Kala Chethena Kathakali live at the Connaught Theatre Worthing 31.05.15 REVIEW

Kala Chethena Kathakli Company

Last month LibraryGirl and myself attended a fantastic event at the Connaught Theatre in Worthing. It was a piece of Dance Theatre called Hima Sundari and was performed by the Kala Chetena Kathakali Company. This event was absolutely fantastic from start to finish and was a refreshing change from the general thing we go to see at the theatre. 

Our first knowledge of this performance was an exhibition of the costumes being shown at Worthing Museum in our hometown. As long time readers may remember LibraryGirl is a fan of many parts of Indian culture and it was her who introduced me to Bollywood so when we saw this exhibition advertised we made sure we visited. We got to see the fantastic costumes of this brilliant art form up close and they are breath taking! Real works of art that are worn in performance made by artisans from Kerala who have trained and done this work for many years.

The show was absolutely fantastic, well staged and they gave us a lecture before the show that provided lots of information about the art form and the company itself. The dance style is very expressive and this helps the story make sense and conveys the emotions and thoughts of the characters very well. There were moments of humour, joy, romance and horror within the show which made it truly immersive. LibraryGirl and myself really enjoyed the show and the price was very reasonable for a show as good as this.

Please go and visit their site here and if they are coming near you, you owe it to yourself to buy tickets because it truly is a magnificent show.

Monologue by Harold Pinter Vlog by Me

Hi please find in this post my very first vlog! Any feedback you can give me below would be very happily received.

I hope you enjoy this vlog.

Chris

Punch and Judy Exhibition at Worthing Museum

Today the sun finally came out for more than a couple of hours so LibraryGirl and I made our way down the town to enjoy the sunshine and do some research at the central Library. We went into the library and found ourselves directed to Worthing Museum to view a specific display. Whilst at the museum we decided to have look at the current Punch and Judy exhibition celebrating 350 years of Mr Punch and his adventures.

Punch and Judy shows have gone through a lot of changes and evolved due to different circumstances and this was very well displayed at the Worthing Museum. It offered timelines, contexts and all manner of items to interact with. You could even put on your own Punch and Judy show. At the time we went to the exhibit it was very quiet with only one family visiting it but the children were enjoying themselves learning about Mr Punch's history and how it fits in with Worthing's own history. That was the one overall message I got from the exhibit, despite the age and tradition of Punch and Judy, that the history of Worthing, because it is a seaside town, and the history of Punch is intertwined.

As I have already mentioned Mr Punch has evolved and as you can see in the video posted up above his original tale has changed over the years and most of the performers, or Professors, have taken out the child killing, the women beating, police officer attacking, executioner hangings and Devil chasing and inserted more up to date references and more child friendly material. Despite these changes to the plot Punch and Judy remains popular and I reckon this is because Mr Punch has always been, and will always be, a naughty man who manages to escape in the cheekiest ways possible. The exhibition is really good and if you are in the West Sussex area and you want to while away an hour and have a coffee or lunch Worthing has some great cafes, Wrights in Warwick street being one of them, excellent beaches and gardens, a true theatrical pedigree and of course the Museum. It is free entry to the Museum although they are asking for people to donate both to the upkeep of the Museum and to help house their currently homeless collection of Teddy Bears. I cannot recommend Worthing Museum enough, it was a great visit and I look forward to the next exhibition they put on.

Tomorrow is the May Fayre in Covent Garden, there they will celebrate the 350 years of Punch and Judy with performances, stalls, workshops, folk music and dancing. It all starts with a Grand Procession at 11am so if you are in the London area and like puppetry or you remember seeing a Punch and Judy stall when you were younger and want to be nostalgic it is well worth a look at. I have watched several performances on youtube of acts from years past at the May Fayre and the standard is very high. However my favourite video I have watched is by the Storybox Theatre company and it is their performer Rod Burnett performing the traditional, and I mean traditional, English Punch and Judy show in Spanish. You may be worried that if you don't speak Spanish it will be hard to understand and you won't be able to enjoy it but Punch and Judy is an extension of Pantomime and therefore language is the least important part of it, the most important is of course the action.

It is well worth sitting through the whole 40 minutes and before you ask my fave bit is with the sausage maker... its slapstick comedy at its most pure.

Let me know, what is your favourite part of a Punch and Judy show?

Have a great weekend.

Xtofer 

Upcoming Shows Worthing

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.

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

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

Review: The 39 Steps UK Tour. Connaught Theatre Worthing 03/02/10

The 39 Steps

On the 3rd of February 2010 my girlfriend LibraryGirl and I attended the Connaught Theatre in Worthing to watch one of the best plays currently touring the UK, The 39 Steps based upon the novel by John Buchan.

Now I haven't been to see a play at the Connaught since 2001 when I saw Flatspin by Ayckbourn and LibraryGirl has never seen a play at the venue so this was going to be an experience for both of us.

We arrived with about 20 minutes to go before curtain up and there was a lot of people in the foyer trying to get to the refreshments kiosk, I didn't go up to Frasers bar so I didn't see how busy that was but the kiosk was busy all night but more on that later. When we picked up our tickets I went to get a programme for the show, instantly getting out a fiver I didn't expect to get much change considering the price of programmes on the West End. I was surprised to find that the programme was only £2.50 which to me is a bargain.

We entered the auditorium to find that the set for the show is visible even during the breaks and pre show; it is a false proscenium arch with a red curtain and two theatre boxes. Now I have never seen the 39 Steps the film (any of the three versions) and I have not read it either so this set piqued my interest instantly. The theatre started filling up and by the time the curtain went up I would say they were two thirds full. In fact some of the people in the audience had seen the play numerous times on the West End before and because it was touring had come to see it again, high praise indeed, I was now very excited.

Then it began.

The fourth wall is instantly broken within the first scene of the play to allow us the audience to realise we are as much a part of the play as the actors. Then all sorts of chaos break loose. The story is like an avalanche of melodrama and comedy rolling down upon the audience at break neck speed. This is well managed chaos, the type of chaos that enhances the story of the escape from the police and heightens the tension of the espionage plot. The fact that there are only 4 actors in the cast playing all the roles also feeds into the spy plot really well as you start asking yourself 'who is really who?' 'Is he a police officer or a spy?' and so on. The other part of the on stage chaos is the obvious lack of seriousness during the majority of the play, there is such a tongue in cheek feel to this piece that it feels friendly and warm and like a shared experience between audience and performer.

The acting is top notch, the way I have described the show as chaotic and lacking in seriousness probably belies the fact that it is such a tight production and obviously painstakingly rehearsed. Performances feeling as spontaneous as this are always very well rehearsed to get that feeling, you also need some very special actors who can pull it off. Luckily the cast in this show is the best.

Dugald Bruce-Lockhart who plays Richard Hannay is fantastic as the dashing and bumbling lead character. His accent reminds me of Alexander Armstrong but his entire demeanour evokes a different era, his stiff upper lip cannot get any stiffer and his British wit is cutting in its delivery.

The Olivier Award Nominated Katherine Kingsley as Annabella/Pamela/Margaret is brilliant moving from high hammy melodrama as Annabella, through soft realistic tones as Pamela to the pure romance of Margaret. Her characters are all distinctly different and if I had no idea that there was only a cast of four I would have thought there were 3 different actresses on the stage.

However good the two 'leads' are this show really belongs to Richard Braine and Dan Starkey as Man 1 & Man 2. These two play ALL the other parts in the 39 Steps, whether it is the Palladiums Compere and Mister Memory, the sinister men with lamppost (very funny) or the hotel keepers they keep the story rolling along with their fabulous acting and physical comedy. Braine is perfect in this role as his work on children’s slapstick series such as Bodger and Badger, Bernard’s Watch and Chucklevision has provided him with a lot of experience for this kind of acting. Starkey on the other hand is in many ways on a whole other level, his clowning is phenomenal, his comedic timing is bang on and his portrayal of the ancient Scottish Politician canvassing votes is perhaps the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. The energy these two exude into the piece makes this show memorable and a true theatrical event.

The actual production itself is genius; all the main set pieces are reusable in different ways. They use 3 trunks, 2 ladders, 2 chairs, 1 portable fire place and 1 wardrobe that contains a hotel bedroom! To be honest if needed the production doesn't even need the fake arch with built in boxes, it would still be extremely effective with just a bare stage and these bits of set. And therein lies the genius of this production, it is so well thought out, so well constructed and rehearsed that it could all be pared back and still be amazing. The concept for the 39 steps is just brilliant it makes me super jealous I hadn't thought of it.

So overall did we enjoy the show? Well LibraryGirl did and so did I, I absolutely loved it. It was brilliant and I wish I had bought tickets for every night because I could watch it again and again and never get bored. I recommend it to anyone as this is really a show for the whole family despite some mild violence. There is nothing offensive it just good old fashioned fun.

What about The Connaught? Well at the interval we went for ice creams, there was a long line yet I was only waiting for a minute as they had a fluid system going and it was only £1.70 each for an ice cream which is yet again another bargain. We sat in Row J seats 4 and 5 which I wouldn't recommend because its right by the entrance to the auditorium and getting out at the end was challenging as people barged past. However if you go to the venue to see a movie sit in row J in the middle for the best view in the house.

All in all a bargain night out for West End quality theatre at a fraction of the price. Will I go to the Connaught again to see a play again? Definitely.

For more info on 39 Steps see: http://www.love39steps.com/

For the Connaught see: http://www.worthingtheatres.co.uk/

Worthing Theatres Open Day 31/01/2010: The Head Theatre Review

Worthing Theatres Open Day

Today Worthing Theatres opened the doors to its three very different venues to the general public for free and I have to say it was a great success. Unluckily being a fool I did forget to fully charge our digital camera so we only got shots of the Connaught really, but the pics we took were mostly interesting and I will post them in the blog. So here is my review of the day.

Doors were supposed to open at 12 Noon and there was a nice group of us in the Connaughts Lobby by 11:45 and plenty of staff who were happy to chat to you and answer questions. At Midday we entered the main Auditorium of the Connaught Theatre, now I haven't been in there since they showed 'This is It' last year and was very impressed with the new seats, and also the wonderful work done on the previously tatty boxes. The stage was free of set and sound equipment generally, apart from the equipment for the lecture that would later take place, so we could walk up there and look around.

The Connaughts Stage

Me looking uncomfortable on the stage!

From the stage Abby and I were allowed to explore the theatre pretty much to our hearts content, the only place that seemed off limits was the fly floor although thats probably a good thing health and safety wise. After being on the stage we moved down into the ground floors dressing rooms. On our exit we noticed a much loved sign.

 

Little things like this kept catching our eyes as we walked around the theatre, after seeing the ground floor dressing rooms we were allowed below the stage where Worthing Theatres Manager Peter Bailey was giving a little Q&A. Down there is where they store the majority of their lamps and effects machines.

Lights stored under the stage.

We also noticed a couple of trap door mechanisms and got to ask a few questions about the way shows are put into the theatre. All questions were answered and the staff were very helpful. After being under the stage it was up to the second level and into the other dressing rooms. This too was very interesting each one had obviously been modernised over time but still had their links to the past with various photos in frames of past stars and productions.

We were making our way out when we realised that we were by the staircase that must be the one reported in the last couple of incidents regarding the Connaughts infamous 'Grey Lady'.

Sadly no sight of the Grey Lady.

We took some more photos and then decided to retire to the auditorium once more where we went into one of the boxes and enjoyed one of the technicians lectures on lighting/sound and film within the Connaught and Ritz. Of course it was very interesting and well presented with the only snag being that the sound wasn't working for his demonstration. It was a very eye opening talk which revealed many things about the theatre including the fact that they are going to, hopefully, be installing 3D into the Connaught at some point in the next year and they are just choosing the format. A good sign that Connaught is trying to be more competitive as a cinema and continue its excellent service to our community. Then before we left for the Pavillion we checked out the theatres bar, I wish I had taken some photos as there are some real period features in there.

The Lecture

The Pavillion Theatre Worthing is a beautiful venue capable of seating over 900 audience members and is generally used for Stand Up Comedy, Musicals and Concerts nowadays. Originally built as a concert hall it has changed over the years and forms part of Worthings Award Winning Peir complex. I only took one photo of the Pavillion before our camera went to sleep for the day, I won't make that mistake again, it is of the classic ceiling and chandeliers of the building.

The Pavillion tour was very short, there was no chance of going under the stage but we did get to see all the backstage and dressing rooms including a very grand dressing room for the stars. Where the kids who perform during Panto at the Pavillion are kept who knows for there is remarkably little space back there.

We went up to the control room where a young technician was speaking about how the sound board and lighting system worked. The rig at the Pavillion is bigger than that at the Connaught so there was a lot more to see.

After leaving the Pavillion we headed to the Assembly Hall where we often go to watch Premier Promotions and were delighted to see the Wurlitzer Organ out on display and being played. Unfortuanately no camera meant no pics but I did look up their website and found some excellent picture.

http://www.worthing-wurlitzer.org/

In the Assembly Halls again we looked at the backstage area of dressing rooms and equipment lock ups, we also looked under the stage and then at the control room where children were getting the chance to experience a lighting board. We then sat and watched about 20 minutes of the Wurlitzer being played which was very enjoyable, I have never really thought about going to see an Organ concert but it was lovely music and I would love to see it again.

All in all a great day out seeing a lot of the inner workings of Worthing Theatres. Of course I have almost an obsession with the Connaught and so I found that one the most interesting of the three. However I must commend the entire staff at Worthing Theatres for their hospitality and help. I found them all very nice and chatty with an obvious love for their jobs, something which is really a credit to the organisation. The only negative I can give on the day, one which is not all the fault of Worthing Theatres, is the lack of attendance. We saw many older people, at one point in the Connaught we were the youngest people there! However as the day wore on we saw more children and young adults attending, I blame this on the lack of advertising. I did not see any advert on the Worthing Theatres Website, or read about it in the local main papers such as the Argus or the Herald. I heard about it through one of my partners Colleagues who also works for Worthing Theatres. The only media advert I believe was released was an article within the free weekend paper 'The Weekend Guardian' which isn't available everywhere in Worthing, this is just poor advertising which made it harder work for Worthing Theatres to get as many people through the doors as possible so they could sell tickets.

I hope today spiked ticket sales for Worthing Theatres but most of all I want to say thank you to them all for giving us nearly 100% access of some wonderful venues. I only wish I had an interview with Peter Bailey the Theatre Manager to go along with this review, however he has so far ignored my emails. I will try and still get it as there were questions I wanted to ask but didn't get the chance.

So Thank You Worthing Theatres and good luck with this coming season...

For more info check out

http://www.worthingtheatres.co.uk/

Not another Article about the Death of Regional Theatre + The Injustice of the Redgrave Theatre Farnham

Every single year it seems without fail there is an outcry from some corner of the theatre industry here in the UK regarding the failure of the Regional Theatres. Now am I really hearing this? Surely the truth is that the theatre industry is currently booming artistically and with the good box office receipts for shows such as Legally Blonde that the commercial side is doing well too. Of course Legally Blonde is a west end show but when there are regional tours of The 39 Steps, a west end favourite, coming this year then surely something right is happening. I can honestly say that in my area our local theatre has its best line up for the Spring Season in years, we have 10 quality plays between February and June visiting all vying for my money and all contain stars such as Kelly McGillis, Leslie Grantham, Gary Wilmot, Kate O’Mara, Damien Williams and Lee Mead. Also there are many respected theatre companies putting on productions, companies such as The Agatha Christie Theatre Company, Ian Dickens Productions, Kenwright Productions, Middle Ground Theatre Company and Black Eyed Theatre who were hailed as one of the most exciting companies currently in the UK by the Stage. Add in that there are several high quality amateur productions also being staged in the local theatres and there is enough to keep even the most ravenous theatre addict happy. Of course I understand that what is true in Worthing may not be true elsewhere but when I read about situations like that of the Redgrave Theatre Farnham I sometimes think that a lot of other places troubles are nothing but tragedies of their own design. Farnham in Waverly has a thriving Rep Company but no permanent home for said company. The Redgrave Theatre built for the original Farnham Rep is currently dark having been shut down by the local council in 1999 due to one disastrous season which saw revenues fall. The current company is doing great business but because the council has already sold the theatre off for development they are relegated to a tent by the side of the current theatre. I believe the saddest part of this tale is that the Redgrave is not an old theatre it was built in 1974 and is in perfect working order. So in Farnham we have a healthy market for decent theatre, we have a venue that is in mint condition but also a council that is disregarding this possible boon to their local economy. It’s just a crying shame that Waverly council cannot support the local Theatre Company by giving them another chance, instead they have sold it off and it will be demolished next year to make way for a new housing development. For more information regarding the Redgrave Theatre and the campaign to save it please go to this website http://www.farnhamtheatre.co.uk/RedgraveTheatre.html




The redevelopment of theatres on a regional scale still happens frequently; recently the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury was demolished to make way for a brand new venue under the same name. This will be the third rebuild for the Canterbury venue and surprisingly enough the City council decided that the price of renovating the old venue, whilst cheaper than a new build, would be just throwing money away as it would need more attention in the future and be unable to house the West End quality shows expected of such a prolific theatre.



Then there are the box office receipts for companies such as Birmingham Rep which despite the fact we keep getting it drummed into us every single year that Reperatory Theatre is dead still boasts full houses and true artistic creativity. Their work and that of many Northern Theatre Companies tour extensively throughout the country and many end up on the West End, so if companies such as Birmingham Rep and West Yorkshire Playhouse are creating new work that feeds the stages of the nations capital I would argue that the regional industry is far from dead and in fact we are on the brink of a new era of local theatrical excellence.



The other aspect that these journalists, who report the death of regional theatre every single year without fail, seem to conveniently choose to ignore is the vast amount of experimental theatre companies, dance companies and fringe theatres dotted around the country. In Brighton alone there is a large enough amount of alternative spaces for them to have their own Theatre Festival to rival, like an annoying little brother screaming at an older bigger brother, Edinburgh’s summer festival. There are hundreds of theatre schools around the country feeding the main drama schools in London with performers who are more often than not being trained not just in the tools of the trade to make you a great actor/dancer/singer but also being given the chance to create their own work and develop their own plays, shows and revues. Those that herald regional theatre as dead are just mourning the fact that the industry they knew is dead and gone; instead it has evolved into a more inclusive multi format, arts propelled industry which has more to do now with the cultural identity of the UK than any other time in history. Those of us who may mourn the death of a local rep company should really stop moping and look at what is being offered in our local area before writing it off and just spending that money for theatrical entertainment in London.

Part 3 of Pantomime Documentary

Here is part 3 of my Pantomime Documentary.

http://headtheatre.mypodcast.com/2009/11/Panto_Part_3-259733.html

Please Enjoy.

Xtofer

It's been a long summer and what do I do now?

For those of you who were following this blog over the past couple of months I can only apologise for the lack of information or updates throughout August. During August I was involved in producing and performing my own piece of street theatre. We performed in Worthing to great success and interest from the local shoppers. I found the whole experience fun and rewarding in many ways and FP Theatre Productions in conjunction with The Idlers was given a big push into the minds of local people which is always good. There is however a part of me that feels deflated now the show is over and we have no other bookings.

I don't believe it has anything to do with not having a project as I do have a new project to look at and ideas I want to develop, I believe it is because I have not reached a 10th of my potential and I feel like I have wasted myself over the past 2 years since graduating from University. During my time at University I was lucky enough to have several chances to work with some phenomenal talents, one of whom trusted the University enough to let me direct in his theatre. That man is Alistair O'Loughlin one of the founders of Prodigal Theatre the foremost creators of new theatre in the country and their developmental resources for companies is amazing. Alistair and I first met when I was 17 and instantly made a huge impact on my life as a performer by telling me that everything I believed about myself being a good actor was rubbish, he talked about how I had probably had a talent for acting as a child and had been doing it for years but that, as he put it, having the flower of talent is not enough as you have to make sure you have the tools for the craft of acting. From that day I changed my attitude and went forward gung ho and sucking in as much information on how to create effective characters, I listened to his style, to his teachings and worked hard to improve myself. I excelled under his tutelage and my grades for the units he taught me were the highest i had on my Diploma. Two years later I got the chance to direct at his theatre and he gave me the only piece of advice he could give me (he was unavailable for the majority of the rehearsal and development period) which was to look up Metatheatre. I looked but found little i understood, overwhelmed and under prepared for the situation of running a group of actors in creating a piece of theatre i completely mucked up. It is more than fair to say I lost control of the situation and that version of 'Don Juan Returns from the War' at the Nightengale Theatre Brighton was not good and definately not the right calibre of work he expected. I didn't speak to Alistair again but the things he has said and his continued work has stayed with me and for the valuable lesson he taught me all those years ago I feel guilty at letting his theatres reputation down. Yet now I believe his impact on me has continued by motivating me to understand Metatheatre, to look more at alternative types of theatre such as mediatheatre and older art forms such as Bauhaus performance art and it drives me to create my own work. I see what he has done and I want to do it. Too long I have been part time and now I am going to go full time with this. I need success in the theatre field, I crave it. I want legitimacy as an artist and I have something to say, at the moment i do not know what it is but I can feel it inside. Nobody knows me as well as I know myself and nobody understands my passion. University gave me everything i needed to express myself now I need money and backing and venues, rehearsal spaces etc to make it possible to show my passion to the world.

I know this post has seemed rambly but this is an issue i feel so passionate about I cannot help myself. I need to still train, I know barely anything even people like Alistair are still learning new things about their art and themselves, its an ongoing process which I halted for a year and now I have to continue and work at it harder than ever before. So my training restarts today with the work of Keith Johnstone. If you ever have the chance to read his work please do its fascinating.

For the next post I will be starting my first list of my top ten musical sequences.

See you soon.

Chris