Theatre from my Head

January the 31st in Theatrical History

2012-01-31T12:16:00.000Z

In 1880 on the 31st of January the Bancrofts, Effie and Squire, began their management of The Haymarket Theatre with a revival of 'Money' by Sir Edward Lytton Bulwer that had premiered at the same theatre 40 years previous.

Sir George Alexanders management of St James's Theatre commenced on this day in 1891. Sir George Alexander (1858-1918) began his career as an amateur and within six years he had made his London stage debut. He went on to work under the great Henry Irving before becoming an actor manager in 1890. During Oscar Wildes troubles which ultimately led to his incarceration Alexander purchased the rights to his popular works and organise the bequeathment of the profits to Oscars sons. Alexanders legacy lives on through his great great nephew Hugh Laurie.

January the 29th in Theatrical History

2012-01-29T12:28:00.000Z

(A Scene from the Beggars Opera by William Hogarth from the Tate Britain)

On the 29th of January 1728 'The Beggars Opera' by John Gay opened, it would play for 62 performances which was at that time a record. The profits from the show would be used to build the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden. Since its first run it has been revived several times the most famous being its 1,463 performance run at the Lyric Theatre beginning in 1920. In the late 20s Brecht would adapt the piece into his popular work The Threepenny Opera.

At the Richmond Theatre in 1940 'First Night' by Reginald Denham opened and was produced by the author. The cast included Linden Travers, Beatrice Rowe, Godfrey Kenton, Tony Quinn, Lorraine Clewes, Geoffrey Keen, Jane Millican and his son-in-law Peter Ustinov.

January the 28th in Theatrical History

2012-01-28T11:44:00.001Z

In 1891 'The Stranger' by Wilson Barrett was revived at the New Olympic theatre. Barrett (1846-1904) was a playwright specialising in Victorian melodrama, he managed the Grand Theatre Leeds, The Old Court Theatre, The Princess's Theatre London and the aforementioned New Olympic.

The circumstances in which The Stranger was staged proved to be at the end of the melodrama craze that had swept Victorian theatre. It would be one of Barretts last successes in the UK and he would have to tour America in the years before his death until he came upon his next production. His next production would become his legacy 'The Sign of the Cross' which was a huge success on Broadway and back in the UK. It continues to be his legacy as it was eventually turned into the third part of Cecil B. DeMilles trilogy which also includes The Ten Commandments and The King of Kings under the same title Sign of the Cross. It helped lead the way in Epic film and greatly influenced many future films including Ben Hur and Spartacus.

January the 27th in Theatrical History

2012-01-27T11:15:00.001Z

(portraint by Jean-Francois Gilles Colson)

On this date in 1720 Samuel Foote was born in Cornwall. Foote would become both a playwright and an actor eventually running the Haymarket Theatre. Foote was known as a great wit and in 1748 he wrote the play 'An Auction of Pictures' which was a satire based on the infamous satirist Henry Fielding, this led to a famous war of words and wit. However when Foote began a quarrell with another actor it led to a riot at the Haymarket Theatre. There are a few missing Foote plays but the latest one to have been published was Piety in Patterns which was finally published in 1973 which should show us all that there is hope for those supposed 'lost plays' that they maybe locked away in some private collection or library somewhere.

In 1845 'The Green Bushes' was produced at the Adelphi theatre by John Baldwin Buckstone. The play included two stanzas of the popular English folk song Green Bushes. Buckstone wrote over 150 plays and rose to be the lessee of the Haymarket Theatre and he is now said to be haunting that same theatre appearing in the wings watching something that he finds particularly good or amusing. Sightings of his ghost have even been reported by actors including Patrick Stewart.

January the 26th in Theatrical History

2012-01-26T11:02:00.001Z

In 1833 'The Nervous Man' was first produced at Drury Lane. In Figaro in London, a weekly comic paper which ran from 1831 to 1839, there is a full review of the play. It is referred to as a 'trifling though rather an amusing production' and is listed as a farce. The review mentions the acting and has one of my favourite analysis of a performance in a long time:

"Mrs Humby whom the reporters delight to call pretty, has a part in the Nervous Man, and as a disgusting manner peculiar to the pertest of bar-maids is all that is neccessary, she acquitted herself well; that is, she was as vulgar as her salary requires"

So far in my research I have been unable to define who wrote said play but in the National Standard, of literature, science, music, theatricals and the fine arts it has a very interesting paragraph which reads:

"The Nervous Man (yet unpublished) at Edinburgh, without obtaining the consent of, or affording the slightest advantage to, the writer; thus, the piece runs for the benefit of the manager and the player, but for the 'poor devil author' he may starve in holes and corners"

So whilst The Nervous Man was allowing the unknown author to be paid when it played at Drury Lane halfway through its run in London the producer and actor Mr Power was recalled to Scotland and just put it on in Edinburgh without giving the author his cut of the profits. A shady dealing which helped lead to the introduction of laws to protect copywright.

In 1871 Oscar Asche (1871-1936) was born. He was an Australian actor who is probably best known for writing the popular Musical 'Chu Chin Chow' based on the story of 'Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves' which was last produced in London at the Finborough Theatre in 2008.

Zach Braff on BBC Breakfast this Morning

2012-01-25T15:56:00.000Z

(Photo courtesy of http://www.zachbraff.com/)

So this morning on BBC Breakfast Zach Braff, of Scrubs fame, appeared to promote his latest venture a play in the West End. The play is titled 'All New People' and was written by Braff himself. It opens in London on the 22nd of February at the Duke of Yorks Theatre in St Martins Lane.

The play was developed by the Off Broadway Theatre Company 2ST aka Second Stage Company a company that began in the late 70's giving plays that may not have been successful the first time around a second chance on a New York stage. Braff returned to the stage in 2010 after 8 years away in the play Trust by Paul Weitz and it was this link and this company that inspired him to write his own work. He did not appear in the New York version but agreed to play the lead role in a transfer from America to the West End saying that it was a dream of his to perform in London. Zach Braff is well known for being the zany J.D in TV's Scrubs but is also an acclaimed film writer whose 2004 directorial debut Garden State was an Indie Film hit both financially and critically. He has moved away from Scrubs slightly in the past few years becoming more of a guest character and has been working towards more film directing and writing as evidenced by his latest project 'Open Heart' a remake of a Danish thriller and an original film written by himself called 'Swingles'.

The fact is Braff is a very talented actor, he is perhaps the best actor around today at juggling comedy and pathos equally. His play is centred around a depressed young man and is a comedy so he is in a perfect position he cannot really lose. Is Braff playing to type? Yes. Is that a bad thing? No. I always feel if someone is good at one genre and people are willing to pay to watch them do that one thing then by all means do it. Braff is taking the opportunity to tour his play internationally and to perform in it himself, not many American television stars or directors would take such a risk. The good thing is this play thanks to Braff has a built in audience due to the success and popularity in this country of Scrubs especially with the teenagers who watch E4. Scrubs has taken over the position in this country enjoyed by Friends for over 10 years and has become the teenage sitcom so this show will definitely shift some tickets. Normally I would rag on American actors coming over here to perform in a play as a gimmick but this time I think that would be unfair, it is a new piece of work which was well received in New York and with its sitcom style jokes and layout I think this will be an unchallenging piece of theatre that could engage young adults and teenagers without having to be a Musical. If only there were more shows like this for younger people to see, the point is sometimes we want to see something we're familiar with and currently the British young person is at a point where the American sitcom is a very accessible form of media and they understand it incredibly well. The old fashioned hard hitting drama isn't pulling in a massive amount of punters to the theatre so why not try the sitcom route, why not try writing a sitcom play for a change set here in the UK. This show could be incredibly popular and I am wishing I had tickets to see the performance just to see how the sitcom style works in a live theatre environment. Zach Braff will be good I am certain of it and he seems very enthusiastic about the entire enterprise and as the show will be hitting Glasgow and Manchester first it really seems as if its not about the money for this Hollywood star. If you liked 'Garden State' and 'Scrubs' I reckon you can't really go wrong buying tickets for this show.

For ticket information for the Glasgow and Manchester runs please click on the relevent cities name.

For ticket information regarding the West End run please click here.

Video Update Numero Uno!

2011-04-27T22:31:00.000+01:00

Walked-In London

2011-03-21T20:26:00.000Z

Ok this is supposed to be filed under the non-theatre news/article area of this blog but since this blog doesn't have one of those areas it is going here.

LibraryGirl and I are proud to announce the opening of our new blog Walked-In London. The whole premise is that because LibraryGirl and I love London we have begun reading books set in London to find new places to visit and experience. Also a lot of these books are titles that would normally fall under my radar, as you can imagine with the ever expanding HeadTheatre Library choosing books for me to read for fun generally ends up being quick and unadventurous, so it is a chance to experience some really good stories that may not be on the bestseller lists. Plus we will be visiting and posting photos of places found in the novels we read and even constructing some walks that you too can follow!

My first book was Mr Rinyo-Clacton's Offer by Russell Hoban and boy was it good! In fact because all you lovely people out there read headtheatre.blogspot.com (cheap plug) here is a bonus unpublished extract from my book journal review of the novel:

This book promotes the idea that life isn't perfect but is precious and not something to just dispense of... I loved reading this book I give it 4 out of 5 and look forward to re-reading it in a few years time.

Right you can find Walked-In London at walked-inlondon.blogspot.com, thats right its easily accessible at walked-inlondon.blogspot.com please make your way in an orderly fashion to the blog and let us know what you think.

Oh and I know that you all must be thinking, hey that blog looks good why is headtheatre so basic? Well I intend to amend that soon...

Special finds in London and the battle of the Gayefs

2011-03-03T20:45:00.001Z

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

2011-02-28T21:01:00.000Z

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

2011-02-28T20:39:00.000Z

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

Approach to the Theatre's next Lesson for the RTDA

2011-02-21T14:40:00.000Z

So this time I have commandeered my Dad's beloved home PC/glorified CD player to update with because I am still sans Laptop. I would have done it once again on the Kindle, because it wasn't a problem, its just that to write that relatively short update I did on Saturday took me two and a half hours. I will however be back up and running with a new Laptop very soon so updates will be quicker and more frequent.

Recently my studies for the RTDA (Room at the Top Drama Academy) have been slightly cut down hours wise due to the increasing demands on my time from work and from my Maths course. However having now completed my mulling over of 'King Lear' and finishing chapter two of 'Approach to the Theatre' I am moving on to chapter three and further analysis of text.

This book is very interesting and it has pointed me down the road of studying texts more, getting the feel of them which is something I have slowly dismissed and gotten lazy at in the past two years. According to chapter three the next move is to study the pace that is set by dramatic events and the suitability of a play from the writing. This book was printed in the mid to late 1950s so its ideas of what a suitable piece to read and put on generally is a Shakespeare or a Sheridan, which I followed for the chapter two unit, for chapter three I have decided to ignore the suggestion of something old (in relation to this book) and go for something contemporary (again in relation to this book) something that does not necessarily fit the brief given by Frances Mackenzie. I have chosen the 1972 play 'Monologue' by Harold Pinter which I am mad about, and have been since the tender age of Sixteen, because I want to give myself the impetus to really study hard to analyse the piece like I have never done so before. I find that if I give myself a real task to do then it will lead to a much better output on my part, you ask me to read a play I will do it and if I like it I will generally make my mind up on it right there and then and it gives me a blinkered outlook. I have for several years had a closed mind on Monologue, I even have proof of that. Go have a listen to my dry reading of it for my 'Radio' version (you can find it down the side of the blog or click here) because it is bad and it is one dimensional and Pinter always says more than it seems at first glance. I want to read and study Monologue to really guage its depth as a piece of Theatre and the format that Mackenzie gives, which I will go into and explain at greater length when I conclude chapter three, provides a distinct challenge to my imagination and subjectivity.

I will let you know how I get on very soon indeed...

Xtofer

RTDA an update and explanation

2011-02-18T21:32:00.000Z

So about two weeks ago LibraryGirl's laptop finally gave up the ghost, may it rest in peace, so I have been unable to update this blog and have now resorted to writing it on my Kindle. It is a bit difficult but I have been itching to post for over a week so it was this or nothing and nothing was not an option!

So onto the RTDA and the great tome 'Approach to Theatre'. When I last left you I said I had read King Lear and let you know how I got on, well I got on . . . well. I found Lear to be a riveting tale that has a lot of potential as a farce if it wasn't so tragic. To start I have to admit I really didn't like Lear himself who acts more like a pectulant child than the King of England. He bases the division of his Kingdom on a daughters single refusal to showboat her love for him. The denouncing and demonisation of this daughter is a shocking scene akin to a public flogging. After all this when his other daughter's started mistreating him I just didn't care. He was a contemptible character and there was no tragedy for me by the end and SPOILER ALERT!!!

When his daughter he denounced at the beginning dies with him at the end I just felt like Lear got his comeuppence. In the main plotline there was no sympathy for Lear, his actions and his selfishness were his downfall and no amount of moaning was going to make him sympathetic. The illegitimate son and love triangle plotline involving Edgar and the two daughters Lear favours seems like a staple of ribald comedy that became popular in the regency period, and is still very popular today, that would be very funny if it wasn't for the underlying themes of patricide and regecide. There is my biggest problem with Lear, it is just doom and gloom throughout. King Lear does not have the morality difficulties that plagues Macbeth and it doesn't put you on the edge of your seat like Othello where you are watching and willing someone to stop that vile villain Iago. Lear is a flat play that depressed me and had no payoff at the end, I don't need a happy ending and Romeo and Juliet which had a similar ending, sorry more spoilers, at least left us with hope that the war between the families was over. Lear gives you nothing inspirational or good just bleakness.

Staging Lear at least seems cheap and simple. The settings are basically great halls and the great outdoors. A throne is pretty much all the scenery you will need so it really is a simple production and that is how I would do it. I would minimise the amount of set but have a huge throne to dwarf Lear to show how small a man he truly is. My direction for the piece would not be sympathetic to Lear I would side with the daughters initially but after act two I am not sure what I as a director could do but present the action as it comes. This play comes down to each individual audience member making their own mind up about Lear. I think to a point the daughters have a point in their quarrel with Lear but murder is never the answer. So does he deserve to die? I think a more appropriate question is how would I tackle this piece? I gave my initial ideas but I keep pondering about it, i've been pondering for four weeks, and maybe that is this play's redeeming feature for me.

127 Hours and The Kings Speech

2011-02-01T17:04:00.001Z

At the Weekend LibraryGirl and myself went to the Connaught Theatre to watch two different films with one thing in common both lead males have been nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award. They are 127 Hours and The King's Speech and both were fantastic films with brilliant performances.

127 Hours is based on the true story of Aron Ralston a climber who whilst enjoying the canyons of Utah gets his arm trapped between a canyon wall and a massive stone. His hand is crushed and he cannot move from the spot he is trapped in. Left with barely any water, hardly any food and only a cheap 'made in china' knife he tries to survive the life threatening situation he is in. As he tries to escape and begins to grasp how bad the situation is he contemplates his life and nearly gives up until he removes his arm, on the fifth day he is trapped, with the now blunt knife. He then hikes eight miles before he is finally rescued. It is a fabulous story of human resource and survival told incredibly well by Danny Boyle but realised in a virtuoso performance by Franco.

I was not surprised to read that James Franco was nominated for the Oscar after watching his performance in the Cinema, in fact after watching his performance I just decided he should get the Oscar because it just was so good. He basically did a one man play on film laying a whole character bare, a whole human life for us to gaze at. He went through so many changes in the 93 minutes of the film, which isn't something out of the ordinary but it was when you consider that this represented 127 hours of one man's life. It was mesmerising to see this cocky mountaineering guy get trapped and then have to face the realities of what his life choices had caused him as he waited to die. Franco portrayed a man who understood his situation and was dealing with it in the best way he could but he also showed the intelligence of the character who only about 24 hours into his ordeal realises the only way he can get out is to hack off his arm yet also knows he doesn't have the right tools. You saw everything that Franco was thinking, every through line, every thought was a real thought it seemed. There was no faking or falsity in the performance (there couldn't be because of the way it was shot) but it still required the great skill of a fine actor like James Franco to pull it off. 127 hours is now one of my favourite films because of the performance of Franco and the excellent source material and script co-written by Danny Boyle. Will Franco win the Oscar? Probably not because this year is Firth's year it seems and I also think that the performance Firth gave in 'The King's Speech' was just... well shall we get to that now?

The King's Speech is without a shadow of a doubt one of the best British Films in years and has rightly earned a huge amount of accolade. Charting the problems of the soon to be King George the VI this film starts with a scene based in the old Wembley Stadium where the then Duke of York stutters through a speech at the end of the year's Empire Exhibition and leads us up to his first WWII speech to the people of the UK and the British Empire. The Duke of York is played by the brilliant Colin Firth who has really hit his stride it seems recently with his performances in films. Colin Firth plays the conflicted Prince Albert who has had a stammer since his early years, which has been made worse by the need for him to speak over the radio to the people of the Empire in his role as one of the Royal Family. When his brother refuses to stop his dalliances with Mrs Wallis Simpson it becomes more obvious Albert may have to take the throne over and it is of vital importance that the King not stammer. The plot may not sound great but its the performances that make this film the sensation it is and the performance by Firth is just a beautiful thing. Essentially the role is this: a man who has to keep his life private yet remain in the public eye, must be diplomatic at all times, be a servant of the people and most of all live up to everyone's expectations no matter how big or small. It is a very large ask for anyone to do that job and to be all those things but Colin Firth portrays them all very well. His performance reminded me of what I heard Dame Judi Dench say on A:M a few weeks ago 'Someone once said to me, don't try and play all the part at once, play it a bit at a time and hopefully by the end you will have something that's whole' which I took to mean that there are many facets to a character but you should never try to do the whole character all at once. After all where does the character go in scene two if you have revealed all in scene one? Colin Firth did this perfectly, showing the insecurities and passions of a man who was not raised to be King but who became one of our greatest and taught our Queen how to be arguably the greatest monarch since Queen Victoria. Side by side there isn't much between the performances of Franco and Firth, both played real people and both showed why they are so well respected as performers. However for me the problems that Aron was facing in 127 Hours was in our faces the whole way through the film and we couldn't get away from it and so Franco had everything just hanging out there from the moment of the accident. In 'The King's Speech' because of the very nature of the subject and the character Firth played he could be more guarded and downplay the drama of the films situation. There was more depth to Firth's performance than in Franco's and that is why I believe he deserves the Oscar nod.

Both these films are phenomenal so run run run to the Cinema and don't come back until you have seen both!

RTDA: The Entertainer by John Osbourne presented by the BBC.

2011-01-26T15:51:00.000Z

So this week my new mp3 player arrived and after spending a good few hours organising my music collection, the shows and soundtrack folder is jam packed, I started looking at my spoken word resources. Here in the UK we may have the best broadcasting organisation in the world with the BBC as they put on so many great productions and programmes both on the television and their various radio stations. Over the years I have recorded and collected a wide range of plays and programmes on the theatre always with it in mind to listen to them, much like my issues with my book collection, but now I have actually put a selection onto my mp3 with the idea of listening while I work. This week I put on a couple of programmes and plays but the big one that I had was a BBC Worldwide production of 'The Entertainer' by John Osbourne featuring Bill Nighy as Archie Rice the main character. I once tried to read 'The Entertainer' because of having read 'Look Back in Anger' and loving the characters and I found it slightly hard to follow and not very compelling. I should probably add that this was when I was 17 and really had only just been introduced to work the likes of Pinter and Osbourne so I was learning slowly. Then around the beginning of December I was looking through one of my monologue books and came across one of the Archie Rice speeches and was hooked by his laid back malice. So when I put the play on I was hoping to enjoy the whole thing.

I worked and listened and found myself sucked into this family that just exists, much like Britain after WWII the rice family just exists. It doesn't prosper and it has no future according to its main protagonists. Nighy was brilliant as Archie playing him in the first three quarters with so much charm that I believed I had the character down all wrong, that I must have misheard and misread all the information I had found about the play. Then nearer the end he becomes nastier as it transpires he has fallen for some floozy and has no interest in his wife or family any longer. By the time he puts his elderly father back on the stage you hate Archie Rice and realise that he plays the role of genial gentleman and comic 24/7 even with his immediate family just so he can get what he wants from life. I found the play very interesting and entertaining as well. I look forward to listening to more BBC productions on BBC 7 in the coming weeks.

I recommend anyone who wants to experience some of the best actors in the UK playing some fantastic roles to go straight to the BBC Radio website and check out Radio 4 and Radio 7.

Brimstone and Treacle still vile after all these years

2011-01-26T15:33:00.000Z

On Saturday we visited London once again and on a beautiful January day we headed for, what has become my favourite part of the City, the Southbank of the Thames. On the Southbank is situated the BFI and inside there is the Mediatheque which allows you to watch free movies from the BFI collection. Inside the archives at the BFI they have a large amount of the 'Play for Today' programmes, about 60 of the original 300 broadcast, of which I have now watched a couple. I really enjoyed the first one which was 'Brassneck' by David Hare and Howard Breton and when searching through the archive noticed 'Brimstone and Treacle' and I noted it down as a future watch. I knew about it being a banned play but I just assumed that it had been banned for a mild reason, in this multimedia world of disgusting images available at the touch of a button surely a play written in the mid 1970s couldn't offend. I was wrong.

Starring Denholm Elliott, Michael Kitchen, Patricia Lawrence and Michelle Newell this play focuses on the life of a tragedy struck family and how one stranger infiltrates and takes advantage of that family.

The play begins with Martin, who refers to himself as a Demon, (Kitchen) on a London suburb street talking about sulphur and looking around for a mark. He talks to a gentleman trying to insinuate himself into the mans life asking if he remembers him, this man doesn't and rebukes Martin who quickly moves onto Mr Bates (Elliott) who walks into view and gets sucked in slightly by Martin. Martin claims to know Mr Bates which makes him ask how and he claims to have known Mr Bates' daughter which makes Bates dubious as his daughter is paraplegic due to a tragic car accident two years previous. Martin claims to have proposed to the daughter but she turned him down so he went to America and had heard nothing about what had happened to her in the meantime but that he wants to see her again despite her being disabled. Mr Bates finds this most distasteful and tries to leave Martin but Martin fakes a seizure and Bates says he will fetch the car. Mr Bates leaves. Martin has stolen his wallet though and follows him home.

When Bates gets home we meet his wife who is looking after their daughter Pattie, a brilliant performance by Michelle Newell, and she is speaking to Pattie because she believes that her daughter will eventually get better. Mr Bates has already made up his mind that his daughter no longer exists and is just a physical shell despite the fact that when they talk to her she obviously responds. Martin turns up with the wallet and sends Mr Bates into a tizzy who is infuriated that the man he tried to lose followed him but stays polite and explains the situation to his wife who talks to Martin. Martin uses his natural charm to insinuate himself into Mrs Bates confidence and she accepts him as a would have been son in law nearly instantly. Mrs Bates is flattered by the attention that Martin gives her and of the chance that she has to actually converse with someone other than her husband as she has to stay at home and look after Pattie. During a session where the three of them drink a little too much and Martin allows himself to be spoken to we find out that Mr Bates has a problem with black people and believe the Conservative Party is now too soft so he has joined the National Front. As it gets late and Martin has volunteered to help look after Pattie because of his faux love of her since she turned down his proposal he is allowed to stay in Patties old bedroom upstairs. As soon as he gets up there he starts rummaging around her underwear drawer, finding some sort of perverse pleasure from the experience. This was the first thing that made me feel slightly uneasy. Then the perversion within this play comes out as he goes to bed and uses his demonic powers to sexually abuse and arouse Pattie who is sleeping downstairs.

The next day Pattie seems a little more responsive but Mr Bates is still unconvinced and Martin is treated badly by him again. When Mr Bates goes to work Martin convinces Mrs Bates to go get her hair cut and that he can look after Pattie whilst she is out. Once she has left the house Martin rapes Pattie in one of the most chilling and disturbing scenes I have ever witnessed on film.

The rape scenes in this play are disturbing not because of the content but because of the subject, this woman is the most helpless kind of person there is. Pattie is a woman who cannot say no, who cannot make a decision and she is fully exploited and violated by this demon. Then you add in the creepiness of the lines within the text which are wonderfully performed by Kitchen. Finally to really offend your sense of propriety and decency these rapes and molestations lead to Pattie coming to and being healed of her disability. It is a sick and twisted part of a play which actually brings up some very interesting points and makes you question the motives of this demon. My favourite part of this play is when the demon/Martin confronts Mr Bates with the reality of his racism, the reality of his 'send the blacks home' attitude. What starts as a simple conversation about how the NF will send them back to Africa/Jamaica/India etc leads to Martin bringing up the one fact that I like hearing racists and people like Nick Griffin try and answer which is 'What are people who are born here? Because according to you they are not British'. Martin goes on to point out that the only logical way to get rid of them is to have another Holocaust but here in England. This causes Mr Bates to reevaluate his beliefs. It is a brilliant piece of text and it is wonderfully performed by Kitchen and Elliot, it had me completely fixed to the screen I just wish it was a theatre play so I could experience the power of those words personally.

This play is vile in the way it portrays rape against a disabled woman and I think Alisdair Milne the man who cancelled its original broadcast in 1976 put it best by saying: "nauseating" though "brilliantly made".

This piece of work made me incredibly uncomfortable but it did make me think and also question what was acceptable in the theatre. Was this a step too far? I cannot say yes and I cannot say no because I was so offended by the ideas perpetrated by the sexual scenes.

I do not know what message Dennis Potter wanted to get across because I cannot work it out. It is a piece of work I respect yet find highly offensive. I think this piece is important to watch for any drama student to understand the limitations that sometimes need to be adhered to.

RTDA Update and Musings

2011-01-16T12:16:00.000Z

Ok so another Saturday and another day out and about on the South Coast where yet again I found more tomes for my studies with the RTDA. Here is the list of purchases...

State of Revolution by Robert Bolt

Presence by David Harrower

Shakespeare - Hit or Miss? by John Gielgud

German Expressionism Five Plays by Georg Kaiser

Marat by Peter Weiss

Postwar German Theatre An Anthology of Plays printed by Macmillan

Punch at the Theatre

All in all a good little haul which was most fun gathering together.

Musings from the Week at RTDA

So this week whilst getting drenched at work a couple of thoughts about RTDA crossed my mind, slight little things that I didn't take into account when enrolling in this course. Learning prose, verse and the intricate nuances required to properly convey emotions on stage is relatively simple with practise and study, which is of course the point of this whole exercise, compared to learning two skills that most drama academies and schools teach but for which I do not really have the facilities nor the talent to teach myself. These are 1. Dance and 2. Singing. Now my singing voice is alright and and in many ways perfect for choral singing, plus when I get round to Cicely Berry's Voice and the Actor its breathing techniques and voice control exercises will probably improve my singing voice. I just wonder how much I can learn on my own singing along to 'Starlight Express' and 'Grease 2' compared to taking lessons, however perhaps I should peruse youtube and see if anyone on there is offering free lessons or tips. Then there is the dancing, well I have two left feet and when I HAD to do dance on my BTEC ND in performing arts course I was atrocious to the point of looking like I had only had one rehearsal when performing for an audience. So in a world and industry where you are expected to sing and be able to handle simple dance moves in Street Jazz, Tap, Jazz and Classical its kind of a problem being rhythmically challenged like myself. In the past I had looked up home dance courses and they were very pricey, I think the cheapest course I found back then was around one hundred pounds so I initially ignored the idea. Then today when I searched again I found a UK based company that offered a reasonably priced course on DVD.

This dance studio has produced several dvd classes worth investing in but when I saw the title of the complete beginners I was hooked. 2 Left Feet Complete Beginners looks like its exactly what someone like me who has hardly any talent needs to increase their technical base and boost their confidence. A snip at £26.99 and something which the RTDA may need to invest in for the future.

RTDA isn't going to address everything that a drama school will but there is always another way of getting round these problems you just have to be willing to look and get creative with your solutions.

As for Lear, it is there waiting and it will be done soon. Having read the background and contexts has made me mull ideas over of the staging and presentation of such a dramatic piece of work. All of this is very well and good but for me as a creative person I really cannot put together a solid vision until I have studied the content and hopefully in the next week time will become available to really crack on with Lear and Approach to Theatre.

Remember to check in throughout the week for new articles and further content from the RTDA project. I hope you have a great week and please feel free to comment.

Another sign of the Age of Austerity - The Castle Wellingborough Northants

2011-01-11T11:11:00.000Z

The Castle Theatre Wellingborough is a community theatre in Northamptonshire. It contains a main house which seats five hundred and three audience members and an eighty nine seat studio theatre. It even contains rooms for a youth theatre group, resident artists space and an art gallery. The Castle is a pivotal part of local life in Wellingborough who use it not just as a theatre space but also as a community centre. Now the venue needs to find an organisation to take over the space before the first of February to secure the jobs of its staff, unfortunately even if The Castle does get another organisation to take it over the local council will cut its funding by ten percent in April. Considering that in 2010 this mainly amatuer and community theatre venue had such artists as Victoria Wood, Jenny Eclair and Julian Clary put on their work there and that it hosts the East Midlands Youth Theatre Festival every year this will be a terrible blow to Wellingborough. I have always had a problem with closing regional theatres and with them losing their funding and to see what this venue offers and realise that the excellent services they provide will have to be cut does make me worry about the future of regional theatre. With the rise in ticket prices for West End and big city venues run by the larger theatre groups it is more important now than ever that a cheaper option in the provinces is widely available. We all have to do our bit to dig the UK out of this black hole of debt but do we really know what the cultural and educational cost of all this cutting is going to mean to our society in twenty years time. For more information please read this article by Bernie Goodjohn of the Northants Evening Telegraph.

Yeah well the Dog ate it! Excuses to the RTDA

2011-01-10T10:08:00.000Z

Ok so if this was a Monday Morning about five years ago and I was supposed to hand in or produce some work that I was meant to have done for University and I wanted to stretch my deadline I would have come up with some excuse. I think my main excuse during my college and University years was 'My Printer is playing up again/My computer crashed and wiped the work' which was true due to the strange models of printers and pc's my Dad would purchase. Today I have no excuse really for why chapter two of 'Approach to Theatre' is not completed, I started doing it but didn't finish it. I read the introduction to King Lear and a whole load of information on its historical background, context and source. I even read about where the text originates from and how the great Tragedians throughout history modified the script to solidify their performances but not a stanza of Shakespeare's verse has passed my eyes yet. This is because I was busy this weekend. Busy doing what I hear you cry? Well here is what I was busy doing.

As I mentioned on Saturday we went into the manic and heaving town centre where we added several tomes to my collection of theatre books. However two other things were picked up during this trip to the shops. One was a video game called 'Heavy Rain' and the other was a dvd boxset of that 90s Fantasy television series 'Xena'. Saturday afternoon was then spent watching a couple of episodes of Xena and then copious amounts of Heavy Rain. Now this may seem like a complete waste of time however there were lessons to be learned and I found both very helpful.

Xena the Warrior Princess is about a former Warlord named Xena who is trying to right the wrongs of all the slaughter, chaos and general misery she has rained down on the Ancient World. Along the way she meets friends such as Gabriel who joins her in her roam around Thrace and Greece (I am only up to episode four) doing good deeds and kicking evil doers behinds. Now you may ask what on earth I could possibly learn from such a fantastical piece of television but there are real lessons to be learned from material such as this. One is conviction, the actors in this show give great conviction to their lines and Lucy Lawless (Xena) plays it very straight and honest. There is a certain campness to the whole show, I love it, which would probably make most theatre goers and people who worship the method and serious acting cry for the blood of the producers actors and anyone else involved but the truth is that Xena is well acted and it is a great example of entertaining television. If as a drama student I need to remember anything its that ultimately being an actor is about being able to entertain people and Xena entertained me. Also the way it is costumed and designed is very theatrical and that instantly gives it credit to help me with my understanding of design for film, theatre and television.

Now Heavy Rain may seem like a very odd thing to be writing on a theatre blog but this piece of video gaming is amazingly theatrical. It is essentially an interactive film noir in which you control the outcome of the story and characters involved. Set in an American city somewhere in the Northeast this story revolves around a man named Ethan and his relationships which are ruined by two tragic events. Now I loved this game and LibraryGirl and myself were hooked to the screen all evening and all of Sunday nearly too which is all very good I hear you all cry but again what does it have to do with the theatre? Well Heavy Rain wasn't really animated in the conventional way that video games are done, no its characters move because they were motion captured to move that way. Their faces were motion captured in the same way that Tom Hanks was in Polar Express so what you actually are watching as you interact with this epic movie is real actors playing out a real script. What this game has shown me is the subtle nuances within facial features and movements, because of the way it was constructed I was in the game more and I felt as if the fourth wall no longer existed that I was the characters. I just admired the whole game and the acting ability put forward. The voice acting was very good as well, in recent years people have praised games such at GTA IV for the acting involved but having played both these games Heavy Rain is vastly superior. I really need to work on my facial expressions and vocal skills if I want to be a good actor and that is what I learnt from playing this game.

So yes that is why I did not do my work, that is what led to my distraction. Am I sorry? No not at all because I did learn some things and I can go back to Shakespeare now. This week I will be back on track with King Lear being analysed. This time though I won't fix myself to a two day working period. With home schooling and education you have to balance everything within your day to day life and maybe thats the biggest lesson this weekend has taught me. So keep up with me as I continue working hard at the RTDA.

New Acquisitions for HeadTheatre and Room at the Top Drama Academy

2011-01-08T14:54:00.000Z

Ok so today being Saturday I abandoned all hope of sanity and calmness and went shopping downtown amongst the sales crazy general public. It was manic and stressful but considering some of the gems we found today in the shops it was well worth it. Despite always telling myself to take it easy when it comes to purchasing more books it seems I never listen. Here is a list of the new additions to the RTDA Library purchased today:

Romeo and Juliet - York Notes (always handy to have)

Romeo and Juliet - Cambridge School Shakespeare

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard

Distinguished Company by John Gielgud (a beautiful hardcover copy)

A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller

WHSmith GCSE Literature Guide to Macbeth

The Panizzi Lectures 1998 'Publishing Drama in Early Modern Europe' by Robert Chartier (this one looks fascinating)

The True Book About The Theatre by Anthony Read (as opposed to the Untrue book about Theatre)

and

The Actor and the Target by Declan Donnellan (I had to read this after rewatching his emotive scene when PJ gets blinded at the paintball course)

So yeah a great little haul today. Oh and of course I know Declan Donnellan and Declan Donnelly are not the same person I was just kidding, in all seriousness I saw the book in Waterstones the other day picked it up read the back and instantly wanted it so I am very happy with that purchase in particular.

Remember that on Monday RTDA and HeadTheatre will bring you chapter two of Approach to Theatre as we continue my homeschool education. Have a nice weekend.

RTDA: Chapter One of Approach to Theatre

2011-01-07T16:19:00.000Z

Ok so chapter one of this book is really just an introduction to what to expect from the author and the publication. It is very well written because I get a real sense of Frances Mackenzie's voice and a genuine feeling of the type of woman she was. The chapter starts with her trying to answer the question 'What is Theatre?' which I think is a query we should always be making to challenge ourselves to work in different ways. Ms Mackenzie talks about her personal feelings as to what is the draw of the theatre and her personal background in the industry. The words and phrases she uses can sometimes sound quite matter of fact and she seems immovable on some of her beliefs, however when you read about how she worked her way up from producing in the amateur theatre to the professional industry taking all the small jobs along the way to eventually teaching production for the BDL you have to respect her. She rose to a high powered job in the theatre in an era when women as anything else apart from actors were few and far between. After introducing her credentials and feelings on the theatre she gets right into the subject of 'Finding a Producer' and starts talking about the problems involved in amateur theatre with regards to the producer role. I found this part to be very true to my personal experience within amdram and its interesting to see that even fifty years ago this was a genuine problem. Moving onto 'Training a Producer' she talks about how you can train a producer but the best ones are people with genuine underlying talent and passion. The feeling I get is that she doesn't truly believe one hundred percent that people who just fall into the role can be effective which does make me question her motives in writing this book. However near the end of page 6 you can see why she despairs so much of the people without passion or talent for the role with the cake story. I read this and couldn't believe that someone could be so foolish, but then again I have asked some stupid questions myself. Anyway this is the cake story.

'Some years ago a lady attended a course at BDL. At the end of the course she came to me full of indignation and announced "I am most dissapointed in this course"
"Oh, dear" said I "Why?"
"I came to find out what they use on the stage for cake and I asked the tutor and he said Cake!"
Nothing I could say would convince the lady that she had not been cheated'

Unbelievable isn't it that sometimes people will not accept that sometimes the simplest thing to do when recreating a scene on stage is just to make or use a real thing?

Well Chapter One didn't put me off this book, which is a good thing, and I actually feel that by following this publications course that I will either learn something new or solidify and refresh my memory from before RTDA.

Chapter two quickly follows in which we will be trying to discover what 'theatre' is by analyzing a play and starting that creative ball rolling by bouncing some ideas around. This is going to be a fun project over the weekend I can tell. Check in on Monday to find out how it went.

RTDA Term 1: Initiation and book 1. Day 1

2011-01-06T09:45:00.000Z

Term 1: Initiation and book 1. Day 1

So today I began my very first day of ‘Room at the Top Drama Academy’ with my initiation and general introduction to the facilities provided by this fine establishment. After looking round the room, which took all of two seconds, I picked up the first text book of my course. I should say right now that I have not sat down and written a curriculum for this project my books are chosen for their titles and perceived content. So with that in mind here is the first title:

Approach to Theatre For Student Producers by Frances Mackenzie

This is from Samuel French LTD and was printed in 1957. It cost 5 shillings brand new but according to the inner page it only cost me 99p. This book was published fifty three years ago and the author according to the book was principal of the British Drama League Training Department as well as being the writer of other such weighty tomes on the theatre as 'The Amateur Actor' and 'Little Plays of Pigwiggin'. Now my brief research on the British Drama League, from now on reffered to as BDL, has revealed that it was started in 1919 and ran as that until 1972 when it changed its name to the British Theatre Association. Now the BDL eventually dissolved in 1990 because of financial situations that I do not know about but its work in promoting a British Theatre Festival continues to this day in the form of the All-England Theatre Festival. So I am essentially reading a book that has no idea of the revolutionary changes to the theatre in the UK post 1950s for my first exploration into how to participate in our industry. I am also worried about the language in the book, having already read the first three to four pages it seems that the role of a theatre producer and director of theatre are the same thing. This may lead to some confusion for my simple country bumpkin brain but it is certainly an interesting look at the way jobs were referred to in our industry back then. Anyway more on that and chapter one tomorrow of this brilliant book including a simply brilliant story about Cake.

Introduction: The Project and its Beginnings

2011-01-05T18:59:00.000Z

Introduction: The Project and its Beginnings

As a graduate of drama school who is looking for a position in the world of the Theatre but I have so far found barely any work in this age of austerity. I graduated in 2007 with an Upper Second Honors degree and since then I have wanted to study further to get my Masters degree but have never had the money. However what I have accumulated over the past 8 years is a mini library of books which hold a wealth of practical knowledge, theory and plays. I also have a few multimedia items in my library that I have managed to collect over that time which are fascinating. I was looking at this little collection and conjured up this idea about how I could study Drama at home from all these books and try to use the knowledge gleaned from them to improve myself. So here we are, I am going to see what I can learn from books bought from all over the world, out of print texts and some of the bog standard theatre books you find on every drama school’s reading list. First of all to give you a real understanding of how many books there are take a gander at this pic…

Yes this is a mountain of books but I bought them all meaning to read and study them and now I will. I do not know how long this project will take and I have no idea if studying at home can truly help a wannabe actor become better and learn the skills he needs to succeed but I am going to give it a damn good try.

Happy New Year

2011-01-05T18:31:00.000Z

Happy New Year to you all! For all of you out there who have followed this blog over the past two years, thank you so much and I am sorry I abandoned the blog about five months ago. However I am now back with a brand new project for this site and will be updating at least three times a week from now on. So I hope you all continue to read the blog and enjoy your 2011 as much as I am.

Chris

Tom Cruise... on stage? Seriously?

2010-07-27T16:21:00.000+01:00

Yes it is true the top grossing actor for the 90s wants to start a stage career but not just anywhere, he wants to start on the West End stage. Reports from websites such as aceshowbiz.com say that Cruise was inspired by his wifes run in 'All my Sons' on Broadway in 2008. He believes that the West End would be the best place for him to start a stage career and in most circumstances a huge film star like Cruise would fill me with excitement but there are a couple of things in this situation that could scupper his plans. I am going to do the negatives first, which are minimal but still I think they need to be said.

Inexperience. The last time that Cruise trod the boards was when he began getting into drama in High School, true according to sources the play he performed in was widely accepted as a critical and artistic success, that was 29 years ago now. Thats a third of his life that is dedicated to the form that is screen acting, something that is a true art form that takes time to hone but so does stage acting and he hasn't done it in so long it just makes me worry his inexperience will shine through.

Focus. Cruise, as LibraryGirl was quick to point out, can be incredibly unfocused when his fans start screaming, sighing and generally fauning over him. Pick absolutely any time he has appeared anywhere and the women scream and sigh and he laps it up like a cat who has got the cream. He'll go to talk and they will scream more so he just laughs and smiles, sending them into more of a tizzy. Some would say it is self serving and arrogant of him to encourage this behaviour and then you would have to question whether it would make him break character on the stage. When I saw Guys and Dolls with Ewan Macgregor a huge sigh of affection went up from many of the female fans in the theatre but he just worked through it without acknowledging it. Would Cruise be able to do the same? Or would his ego take over?

Positives.

Ability. Now I think it is unfair to say that Tom Cruise cannot act, he is definately a great Matinee idol who can provoke great emotion and portray certain characters well. His work in Rain Man leaps to mind as a great example of good acting that required some very subtle emotive scenes as well as those that are very intense. Even his work in Jerry Maguire shows his range of skills. The biggest issue for me is that he will need to project these emotions physically and vocally across a large auditorium which may prove a very large challenge for him.

Dedication. Tom Cruise is known for his dedication to his work and very hard work ethic. I believe that even though he has zero experience on the professional stage if you told him he had six weeks to rehearse a play and then put it on he would work day and night. The man obviously loves his job and has a need to make his work good, he doesn't give it half the effort it is always 100% with him. Cruise is also not averse to taking risks, he performs some of his own stunts in films he stars in, his cameo in Tropic Thunder stole the film and sent himself up and this move onto the stage is just as big a risk for him.

Box Office Appeal. Imagine not just a big name in film like Spacey, or Goldblum or even Branagh but perhaps the biggest name (bar Will Smith) of the past 20 years appearing on the West End stage. My eyes just light up with pound signs. It would pretty much sell out instantly in my opinion as fans will descend on London to see their hero up close and dare I say a lot of people will go for the potential car crash that Cruise may provide. In a world and society where the almighty pound rules we must accept that what sells is in and what doesn't is out and Tom Cruise will easily sell 400 seats a night in this writers opinion.

So would I like to see Tom Cruise up and close? Yes I would, I really enjoyed his work in Interview with a Vampire, Rain Man and Jerry Maguire. I think it would be interesting to see whether he could do it too. My only hope is that IF this dream of his comes to some sort of fruition it is either under the Bridge programme at the Old Vic or in conjunction with the Donmar Warehouse who both seem able to get the best work from these film actors. Some people out there will probably be upset that yet another American actor will take another potential acting job from an English performer but this in my opinion could be good, and once Cruise does it we may find more of Hollywoods actors stretching their performing muscles and learning how much working in the theatres can improve their onscreen acting. It could usher in a whole new era of actors on stage and stage actors on screen... it could but it probably wouldn't.

The only question now is who is going to pony up the money for this project? Which producer is going to have the right price for both Cruise and Equity? I cannot wait to see.

Xtofer

Review: Eric Morecambe Unseen The Lost Diaries, Jokes and Photographs

2010-07-27T15:21:00.000+01:00

Following the wonderful performance by Bob Golding in 'Morecambe' I was inspired to read more about Eric Morecambe and this book leapt out at me from the library shelves. This book takes a look at the many chapters of Eric Morecambe' life briefly touching on all the major events in his life and the relationships, however the main attraction is the rare photos ranging from early pictures of his as Eric Bartholemew before his relationship with Ernie Wise to pictures of him at home with his family. Putting these photos alongside the text about his life gives a better insight into a man born to perform but dedicated to his family. All the stories you already know about Morecambe and Wise are here, there are some more personal stories interweaved though. The biographical part of this book is very well written and was an interesting look at the life of this comedy giant which I really enjoyed reading. The second half of the book looks at Eric's material from his unfinished stories to the diaries he kept from 67, 68 and 69. His diaries are a fascinating look at the end of the Variety Theatre circuit which was dying by the end of the 60s but still Morecambe and Wise toured them packing in crowds with their box office smashing act. My favourite section has to be the one liners however, Morecambe was a man of great wit and excellent delivery and even reading them written down you can imagine his mannerisms and how he would say it and they made me laugh out loud. Here are a few of those great one liners:

'My eyes are no good anymore - I've got my wife to prove it'

'They say bread cast upon the water comes back to you a hundred fold. Fine! But what am I going to do with a hundred wet loaves?'

'Out of bounds - a tired Kangaroo'

and my favourite ...

'Agent - A man who's annoyed because you get 90% of his salary'

This book is full of so much to make you smile and Eric Morecambes own smile is on nearly every page. A fitting book for those who grew up watching Morecambe and Wise and also perfect for anyone interested in why those two still capture the British publics imagination even today. I would reccomend this book to anyone. To purchase it please click here.

Will Gompertz on Rhyming Couplets

2010-07-27T10:52:00.000+01:00

Will Gompertz of the BBC has done a new blog post on the rhyming couplet style of 'La Bete' by David Hirson. 'La Bete' is the transatlantic piece starring David Hyde Pearce and Joanna Lumley that is playing here on the West End until moving to Broadway. Gompertz's opinion on rhyming couplet plays is something I have some agreement with and his style in this blog is just genius. To read it please click here.

News from the Four Corners of the Earth: Monday the 26th July 2010

2010-07-26T15:38:00.000+01:00

Moviestar Cameron Diaz has announced that she would never tread the boards despite the vast amount of movie actors who have gained accolades, respect and legitimacy for performing in the theatre. Her reason is she believes she would be far too scared and nervous to be able to handle the stresses of performing. Well normally I would say 'What a shame' but I think its probably all for the best considering I cannot remember a single memorable performance from her. For more info on this story please go to the Daily Telegraph website here.

The co-founder of Stage Electrics Maurice Marshal MBE has passed away at the age of 76. Maurice Marshal trained many of the top theatre technicians in the country through his apprentice courses at the Northcott Theatre Exeter. For his obituary from the Exeter Express and Echo click here.

In Wales a new production called The Beach will be performed from tomorrow until Sunday at Prestatyn. Performed on the Beach this production is essentially an interactive game for 36 audience members, designed by games and play designers Hide&Seek which looks at what has happened to Wales' lost generation. For more info please follow the link to the wonderful WalesOnline website here.

Regular TFMH readers will know I hate it when Theatres close but here is some good news regarding The Picturedrome in Gloucester which has just been given support from the council to run and has a great team behind it. To read more on this great news please click here.

Another wonderful story is the re-opening of Scarboroughs open air Theatre this summer season as reported on the BBC website here.

As part of their articles on Working Life the Guardian wrote about the Theatre Director Ivan Cutting. Its a very good read about the life of a theatre director/artistic director of a medium sized theatre company. To read it please click here.

www.broadwayworld.com has announced that they are launching their own fan choice awards for the theatre. Ballots will open in August and the awards will happen in December. Whether this will make much of a splash in the theatre world, I cannot say but it is good to see awards voted for by the paying public who at the moment are paying through the nose for theatre tickets. Allowing them to reward their favourite performers will hopefully mean that more populist pieces and performers will get the recognition that many snobs in the industry deny them. Hopefully this will eventually become a very prestigious event in the vein of the Oliviers and Evening Standard Awards. For more info please click here.

Xtofer

Curtains!!! Project: John Earl article on Frank Matcham at the Frank Matcham Society

2010-07-26T14:20:00.000+01:00

The Curtains!!! book had several writers contributing to it and one of these was John Earl who is an expert on the subject of Theatre Architect Frank Matcham. After the release of the Curtains!!! book Earl joined the society for Frank Matcham which aims to raise the profile of the mans great work and to protect and preserve those venues designed by Matcham that are still standing. It was on the society's website, which is viewable here, that I found a brilliant article by John Earl and I thought I would post it here.

To read this article about Matcham's theatres then please click here. The article is three pages long and is a fascinating read.

Kenton for Keeps Campaign... just days before a disaster that we can all help avert.

2010-07-26T13:47:00.000+01:00

It is a sad sign of the times when organisations which are a boon to local trade and culture are forced to shut down because of 'cost cutting measures' but yet again here we are with another theatre that looks ready to close. The Kenton Theatre in Henley Oxfordshire is the fourth oldest Theatre still standing in the UK and they have been given the opportunity to purchase the freehold for the venue from the current owners. They have until the end of this month to pay the full amount agreed which will ensure the theatres safety and continued use to the community. However during June the theatre suffered a major setback, when the Theatre believed they only had £70000 left to pay, still a huge amount but it was reachable, a group retracted their funding of £100000 and now they have merely days to make up the amount. Nearly £200000 needs to be found for this great piece of our theatrical heritage. Built in 1805 this truly is a gem of both cultural and social history which it would be a great shame to lose, so I implore you all to donate to the 'Kenton for Keeps' campaign before we lose yet another great Regency theatre to a dull and history damaging property development. Following are links that give you more information on the Theatre and its campaign and also the Facebook page which gives you information on how to donate money or even time to save this theatre.

4 days to go!

Theatre Trust: Kenton

Funding the Freehold of Kenton Theatre

The Kenton Theatre

Facebook Page for Kenton

Performing Arts treats on the Box Monday 26th and Tuesday the 27th of July

2010-07-26T13:19:00.000+01:00

Monday

14:00 Sky Arts 1 Hugh Laurie on In The Artists Studio, Laurie talks about his career pre House.

14:00 Sky Arts 2 Amadeus Directors Cut, adapted from stage play. Fantastic film starring Broadway producer Tom Hulce in a genius portrayal of Mozart.

9pm BBC1 Rupert Everett on Who Do you Think You Are?

23:05-00:35 BBC1 Importance of Being Earnest 2002. Following WDYTYA is Everetts performance in this Oscar Wilde Classic.

18:20-21:00 Film4 Coach Carter (Samuel L Jackson Movie, renowned for his powerful performance)

Tuesday

01:20 Film4 Venus starring Peter O Toole as a down on his luck actor

12:05 Channel 4 Gaslight 1940. The British film version of this classic play.

14:00 Sky Arts 1 Forest Whitaker on In the Artists Studio

20:00 Sky Arts 2 Matthew Bournes Swan Lake. A revolutionary piece of dance theatre from an all male cast of ballerinas.

Update of classic TFMH post: Curtains!!! The Old Stagers

2010-07-25T23:24:00.000+01:00

Here is a repost of my earlier blog on the Old Stagers company based in Canterbury. As I mentioned in the article, see below, the company announced a show was going to be presented between the 2nd and the 7th of August however it has now been revealed that the show being performed is Oscar Wilde's 'Lord Arthur Savilles Crime'. The play has most recently been revived in a national tour starring Lee Mead, of 'Any Dream Will Do, in his dramatic debut playing the titular character. This late Victorian melodrama is known as a light hearted romp. With a 159 year reputation to uphold the Old Stagers will surely put on a fantastic production, tickets are available from this website.

The Old Stagers is an amateur Theatre Company that I have recently come across during my research into the Theatres of Canterbury for my Curtains!!! Project. One of the venues which I have looked up and researched at great length is the Theatre Royal Canterbury and whilst looking at the Times Digital Archive found reference to this group going back over a hundred years.

Formed in 1842 The Old Stagers hold a very strong claim on being the longest surviving amateur Theatre Company, originally founded by the Honorable Frederick Ponsonby it was set up to provide extra events for Canterbury's Cricket Week. According to their own website the actors were the cricket players! This of course left them little time to rehearse and on their website they talk about how they would rehearse on the green and in the tents. However reviews of these performances from 1908 onwards give these performers great respect and commend them for providing a lot of fun during the evenings before the next days cricket.

I cannot imagine a better day out really than a fine Kentish Ale in Canterbury watching the Cricket in the August Sun and then a piece of theatre in the evening. Sounds like my sort of Summers Day.

The next Canterbury Cricket Week is in August and the Old Stagers Website is advertising dates of August the 2nd until August the 7th.

For more information on Kent Cricket please go here.

For tourist information on the beautiful city of Canterbury please look here.

Xtofer

Theatre Programmes: Out of the Crocodile Phoenix Theatre London 1963-1964

2010-07-20T15:10:00.000+01:00

Out of the Crocodile was performed at the Phoenix Theatre London from late 1963 until early 1964. It starred several famous actors and was a theatre piece by famous tv screenwriter Giles Cooper.

This may be my favourite part of these programmes, the adverts and this one on the back is just hilarious.

News from the Four Corners of the Earth Monday the 19th July 2010

2010-07-20T10:06:00.000+01:00

The Guardian Newspaper of the UK has hailed the recently knighted Sir Nicholas Hytner the director of the National Theatre as number 39 in their Media100 list. He rises 4 places from number 44 in last years list. For more info on this list and to read his entry please click here.

The Theatre buildings at risk register is one of the best organisations in the UK at the moment, they look after our beautiful theatre buildings and list the ones most at risk. Sadly since the recession more theatres have had to enter the list and the latest news is that 5 Welsh theatres are at severe risk. This piece from WalesOnline chronicles the story of these theatres, which includes one of the last two standing purpose built music halls the Palace Theatre in Swansea. Please click here to learn more.

Amateur Theatre group the Tower Theatre Company has announced it has permission to build a new Theatre building in Shoreditch on top of the site of the first London Theatre where Shakespeare's work was debuted. For more information please go here.

The Stage has a great review of the Latitude festivals theatre arena. As ever at Latitude there was plenty of cultural events, the one that most interested me though was the improvised musical which played to packed crowds in the cabaret tent. For more info please go here.

Acclaimed Bollywood director Vipul Shah is returning to his roots of the great Indian Theatre alongside that of his wife Shefali Shah a famous Bollywood actor. For more information on this story please click here.

As anyone who reads my blog will know, as a director I love exploring different types of theatre space and writing about them as well. Here is a great article by Dan Rebellato of the Guardian newspaper in which he asks what our problems are with the proscenium arch. It is an excellent read. Please click here.

The One on One festival is in full swing with 10000 performers performing individual pieces of theatre/dance/music in a one on one situation. Much like the smallest theatre in Times Square NY, see previous posts, this festival attempts to breakdown the space between a performer and the audience and get them to interact so there is a deeper involvement in the show for the audience member. The BBC has a great article up about it here.

News from the Four Corners of the Earth Tuesday 6/7/2010

2010-07-06T15:32:00.000+01:00

Shrek the Musical is heading to the UK in 2011 as previews for the show start in May next year before the show opens on June the 7th. For more information on this story please click here.

An Actor, as yet unidentified, passed away today at the Minack Theatre Cornwall and had to be airlifted away. A tragic situation to happen in the middle of a play, the actor was not onstage but in the changing area of this unique theatre space. For more on this sad story please click here.

Experiments in Freedom: Explorations of Identity in New South African Drama by Anton Krueger has just been released in South Africa and looks at the post apartheid text plays coming out from there. This is a review of this interesting book, just click here.

New Steven Berkoff production 'Biblical Tales' will debut at the New End Theatre on the 3rd of August. For more information click here.

Valhalla! opens tonight at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow. It is the UK premiere of this play which was written by Paul Rudnick the screenwriter known for his films Addams Family Values, In and Out and The Stepford Wives. For the review please click here. For tickets and info on the Tron Theatre click here.

It seems that Chichester Festival Theatre's production of 42nd Street is really running away with some great notices, here is another review of this fantastic show this time from the Financial Times who award it four stars. To read the review please click here.

There is an excellent article on the BBC website about one womans acsension from a poverty stricken South African Township to international Operatic acclaim. It also talks about how she works to improve the situation in her own country. Check it out here. The film made for Newsnight about her features on tonights Newsnight broadcast at 10:30pm on BBC2.

Bollywood Film Legend Aamir Khan has announced his stage show Peepli Live. For more information please click here.

The plans to create a brand new theatre space in Finsbury Park London have been submitted to the local council. Jez Bond the artistic director of this new project has stated he wants to create a powerhouse of theatre in North London. The Park Theatre will apparently be predominantly a producing house. For more information please click here.

Michael Boyd of the RSC has an interview up on the Guardian website click here to read it.

Upcoming Book: Somethings Coming, Something Good: West Side Story and the American Imagination by Misha Berson

2010-07-06T12:04:00.000+01:00

Somethings Coming, Something Good: West Side Story and the American Imagination is a book by Theatre critic for the Seattle Times Misha Berson. Berson has spent many years writing about the theatre getting her first start in the San Francisco theatre scene before moving onto Seattle in the early 1990s. Berson has already written several books on the theatre including 'Between Worlds: Contemporary Asian-American Plays' and 'The San Francisco Stage' and has also contributed to several National Theatre journals in the USA. Berson has also taught courses at the University of Washington and for San Francisco State.

This book is a critical approach to perhaps one of the most popular musicals of the past century West Side Story. West Side Story is a musical that many people will know either from having seen some sort of production of it, school, community or professional, or from having seen the excellent film adaptation. Based upon the story of Romeo and Juliet the piece follows an American boy Tony who is from a Polish background falling in love with a Puerto Rican Immigrant named Maria. Set against the backdrop of 1950s inner city New York this great love story gets mixed up in the street gang politics of Tony's old group the Jets against Maria's brothers gang the Sharks. It is a wonderful twist to Shakespeare's text and allows a lot of humour and energy to be put into the story. It is one of my favourite musicals because of the excellent soundtrack and the dance sequences which are just phenomenal. This musical influenced a lot of choreographers and dancers and without the work of Jerome Robbins in the piece Michael Jackson may not have come up with many of his now legendary dance routines. It is for these reasons that Berson has written this book as a critical analysis of the plot, the way it is staged, the film adaptation and much more with an aim for fans of the play to read but also as an important resource for potential producers and directors of the play. I think it would be something if I was going to do West Side Story I might take out from a Library or see how cheap it was on Amazon because although it looks good on paper I don't know if I would read a book all about just one play that wasn't say for example just a cliffs notes sort of thing. Still it could be very good and anyone who wishes to pre-order it now from Amazon should go here. It isn't released until May 2011 but the american edition comes out in November and to pre-order that one you should follow this link.

Xtofer

Pilgrims Performance on Saturday the 3rd of July

2010-07-05T18:55:00.000+01:00

On Saturday LibraryGirl and myself attended a special free performance by the Pilgrims drama group of Broadwater. Put on in memory of our friend David Arnold, who passed away in April, and to benefit the charity he taught movement for, Carousel, it was billed as a good ol' music hall event. Having in the past whilst we were involved with the Pilgrims suggested and tried some things out on the idea I knew the group had the ideas to pull off an entertaining night. We arrived at Queen Street Church to find it full, so we had to put out a few chairs ourselves. The atmosphere was warm and friendly, something which generally categorises Pilgrim productions and rehearsals, and our compere was the ever impeccable and charismatic Geoff. The show began with a very funny song and dance number with the Pilgrims leader Mavis leading from the head and showing how treading the boards should be done. We were treated to several songs and sketches, an excellent bit of Illusion, from local Illusionist John Beale, dance pieces and even a Goodies skit! It was wonderful seeing the Pilgrims gang all together having fun doing what they do best, old fashioned family entertainment which elicits as many groans as laughs. In some areas it was embarassing some of the jokes they were telling... but that was the point of doing those jokes. I have seen performances where other performers have tried to elicit that reaction but all they got was silence, embarassment to awkwardness in one easy step. This show was a testament to the energy and enthusiasm the Pilgrims have for what they do.

I have heard it said before that you get what you pay for... well I paid nothing to get in and I got a wonderful hour and a half of sing a long fun and entertaining skits. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and look forward to any further Pilgrims productions. Thank you Pilgrims for a great night and I hope your next show is just as much fun.

To find out more about the Pilgrims or to join the group please go to this link and contact the Parish office.

Actors Audition Speeches for all ages and accents by Jean Marlow

2010-07-05T16:06:00.000+01:00

Jean Marlow has worked in virtually all aspects of the film and theatre industry from teaching and training at Guildhall, working at the Royal Court Theatre and working for the Walt Disney Company she has done it all. Marlow is also the co-director of The Actors' Theatre School which runs courses for performers wishing to get into drama school giving them a firm grounding to get into the institution of their choice.

This book is one of a series of books that cover monologues for auditions and dualogues for doubles work. I have used these books many times over the last ten years, first in High School then throughout college and University. To say that these books are a familar sight in drama studios and school libraries nationwide is no understatement, these books may be the most popular in the industry. Why? Probably because of the incredible depth and breadth of material suggested within these pages. There are many different age groups and nationalities represented by the various monologues in the book. However something I never looked over when I was first given this book to find a monologue in was the first few bits of information regarding auditioning. This for me puts this book up there as one of the best resources for schools and colleges, because it is exactly the type of information that young performers need to know that they may not get from their drama lessons. These are covered in the articles; About Auditioning and What Auditioners Look For which in my mind answer everything a performer could ask, questions like 'If I don't get chosen what did I do wrong?' and 'How do I apply to Drama School?'. There are also statements from people within the industry on how they cast people and what they want to see when people come to an audition, all very helpful and insightful. Of course this information is from 1995 so the advice is 15 years old but still very helpful and useful.

The monologues range from Shakespeare to Hare and covers many regions and dialects. There is something for everyone. I would highly reccommend this book to anyone who needs a set of audition pieces to hand and in this industry, who doesn't?

To purchase your own copy of this wonderful book then please go here.

News from the Four Corners of the Earth Monday the 5th July 2010

2010-07-05T09:34:00.000+01:00

An Art Deco theatre in Vancouver Canada currently going through a $2 million restoration has announced a program of 200 shows in the coming year including films, concerts and live performances. For more information and pictures of this beautiful venue available here.

The Times has a brilliant article up by Matthew Bell regarding Libby Purves and her new position as a critic at the paper. Follow this link here.

Jonathan Kent and Paul Brown are putting together a production of Don Giovanni for the Glyndebourne which is covered by Michael Church in the Independent. Church talks about the history of this piece of Opera and how it is viewed by people and how it is a tough piece to direct. It is a fantastic read, check it out here.

Reviews from Chichester Festival Theatre and Regents Park London from Claudia Pritchard at the Independant. Have a read here.

The Theatre Royal Bath has shut for the next two months to go through a £3 million restoration. To find more information on the work being done and history of the building please click here.

Eastbourne Herald journalist Ian Lucas criticises the Eastbourne Council for their pricing structure for a recent production of the Sound of Music which led to the theatre only having 50% seating occupancy. Pricing for the regional theatre is always going to be a big issue, and also something very hard to get right, and this article has some great statistics and makes some very good arguements against London prices on the South Coast. Check it out here.

Theatre Royal at Halifax has been put up for sale for £1 million with a view to be converted into a hotel, the planning permission is already in place, for more info please click here.

The Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham is to recieve £500000 to restore its Auditorium. For the BBC article please follow this link.

More news tomorrow.

Retro Review: Ivanov Donmar Season 2008

2010-07-04T21:42:00.000+01:00

One from the vaults, one of my first reviews from two years ago.

The Donmar Warehouse is one of the leading producing theatres in London; they started in 1992 with the work of famed director Sam Mendes. The Warehouse has consistently had famous and well renowned film actors on the stage with them. In 2007 Ewan McGregor starred in Othello, however due to the massive demands for tickets in the relatively small 250 seat space the manager Michael Grandage announced the West End Season. The West End Season takes productions developed by the Donmar Warehouse and puts them on in the 750 seat Wyndhams Theatre in the heart of London’s West End. The first show was the Chekov piece Ivanov in a new version by Tom Stoppard, starring Kenneth Branagh it kicked off the season with a bang. On the night we attended the theatre was packed to the point where there were only standing tickets left with many people choosing to watch the show from the aisles. This led to the feel of a real event within the theatre, something which is missing in my opinion when it comes to plays. Many speculated this excitement was due to the fact that Branagh was playing the lead, but the Donmar also has a deal on their tickets to make the theatre more accessible to larger audiences. However when the play started and Branagh made his first appearance on stage it was a striking image, this man, this modern day Olivier was taking to the stage in a very complex role and he pulled it off perfectly. From the beginning to the end Branagh portrayed the character of a man falling deeper and deeper into his own melancholy and inevitable insanity with such care and insight it was physically moving. His energy as Ivanov was erratic yet calming, he never let up for a second with his portrayal, the moments when Ivanov was not the centre of attention he was still quietly brooding, even whilst playing the guitar in the drab living room of his neighbours you could see the internal dialogue and anxiety playing in his mind. Branagh was not the only bright star in this production, the supporting cast was fantastic and featured some brilliant performances and familiar faces. Kevin R McNally, famous as Johnny Depp’s first mate in Pirates of the Carribean, gave a fantastic performance as the drunken friend of Ivanov who is always looking for a good business deal. His levity brought a great balance to a piece which was weighed down by the depressing attitude of Ivanov and his nemesis Lvov, played by a fantastic Tom Hiddleston.

The emotional movement of this piece was rapid and played out in a very artistic way. With Chekov there is always an issue with the play being too morbid, too depressing but within this production you could see that Michael Grandage, the director, had made sure that the moments of comedy were exploited fully to give the audience an entertaining experience over all. The biggest praise I can give this production though is that because of the fantastic performances and the wonderful set by Christopher Oram I truly lost myself many times throughout the piece in this world of pre communist Russia. If you get the chance to see any of the other Donmar productions at the Wyndham I recommend you take it, a great night of theatre for a good price.

News from the Four Corners of the Earth: Tuesday the 28th June 2010

2010-06-29T15:32:00.000+01:00

John Willis the editor of american publication Theatre World has passed away aged 93. Theatre World was a magazine which chronicled and recorded the shows on Broadway and awarded performers for their work in the industry. A very respected critic and writer in America he edited four magazines during his career all to do with performing arts. His obituary can be read here.

Aberdeens Tivoli Theatre which has been acting as a bingo hall since the theatre closed in the late 90s is going to be revitalised to its previous glory since being purchased last year by a new owner. More info here.

Kneehigh theatre are bringing their new show to the West End this coming February following a preview in Leicester also in February. Based on a French film, the Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a love story in the classic vein. Catherine Deneuve starred in the 1964 film version. More info available here.

Designing for the Theatre by Francis Reid: Review

2010-06-29T12:30:00.000+01:00

Designing for the Theatre by Francis Reid (second edition 1996) is a Routledge book on how to design for the theatre. Francis Reid taught Lighting design at RADA for nearly 20 years and has toured the world giving lectures on Theatre design. He is one of the best teachers of his subject in the world. An educational book which aims at the post A Level student and amateur enthusiast who wish to design either at college/university or for their local society or group; this book goes through the various stages of design. Starting on chapter one with the role of design through the history of the theatre space onto the various whys and how to design up to how to critically evaluate a design. This book has everything for the budding student to help them along with their studies or, as I said before, everything for someone just interested in what designing for theatre entails. The book is full of diagrams of theatres, design schematics and concepts as well as photos from several notable productions where the design featured heavily in the show which gives clear examples of how design works and adds to the theatrical experience. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the design aspects of the theatre. I found it a very easy read because of the writing which covers every aspect in a descriptive but not too technical way so you don’t have to have knowledge of theatre design or the technologies to read it. My favourite chapters are chapter 2 which are The Theatrical Building and chapter 5 Some Practicalities. The Theatrical Building covers all the different types of theatre space or theatre you are likely to come across and how that can influence the design and help inform the work produced. Some Practicalities is for me a breath of fresh air as you sometimes read textbooks and it just says how to do something, this book whilst telling you what to do in this chapter lays out some of the things you have to remember when putting together a theatre design, from budget to sightlines. Overall this is one of my favourite books in my collection and an excellent resource to reference to and re-read when I need it. You can still buy this on Amazon.co.uk despite being printed in 1996, in fact you can get it for a fairly low price before postage costs, and you can find it here.

Xtofer

News from the Four Corners of the Earth: Tuesday the 22nd June 2010

2010-06-22T14:24:00.000+01:00

'Anything Goes' that firm favourite of amateur companies and societies the whole world over is getting another Broadway revival next year. It is being put on by the Roundabout Theatre Company at a theatre to be announced soon, previews begin in February. For more information please follow this link.

A Michael Jackson Plaque will be unveiled at the Lyric Theatre in London, the venue that currently houses 'Thriller Live', it will be put up in memory of the late Michael Jackson and will feature a special show with former cast members and special guests. For more info please click here.

La Cage Aux Folles success story continues on Broadway by breaking yet another record. Click here for more.

Review: Hazlitt on Theatre a Brilliant Resource and History Book

2010-06-22T13:54:00.000+01:00

William Hazlitt, born in 1778, was the son of a devout Unitarian Minister and as such Hazlitt was sent to study all the classic texts and mathematics whilst also training to follow in his fathers footsteps to one day become a Minister as well. Sadly William lost his faith and never became a Minister instead because of his background education in classics, maths and philosophy he pursued a career in the latter. Studying throughout the late 1700s the various attempts he made to write his essay on the human mind he had to eventually earn a living, as such he became a painter doing several commissioned copies of the masters in Paris and original pieces by him hung in the Royal Academy. In 1805 he finally printed his essay ‘An Essay on the Principles of Human Action: Being an Argument in favour of the Natural Disinterestedness of the Human Mind’ and moved on to lecturing on Politics and wrote a book on English Grammar. Then in 1812 he got his first job as a journalist, he became a parliamentary reporter for the Morning Chronicle. In 1813 he started writing literature criticism and drama criticism for the Chronicle. That is the source for many of the essays within Hazlitt on Theatre.

Essays include: Mr Kean's Othello

The Tempest

The School For Scandal

Mrs Siddon's

Mr Kembles Retirement

Conversation on Drama with Coleridge

On Actors and Acting

Minor Theatres - Strolling Players

Hazlitt on Theatre is a collection of dramatic criticisms from the early 19th century. These are perhaps the first real reviews in popular print and as such are different from the type of work we see today. The essays are generally reports on how well the performance went down whilst also discussing some of the techniques he observed. Hazlitt also compares a lot of different performances of plays, when watching a Shakespeare he will compare different actors portrayals of the same characters. His knowledge of the Shakespearean text is also incredibly fascinating; he gives a very clear insight into the reading and interpretation of Shakespeare in the early 1800s. Whilst this is a good thing it also shows how drastically different the ideas on theatre at the beginning of the 19th century were than at the end. Coming from the Romantic era of Theatre Hazlitt will not have seen a true naturalistic performance of a play as the style was not yet prominent and was definitely not seen on London stages, in fact the closest he gets is perhaps the revolutionary work of Edmund Kean. However it becomes obvious throughout reading Hazlitt’s work that he is hinting at a more naturalistic performance and is urging the theatre to move towards it in his opinions, he just did not know how what he said in the 1813 would become the norm in 1913. The only problem I find with the work of Hazlitt is that his literary knowledge can occasionally colour his opinion of the dramatic work on the stage, in this he is in many ways no different from the other critics of the time who for example were shocked an appalled that Edmund Kean would go against the convention of what a Jew looked like in Measure for Measure, except with Hazlitt as I have said he would go to the text for evidence to rubbish a performance. I read his review of Kean’s Iago and was really excited to read in very good detail how Kean went about portraying one of my favorite characters but Hazlitt moved into what we would probably call today a rant, although it is well backed up with evidence, on how the play calls for Iago to be played. The irony of this complaint is that later on in the book he goes on to lambast Kean for listening to the Theatre Managers directions on how a character should be played, it seems for Hazlitt the words and intentions of Shakespeare are basically written in stone and that there should be no movement for artistic interpretation.

I initially picked up Hazlitt on Theatre mainly to read about the Regency superstar Edmund Kean but found myself drawn in by the way he wrote about the theatre, I could see in many ways the way the play was performed like a little video from 1813. It is amazing that Hazlitt is so widely forgotten today, for a man who dipped his toes in so many of the arts it is a shame he isn’t more lauded for his excellent work. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to read about the Regency theatre, to anyone interested in Edmund Kean and to anyone who wants to read critical examinations of the work of Shakespeare. A truly wonderful book that kept me fascinated throughout and one that is vital for any Theatre Historian.

Xtofer

News from the Four Corners of the Earth Tuesday 8/6/2010

2010-06-08T14:09:00.000+01:00

Trouble is brewing at the Nigerian National Theatre at the moment regarding the potential privatisation of the venue and the previous General Manager Mallam Kabir Yusuf. The problem is getting so bad there have been peaceful protests and meetings. For more information on this situation please go to this page here.

CODYS productions winners of the NODA Northwest Award 2009 will get the chance to perform in Billy Elliot in the West End on July the 18th. They will also be producing their own production later that month in St Helens. For more info please visit this page.

In Chicago they recently held their Theatrical Non-Equity Jeff Awards, it means those who work professionally without the aid of the union, and the results have just been released. For the results please go here.

Steph Fearon a semi finalist of the BBCs 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' has just landed a role in Smokey Joes Cafe which opens at the Landor Theatre Clapham for 5 weeks commencing July the 13th. More info available here.

Review for the National Theatre of Scotlands Little Johnny's Big Gay Wedding, available here.

A robbery at the Chichester Festival Theatre left a 20 year old man in Hospital after the robbers stole several thousand pounds. For more information please go here.

Kenneth Branagh has lent his support to the Lyric Theatre of Belfast. The Lyric Theatre requires £17.5 million for its redevelopment, fundraising started in 2003 and they have nearly reached their target. For more information check out this webpage.

Jake Maskall and Liam Bergin (Danny Moon and Danny Mitchell from Eastenders) will be performing at the Victorian Park in Chester over the Summer Season in a variety of theatrical productions including Much Ado About Nothing and Hercules. For more info go here.

An American college trustee opposes funds for play depicting a homosexual Jesus. Please go here.

Political Theatre is alive and strong in Russia where a new production in Moscow based on the life of Sergei Magnitsky is running from the 5th of June. For more information look here.

Fantastic Piece on BBC Website: Theatre goes underground

2010-06-07T15:47:00.000+01:00

I love alternative venues and when they have money and passion behind them they can truly create and embrace new works that seem more intense than your standard play. An underground space is something that has been toyed with in many cities around the world and the latest it seems is The Old Vic Tunnels in London. Situated under Waterloo Station this venue is incredibly unique and imposing and the BBC has made a short video about the venue and the current works along with a very good article both of which could be found on this page here.

Theatre Programmes: The World Of Suzie Wong The Prince of Wales Theatre 1959

2010-06-07T12:20:00.000+01:00

In 1959 following a successful Broadway production featuring William Shatner, the play The World of Suzie Wong opened at the Prince of Wales in London. Based on the novel by Richard Mason it later became a very successful film starring William Holden among others.

One of my favourite things about these old programmes is the adverts within them.

Improv Video of the Day: Another Weird Newscaster

2010-06-07T11:57:00.000+01:00

News from the Four Corners of the Earth

2010-06-07T11:53:00.000+01:00

News from Everywhere:

The 4th oldest working theatre in the UK, The Kenton Theatre in Henley-on-Thames, is currently raising money to keep itself open. The freehold is currently up for sale and the venue needs £220000 by the end of July to keep the venue open and has received support from locals in the form of a BBQ fundraiser this past Bank Holiday Monday raising £4000. For more information on this story please go here. For more information on the Kenton Theatre please go here.

Charlie Sheen may or may not be allowed to teach budding actors and help the non profit theatre Theatre Aspen in Colorado USA. This will be decided today 7/6/2010 by a judge due to Sheen's current legal woes. More information available here.

Romeo and Juliet is currently being shown at the Leicester Square Theatre but with a difference, set in 1930s fascist Italy this production brings a rawness to the text and a true violent undercurrent provided by the background story of a young Jew and daughter of a prominent Fascist leader falling in love. The review by Libby Purves of the Times Newspaper can be found here.

Catherine Zeta Jones may miss out on her chance of winning a Tony Award because of her current viral infection. Being unable to speak or sing she has had to miss several performances and right around now the Tony voters are going to see the shows and actors nominated, if they cannot see her perform then they won't be able to vote for her. Further information is available here.

A South Coast Theatre Group, the Oasis Youth Theatre from Southampton, won the All-England Theatre Festivals top prize and named the best theatre group in England. They will move onto the finals of the UKs top theatre group in Scotland. However they need to raise £7000 to get there, there is more information on the competition and their fundraising here.

The Telegraphs Rupert Christiansen covers the rebuilding work of both the Old Vic and National Theatre at this link here.

In Ottawa Canada the fringe festival is ready to go ahead with over 70 productions being shown. More information can be found here.

Xtofer

Just A Small One: Teatrino

2010-06-07T11:02:00.000+01:00

Included in the "Guinness Book of World Records" 1997 as the smallest historic theatre audience in the world of the theatre Vetriano measures only 71 square meters, but is full of all that is required to put on a theatrical production. Built in 1890, it features a trapeze and two tiers of balconies. In the 1980s fears over the structural integrity of the building forced it to close. Thanks to the FAI delegation of Lucca, the property was acquired by the Foundation and is committed to restoring the theatre and make it fit for use again. It currently hosts events in collaboration with the Academy of TEATRO ALLA SCALA.

Released Soon: Routledge Drama Anthology and Sourcebook Maggie B Gale 04/08/2010

2010-06-07T10:31:00.000+01:00

Covering 5 sections of the theatre this sourcebook will look at the evolution of the modern era of theatre beginning in the 19th Century. The 5 sections span; Naturalism and Symbolism, The Historical Avant-Garde, Early Political Theatre, The Performance of Ideology and Contemporary Performance. Featuring extracts from theoretical writings and reviews, parts of plays and introductions by the editors Maggie B Gale and John Deeney. Professor Maggie Gale is the chair of Drama at Manchester University and has had two books already printed on woman within theatre and contributed to several books on the history of theatre. John Deeney is the head of Drama at MMU, Manchester Metropolitan University, and has written books on Mark Ravenhill and is very well respected in his field. This book looks to be a must for many students as well as those interested in the history of the theatre. Perhaps this will be another essential textbook for anyone studying drama although there are plenty out there already, I believe that books like this which annotate and analyse other sources are a boon for any student but to a certain extent cannot match the freedom and experience of finding theories and techniques through reading as much material as possible. So yes its good there is another book that gives us this sort of information but don’t we need our theatre students to research more themselves? In closing I will say that my opinion above is not a knock on the editors or Routledge themselves just on the fact that these sorts of books should be the start of someones research and not the only source of research which ultimately has been my experience of many students work.

Out on the 4th of August it is available at amazon.co.uk in paperback here for the price of: £28.49 and FREE delivery

Xtofer

Improv Video of the Day: Another Weird Newscaster

2010-06-01T16:24:00.000+01:00

Theatre Programmes: The Art Of Living at the Criterion Theatre London 1960

2010-06-01T12:34:00.000+01:00

During August 1960 a new review based on the satirical writings of Art Buchwald named 'The Art Of Living' was produced at the Criterion Theatre in London for Donmar Productions. Starring a young Edward Woodward this revue wasn't really a huge success but was a fine example of the work of lyricist Julian More who is famous for his work on Expresso Bongo. Here is the cover of the shows programme and below you will find pictures of the inside of the programme.

Just a Small One: The Salvini Theatre

2010-06-01T11:48:00.000+01:00

Much in the vein of Teatro Della Concordia my next JASO post is also a small Italian Theatre. This one though is settled in the Province of Imperia. This once rotting and neglected theatre is once again beautiful and entertaining both tourists and the locals. Originally built as a communal oven in 1834 a passionate man named Giuseppe worked tirelessly to get all the plans and licenses he needed to turn it into a theatrical space. It was remodeled on, yet again, the classic Italian Opera Houses and boasts a 43 sq meter stage, stalls and boxes. The theatre can sit approximately 90 people. These tiny Italian theatres are truly beautiful.

Xtofer

Soon to be Released: Site Specific Performance by Professor Mike Pearson

2010-06-01T11:45:00.000+01:00

Coming out in September the book Site Specific Performance is one of the books that interests me most in the group of upcoming theatrical book releases. Site Specific performances have interested me since I started exploring with unconventional theatrical spaces in the early Noughties and the author of this book, Professor Mike Pearson, is one of the most qualified practitioners of Site Specific work. Working for the performance company Brith Gof; Pearson has spent many years experimenting with various spaces in a system that they call 'Archaeology of Media' which involves restaging old poems, stories and performance pieces in spaces that can help them understand or find new meaning to their source material. Pearson also works for Aberystwyth University as a lecture on Performance Arts so has the experiance of being an academic as well as having his practical work to influence his writing. When you add in that Pearson not only writes about his own vast experience within Site Specific Arts but also adds in several models on how to run a Site Specific Performance you know you are getting a really good resource for both studying and creating your own Site Specific work. Priced at £16.14 with free delivery from Amazon.co.uk you can preorder this item from here.

To learn more about Brith Gof please follow this link.

Xtofer

Upcoming Shows Worthing

2010-05-25T15:03:00.001+01:00

What’s on? Worthing Theatres.

Coming Soon!

Direct from the West End Dreamboats and Petticoats is a Rock N Roll musical featuring some of the best music from the 50s and 60s. With prices ranging from £15-£29.50 per ticket this West End show is brilliantly priced and being presented in the Pavillion there isn’t really a bad seat in the house. The run starts Monday 7th of June and runs until Saturday the 12th with plenty of concessions for parties, youth groups and schools.

Treemonisha by Scott Joplin is a piece of Opera set in the American South. A former slave tries to change her communities attitude towards race and superstitions. Presented by Pegasus Opera Company coming straight from their successful run at Sadler’s Wells this is bound to be a good presentation of mid sized opera for a budget price. Coming to the Pavillion on the 3rd of June at 7:30pm tickets range from £19.50-£23 a fraction of the price of seeing one of the big opera companies.

Inside Job by Brian Clemens is the latest Ian Dickens production to come to Worthing. Described as The Mousetrap meets Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels I am sure this will be another fun show from IDP, despite my trashing of Nightfright, and I would recommend anyone looking for a good reasonably priced night out to go to any Ian Dickens Production. Starring Matt Healy and Christopher Villiers it is also a chance to see some true television stars live onstage. It begins its run at the Connaught on Tuesday the 8th of June and finishes on the 12th of June. Tickets start at £13 and go up to £22.

Update on Sean Hayes Drama

2010-05-25T14:20:00.000+01:00

Considering the news last week regarding Sean Hayes it seems Broadway has come out to support him. It has been revealed that he will be presenting this years Tony Awards, something which I am sure will go down very well. With his natural charisma and energy he is a great choice of host, he is also up for honors as 'Best Male Actor in A Musical' for which he has plenty of competition but I say good luck to him.

What’s on? Brighton Theatre Royal

2010-05-25T14:05:00.000+01:00

Currently running:

The Rat Pack Live From Las Vegas

The constantly touring Rat Pack Experience comes back to the Brighton Dome again from the 24th to the 29th of May. Featuring your favourite songs from Frank, Sammy and Dean’s records and shows this is a perfectly fun night out. The show starts at 7:45pm as well as a matinee on Thursday at 2.30pm and Saturday has a 4pm show.

Coming very soon!

Beauty and the Beast

Brighton Theatre Group is one of the premier amateur theatre companies in the Sussex area and their latest production is Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Boasting a fantastic score by Alan Menken this is a magical production, having seen the West End tour several years ago if BTG can produce even 10% of the quality that tour did this show will be one to remember for years. A truly wonderful event that would be perfect to take the kids to during half term holidays. It runs from the 1st of June to Saturday the 5th of June with a signed performance on Thursday the 3rd of June.

Salome

The verse tragedy by Oscar Wilde is presented by one of the UK’s greatest theatre companies producing in recent years ‘Six Characters in Search of An Author’ on the West End and ‘ENRON’ which enjoyed a National Tour, currently runs in the West End and is about to end on Broadway. Starring Con O’Neill and Zawe Ashton this production is sure to continue the trend. It starts on Tues 15th of June and runs until Sat 19th of June with Matinees on Thurs and Sat at 2:30pm.

Monty Python’s Spamalot

Continuing its incredibly popular National Tour is the Tony Award Winning Spamalot which bills itself as ‘funnier than the black death’. With Jodie Prenger the Nancy from Oliver who won ‘I’d do Anything’ and Eric Idle as God (albeit recorded) this show will surely be one of the most fun shows to come to Brighton this year. Running between Mon 21st to Sat 26th June with a signed performance on Thurs 24th this is one not to miss.

Just a Small One: The Smallest Theatre in the World?

2010-05-25T10:01:00.000+01:00

This is a puppet theatre so whilst I have put it in this list it is not really a ‘Theatre’ as such because it is a street performance piece in many ways. However due to the calibre of the pieces, a tiny puppet version of Hamlet is one of 4 shows you can see, and the fact that it tours around Western Europe is quite impressive. Plus it harks back to the days of the travelling Magic Lantern something that just stirs feelings of magic and fun within me. Please watch the clip below to see some beautiful puppetry from this wonderful little theatre.

Congratulations to Douglas Hodge

2010-05-25T09:57:00.000+01:00

As someone who has championed Douglas Hodge for this years awards season it was with great joy that I read this morning about the results of the Drama Desk Awards that he has won 'Outstanding Actor In A Musical' for his work in La Cage Aux Folles. This bodes well for his chances to win the coveted Tony later this year. On winning the award Hodge was qouted as saying:

"What a wonderful welcome I have been given in this wonderful city,"

Other awards given out included:

Outstanding Play:

• Red: John Logan

Outstanding Musical:

• Memphis

Outstanding Revival of a Play:

• A View from the Bridge

• Fences

Outstanding Revival of a Musical:

• La Cage Aux Folles

Outstanding Actor in a Play:

• Liev Schreiber: A View from the Bridge

Outstanding Actress in a Play:

• Jan Maxwell: The Royal Family

Outstanding Actor in a Musical:

• Douglas Hodge: La Cage Aux Folles

Outstanding Actress in a Musical:

• Montego Glover: Memphis

• Catherine Zeta-Jones: A Little Night Music

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play:

• Santino Fontana: Brighton Beach Memoirs

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play:

• Viola Davis: Fences

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical:

• Christopher Fitzgerald: Finian's Rainbow

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical:

• Katie Finneran: Promises, Promises

Outstanding Director of a Play:

• Michael Grandage: Red

Outstanding Director of a Musical:

• Michael Mayer: American Idiot

Outstanding Choreography:

• Twyla Tharp: Come Fly Away

Outstanding Music:

• David Bryan: Memphis

Outstanding Lyrics:

• John Kander & Fred Ebb: The Scottsboro Boys

Outstanding Book of a Musical:

• Alex Timbers: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Outstanding Orchestrations:

• Daryl Waters & David Bryan: Memphis

Outstanding Musical Revue:

• Sondheim on Sondheim

Outstanding Music in a Play

• Branford Marsalis: Fences

Outstanding Set Design:

• Phelim McDermott, Julian Crouch & Basil Twist: The Addams Family

Outstanding Costume Design:

• Matthew Wright: La Cage Aux Folles

Outstanding Lighting Design:

• Neil Austin: Red

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical:

• Acme Sound Partners: Ragtime

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play:

• Fitz Patton: When the Rain Stops Falling

Outstanding Solo Performance:

• Jim Brochu: Zero Hour

Unique Theatrical Experience:

• Love, Loss, and What I Wore

£19 million has been Cut from the Art Council's funding

2010-05-25T09:45:00.000+01:00

As readers of my blog will know I have been following the proposed and now the reality of cuts to the Arts Council since the start of the year and now here is the latest news from the Arts Council. Here are two articles from the Stage newspaper.

£19 Million Cut from the Art Council's funding.

Now I say it HAS been cut mainly because the Government has asked them to do so which generally means there is no negotiation. However the Arts Council has made it clear that cutting 19 million is not really possible. Here the Stage continues its coverage with the second article.

£19 Million could harm frontline Arts.

And of course there is the BBC Arts Editors blog which covers the story here.

My opinion is that it doesn't matter how much they cut the Arts will survive, are we in for a dark time? Sure we are, its going to get tougher to get funding and the guidelines for funding will be followed with more scrutiny over the next few years but the good thing is that situations like this will make artists work harder to get their work seen and developed. £19 million as Will Gompertz is manageable but its still a hefty chunk and further cuts could curtail our cultural growth further... but it remains to be seen if more cuts will come, they probably will but we can hope they won't.

The Importance of Lighting: An FPTheatre handout

2010-05-25T09:22:00.000+01:00

Lighting is a huge part of the Theatre nowadays, after all one cannot help but enjoy the spotlight, and it figures heavily in the design and feel of a piece. Here are some examples of the lights that make us shine.

The most common lights you will find a company using are Parcan's. Your basic Parcan light is named as such because it resembles a tin can with a bulb in it. These lights produce very flat light but when linked with haze or smoke machines can create very interesting effects. However these lights are durable, easily set up, moveable and provide excellent stage washes and basic lighting.

The Cycl/Strip light is generally used in the professional theatre to light the Cyclorama curtain at the back of the stage. However you can also use it to flood the stage with light and colour, you will find a lot of DIY theatre enthusiasts using the Cyc for this very purpose. Easy to use, set up and maintain the lights like Parcans is the bread and butter of lighting.

Scoop Lights are smaller generally than the cyc yet are used mainly for the same reason, to flood the stage with light or to light up the backdrop.

The fresnel lamp is a fantastic tool, great for washes of light on stage and for side lighting. These are probably the most frequently used lamps in the professional theatre. These lights are fantastic and can be used for all sorts of effects when used in conjunction with gobo's and gels.

Of course there are also more specialist lights such as the spotlight and moving and tracking lights nowadays. However the tracking and moving lights are something that is gradually being phased in. If you hire venues with a pre existing lighting grid it is generally a lot simpler than owning your own because you may have staff there able to help you. The company we are involved in tours and we borrow a very small lighting rig from a local school for a donation towards the school. We find this to be a cost effective way of using lighting and also an opportunity to promote our show within the school and staff there.

Those who are lucky and own their own lighting equipment will know one of the most essential parts of the kit is a good lighting board, these can range from basic boards with sliders only to ones that can be programmed to brightness and to instantly do a lighting effect at a touch of a button. Obviously the high end of the market costs a lot but if you run regular big shows it is worth the investment.

This only the very basic information on lighting for the theatre. It is an artform even of itself and adds a lot to any theatrical experience. There are numerous books on the subject of lighting in the theatre but two of the best I have found, which I know several of my techie friends have used or refer to regularly, are:

Lighting and Sound by Neil Fraser, printed by Phaidon it is a very good technical book that looks more at lighting than sound but still gives some great information, which is true of most Phaidon theatre books.

Stage Lighting Design: The Art, The Craft, The Life. This is a textbook that contains numerous lighting plans, photos, tips and information needed to truly understand Theatrical lighting including an entire section focused solely on the history of Lighting. Written by the man who designed the New National Theatre's lighting system, Richard Pilbrow, this is truly a great resource.

Weird Newscasters: Another WLIIA Video

2010-05-25T09:02:00.000+01:00

Please note that I did not upload this video to youtube, nor do I own the copywright to this video, that belongs to the ABC network of America.

Ian Dickens Nightfright by Roger S Moss is a massive Rip Off

2010-05-24T09:05:00.000+01:00

‘Nightfright: The Nightmare of Your Life’

I do not know what happened yesterday but someone in Worthing Theatres felt that it was ok to take £34 off me for a subpar performance of a very shoddily written ‘thriller’ that would have even made the worst amateur company look like professional actors. Now, whether or not this was because it was a matinee, I do not know but it was a show that felt like nobody on stage really cared about the product they were presenting to the audience.

I should probably restart and explain that yesterday, the 22nd of May 2010, LibraryGirl and myself attended the matinee performance of ‘Night Fright: The Nightmare of Your Life’ presented by Ian Dickens Productions. We went along after looking at the poster and deciding we wanted to see a horror/thriller as we hadn’t seen one before and thought it could be interesting. After all when a poster claims it to be ‘The Nightmare of Your Life’ you assume it is going to be scary, unless of course it is written by Roger S Moss. This play isn’t scary, it isn’t a thriller and it definitely is not a comedy despite trying desperately hard. This play has a very big identity problem in that despite sounding like a horror/mystery/thriller it seems to be trying to dip its finger in about 4 different genres and failing miserably at all 4. It is to date Roger S Moss’s only play and sadly you would be able to tell why if you too had been subjected to this mess of a play.

Now, because the play itself is a huge mess it makes the direction of such a mess a minefield, after all how do you direct a play with an identity crisis? Of course bad source material is not an excuse for bad directing but a closer look at the programme notes that it is directed by Chris Moreno, the man responsible for Buddy on the West End, Ian Dickens and assistant director David North. So perhaps it is a case of too many cooks giving the actors too many conflicting messages? Well the problems with this production are so baffling that who truly knows? All I know is that the show seemed to be suffering from some pretty big glitches after promising oh so much. From the massive posters all over the Worthing Area that looked like this:

To the wonderful programme which featured not just one but two articles on thrillers and horrors both in Cinema and the Theatre. It all read brilliantly and as I said before the programme said that this Ian Dickens Production was directed by Ian Dickens himself which made me confident that this was going to be a quality piece of theatre…

Let’s get to the first scene:

So, the lights go up and the curtain rises to a very good-looking set which causes both me and LibraryGirl to smile at each other in anticipation of what is sure to be a good production. I have to say that the aesthetic of the set is quite brilliant-looking and the designers David North and Alan Miller Bunford have done a good job creating the idea of a spacious chapel made into a one bedroom home. The characters enter and the two potential tenants looking over the property seem quite normal but there is a serious feeling of over playing from Dianne Nicks who is playing Miss Peterson. Later in the play this makes sense but for the moment it is a bit weird and I wonder why she has been directed to act so over the top like a caricature.

Back to the performance, as the first big problem occurs when the male lead, Frank Gilman, ably played by Neil Roberts, heads up the staircase and the banister wobbles precariously as if its about to fall off. Now this instantly takes me out of the moment and makes me feel really odd, I understand that with a touring piece the set needs to come apart quickly and be reassembled and there may have been an issue and it could have broken etc but it still looks bad because it wobbles all over the place. This of course drew my focus to the stairs and you could see all the scuff marks that made the stairs look like set and that the paint was coming off. I will reiterate that this is because it’s a touring production and retouching the set every day is probably not high on the agenda as it might be a waste but marred by the already wobbly set I was starting to worry about what I had forked out my money for. Then there is the chaos and idiocy of the front door. You could make a complete episode of ‘You’ve Been Framed’ from the many different problems it causes. Firstly there is the original idea that the door gets stuck and will not open which seems to be remembered when it is written in the script and then forgotten as unimportant throughout the rest of the play. The trick apparently is that you’re supposed to give the bottom of the door a little kick and it would suddenly open, this was reinforced by both Dianne Nicks and David Callister whenever they were on stage but the two leads seemed to forget this. This lack of attention to detail was not just a simple case of being part of the play, after all, there is a large chunk of the script taken up by viewing the house and getting it ready for occupancy yet these glaring errors were never commented on by the actors. As I said Neil Roberts who plays the lead Frank Gilman is quite engaging and commands the stage powerfully, however his female lead Helen George is underwhelming and more than a little annoying. With a voice that stays on one level throughout barely concealing the boredom and attitude that screams ‘This isn’t important, I don’t want to be here’. As the first scene went on I felt like I was being fed the beginning of a cannibal storyline in the same vein as the short Hammer Horror stories from the ‘Tales from the Crypt’ films of the 70s. It felt good but cheesy but this was because the pace was so fast, not because of the script but the rushed acting, that I couldn’t catch every detail. Then the scene ended and the curtain came down for the change over and I thought ‘oh wow what are they doing to change the set?’ and then the curtain went back up and it was movement of a few cushions and that was it. That was all-it took over a minute to change the cushions and remove a couple of items of clothing! This completely cut into the timing of the show and stopped any possible tension build, something which the programme had told us was imperative to this genre of theatre.

Scene 2 took us from Horror/Thriller territory as the couple moved in, to sex comedy territory as the now married couple go through the stereotypical innuendos that had us both cringing. Not helped by the fact that there was no chemistry between the two leads it just came across badly, I got the distinct feeling that the material was below the actors onstage. This scene at the very beginning though did give the one scary moment of the whole show, yes that is right the only scary moment in this entire horror happens about 15 minutes in and that is your lot for fear. We also got introduced to the character of Mr Watson played by David Callister and then Joanne Heywood as Jacqui. Both came on and played very well, Callister in particular playing a great slimy estate agent. Heywood’s Jacqui was vampish and overtly sexual but suffered from the same problem that haunted Helen George that she seemed like she didn’t really want to be there.

Scene 3 introduced the last character to us, the gardener Mr Harvey played by Henry Cormas who was dressed in a terrible costume with an awful fake beard. His diction was appalling, I don’t know if the script asked for it but we couldn’t tell what he was going on about it just sounded like Cornish mumbling. It didn’t further the storyline because it was incoherent, it was interspersed with bad jokes and a moment that was supposed to be chilling and frightening but just came across as bad pantomime acting.

When the curtain went down on the first act I was slightly tempted to ask LibraryGirl to follow me to the box office so I could ask for a refund but a) I wanted to genuinely see if it would get better and b) I don’t think they would have given me my money back. All I could do is hope that after the interval things would get better.

They didn’t, in fact they got worse and as flimsy plot point after flimsy plot point attacked me I got more and more bored until I gave up and just watched without trying to grasp the shows inane plot. I won’t spoil the plot for anyone crazy enough to pay for tickets to this show but it does have a lot of holes and things get easily forgotten and come across as confusing. In fact I put a part of this blame on the Direction because some bright spark at Ian Dickens decided that this four person play should have six actors… excuse me? Six actors for four roles is madness. It is made obvious how in the final scene and it just put the cherry on top of this messy cake of a show. Then, despite there being 6 actors, only four are allowed to take a bow and the other two are left off stage as afterthoughts. This second half is more of a mess than the first half and contains none of the supposed suspense a thriller is meant to have. The final piece of the jigsaw puzzle that is the mystery in this show is explained away so quickly that I doubt the whole audience had time to process it before the final bit of action happened and the lights went down. The ending had actually been written quite well but the direction and acting turned it into a very bad Keystone Films sequence heightened by the fact that the majority of the audience was laughing at the absurdity of the action.

This show suffered from having a hole ridden plot, a married couple with zero charisma or chemistry, bad direction, flimsy sets, terrible jokes (at one point they mentioned Worthing in reference to a restaurant bill which was supposed to be funny but you could hear a pin drop in the auditorium), bad acting and so many other things it just made it one big mess.

In conclusion this show was a waste of money and time. I seriously have to ask whether Ian Dickens Productions put on this show just to make money from another tour or did they actually believe in the show they produced? If it’s the prior, fine but have a bit more pride in your work after all whilst not all plays are supposed to be artistic they should all at least entertain. If it’s the latter then they need to talk to the cast and tour directors because the show I saw I cannot believe was the actors giving even 10% of the talent or enthusiasm they have. It is a real shame my first even chance to see this production company’s work was so poor but it will not put me off watching their work again. I am going to give Ian Dickens another chance as he constantly brings shows to Worthing and the future ones look good. Plus at only £17 per ticket to a Matinee its not too bad a price for a professional show, except on this one occasion.

From the horses mouth: Jeremy Hunt speaks

2010-05-18T14:27:00.000+01:00

First things first Will Gompertz is becoming one of my favourite writers on the arts sector and today I read an article linked to something very close to my heart. The Budget cuts and Election are causing troubles for the arts sector and I have covered the story since the beginning of the year and you can read those articles here and here. However the latest talk from the Coalition government has come out on newsnight where Culture Minister Jeremy Hunt claimed he could easily cut £66 million of the spending easily. I could rant and rave about the injustice and insanity of this claim plus the hypocrisy of The Liberal Democrats who normally support the arts not fighting against this change but I am going to let the article by Gompertz do the talking for me. I suggest you sign up to the feed for his blogs because they are fascinating.

Here is the link to his latest blog: CLICK HERE

Xtofer

Just a Small One: Teatro Della Concordia

2010-05-18T13:52:00.000+01:00

The Teatro della Concordia in Monte Castello di Vibio lays claim to being the smallest theatre in the world but is no such thing with seats for up to 99 (87 according to some sources). Apparently built in approximately 1808 whilst it isn’t the smallest theatre it is one of the prettiest examples of a tiny theatre. As you can see from the picture this venue is almost like a childs version of one of the many grand opera houses dotted around Italy. It still have Opera’s and orchestra’s performing in this limited space to this day. So if you ever find yourself having a holiday in Umbria or Todi then this may be one of the sights you will want to see… I know I would.

Improv Video of the Day

2010-05-18T13:18:00.001+01:00

Broadway is Bankable despite Old Fashioned Prejudice still popping up

2010-05-18T13:11:00.000+01:00

In a Week when the final part of the true Golden Era of Broadway came to a close with the sad death of the last Zeigfield Folly, she passed away at the age of 106, two stories were released which gave a fascinating look at both the success and dark side of Broadway. The first which caught my eye was the news that during the 2009-2010 season Broadway has generated nearly $10 billion worth of revenue for New York city. According to the Broadway League this has included the support and creation of over 84000 jobs and generated nearly $500 million in New York taxes which really makes me smile and goes to prove a very big point on the arts. A good arts sector, not just theatre but all types of arts, can increase an economy and here in the UK the arts sector in London I am sure does produce a vast amount of revenue and taxes just like on Broadway it is just that it is harder to find the results. (When I say harder that is due to the fact that getting all those reports is simple if you are willing to fork out £50 for The West End Theatre Report which can be viewed here)

Of course the $10 Billion isn't just on money spent going to shows, watching the plays, buying the intermission drinks and programmes etc. This is money that goes into Hotels and Restaurants proving that the Theatres and the Great White Way actually generate more business for New York City. When the figures are analysed it turns out that 96% of the money spent on Broadway is from people outside the city which also proves that despite the Global Recession the tourist industry is still strong within America and that people around the World are still choosing to experience what Broadway has to offer. This does give me hope that The West End is doing the same over here in the UK and Europe but until I get to see any figures (I am still searching for alternatives to the official book of reports) I won't be able to go much further. Of course an economical contribution of $10 Billion may not be a figure we will be heading towards in the UK but it will still most likely be a substantial amount of money.

Now whilst this is brilliant news after all in todays economic market a product or industry that provides that amount of money to just one major city is a great boon, however it seems that America and its conservative values and opinions are starting once again to rear their ugly head within the industry.

Last week an American critic criticised the homosexual actor Sean Hayes, famous for his portrayal of the ultra camp and gay Jack in Will & Grace, couldn't 'Cut it' playing a straight man. Now Hayes is currently playing the role of Chuck Baxter the eternal bachelor from the Billy Wilder film 'The Apartment' which is what 'Promises Promises' the play in which Hayes is performing is adapted from. GLAAD have obviously become very angry about the situation and demanded an apology however there are still some question as to how good Hayes is and whether or not he can pull off a straight character. Of course he can be a straight character, if Eric McCormack can play a gay character in the same show that shot Hayes to fame then why shouldn't Hayes play a straight man? Reviews for the show are not great that is true but it seems to be that the general consensus is A) The show is very dated and that is the reason it hasn't been revived for 40+ years B) Sean Hayes performance is brilliant and nothing like the OTT camp act that he has been stuck doing for years. The fact is that despite the changes in our western society regarding the attitudes towards homosexuality there is still, despite our industry being filled with people from all racial, economic and sexual backgrounds, this pervading belief that homosexuals either have an agenda or cannot play certain types of character is wrong and has no place in the 21st century. It is just a sad indictment of how little progress some people have made over the past 50 years.

To see what GLAAD have to say about the article please click here.

To see the other two articles then please click here and here.

Xtofer

Just a Quick One: 2 BBC Articles that caught my eye

2010-05-17T16:33:00.000+01:00

Just a quick mention of two really good articles I read today on the BBC website that I felt I should share with you. The first is the BBCs Arts Editor Will Gompertz commentary on the closing of Enron on Broadway, a sad day indeed for British straight plays going to the USA, and the differences between New York and the West End and how they work together. So please follow this link.

The other is an article on how the media portrays the exit of Politicians from public office referencing last weeks resignation by former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Simon Schama writes about how Shakespeare would enjoy writing scenes like those witnessed in the News last week and how through the years different satirists have also commented on the Media frenzy. You can read this article here.

Xtofer

Serious Play: Modern Clown Performance by Dr Louise Peacock

2010-05-17T16:23:00.000+01:00

Serious Play: Modern Clown Performance by Dr Louise Peacock

Released on the 19.05.2010

Louise Peacock a Professor of Drama at the University of Hull is releasing her first book on the place of clowning in todays theatre and how it has evolved over the past 50 years. As someone who finds the work of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton so enthralling and acknowledging how much the work they created, as well as other early 20th Century clowns, have effected the physical theatre of the 21st Century I believe this book is well overdue. Peacock has spent many years researching her subject in much depth and has had several academic papers printed on the subject so this is truly a passion project. Dr Peacock is also involved in the 'Journal of Comedy Studies' which was launched this year. My prediction is that this book will be one to pick up if clowning is something you add to your own performing style or is something you have always wanted to learn more about.

It is released on Wednesday the 19th of May 2010 and the RRP is £20.50 although if you go to this page, you can get the brand new book for the bargain price of £11.49

Xtofer

The Worlds Most Dangerous Improv Game

2010-05-17T11:33:00.000+01:00

I am a big fan of Improvisation both in comedy and theatre and two of my favourite performers are Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood who both rose to fame through their involvement with Whose Line Is It Anyway? This here is perhaps the oddest game I have ever seen played and I do not truly understand why they would do this but this is a good example of taking something to the extreme.

So please enjoy but do not try this at home!

Les Mis 25th Anniversary

2010-05-17T10:02:00.000+01:00

The 25th anniversary of Les Miserables is bearing down on the West End quite quickly now and plans for how this great milestone will be marked have still not been made public. For the 10th anniversary who can forget the concert performance at the Royal Albert Hall that became the definitive soundtrack of the show. This years plans seem sure to blow that concert out of the water, initial plans way back in 1995 included a Wembley Stadium show although I do not think something like that would be possible. The current national tour is ending in late October back at the Barbican where the show originated 25 years ago. The tickets though for the last two shows have been suspended as have those dates at the West Ends performances. This has of course led to wide speculation that a big gala event is being planned. Add in the rumours from last week regarding Susan Boyle playing Fantine, although her camp says nothing has been proposed, and it seems there will be some sort of star studded celebration. Whether that means we will see Colm Wilkinson and Philip Quast again is yet to be seen, I can imagine them grabbing Michael Ball to play Jean Valjean though. Still I will keep on watching this space, there isn't a musical I love more than Les Mis so I hope we get a televised event.

Theatre on the TV and Radio 17.05.2010

2010-05-17T08:30:00.000+01:00

Five USA 12:00 Whose Line Is It Anyway.

Five 13:00 Barnum. TV Movie about the great American Impresario.

BBC 2 21:00 Royal Wedding by playwright Abi Morgan

BBC 1 22:35 Graham Norton with guest Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber

Five 23:00 Justin Lee Collins: Good Times. Jersey Boys Cast Performing

Radio 4 14:15 The End of The World (Afternoon Play)

Radio 4 19:15 Front Row, Nigel Harman and John Light on swapping roles on

Stage.

Not Just a Small One: Theatre for One

2010-05-16T12:46:00.000+01:00

Theatre for One is a very exciting concept currently playing New York’s Times Square. Devised and created by acclaimed Set designer Christine Jones, other work includes ‘Spring Awakening’ at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, the initial idea for this unique travelling theatre space apparently came from seeing some intimate magic at a wedding. The idea is to provide a fantastically intimate experience between one audience member and one performer to allow a more distilled and intense theatrical event.

Of course a Theatre for One is not a new idea really; however this is perhaps the first time it has been treated with such a serious note. Here in the UK for nearly 40 years there has or had been a ‘Theatre for One’ in the ‘Smallest Theatre in The World’ which started out as a joke between actors starting out in the 70s. Names bandied around as those who came up with the concept and joke include Marcel Steiner, Jim Cartwright and Bob Hoskins. Steiner eventually purchased a motorbike with an oversized sidecar which it was suggested should be made into a mini theatre. Being a bodger Steiner duly did his duty to the world of theatre and created… this.

Without a doubt this theatre is meant in the spirit of fun and comedy. It is a completely eccentric quite British idea. A very successful one, it is perhaps the only theatre to have ever had constant 100% Audience attendance for every performance. However it is just in many ways a joke and a sideshow attraction, what the New York project has going for it in a different way is that it is in many ways an evolutionary experiment. Having gone through several working prototypes and program developments with various experimental theatre groups in New York this isn’t just a joke for the public to join in on, the people involved in this project are seriously studying the effectiveness of this form of the theatre. The costs and dedication involved have been quite high and I think this is a fascinating project which I wish them all the best with. I have only truly scratched the surface in this article about the project but you can read more on the official website here. I hope that after the Times Square shows that they seriously consider touring it to the UK, highly doubtful I know but still, I think a box theatre in the middle of Leicester Square or even perhaps Covent Garden would be a true theatrical event that few could afford to miss.

Xtofer

Just a Small One: The Acorn Theatre Australia

2010-05-15T17:42:00.000+01:00

Australia once housed the smallest theatre in the world, according to the 2001 Guinness Book of Records, seating just 28 people. They were replaced by the English Theatre of Convenience (see previous Just a Small One) which according to their blog was something they found very amusing. Unfortunately the building shut down in 2009 because it was in such a bad state and wouldn’t reach standards required to continue functioning as a theatre. Then even sadder the Acorn Theatre company, which had been planning to become a touring theatre group, decided to disband earlier this year because of the dwindling of their group due to a lack of venue. It is a sad end to twelve years of being a unique venue and then for the people themselves to have to disband is tragic. However they have kept their blog online which has some great photos and a chronicling of their 12 year run as one of the Worlds Smallest Theatres which you can check out right… here.

Xtofer

Being Self Critical: The most important trait in an Actor

2010-05-10T16:09:00.000+01:00

It is a well established 'fact' according to many peoples opinions that an actor must be self centred, arrogant and full of hot air. Whilst there is some sort of bravado that must indeed be linked to being an actor, being these things up above is more detrimental than anything else in this writers opinion. I will freely admit to having a boast about how many people congratulated me about this and that so and so from the RSC praised my work and said I had a future in the industry blah blah blah but the truth is that it is hot air that I don't need and that I shouldn't let get me resting on my laurels. Here is the cold hard truth, especially for me, the lack of work can lead your once sharpened skills to dull quickly. Last year I was very rusty when I did 'The Worthing Tales' and I would never say that it was a very good performance from myself, it was fun but it wasn't very good (my acting that is, the show was fabulous). So what can we do about this apart from keep practicing with monologues and joining drama clubs and societies etc?

We can remember our faults and analyse them. In 2005 whilst still at University I was taking an Auditions Workshop in which we had to look at our strengths and weaknesses before picking a piece we felt could win us a job. I had until recently forgotten what I had written down and had made up a lot of new problems or what I felt were problems I hadn't addressed before when lo and behold whilst going through my folder of random notes etc I found on the back of an Entertainment license information resource a list of my strengths and weaknesses dated the 26th of May 2005. The list makes for good reading as it instantly reminded me of work I had done to combat all these problems when I was rehearsing and creating a character. It also reminded me of some of the monologues I had toyed with doing ranging from the work of Edward Bond, someone in my class recommended him so I looked in the College Library for some of his work and found nothing I then went to Methvens in Worthing and spent £14.99 (that includes the student discount) on a brilliant book I have barely read due to all the roles being out of my playing range, to the eventual choice of Benedick from M.A.A.N by Shakespeare where I decided not to do this monologue and instead picked what I now believe to be the easier one. I have since reread my list of bad things and thought you might all like a read or at least a look.

Posture
Shuffling Feet
Diction on the letters P, B, D
I need to add more movement
I need to deepen my physical characteristics
Work on my mime work
Work on accents

I find this list now very refreshing to read mainly due to the fact that there is my complaining about my shuffling feet yet I am also saying I need to move more. I guess it was just a case of moving with purpose, something that I do not think I ever really got until my final degree year. Posture has always been one of my main problems, when you have spent years slouching it can be very uncomfortable to stand up straight and even today I have issues with this. P,B and D being problems for me was just laziness and as soon as I read this I remembered how the first couple of days after acknowleding this issue I went around and over emphasised those letters, it did make my Shakespeare speech sound very funny though. Mime is something I sometimes find very hard to grasp but I respect the ability to do it and I think with practice I could probably improve this a lot. As for accents, there I fall down quickly, much like my singing voice my accents fail after about 20-30 seconds of sounding even moderately correct. I would say the majority of this list still are things I struggle with but knowing them is half the battle. I really should make a 2010 one that brings all of this up to date and lets me work and focus on improving myself. I would recommend that you performers out there should always review what you are doing right and wrong because we need to be self critical. Without being your own critic you cannot grow, I am not saying slate everything you do because you want to grow. Its fine to compliment yourself and go 'Yes I did that well' but remember you are only ever as good as your last performance and that is why you should always be looking at ways to improve your abilities.

I know I said I wrote a positives list as well but I will not be sharing that with the World as I think everyone can see my point, plus I don't want to pat myself on the back. Complacency is the death of good acting, I should know I got complacent when I was younger and it took me nearly 3 years to get my confidence and ability back to where I wanted it to be. Remember to be critical means to be able to push yourself to bigger and better things. You can do it, we can all do it. Just remember to always review and if you think you're perfect then get a peers opinion because they will surely know what you did wrong.

Xtofer

Random Website: Impro Directory

2010-05-10T14:38:00.000+01:00

Hi just a very swift update today although I will be weighing in with my thoughts on the whole Julie Andrews comeback concert in the next 24 hours. I have been asked recently to put together a workshop for a local drama school and it has made me look up several of my favourite resources and I thought I would just share this one with everyone. This is one of the best hub pages on the web for finding improvisation exercises and the sites it links to are fantastic. If you want to get better at improv then these websites will provide you with exercises that are perfect for that, if you just want silly party games they are good for that too. So please check it out: here.

Xtofer

Morecambe the Stage Play at Worthing Pavillion 6 May 2010: Review

2010-05-07T17:05:00.000+01:00

Well it was with great excitement that this evening LibraryGirl and I headed to the Pavillion Theatre, Worthing to see the much loved and critically acclaimed show ‘Morecambe’. My excitement stems from how wrong I was regarding the success of this show; long time readers and watchers of my youtube channel may remember my criticism of this type of show and in particular whether or not ‘Morecambe’ would have any future life following its much hyped debut at the Edinburgh Festival. I read the reviews for it in Edinburgh and was so pleased to discover it had a West End run- then the unbelievable happened- it announced a National Tour that would stop in our Seaside town of Worthing. I quickly snapped up our tickets, even before we heard of the Olivier announcement, and spent many a week thinking about this show.

When we entered the theatre and saw the set on stage, 3 pieces of set and a proscenium arch created in the background. Simple, clean and creative. The show began and I instantly started smiling, the energy that came straight out of Bob Golding was amazing. He came on stage bouncing with energy and it swept over the audience making us all feel comfortable. He quickly gave us a run down of the history of Eric Morecambe’s early life as a child music hall/variety act. This was very well received by myself and LibraryGirl, having not read the biographies of Morecambe and only knowing him from the repeats of ‘Morecambe and Wise’, as it gave us a good insight into Morecambe’s relationship with his mother and his love of comedy. It ran very quickly into the first meeting between Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise where we were introduced to ‘Ernie’. Ernie turned out to be a ventriloquist’s dummy and although that may sound like a simple solution for a single man show about a double act comedian (a dummy is technically a prop) the focus and sense of humanity Bob Golding invests in it raises it throughout the show to the point that you forget in many ways that it is a prop and it becomes a character in and of itself. It also is a very nice nod to the commonplace joke between Eric and Ernie about Ernie’s size. The way that Golding holds the dummy as well is a piece of design genius, Eric Morecambe, whilst a brilliant comedian in his own right would never have become as well loved on his own as he did with Ernie and the amount of focus and belief Golding puts into the dummy makes it a believable relationship. The props and set designer Julia Bunce did a fantastic job but it would be remiss to not mention the brilliant work from lighting designer Chris Davey. The lighting was very well used in the Pavillion; the disco ball used generally for dances at the theatre was used on occasions for the romantic interludes and the use of shadows which was very effective. The lighting very much focused on both Golding and the Dummy giving them both a level pegging in status until the story changed focus to something outside the double act. This was never more apparent than during the nightmare scene and heart attacks. The nightmare scene shone a crimson light over Golding casting dark shadows across the back of the set, the way the shadow broke up slightly because of the set proscenium arch made the shape of what looked to me like a Harlequin or a Peirrot now whether or not this was intentional I cannot say but it was very effective. The silent movie film effect for the recollection of the 1983 Christmas special’s Keystone Kops sketch was incredibly effective and it worked so well, the flashing washed out the colour on the stage and suddenly segued into the second heart attack. The way the heart attacks were lit, as well, was a great way of affecting the audience by showing how things can get derailed by a tragedy. The change in feeling when the attacks happened is enhanced very effectively by the lighting changes.

The story flowed really well and the storytelling by Golding was fantastic as he adopted voices of other characters, from agents to a brilliant impression of Bruce Forsyth, but always moving back to a very good characterisation of Eric Morecambe. The play flows incredibly well and feels like it is just naturally happening and time speeds by with plenty of belly laughs, small chuckles and smiles aplenty. The moments of high drama and touching reminiscence are beautifully written and very well handled by Golding. There are genuine moments of sadness in the play especially when he referred to his confidence taking a knock giving the audience an insight to the sadness behind Eric Morecambe’s enormous grin. Then as he talks about his father passing away, a funny story to be sure, it is not played for laughs and is chilling in the way it is linked to Eric Morecambe’s own last words. Golding’s retelling is treated with great care and thoughtful acting. His acting while describing his mother’s slow decline following his father’s passing is perfect and goes brilliantly with his setting up of their relationship earlier in the play, this is so well directed and acted there seems to be no weak part in the story telling. When we get to the end of Morecambe’s life a song begins indicating the end of the show as he picks up the Dummy he stops singing and pauses looking at little Ernie and it feels like forever before he leaves a long tearful lingering kiss on the puppets forehead- there cannot be many dry eyes in the house. The show ends on a high as the song finishes with both Eric and Ernie, another pre-dressed dummy, resplendent in their white tops and tails dance off as if these two friends are angels dancing off together.

Bob Golding is quoted in the programme as saying:

‘… nobody will ever come close to being anything like Eric. Nobody could match his timing, delivery, natural rhythm…’

I have to say that whilst it is true that nobody will be exactly the same as Eric Morecambe, Bob Golding is pretty much the closest we are ever going to get. His physicalization of Eric Morecambe is so brilliant that it had both LibraryGirl and me gasping at times because the veil had dropped over our eyes and we truly thought it was Eric Morecambe onstage. Golding had obviously studied Eric Morecambe very closely because he glides over the stage like him, stands like him and even moves when telling his jokes much like the man himself. Whilst he doesn’t really sound like Eric Morecambe Golding does very nearly match both his rhythm and his delivery and this is as close as I can believe an actor can really get to being another person. To me Golding embodied Eric Morecambe totally and drew me in so well that my disbelief was suspended to the point that I felt I was watching the great man himself on the stage showing just how good an actor Bob Golding is. The Pavillion obviously agreed with me as the audience gave Golding a standing ovation for his performance. I just wonder how good Aneurin Barnard must have been in ‘Spring Awakening’ to have snatched the Olivier away from Golding whose performance is definitely award winning.

This show had me smiling from the moment it began to the final curtain, something I have to say has never happened before in any show I have seen. It is a real feel good piece which is so entertaining it totally deserves its Olivier Award for best entertainment. A fantastic show in the perfect venue for it, a show that celebrates one of our last variety acts at an old Summer Concert Party venue where acts like Morecambe and Wise once entertained the tourists. Just a brilliant show, I wish I could go and see it again tonight.

In closing I just want to say that I have never been so glad to be so wrong and want to congratulate everyone involved in this production for just putting together such a feel good show which provides everyone with a real smile.

As ever please feel free to leave any feedback.

Xtofer

Some instant feedback from the Tony nominations

2010-05-05T17:23:00.000+01:00

Ok so the Tony award nominations were released yesterday and they are interesting to say the least. I should point out that whilst this blog doesn't focus on Broadway and the american theatre in general the happenings in the USA do effect the Theatre here in the UK. Tony award winning shows and Tony nominated shows generally get at least a chance to be considered for our London stages just as our Olivier Awarded shows get a chance for a Broadway transfer. So with that in mind here are the nominations and I am going to comment on a couple of those nominations.

Nominees for the 64th Annual Tony Awards follow:

Best Play

In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play

Author: Sarah Ruhl

Next Fall

Author: Geoffrey Nauffts

Red

Author: John Logan

Time Stands Still

Author: Donald Margulies

Best Musical

American Idiot

Fela!

Memphis

Million Dollar Quartet

Best Book of a Musical

Everyday Rapture

Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott

Fela!

Jim Lewis & Bill T. Jones

Memphis

Joe DiPietro

Million Dollar Quartet

Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

The Addams Family

Music & Lyrics: Andrew Lippa

Music: Adam Cork

Lyrics: Lucy Prebble

Fences

Music: Branford Marsalis

Memphis

Music: David Bryan

Lyrics: Joe DiPietro, David Bryan

Best Revival of a Play

Fences

Producers: Carole Shorenstein Hays and Scott Rudin

Lend Me a Tenor

Producers: The Araca Group, Stuart Thompson, Carl Moellenberg, Rodney Rigby, Olympus Theatricals, Broadway Across America, The Shubert Organization, Wendy Federman/Jamie deRoy/Richard Winkler, Lisa Cartwright, Spring Sirkin, Scott and Brian Zeilinger

The Royal Family

Producers: Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove

A View from the Bridge

Producers: Stuart Thompson, The Araca Group, Jeffrey Finn, Broadway Across America, Olympus Theatricals, Marisa Sechrest, The Weinstein Company, Jon B. Platt, Sonia Friedman Productions/Robert G. Bartner, Mort Swinsky/Joseph Deitch, Adam Zotovich/Ruth Hendel/Orin Wolf, Shelter Island Enterprises, The Shubert Organization

Best Revival of a Musical

Finian's Rainbow

Producers: David Richenthal, Jack Viertel, Alan D. Marks, Michael Speyer, Bernard Abrams, David M. Milch, Stephen Moore, Debbie Bisno/Myla Lerner, Jujamcyn Theaters, Melly Garcia, Jamie deRoy, Jon Bierman, Richard Driehaus, Kevin Spirtas, Jay Binder, StageVentures 2009 Limited Partnership

La Cage aux Folles

Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, David Babani, Barry and Fran Weissler and Edwin W. Schloss, Bob Bartner/Norman Tulchin, Broadway Across America, Matthew Mitchell, Raise The Roof 4 Richard Winkler/Bensinger Taylor/Laudenslager Bergrère, Arelene Scanlan/John O'Boyle, Independent Presenters Network, Olympus Theatricals, Allen Spivak, Jerry Frankel/Bat-Barry Productions, Nederlander Presentations, Inc/Harvey Weinstein, Menier Chocolate Factory

A Little Night Music

Producers: Tom Viertel, Steven Baruch, Marc Routh, Richard Frankel, The Menier Chocolate Factory, Roger Berlind, David Babani, Sonia Friedman Productions, Andrew Fell, Daryl Roth/Jane Bergere, Harvey Weinstein/Raise the Roof 3, Beverly Bartner/Dancap Productions, Inc., Nica Burns/Max Weitzenhoffer, Eric Falkenstein/Anna Czekaj, Jerry Frankel/Ronald Frankel, James D. Stern/Douglas L. Meyer

Ragtime

Producers: Kevin McCollum, Roy Furman, Scott Delman, Roger Berlind, Max Cooper, Tom Kirdahy/Devin Elliott, Jeffrey A. Sine, Stephanie P. McClelland, Roy Miller, Lams Productions, Jana Robbins, Sharon Karmazin, Eric Falkenstein/Morris Berchard, RialtoGals Productions, Independent Presenters Network, Held-Haffner Productions, HRH Foundation, Emanuel Azenberg, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Michael Kaiser, Max Woodward

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

Jude Law, Hamlet

Alfred Molina, Red

Liev Schreiber, A View from the Bridge

Christopher Walken, A Behanding in Spokane

Denzel Washington, Fences

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

Viola Davis, Fences

Valerie Harper, Looped

Linda Lavin, Collected Stories

Laura Linney, Time Stands Still

Jan Maxwell, The Royal Family

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

Kelsey Grammer, La Cage aux Folles

Sean Hayes, Promises, Promises

Douglas Hodge, La Cage aux Folles

Chad Kimball, Memphis

Sahr Ngaujah, Fela!

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

Kate Baldwin, Finian's Rainbow

Montego Glover, Memphis

Christiane Noll, Ragtime

Sherie Rene Scott, Everyday Rapture

Catherine Zeta-Jones, A Little Night Music

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

David Alan Grier, Race

Stephen McKinley Henderson, Fences

Jon Michael Hill, Superior Donuts

Stephen Kunken, Enron

Eddie Redmayne, Red

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Maria Dizzia, In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play

Rosemary Harris, The Royal Family

Jessica Hecht, A View from the Bridge

Scarlett Johansson, A View from the Bridge

Jan Maxwell, Lend Me a Tenor

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

Kevin Chamberlin, The Addams Family

Robin De Jesús, La Cage aux Folles

Christopher Fitzgerald, Finian's Rainbow

Levi Kreis, Million Dollar Quartet

Bobby Steggert, Ragtime

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

Barbara Cook, Sondheim on Sondheim

Katie Finneran, Promises, Promises

Angela Lansbury, A Little Night Music

Karine Plantadit, Come Fly Away

Lillias White, Fela!

Best Scenic Design of a Play

John Lee Beatty, The Royal Family

Alexander Dodge, Present Laughter

Santo Loquasto, Fences

Christopher Oram, Red

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Marina Draghici, Fela!

Christine Jones, American Idiot

Derek McLane, Ragtime

Tim Shortall, La Cage aux Folles

Best Costume Design of a Play

Martin Pakledinaz, Lend Me a Tenor

Constanza Romero, Fences

David Zinn, In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play

Catherine Zuber, The Royal Family

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Marina Draghici, Fela!

Santo Loquasto, Ragtime

Paul Tazewell, Memphis

Matthew Wright, La Cage aux Folles

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Neil Austin, Hamlet

Neil Austin, Red

Mark Henderson, Enron

Brian MacDevitt, Fences

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Kevin Adams, American Idiot

Donald Holder, Ragtime

Nick Richings, La Cage aux Folles

Robert Wierzel, Fela!

Best Sound Design of a Play

Acme Sound Partners, Fences

Adam Cork, Enron

Adam Cork, Red

Scott Lehrer, A View from the Bridge

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Jonathan Deans, La Cage aux Folles

Robert Kaplowitz, Fela!

Dan Moses Schreier and Gareth Owen, A Little Night Music

Dan Moses Schreier, Sondheim on Sondheim

Best Direction of a Play

Michael Grandage, Red

Sheryl Kaller, Next Fall

Kenny Leon, Fences

Gregory Mosher, A View from the Bridge

Best Direction of a Musical

Christopher Ashley, Memphis

Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Ragtime

Terry Johnson, La Cage aux Folles

Bill T. Jones, Fela!

Best Choreography

Rob Ashford, Promises, Promises

Bill T. Jones, Fela!

Lynne Page, La Cage aux Folles

Twyla Tharp, Come Fly Away

Best Orchestrations

Jason Carr, La Cage aux Folles

Aaron Johnson, Fela!

Jonathan Tunick, Promises, Promises

Daryl Waters & David Bryan, Memphis

Now we have got the nominations out of the way its time to talk about a couple of them. I will start with the nomination for best performance by a Leading Actor in a play for Jude Law. Long time readers of HeadTheatre may remember an article I wrote in October of last year named Jude Law: Hamlet in which I analysed Jude Law's work on Broadway and the reaction he was getting, I criticised him and his type of film actor as people who use the theatre for credibility. I would like to apologise and congratulate Jude for his nomination, as I said in my article at the time he was receiving decent notices praising his work and I was surprised to hear that but also very happy to hear it and now I am glad his work has been nominated. Good for Jude and again I wish we had seen it at the Donmar when it was on in London.

I would also like to congratulate Douglas Hodge for his nomination for best leading actor in a musical for his performance in La Cage Aux Folles. Having seen Hodge perform in Guys and Dolls, as Nathan Detroit, back in 2005 I have been following his career to see how he does and the clips shown on British TV for LCAF during its West End run showed that Hodge is one of our top actors at the moment. He moved with the production to Broadway for its New York run and I am really happy that he has gotten this international recognition.

The other two nominations I want to talk about are for Nathan Lane and American Idiot.

American Idiot, based on the album by Green Day, is a Rock Opera in the same vein as Tommy. I have been waiting for this show for years, when the album originally came out I was so excited by the talk of a Rock Opera and I have been waiting to hear about it for the past 5 years. It opened on Broadway just two weeks ago and has already garnered this nomination alongside many favourable reviews. So knowing how Broadway is now utilising the world wide web I headed over to youtube for a gander and this is what I found.

I instantly felt like I was watching a little bit of WWRY but then also a little bit of RENT. It seems full of that anguish that RENT has and the unending happy teen bopping that WWRY was so guilty of. Not knowing where the show really will go means that I am unable to truly give a meaningful critique of its style etc. However being a piece written by, including the book, an international band means the liklihood of either a film deal or West End run being brokered increases the chance that at some point I will see this piece of new Rock Opera. I am most interested to see how much of the albums criticism of American society will have made it into the show. None the less even if the show doesn't win the Tony I predict a long run on Broadway.

The other nomination was for a favourite of mine, Nathan Lane. Lane has for me been the most entertaining american broadway star I have seen for years. His work both in film and onstage has kept me laughing for many years and I am really happy he has been nominated yet again. It did however surprise me considering that this $15 million production, The Addams Family, is a huge artistic flop with Lane being the only good thing in the entire show. Having watched a clip from the Letterman show (see below) I can see why people do not like it but the American public have lapped it up and the show has been playing to mostly full houses... something virtually unheard of at the moment in the theatre industry. Only two shows have been making more money than The Addams Family and that is 'Wicked' and 'The Lion King' both massive shows that have got a very impressive following. Lane has signed on to play Gomez Addams until March 2011 and it looks like there is nothing that will stop this artistic bust becoming at the very least a moderate commercial success. I would say that if it does huge megabucks I really can see this show making its way across the Atlantic and if it does you can bet that just like when the Producers came to London that Lane will follow to fill his role and if he does I will go and get tickets just to see him.

In conclusion I would like to congratulate once more those artists I have mentioned and of course everyone else who has been nominated for a Tony Award.

On the note of awards, tomorrow I am attending 'Morecambe' at the Pavillion Theatre in Worthing and will post a review of the show on headtheatre before Saturday. There will also be a special analysis episode of Theatre from My Head reviews on youtube regarding 'Morecambe' next week.

Please feel free to leave any feedback below.

Xtofer

The Election: Debates and The Economy or Theatrical Thursday's with the PM

2010-05-01T21:44:00.000+01:00

Many long time readers of Theatre From My Head will probably remember an article I wrote several months back about the Budget and how it will effect the Performing Arts industry. If you do not remember or have not read it then you can find the link to it right... here. In the article I lambasted the current Labour government's decision to start downsizing the arts and cultural investments in their pre-budget plans and I feel right for doing so, I asked the questions that I felt needed answering. So it was with great relief, great happiness and much hope that I tuned into ITV just over three weeks ago to witness along with 9 million other people a brilliant fusion of theatre and politics, I am of course referring to the Election Debates. These were essentially performance pieces by each Party Leader and they were fantastic. The acting and theatre aspects were particularly obvious with some of the fake emotions and statements made by these politicians and in my mind only one of them came across as really genuine and naturalistic... Mr Clegg. In my own mind I dubbed these nights of debate and arguments 'Theatrical Thursdays with the PM' as I thought about how fun they were as well as interesting.

Nobody referenced the cuts that would be made to the arts sector in Debate number 1, not surprising there was nothing to discuss really. We are after all in a massively bad situation still with the national debt etc but in debates number 2 and 3 there was nothing either. The truth is the cuts that we have been told about will come, according to both David Cameron and Gordon Brown, from public services, so yes, your libraries will be cut further and there will be less of them, the ones left filled with people who probably are not being paid and don't know the job properly. David Cameron in the first Election Debate was talking about people volunteering their time to helping community establishments and services so I guess one of the first things to go will probably be Library assistants. It is, however, highly ironic when you think that being a right wing politician with capitalist friends he would suggest a very communist approach to local institutions. Or maybe heknows that Thatcherism is already going to be coming back and we will have another 8 million unemployed people who he has to place somewhere. Gordon Brown doesn't want to cut these things but is facing the real threat of the economy destabilising once again and is taking necessary precautions which is fair but still will cause long term damage in my estimations. The Liberal Democrats have completely laid out in their manifesto how they will take chunks out of the deficit including reducing public sector pensions in a fair way in collaboration with both government and the unions. Public sector spending in general will be assessed by an independent body that will advise a Liberal Democrat government how to streamline and get the best from these services with minimal cuts. So they are all going to cut into what little money there already is. Now the whole theatre thing is quite vague and I am sure none of the 3 party leaders are really that interested in whether this policy gets people voting or not but to me it is an important subject so I took a look at all three parties' manifestos and these is some of the highlights.

First the current Labour Government's policy (for full policy please click: here)

Labour has put culture, media and sport centre stage since we came to power in 1997 – in the last decade we have increased public funding by £541.3 million, an increase of 47.3 per cent.

We want to open up the arts and culture to everyone. We have put in place major initiatives, such as free entry to national museums and galleries, and free theatre for young people...

Over the past decade the creative sector has grown at twice the rate of the economy as a whole and the annual exports in cultural goods amount to £11.6 billion.

Of course the Labour Government has supported the sports sector more than any other but with the figures above and the abundance of theatres, schools, performance spaces and schemes to get people involved in creative activities they have shown they are committed to this subject. Of course as has been the overall theme for the Labour campaign this Election it is all about what they have already done, not what they will be doing in the future. So I do not know what to think regarding their arts and culture policy except perhaps hope that if re-elected the Government would still be dedicated to funding this sector.

Now for the Conservative Parties Policy (For the full policy please read: here)

With the London 2012 Olympic Games approaching, we have a wonderful opportunity to showcase these sectors and highlight the best sporting and cultural activities that Britain has to offer, promoting this country as the attractive tourist destination it undoubtedly is.

I really recommend you read the full policy as it is just another attack on the Labour government and then goes on to talk about London 2012 and that is about it. Well there is one big problem there for me, we go into 2012 and then what happens for the next 3 years of the Tory term? I just wish the Tories had put a better well rounded explanation for what they see theatre and the arts adding to the UK or will add to the UK with their support. Still maybe they think that they do not need to invest money in the theatre because of the amount of plays and shows made during their terms of power about how awful it is to live in a Conservative England.

The Liberal Democrats. (For full policy please go: here)

Liberal Democrats recognise the enormous contribution that arts, heritage and culture make to the lives of citizens. We believe that culture should be valued for its own sake as well as for the undoubted benefits to other areas, such as the economy, health, crime prevention and education.

We believe that public investment in the arts should fund talent not bureaucracy, and sustainability not short-term initiatives.

Now I chose these two quotes because I found them the most relevant to me and the rest of the policy covers ways they would improve the culture, media and sports sector. They go into detail about their hopes and attitude towards television, radio and the Internet. I should also point out that the Lib Dems also attack the Government on their usage of the Lottery funding just like the Conservatives but don't make it a focal part of their policy.

After the fantastic acting we have seen every Thursday night for the past 3 weeks- kudos to Nick Clegg for practicing this act over the years with the likes of Sam Mendes and Helena Bonham Carter- it has been an Election campaign trail not to forget and I get to top my month of Thursday Theatrical fun with the Olivier Award Winning 'Morecambe' when it rolls into Worthing on the 6th of May. A new Government and a Theatrical event, oh what fun!

CHEAP PLUG
Tickets are still available for Morecambe at the Pavilion tickets can be purchased: here. Curtain goes up at 7:30.

Xtofer

Charity Shops... and Libraries

2010-04-27T16:26:00.000+01:00

I have a thirst for knowledge, I must know that which I do not already and that is never so obvious as when it comes to the theatre. In an industry like ours where the very artform itself is changing day by day and tastes are altering it is important to try and capture that tsunami of information. It doesn't of course help that there is a vast history out there of the theatre and that is what interests me the most. I will freely admit to not being able to keep up with the modern theatre as well as I would like mainly due to my own personal tastes and judgements but I will quite happily read and listen to articles, books etc about things that happened in the past. That is why I am so addicted to trawling second hand book shops, car boot sales, charity shops and of course Libraries. My own personal library of dramatic books is of course growing by the week which in a room as small as ours is a bit of a pain. The biggest complaint despite the lack of space is that these books sometimes go unread, the majority of the technical ones on directing and design etc have been pored over at length same as the plays, but the history ones are neglected which is why I have started reading them with an aim to review them and see what they can teach us today.

I get the majority of my books funnily enough from the Library service who sell off old books they no longer need or want due to the condition age or whatever of the book. The prices range from 50p to a couple of pounds and are really a steal, you can pick up old paperbacks and hardbacks on all sorts of subjects for those prices thanks to the library needing to update its stock. Then of course there are charity shops, the past two weekends we spent time in Littlehampton and managed to over those two saturdays pay out £30 for a collection of about 30 rarish and old books that are now out of print. My favourite so far, apart from a beautiful copy of To the Actor by Michael Chekov, is a theatre criticism book from the early 19th century (its a reprint and re-edited) by an author named William Hazlitt who writes about the performances of great early actors like Edmund Kean and Mrs Alsop in a book titled: Hazlitt on Theatre. So that is the first I will review and look forward to that soon everyone. However like I said charity shops are a great place to find bargains, at the end of terms near well known drama schools and colleges you can normally find tonnes of plays from students who do not keep their texts. I implore you if you are looking for something different from the same old typical books you find in Waterstones and WHSmiths then look in the Charity shops or the Libraries they may have some rare books at a steal which can interest you.

Support your local charity shops and go have a look.

Xtofer