Man from ‘Monologue’ by Harold Pinter

Again this one is no surprise as this does still feature on the headtheatre page in pod cast form which you can listen to here. It is a performed reading, I didn’t learn the monologue and it was just a sight reading piece but I believe the power of this script still shines through. Originally a television play for the BBC it ran at approx 43 minutes long, my version runs to about 16 minutes I believe, and when reading it comes across as a very dry piece. I like to think that the real point of this piece is that the words the man doesn’t say tell us a lot more about the story than his telling ever could. I have adored this play since I was 16 and have always wanted to play the role in its entirety because it is the piece that made me impressed with Pinter’s work. I discovered Pinter in High School through the play ‘The Dumb Waiter’ but until I read this and played the part, not in full, for an audition techniques module I didn’t understand the power of Pinter’s writing.


3. Thenardier from ‘Les Miserables’

During my first year of Drama School, in fact I believe it was the first term; three of us (Kara, Michael and I) went to audition for the musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ which was being put on by a local society. I remember being just terrible, actually it was well beyond terrible, for the dance part of the audition but with an adolescent dose of confidence believed I would breeze through on the singing and acting parts of the audition. I knew I was going to play Herod, I really wanted to play Judas but that’s more a ‘in my dreams’ role, I could just feel it because I knew I would blow anyone else out of the water with my characterisation and singing ability when I sang that great song ‘Master of the House’. I was perfect for Herod and nobody else was going to play it, it would be impossible to even contemplate. They started up the piano and... I came in too early, I think it was after two bars, they gave me another chance and I came in too late. I never did get to do my acting piece and never heard from that society ever again, it must be the only production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ thats ever gone without a King Herod. Now I love Thenardier because here is a character that is a grotesque, he is far from likeable, has no moral compass yet somehow he gets you to enjoy his presence on the stage. The biggest reason I want to play this is for the number ‘Dogs eat the Dogs’ which is the most perfect example of those characters in the world who take advantage of other peoples misfortunes. To play him in the West End would be perhaps my biggest dream of all as I have loved ‘Les Mis’ for years and this time… I promise to come in on time and sing it magnificently. So Sir Cameron Mackintosh are you looking for a new Thenardier once Matt Lucas has finished his run? Because I am your man!




That’s my first three choices when it comes to my dream roles. I will add more at a later date but for the moment those are the ones I am dreaming of.

Coincidentally if anyone wants to hire me for any of these three roles... or anything else then please email me... or if you have any comments to make then please feel free to leave them below.

Xtofer