Review: Dolly, Lakeside Arts Centre...plus other bits

The sleepy village of Roslin, just south of Edinburgh, had coped without any Dollies yet suddenly finds itself with two: one Scotland’s only Dolly Parton tribute act and the other the world’s only living clone! This is the territory of playwright Andy Barrett’s latest offering which charms its way through two hours of Country classics and complex science. Country mad Bettina dreams of a real band, a get-away from karaoke down the Oak, and sees the arrival of PR whizz Leo as her ticket. Convinced that becoming a Dolly Parton tribute act is the way to go, Bettina begins to gain bookings and acclaim until another arrives on the scene but this Dolly is more woolly than western.

It’s a show with a lot of heart but the scripting in the first half felt light and laden with dialogue that didn’t ring true and was over expository. This said there are some great jokes including when John Elkington’s Neil remarks that much of his best work was ‘done with pig semen’ but some parts are little laboured, especially between Christopher Redmond’s Leo and Bettina, who was regardless played with real sass by Miriam Elwell-Sutton. The music, all Parton stables, is performed well and the cast are a hugely multi-talented bunch seemingly picking up and playing anything with strings.

However, the show’s star is undoubtedly Dolly herself, the puppet sheep steals the whole second half and is ultimately the character that generates the most interest, arresting the audience’s imagination and drawing the eye. Whilst Bettina’s romance with Leo, her home-life and the fraught relationship between research scientist Neil and his wife are important strands, it is the sheep and the music which keeps the audience’s attention. Indeed elements of these other stories can become lost especially true of Neil, the scientist who can seemingly get a sheep pregnant with an impossible baby but not come to terms with the loss of his own child.

With Dolly New Perspectives, the company that was behind two personal favourites from the last year: Those Magnificent Men and the inventive The Falling Sky, have engineered a wonderful evening’s entertainment where Country & Western and gene splicing collide – if they can clone this then there is far more to come!

Dolly: ***

Gareth also saw: a reading of The Ashes by Michael Pinchbeck, which, as a cricket fan, combined two of my great loves and reminded me that good writing stands out even at a first (or in this case second) airing. Michael Pinchbeck has a real gift with language as there is a reverence and revelry in his use of words, they are not merely perfunctory vehicles of plot but they have an interest of their own. Too often we hear worn out slogans of words on stage masquerading as real-life, increasingly I find there are fewer writers who enjoy and celebrate the role of wordsmith in their stage work: Michael Pinchbeck is, for me (along with small group of others: Billy Ivory, DC Moore, Lauras Wade & Lomas, James Graham), one of those writers.


He also saw The Thrill of it All by Forced Entertainment but found it really hard to review - much to Tiger's dislike. However, loved it especially Small Things, the manic distortion of the voices over their microphones and Tom’s notion that rhubarb was a ‘funny fruit’. Forced Entertainment have a real way of playfully undercutting games with a disturbing undercurrent in a way no other company can.

Images courtesy of Robert Day and Forced Entertainment

Review: The Rivals, Theatre Royal

Sir Peter Hall’s most recent foray from his company’s summer home has the definite feel of their adoptive base: Bath. The show, Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The Rivals, is set in the regency west-country town and, in this accomplished rendition, Sir Peter’s craft as a director shines through. Whilst taking a traditional approach to the text, the director has firmly focused on the physical comedy in the piece and it is this decision which breathes a freshness into the production.

The farce opens with the rakish Captain Jack Absolute wooing the rich Lydia Languish under the pretended name of Ensign Beverly, she unwilling to marry a man set upon gaining her money and they plan to elope. Lydia and Beverly’s tryst is orchestrated by Lucy the maid, their go-between, but she betrays their love to Lydia’s aunt Mrs Malaprop who forbids their engagement. This is further confused by the arrival of Jack’s father, Sir Anthony Absolute, proposing Jack as a husband for Lydia. Thus, the ‘rival’ is created – as Jack says ‘my father wants to force me to marry the very girl I am plotting to run away with!’ To this Sheridan adds another pair of quarrelsome lovers in Julia and Faulkland, an aristocratic Irish debtor Sir Lucius O’Trigger and the foolish Bob Acres, a country gentleman also in pursuit of Lydia’s hand. These lively players create a flurry of comic moments that climax in a nervously hilarious duel between Acres and Jack swiftly followed by the lovers forgiving their better halves.

The show also exhibits the talents of some very gifted actors. Penelope Keith is superb as Mrs Malaprop, fleeting over her unwitting linguistic misappropriations wonderfully whilst her To The Manor Born co-star Peter Bowles, in surprisingly their first stage production together, bristles as Sir Anthony although he does stop short of the ‘fury’ he threatens through-out the play. Keiron Self gives a very likeable performance as the rustic Bob Acres and his wavering entry in to a duel with the young Captain Jack demonstrated the skill of an actor gifted with great timing. It is the timing of the production which is its lasting memory and all the cast give a good account of themselves in this respect.

Newcomer Robyn Addison, in her professional stage debut, made a good fist of Lydia Languish and warmed into the role as the evening progressed. However it was Tony Gardner’s jealous Faulkland who really stole the show in his quarrels with his beloved Julia. One scene especially is memorable for his waiting for her to return after storming out from their blazing row. His skilful use of direct address, feeding of his audience and then reacting quickly and eruditely was a pleasure to watch. Whilst criticism could be levelled that he becomes too like Bob Acres in his playing is valid, the performance is first rate.

It is classily staged, Simon Higglet’s design recalls the concealed passageways of Dumas’ swashbuckling adventures mixed with the sober sandstone of Georgian grandeur and never imposes its self upon the performance; it creates a great backdrop to the narrative without dictating or upstaging. However it is tight directing of tried and tested concept with a top-notch cast that bring this production its greatest moments; as Mrs Malaprop would say, this is a production toward the ‘pineapple’ of the theatre pile.

The Rivals: ****

Image courtesy of Nobby Clark

Review: Hatch: it's about time, Embrace Arts

Hatch is back and in pastures new, Embrace Arts at the RA Centre in Leicester, with its usual mix of the unusual. The eclectic performers created a fantastic night and, whilst my time there was brief, I saw some work which really excited me.

Kristy Guest’s almost painfully sad Welcome All Time Travellers! has real scope, a great soundtrack and will be one to watch when the event travels up the A46 to Nottingham in November.

Hetain Patel’s straddling of the conceptual, visual art world and the self-deprecating stand-up humour he delivers with a telling authenticity is a real highlight; his anecdotes are skilfully and insightfully chosen to illustrate his investigations into self, identity and belonging in a uniquely humorous way. Since seeing his previous work, Ten, he has become an artist I'm increasingly interested in and this was only reinforced by his performance here.

Chris Dobrowolski rambling performance lecture captivated its audience way beyond its time slot. In Landscape, Seascape, Skyscape, Escape Chris showed his inventive approach to art and transport whilst regaling us with stories of his growing up, choppy super-8 footage of previous projects and one of the oddest musical contraptions ever seen.

The night was rounded off by the chaotic Oyster Eyes and, as I said in Edinburgh, their own brand of sketch comedy having a bastard love-child with performance art behind the main-streams back will be a slow burning success. The compare, DJ Alan Starr, Puppet Boy and Dr Shoo-bay-go are characters which have a demonic, dead-pan knack of being able to make you laugh.

Hatch: it’s about time is in Nottingham on 10^th November. See www.hatchnottingham.co.uk for details.

Image courtesy of Oyster Eyes.

Review: Twelfth Night, Nottingham Playhouse

Twelfth Night washes up upon the shores of 1930s Brazil for Nottingham Playhouse’s latest offering where the music 'playing on' is that of carnival calypso through a crackling gramophone and the merry dance the characters embark upon is punctuated with bouts of Capoeira.

 

In a strange land after a shipwreck, twins Viola and Sebastian are separated and presume the other has perished in the waves. Viola disguises herself as a boy and offers the services of her assumed identity ‘Cesario’ to the lovelorn Duke Orsino. The object of his desire is Olivia, in mourning for her late father and brother, and wil have none of Orsino’s suit. Her house is overrun by her drunkard uncle Sir Toby Belch and his drinking companions: the rich fool Sir Andrew Aguecheek, the ribald clown Feste and Maria the maid. Their revelry is derided by the steward Malvolio who is then bated by these plotters into believing Olivia loves him and is, in turn, locked up as a madman. Oliva falls for the disguised Viola, herself in love with Orsino, which until the arrival of Sebastian looks set for stalemate – in love, three always a crowd – and Malvolio is left threatening his revenge. 

Director Paulette Randall takes risks with her bold new concept in the production however these don’t fully pay off. The Brazilian reimagining has merits but is not entirely convincing and feels that the actors are burdened with playing their new context rather than their part. The accents swing wildly from West Indian, Portuguese and Mexican and do little to convey the work of Shakespeare the wordsmith, especially Anthony Ofoegbu's Feste – Olivia’s ‘corrupter of words’. Seun Shote goes down a storm as Antonio, innovatively played as a camp admirer of Sebastian’s, but this has its faults. The reason for Viola’s disguise, partly being her seeking not be recognised as one from Messaline at war with Illyria, is hurried over; in-fact the otherness of the twins never fully investigated throughout. Equally Shote’s performance began to encroach onto others with his over-played effeminate gestures upstaging much of the twins’ reunification. 

The play has some strong performances. Marcus Powell’s haughty Malvolio is extremely watchable and delights the audience in his transformation from his sober attire as the dour steward to looking as if about to play 18 holes in his yellow plus fours and chequered Pringle jumper. He plays the letter scene, where his deception begins, admirably but is not afforded the chance to react to the yelps and interjections from the concealed practical jokers, this a criticism of the direction rather than the clowning of David Webber's Sir Toby or Nicholai La Barrie's  Sir Andrew. 

This Twelfth Night is one weighed down by the baggage of a concept which would have been useful as a departure point but in not stripping away the layers which hindered the development it has impeded the character of text shining through. In its current state it lacks clarity and purpose in its leads, Rebecca Herrod’s Viola does not come across as one of Shakespeare’s strongest women; it is the humour ingrained in the dialogue and stage action which suffers from the yoke of resetting. The production has  good points including an excellent lighting design by Kevin Treacy but there are elements which have been overdone; a disengagement from the concept and stylistics shifting toward a more relaxed focus on the Shakespearian substance could help the production no end.

Twelfth Night: **

Image courtesy of Robert Day

Under the Covers – The Post Show Party Show, Lakeside Arts Centre

Zoo Indigo’s Under the Covers charts a course between the communal babysitting of the performers’ 3 young children, via live Skype feeds, and a recreation of selected highlights from Thelma and Louise. This odd pairing, early 1990s cult movies and maternal paranoia, is a fascinating one and, with the similarities and oppositions not lost on an audience, it becomes both witty and heartfelt in equal measure: it is this balance of dream and real-life responsibility as parent that creates the duality of the work.

The role of a mother is a driving force in the piece and developed through the use of both the audience as tool for interaction and cardboard cut-outs of their partners, flat dads. The latter alter from mere shapes to become a clever metaphor and are emblematic of the presence or absence of a father, most notably at the birth of their children, whilst serving to illustrate how true friendship lasts no matter. In this the Thelma and Louise decision suddenly comes starkly into focus.

The message of friendship through difficult events does work, if a little stretched to compare the actors’ real lives to Thelma and Louise’s position, but it is the depth of self reference and confession given by the performers which is most revealing and interesting. It is a show filled with comparisons and juxtapositions to consider, the technical wizardry of live projection under-cut by the actors spraying their faces with a water pistol to mimic tears. Equally with the show structured around interaction and meta-theatre the roles of performer and observer were strained and their designation switched from audience to the actors and back again. In the last section of the piece the audience are left listening to one of their number reading baby Charlie’s favourite book whilst the performers simply slip away: there is no heroic flight into an Arizona canyon, simply how do we find a way to carry on.

This evening is a truly family affair, with three generations of Pinchbecks appearing. Dylan is one of the sleeping children in Under the Covers, the son of Zoo Indigo’s Rosie Garton and Michael Pinchbeck – who also appears in 2D form as a cardboard dad. The rest of the family appear in the second half of the night, The Post Show Party Show where Michael and Tony Pinchbeck, his father, investigate how the latter met the former’s mother Vivienne, also appearing as their prompt, at a post show party in 1970.

With the original show having been The Sound of Music it is only right that this performance is also shaped around the same soundtrack; Rodgers and Hammerstein’s songs unerringly camp and kitsch with many phrases commonplace are wittily used by the actors – Indeed, how do you solve a problem like Maria? Even the form of the songs is well known and this is expertly subverted in Do-Re-Mi where the performing von Trapps’ rounds of song are transformed into a motif about Tony Pinchbeck’s tongue-tiedness when asking Vivienne whether she needed a lift home. This cleverness pervades the whole event: the Shloer, presented to each entering audience member with a careful insistence that it was sparkling grape juice, is wonderfully observed, encouraging those watching into fully partaking in the pseudo-post show. The man-made mountain too, complete with snow storm, is a lo-tech gem and evokes the same flurry of flakes created in a tourist knick-knack. The presentation of artefacts from both then and now again is a wonderful device to give both worlds a physicality, the simple difference of showing an LP and a CD demonstrates forty years passing very skilfully.

This is a show with great personal depth but is overly complex in its dealings with some of the past-present relationships. The mapping of the Lincoln theatre’s back-stage spaces felt extra, it was impersonal and didn’t translate. It was the memories of personal moments which gave the piece real heart and its core idea, a life created from a meeting where another ended, is genuinely poetic. It is rare to see a show with such a tangible personal link to all involved and this is one which tells this in an interesting and imaginative way, neatly moving between explorations like the record between the tracks or from Do to Re to Me.

In these two shows, which beautifully consider the relationships we have with all those close to us, it is wonderful to see them performed by these small ‘family’ ensembles and even better to watch them together as double-bill. Whilst both do well as stand alone pieces, as a pair they combine to create a special evening which allows you to consider what friends and family have done or will do for you and more personally what you would do for them.

Under the Covers - The Post Show Party Show: ****

Images courtesy of Zoo Indigo & Michael Pinchbeck

Review: She Stoops To Conquer, Nottingham Playhouse

Lucy Pittman-Wallace’s production of Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops To Conquer doesn't quite conquer it's audience in the way its protagonist does her man. Whilst it goes through the motions of this Eighteenth Century Comedy of Manners it falls a long way short of actually invigorating both the script and the story to make an interesting, energised performance. The narrative, where a suitor mistakes the manor of his promised betrothed for the local inn, is not complex and the audience are privilege to this information before even the arrival of the young lover. This knowledge however, instead of serving to amplify the foolishness of the characters, merely makes the events less exciting with the privy of later information related in semi-naturalistic scenes rather than in winking asides to a willing and knowing crowd.

The same can be said of the approach to the text, which whilst far from high-brow lacks the joke-per-minute bawdiness of the earlier Restoration Comedies, and with a plot so contrived the audience lacked any conspiratorial involvement to keep their attention. Chris Nayak is likeable as the simplistic Lumpkin, with some great last night ad-libs it must be said, and Ellie Beavan’s Kate at least plays some of the expository asides to an audience keen to be directly involved with her ploy to ‘conquer’ the bumbling Marlow by dressing as humble barmaid.

Yet this style of delivery is lacking elsewhere with most of Mike Burnside’s lines as Hardcastle lost by his flapping wig and profile stance. More pressing is that all the actors become upstaged by the larger-than-life scenery; it certainly larger than the characterisation of most the actors with the indictment being that the biggest laugh of the night was given to the arrival of the two actors on the back of a giant prop dog. This production stooped more to ask politely than conquer with a brash and ribald performance of the mistakes of a night.

She Stoops To Conquer: **

Image courtesy of Robert Day

Reviews: Edinburgh Fringe Roundup

This year’s Edinburgh Fringe, with just under a week still to run, has been its usual melding of international artists, fledgling companies and students vying for audience to see their offerings. With comedians dominating the program you would be excused in thinking that theatre would be scarce and hard to find between the great wealth of stand-ups and sketch troupes. However, the wide range of shows on offer is as varied as ever with many of the performances demonstrating some real quality. Here I’m going to look at the best ones I saw over my two weeks and those which I think anyone would enjoy if they have the chance.

A favourite show of mine was Memoirs of a Biscuit Tin by Derby’s Maison Foo. Telling the story of a house, in this case literally – the protagonists the wall, floor and chimney, searching for its missing elderly tenant, Mrs Benjamin. The simple but wonderfully vivid imagery used in the performance told the tale in a smart and inviting way; you truly believed a hat was Mrs Benjamin’s beloved or that a milk bottle was a randy milkman. It was both fragile and robust with an authentic voice behind it; a beam erupted across my face when Mrs Benjamin’s neighbour referred to her as ‘Duck’. Whilst the structure wasn’t perfect, any tweaking would run the risk of disrupting the effusive qualities of this great piece of theatre which leaves you unsure whether to laugh or cry.

Lockerbie: Unfinished Business is verbatim theatre at its most expository; taken from the unpublished accounts of Dr Jim Swire whose daughter Flora was murdered on Pan Am 103 with writer-performer David Benson playing Swire himself. It is a hard-hitting exploration of both the bombing and its effect on those bereaved where the audience, presented with Swire’s lecture on his experiences after the tragedy and his continued pursuit of justice, are delivered some truly compelling theatre. Benson’s Swire is engaging and restrained in his delivery of the cold facts but the cracks in the defences are evident, the grief seeps through them – the characterisation is superb. Whilst many know the headlines of this as yet unresolved tragedy, Benson and Swire’s collaborative effort allows its audience to see the suffering and unfamiliar truths behind the newsprint.

Lidless, by American playwright Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, traps its audience inside a claustrophobic box from which they cannot escape the unfolding drama. This box is both literal and metaphorical, the show performed inside a small white structure on the venue’s stage. The starkness of the staging complements the subject matter; Alice is a former Army Interrogator whose pill induced amnesia has caused her to forget the horrors of what she did at Guantanamo Bay 15 years ago, until the arrival of Bashir, a former detainee. Referred to almost flippantly at times as ‘Gitmo’, the modern resonances of Guantanamo haunt the piece and give it an unnervingly eerie feel. It is expertly written with blistering dialogue, not least that between Alice and Bashir in the former’s florist shop, her new employment after demobbing, and powerfully acted, Greer Dale-Foulkes as Alice’s daughter Rhiannon is outstanding. It was best piece of writing I saw all festival.

The piece that has fast become the topic of discussion in all the coffee shops frequented by fringe-goers is Tim Crouch’s The Author, an acerbic look at the audience within the context and confines of the theatre. Originally staged at the Royal Court last year, those watching are presented with just the audience and sit through excruciating revelations from the ‘performers’ amongst them, ‘audience members’ walk out – some of these are staged and scripted – and as a participant observer are forced into questioning their own role and acceptance of what goes on around them. Is it ok to do this because it’s in a theatre? Whilst The Author goes out of its way to be offensive and assault its watcher, you can’t help but keep thinking about it days after seeing it.

Bristol based writer-performer Tom Wainwright’s show Pedestrian is a more introverted affair, but nonetheless maps onto us all. In the piece Wainwright appears to host a one man therapy session with his goldfish. The fish in question is also deeply rooted in his subconscious as, in his dreams, it is chasing him from a closed branch of Woollies down the pedestrianised high-street whilst peering at him through its beady, monocled eye and gulping down a soya latte. It comes to symbolise much of what Wainwright appears to dislike about the world, this is his personal battle against modern commercialism, people with clipboards and the moral high ground – he calls them ‘chuggers’, charity muggers – and Tesco Metros. It is disaffection from modern society brilliantly and absurdly realised with stunning backdrop projected visuals.

The youthful exuberance of Little Bulb’s Operation Greenfield was a refreshing change from the more than unusually dark offerings that frequent the fringe. Following the development of a band of youngsters preparing for the Stokley Annual Talent Competition from their frequent meetings at the local Christian Club or burgeoning love affairs it is a joy to watch from start to finish. The wonderfully stilted performances of the four talented multi-instrumentalist actor-musicians coupled with the sun-kissed aesthetic of a Wes Anderson movie make for a show which was either smooth or staccato in all the right places and for all the right reasons. Multi-layered reminisces including summer fruits squash, a Bowie inspired dream sequence, and the song the band enters into the competition about Zechariah’s vision of Gabriel in the Temple loads the piece with fun and memories of a time when for all of us that kind of life would have been ideal.

Another show looking at freshness of youth is RashDash’s Another Someone; a vibrant cocktail of music, song and dance which is wonderfully supplemented by a lilting, if a little knowingly kooky, script. Looking at what it is to innocently dream and to want to be someone, the show kaleidoscopes into an infectiously enthusiastic performance which the audience picks up on instantly. While the narrative meanders, the talented performers are top notch and entertain with every second they are on stage – even when not involved in the action. Wildly energetic and with some star turns too.

The Wake, which along with Another Someone makes up The Bedlam’s late evening programming block, is another top show. This absurd and meta-theatrical farce becomes one man’s lesson on life, love and legacy as he comes to terms with the death of his father and separation from his wife. There are great plot turns in the narrative, which is a triumph for a play which doesn’t have much of a plot – it instead buoyed along by sharp performances and a sparklingly witty script, and with the unseen arriving at every turn this is a story which will keep you beaming throughout.You can do far worse this year than stay at the Bedlam of an evening for reasonably priced drinks and two top shows.

Bryony Kimmings’ self-referential Sex Idiot explores the performer’s journey post-diagnosis of what a she calls a ‘very common sexual disease’ via a re-working of Dylan tunes, destruction of floral arrangements and some very intimate audience participation. As she tracks lost loves and seemingly gets nowhere, the show fast becoming a 21^st century female High Fidelity with Chlamydia, the vestiges of the lovers become discarded into an ornate dentist’s spittoon. Whilst Sex Idiot doesn’t have the overt intellectual feel of more conceptually heavy works of performance art, it is fantastically good fun and far more accessible than what can be seen as its highbrow contemporaries. Kimmings has made a show which is highly personal and her final act of ‘bathing’ – not wanting to give too much away – feels truly redemptive.

Quirky to the point of estranging when you first start watching it, Made in China’s Stationary Excess is a slow burning treat which cannot fail but make you smile at 11.15 in the morning. Relating tales of rural America whist maniacally cycling on her exercise bike, enacting increasingly messy acts of preening performer Jessica Latowicki wins over the audience with this bizarre concoction with aplomb. Essentially looking at what we try to do to ourselves in pursuit of looking good, a goal so horribly changeable and subjective its like trying to get somewhere on an exercise bike, that when that penny drops and the show comes into focus, its metaphor is magnificent. Soundtracked almost exclusively by a dull, pinging bell and the Righteous Brothers’ You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, the show is fun, bubbly – quite literally – and yearns for the audience to get the joke; when you do, it’s a hoot.

Plasticine Men’s Keepers is a celebration of stage minimalism in which the two talented performers tell the tale of Thomas and Thomas, the keepers of the Smalls lighthouse of the Mubles coast in South Wales - with great accents - two hundred years ago. It is a brilliantly choreographed and sweetly comic piece with every wipe of the lighthouse’s glass or splash of swirling sea foam is enacted with precision. The performers’ stage-craft is clever and using only a ladder or mess tin they create truly evocative piece of theatre that is executed with really pathos and panache, creating a lasting haunting atmosphere which remains for days after the watching.

In terms of invention within a style of theatre Others by Paper Birds is the most innovative take on verbatim theatre seen at the Fringe. Focusing upon women whom they see as their opposite these three performers engage them in conversation through letters and emails. An Iranian theatre maker, a prisoner and Heather Mills are questioned and their responses form the basis of the show. What happens next is most interesting, the performers now explore what we assume about these women, how they are perceived or maligned, what we almost parasitically want to know about them. Our assumptions go through the same process of questioning and response. It is a truly inventive show which tenderly examines our similarities with those believed to be unknown to us in a thoroughly unassuming way. With the aid of great live sound and clever interaction with their set, Others is touchingly truthful and causes you to re-examine what we assume about everyone we meet.

Squeezed into the underbelly of Milne’s Bar, just off Edinburgh’s main Prince’s Street drag, Dave sits you down and, beer in hand, recounts why he feels he cannot lie. The play, Honest by Northampton's D C Moore, follows Dave as he recounts his life in a less than glamorous department of the civil service and his relationship with his nephew. It is an intimately accurate portrayal of Dave's banality in which the colourful anecdotal episodes he tangentially wanders into create a world where his London comes vividly to life. Whilst, like Dave’s story, the plot wanders on the journey from night-out to his brother’s house, Moore’s writing is constant in its clever usage and style. Trystan Gravelle gives a sparkling performance and, in the close confines of Milne’s, engages every single audience member with his intense glare or softening gaze. It is this intimacy that makes Honest such a great experience, it is a show where those watching see a very talented actor up close and tell a really brilliantly written, comic and brutally truthful story.

Idle Motion, a young company from Oxford, bring their show The Vanishing Horizon to the fringe with more suitcases than you would normally expect for a cast of their size. However, these cases are the set for this curious and whimsical show which cleverly charts the history of pioneering female aviators in 1920s and 30s through the recording of a radio documentary and woman tracing her absentee and recently deceased grandmother. It is the wonderful stage-craft with the cases, of which there are roughly fifty, that remains after leaving the theatre but this is not to say the performance is lacking. The script is considered and carefully informs the audience without both showing and telling whilst the physicality inventively creates worlds and environments simply with minimal fuss or pause. It is a show which, off a small budget, creates something very special.

This year's Fringe has had many other great shows that I missed but these were the few that stood out to me. Other Fringe favourites like The Edinburgh Mosque offering affordable and delicious curry every lunchtime with a donations bucket for the Pakistan floods, Black Medicine Coffee Shop on Nicholson Street or the garish 'enjoyment' of a night in Frankensteins are all musts but it was the theatre which really made these two weeks. So, if heading northward (or south if you live in Orkney), see as much as you can and try following @fringebiscuit on Twitter for up-to-date news and reviews from the festival.

You never know you might enjoy your self!

Image courtesy of IdeasTap.

Review: Summer Readings Series, Nottingham Playhouse

Nottingham Playhouse’s summer readings series has proven a massive hit with the play going public. Opening with the sell out UK premier of Laura Forti’s The Clouds Go Back Home and culminating in Stasiland, directed by Playhouse Artistic Director Giles Croft, four days later, excited and interested audiences have flocked to see and hear new work at an early stage.

The Clouds Go Back Home tells the story of an Italian student and the Albanian migrant sex worker she befriends one university summer whilst cleaning flats in Florence. The play looks at both the root and consequences of girls coming to the bright Western lights with stark and clinical results. Expertly directed by Susannah Tresilian it shows why the piece has such wide acclaim in Europe and hopefully will achieve the same here.

The next event, Come To Where I’m From, curated by Paines Plough’s new artistic team James Grieve & George Perrin - founders of the award winning Nabokov Theatre Company – was of a different style but packed no less punch. With 5 young regional playwrights - James Graham, Leah Chillery, Laura Lomas, Mufaro Makubika & Beth Steel - performing and premiering their work this was certainly a night for firsts. For Mufaro it was his first public airing of any of his writing whilst others, most notably Laura Lomas, were Playhouse veterans. All the pieces went down a storm in a packed Playroom which had to have more chairs added to accommodate those eager to hear these new voices.

The final offering in this series was Stasiland adapted by Nick Drake from Anna Funder’s book of the same name. The play looks closely at stories from either side of the wall in the late ‘90s when the Stasi’s brutal tactics and coercive methods were coming to light. It is a compelling if gruelling account and whilst it certainly had great moments of pathos and drama, there is work still to be done.

However, to rate the works presented in their current form in terms of stars would be missing the point, these are developing ideas, whilst the plays, playwrights, performers and the relationship established with an audience were a triumph in showing new work and benefitting all involved. The great hope is that a similar summer event will be held next year and, I’m sure, all that attended this look forward to Michael Pinchbeck’s reading of The Ashes in the autumn.

Image courtesy of Drew Baumhol

Review: The Falling Sky, Aslockton Village

Brendan Murray’s The Falling Sky, in its latest staging by New Perspectives Theatre Company, is a piece of the theatre which really does become part of the community. With the audience led through the streets and bridleways of a rural village, in this case Aslockton in Nottinghamshire, by map and an iPod telling the story, a marriage of radio play and evocative setting combine to make something very special.

The play looks at a year in the life of a rural community with arrival of a high-flying Caroline, a London journalist, making the village home and how her interaction in village affairs affects the delicate balance. Whilst set here Murray’s piece examines, in the broadest sense, the state of the nation and talks widely about issues which do not only affect those living in the green belt: Organic versus intensive spray farming, mental health issues, Afghanistan and the hunting ban all get an airing but in a truly intergenerational way.

The recording has a top cast, including Stephanie Cole and Julian Glover, and the calibre of the actors is instrumental to its success. Few criticisms can be levelled however John – who’s character seems as tied to the land of the village as the landmarks we see when on our walk – is estranged from the rural English setting through his Irish accent and the opening of the piece was too monologue heavy without properly setting up characters.

This said The Falling Sky is a wonderful two hours spent walking and taking in a community. The direction on the part of Daniel Buckroyd at New Perspectives in the logistics and planning of the walk is impeccable, the serendipitous encounters on this however are entirely the audience’s own making this experience one which is highly personal, brilliantly uplifting and startlingly real.


The Falling Sky: ****


The Falling Sky continues in Glentworth, Lincolnshire; Wadenhoe, Cambridgeshire and Tideswell, Derbyshire. See www.newperspectives.co.uk for details.

Image courtesy of New Perspectives Theatre Company

Interview with Giles Croft, Artistic Director of Nottingham Playhouse

Giles Croft is the Artistic Director of Nottingham Playhouse; we met up with him for a chat about what new writing means for him, how his role has allowed the Playhouse to find and foster emerging talent and what the future holds for new playwrights in the region.

Weasel under the Cocktail Cabinet: What, for you, is the importance of developing local theatre writing talent?

Giles Croft: I am a firm believer in theatres making connections with the community in which they are based and speaking directly to their audience in work relevant to them and their lives. Local writers are central to this and to the life of an arts organisation like ours, I would hope that people who come to Nottingham Playhouse see and appreciate this. There are many other organisations serving and supporting new playwriting regionally such as the Lakeside Arts Centre, New Perspectives and Theatre Writing Partnership, and their work, in tandem with us, is creating brilliant new drama. The projects we and others have embarked upon with local talent have been very fruitful and the graduates of which have proven there are careers and futures to be made from their talents. In short, it’s a great time to be an artist in the East Midlands.

Weasel: What do you see as Nottingham Playhouse’s role within this?

GC: We have to be able to provide opportunities for new writers to have their work produced. It is great for writers to develop their plays with local theatres and agencies through readings and workshops but this ultimately lacks a full audience response. We have worked closely with the other organisations in the region and fostered the work of many writers: Michael Pinchbeck, Andy Barrett, Amanda Whittington, Leah Chillery, Nick Wood, Stephen Lowe, Laura Lomas and, in the last season, Michael Eaton and Michelle Vacciana. Some of these writers have been more established than others and maybe in different fields but I believe they will all say the same thing, when writing for performance you gain most through seeing the work on stage with actors and an audience. We see this as part of our contribution to our commitment to new work.

With the unsure financial situation all arts organisations have found themselves in at the moment our ability to produce may become more limited but we are exploring different ways to have new work performed in the region. We have plenty of projects in the pipeline, many emerging artists already working with us and our partner organisations and we will find clever way to invest in local writing talent over the next few years.

Weasel: What have been the real success stories and which new written shows have you been most proud off?

GC: I believe that the real success stories are not actually the plays themselves. This is not to say that the plays have not been good, they have been excellent, but what I am most proud of is our steadfastness to making a commitment to new writing, mounting these shows and now having a group of writers who are proud to say that they have had their work produced by Nottingham Playhouse.

Shows which are personal highlights for me have been recently directing Families of Lockerbie by Michael Eaton. Whilst the play was seen as an odd hybrid between verbatim, documentary theatre and the individual tragedies of the characters Michael created, I knew that the intent and the delivery were absolutely right. It also further demonstrated our continued commitment to producing innovative, different and challenging work. Last year’s Garage Band is another show I enjoyed. It was Andy Barrett’s second show with us and showed a clear development in his craft as a writer, highlighting the importance of having work performed. The show was also bloody good fun; it was a really enjoyable place to be with the audience dancing and cheering every night. Finally, Laura Lomas’ The Island which I see as a perfect example of Nottingham Playhouse’s ability to sustain a working relationship with an emerging writer and help them towards a successful career. Laura, after doing the show with us, has now gone on to work with New Perspectives and the National Youth Theatre whilst we have continued to stay in contact. A possible commission in the future? I hope so.

Weasel: What are in Nottingham Playhouse’s plans for new writing and new playwrights in the future?

GC: We have five writers under commission currently: Amanda Whittington, Andy Barrett, Michelle Vacciana and Micheals Pinchbeck and Eaton. Some of these writers are moving in new directions such as Andy who is adapting an Ibsen piece for the ETC conference here at Nottingham Playhouse in May 2011 whilst Michelle is doing further development on Fakebook. We have our Summer Readings events where we will hear the work of some very different playwrights over the course of a week, this due to be repeated in the autumn, plus we are delivering this year’s Peter Wolff supports The Whiting Award in association with Theatre Writing Partnership.

When you look at it a lot of what we are going to produce, whilst taking a small step back, shows that in spite of the financial climate there is a real push here to keep producing and investing in new theatre writing talent throughout this period and to encourage the relationship we have with the writers we already work with, those we are interested in and those we are yet to encounter. It is important to acknowledge the work of people like Gavin Stride, who when I arrived was the Artistic Director of New Perspectives, it was his energy and drive which brought much of this early progress together. Since then Ester Richardson, Matt Aston, Daniel Buckroyd and Kate Chapman, at the helm of the current incarnation of TWP, have continued to develop great work and this vibrant new writing community we are very proud to have in the East Midlands.


Giles Croft directs a script-in-hand performance of Stasiland, adapted by Nick Drake from the book by Anna Funder, as part of the Nottingham Playhouse Summer Readings season on Saturday 24th July at 7pm. Tickets are free but must be booked in advance by calling Box Office on 0115 941 9419.

For more details see www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk

Interview originally carried out for Theatre Writing Partnership in association with Nottingham Playhouse.
Image courtesy of Robert Day.

Review: Quartet, Nottingham Theatre Royal

Ronald Harwood, when asked about his inspiration for Quartet, recalls a scribbled note which grew into a more fully formed piece: “home for old opera singers, end with the Quartet from Rigoletto.” It is these old opera singers which he presents his audience with, warts and all, and, in a business dominated by young up-and-comings, it is a pleasure to see some seasoned pros shine in a play tailored to them.

Though none of the cast are still waiting to receive their bus pass they perform with an energy that belies their years. Gwen Taylor’s Cissy is a constant bustling presence, welcoming back absent friends from imagined Indian sojourns or chasing the handsome gardener. Equally, Michael Jayston’s clean cut Reggie, whose diatribe on the shortcomings of apricot jam when compared to lime marmalade is very neatly observed, impresses in his reserved characterisation. However, the undoubted star turn comes from Timothy West with his Wilfred Bond, a gruff and ribald baritone, constantly humming, coughing or chuckling at a smutty wisecrack; many directed toward the blissfully unaware Cissy. The three’s tranquil world is disrupted by the arrival of Reggie’s ex-wife and former operatic superstar Jean, played here with icy certainty by Susannah York, and her refusal to join them in the singing of Rigoletto for their gala performance.

Harwood creates a world retirement homeliness where the audience truly believes that greying artistes can come for their twilight years; there is in fact a real comparison: Brinsworth House, a home in Twickenham for members of the entertainment community. The play is clever too in its construction with the action opening on the current ‘quartet’ a voice short and awaiting their fourth; in fact, more sombrely, they are all waiting in a literal sense. Yet in spite of this the play’s possibilities never truly deliver, the relationships are touched upon only fleetingly with too much of the stage action spent on the repetition of gags which tire quickly. In the quartet’s triumphant ‘return to youth,’ recorded heckles from the audience detract from a moment which should be handled in a more sensitive, touching way and with many questions left unanswered the play ends far too abruptly. In all, it is a show lacking the sheer entertainment of the markedly similar Forever Young, staged earlier this year at Nottingham Playhouse. Whilst Quartet did have moments of real tenderness and a cast which made light of what the script might have lacked, the high notes of their swansong were never quite hit.

Quartet: ***
Image courtesy of The Ambassador Theatre Group.

Interview with Laurie Sansom, Artistic Director of Northampton Royal & Derngate

Regional new writing is currently taking centre stage at Royal & Derngate with their ‘celebration of Northampton’, the HOMETOWN festival, showcasing the best artistic talent the town has to offer. Northampton audiences will be treated to 10 vibrant and exciting shows, each rooted in local issues, being performed over the project’s two month run. The theatre’s Artistic Director Laurie Sansom is rightly very proud of the project which has grown from its initial premise to become one of the biggest new writing projects in the East Midlands and, certainly, the largest concerning issues directly relevant to those living in the region.

Laurie and I discuss the festival, those involved and how new writing will be encouraged after HOMETOWN comes to an end. Laurie, who is instantly engaging and enthusiastic, is quick to acknowledge the input of the writers involved in the project, especially returning local favourite D C Moore who wrote the festival’s centrepiece Town, reviewed in an earlier post. The play, originally conceived to address Northampton’s unenviable moniker of The Binge Drinking Capital of England, soon became the spine of the festival which has widened its scope now to look at what modern Northampton is and who Northamptoners are. Around this central core in the program, Laurie and his team have managed to craft an admirable festival rich with local talent in all its aspects and chock full of new work from regional writers or those with long standing relationships with the Royal & Derngate.

Phil Porter’s From Out of This World considers an alien invasion of the town; then Northampton can either be squashed to become a two-dimensional play-world in Daniel Jameson’s Flathampton or transported into the comfort of your own living room, literally, in Chris Goode’s Henry and Elizabeth, a play delivered direct to your door. There is also Jo Blake, the theatre’s resident storyteller, giving a guided walking tour of the town and, most importantly to Laurie in terms of new writing development, New Town.

New Town is a platform event allowing new local playwrights still learning their craft to have their work performed by the theatre’s youth company of which many of the writers are graduates. Other pieces have been brought in from elsewhere but have that feel of an authentic local voice talking about contemporary issues. The award winning Scots company Grid Iron perform their Decky Does a Bronco in a local park whilst Theatre IS bring Epiphany to the festival which looks at how local urban culture like MC-ing, street dance and graffiti art can translate into a theatre space. With the popularity of groups such as Britain’s Got Talent’s Diversity, Epiphany is both a piece of theatre well aware of the current climate in performance and prudent bit of programming, added to which the company have been running a series of successful workshops with young people within the town.

This interest in urban arts is something which Royal & Derngate are going to be continuing with their new venue, The Theatre at Corby Cube. Working on a remit of making participatory and locally orientated live arts, the Corby venture will be an embarkation into new territory for the area with the venue being, according to Laurie, the first fully focussed artistic performance project for the community bringing together music, visual arts and urban culture.

Corby is not the Royal & Derngate’s only new creative venture in the near future. Laurie is always on the lookout for new writers and very keen to continue working with both D C Moore, he is secretive about the project but hopes there will be a new play for the 2011-12 season, and the writers with work involved in the New Town event. He cites New Town and the work which Theatre Writing Partnership is doing local writers in Northampton, such as Subika Anwar – one of our Young Writers who has an extract in New Town, as key to the development on talent in region. For Laurie TWP’s projects which have a focused outcome like Momentum provide grassroots support, drive and a goal for young and new writers to work toward which may not be available in their local, regional theatres. He also discusses Tommy Murphy. Although not local, Murphy hailing from New South Wales, Australia, he is an exciting new playwright whose work fits into what Royal & Derngate are looking to do next.

Laurie goes into this further stating that core to the theatre’s ideas of working with developing theatre makers, including writers whilst also talking more broadly, is finding an artist with whom a collaboration with Royal & Derngate would, beneficially for both parties, create interesting work. This is often a slow-burning partnership but will rarely give poor returns and is some thing Laurie himself has been on the flip-side of. His recent success in the staging of two lesser-known plays by Tennessee Williams and Eugene O’Neill, respectively Spring Storm and Beyond the Horizon, has been a project he had been trying to get off the ground for over 10 years. With other examples of these long developing projects becoming seemingly more common, Tom Morris’ Juliet and her Romeo springs instantly to mind, I ask Laurie about how these things can come about. He shoots me a characteristic smile, ‘you have to be a Katie Mitchell,’ he replies with his smile widening ‘or become the Artistic Director of your own theatre.’

HOMETOWN continues throughout July with Flathampton, Henry and Elizabeth, and youth theatre productions of Our Town by Thornton Wilder and Sondheim’s Anyone Can Whistle. The New Town platforms continue also with performances on 8th and 15th July at 19:30.

For more details see www.royalandderngate.co.uk

Interview originally carried out for Theatre Writing Partnership in association with Northampton Royal & Derngate.
Image courtesy of Robert Day.

Review: Ten, Lakeside Djanogly Theatre

Taking the form a performance lecture, Hetain Patel’s Ten looks at what it is to be Indian, or indeed of any mixed heritage, in modern Britain. Patel leads his audience through the rudiments of traditional Indian Tabla drumming with its 10 beat structure, the ten of the piece’s title, and the syllable note-names given to each beat. The layers of the performance and its structure all follow the non-pervasive rhythms of Indian classical composition, the piece’s route is that of Hetain’s teaching and relaying the process of learning the Tabla drums set to this ten footed beat.

The striking visual image of the piece is the tray of kanku, the red powder used for the Hindu tilaka - the dot upon the forehead, which is daubed across the performers by the end of the action. The powder becomes a powerful cultural artefact within the discourse and comes to represent distinct elements of Patel’s heritage. As stated by all the performers, who repeat the same lines to give them an eerie resonance that reinforces the ‘imposterhood’, to gain an insight into Indian rhythm is to gain an insight into Indian thought.

He uses this idea to ask the question of whether our culture is in fact the rhythm by which we live and conduct our lives – is this our cultural rhythm to which we choreograph the Self? The show continues to interrogate this with the aid of drummers-cum-dancers Dave "Stickman' Higgins and Mark Evans, their non-dancing background giving the piece a strange feel of authenticity. Patel’s voice, a soft north-eastern burr, guides the audience through the dance, the conflicts of identity which are part and parcel of our multi-cultural society and how something, once hidden, becomes overtime a badge we learn to wear proudly but with an air of ‘imposterhood’ knowing we had kept it obscured. This falsity contrasts with the truthfulness of the movement to the extent that it creates an effect in which the choreography drives forward the discourse over the confusion of the repetitive language sections – the words unimportant when said and performed in the rhythm.

This first showing reveals a piece of dance-theatre which aims to discuss the conflict of identity within communities in Britain and give us an insight into their cultural rhythms. Although at points this becomes buried beneath the stage action, most notably when Patel jogs around the space in the ten pointed rhythm whilst the other two throw the kanku or attempt to join in, Ten goes a long way toward achieving this.

Ten: ****
Image courtesy of Hetain Patel.

Review: Town, Northampton Royal & Derngate

Written by Northampton native D C Moore, Town follows the difficulties faced by twenty-something John upon returning to his hometown, again Northampton, after spending five years behind the desks of some London office. Back living with his parents and claiming jobseekers, a detail brilliantly and comically exploited by Moore’s writing, John finds ways of coping with a place that has both seemingly changed and remained unaltered in his absence whilst also coming to terms with his journey back. Played with great conviction by Mark Rice-Oxley, John strikes the audience as instantly sympathetic and has great foils in his jovial, if a little bigoted, dad and uptight but caring mum.

Yet the most interesting characters are those outside of John’s familial circle, and even those outside of his consciousness. Anna, the school friend and secret crush who got left behind after his migration southward; Mary, a brash 17 year old with problems of her own and an aspiration to leave Northampton for anywhere else; and the tall ominous presence of a man, suited and stern, mirroring John’s moves in the moodily lit transition states and acting as an agent of his possible downfall – plying him with booze and a Stanley knife. The man feels, for much of the play, as if he is an echo of John’s former self, the powerful London young professional – as Anna says toward the end ‘there are no young professionals in Northampton’ – yet this is never made clear and is even further confused by John’s revelation about what triggered his return.

The design too felt confused, the traverse audience behind the proscenium of Royal theatre worked but the flagstone styled floor and sliding sides added little extra. The plain block representative furniture, whilst versatile, jarred with the over-complicated set; almost crying out to be done in reverse: a black box with a real sofa, bench or bed. The triumph of the design however was the flown light fittings especially the halogen tubes for John’s dead-end job at Homebase.

Director Ester Richardson’s clever use of what felt an ungainly set and precise choreography between scenes, no transition uncovered with stylised movement between John and his co-characters, was excellent and gave the piece an exciting physicality to compliment the authenticity of the writing, but the play itself left questions. Whilst possibly never wanting to be a ‘well-made play’ in the traditional sense, the open-endedness of John and Anna’s reconciliation and the lack of character context revealed about John’s past both in London and his childhood gave the piece a certain unfinishedness in both its past and future. Its present through made for a fascinating hour and a half in which the audience, Northamptonite or otherwise, can watch the personal struggle of a man on the edge, the universal qualities of family or friendship and the affectionate relationship we all keep with our roots.

Town: ****
Image courtesy of Robert Day

Bruce Guthrie on Theatre Directing

Bruce’s route into theatre directing began at drama school. Starting out as an actor, he then began his own small scale company of few like minded friends and peers from the Guilford School of Acting where he had studied. This group then began to mount work on a small scale and Bruce started his directing journey when approached by his housemate who asked him to direct Frank McGuiness' Someone Who'll Watch Over Me at Guildford. This production, financed by countless hours of shelf stacking in Tesco and beset by problems when venues or programmers tried to pull the show, then used the money from each run of performances to invest in its next mounting, treating this as an investment in future careers. The show went to Edinburgh with the Guildford profits and the Edinburgh cash was spent on a London transfer. The whole process took around 18 months; this not including the time spent working in the supermarket, and taught Bruce a massive amount about theatre directing and the creating of work. He has since gone on become a staff director at the National Theatre working with the likes of Howard Davies, Deborah Warner and Sir Richard Eyre.

Bruce: Work hard, harder than anyone else, so that you know that you will be the person with the most drive to achieve. Get outside advice from people you respect, trust and have a knowledge of the industry as their insights are invaluable. Get them to see your work and ask their opinions.

It is important to marketing your show well, especially at the Fringe. I usefully lived near Edinburgh when I was growing up and had made great friends with the local bus company drivers on football trips when I was young. Using this connection, I packed buses from my home town full of family and friends, sent them to the show and sold out the first week. We could then flyer on the Royal Mile with Sold Out on our publicity which helped us sell out the second week. When we transferred back to London, we did it as a one-night, free show and invited everyone we could from the theatre community, whilst it cost us money we gained a profile and recognition we wouldn't have got otherwise. After we'd done this came the ‘problem second album' stage of my career, proving that the first show wasn't a fluke and doing work of a high, if not higher, standard again and consistently.

After directing work myself I then found it useful to get further experience by being an assistant director for those already established in the industry. The most important thing to take into a rehearsal room with you when assistant directing is an openness to other people's work, you may not agree with things but keep that quiet, take the director to one side later on and explain your reasons for the disagreement. In my experience directors are more than happy to explain why they have made the decision and it will help you marry up yours and their visions for the piece. Make notes meticulously when you are working as an assistant so you can see the similarities and differences in your working practice. The differences can help you add to your palate whilst the similarities reassure you that what you were doing was OK. A good assistant director is able to anticipate what their director will need so prepare as thoroughly for assisting as you would if you were the director and you'll be able to see things before they arrive. Being well prepared also demonstrates your commitment to the project. As an assistant I found it useful to attend the show two or three times per week and then write a detailed show report for the director, this is hard work but you have to graft to get to where you want to be.

Next, and importantly, as a director is the delicate ways of working with actors. You must have a respect for actors as what they do is hard and revealing which can leave them vulnerable. Always have a solution for your actors - don't just say that's wrong. Try and have a range of solutions, something I call the rule of three - having 3 possible ways of resolving the problem; all three may be rejected but it gives people options. Notes are difficult too and I would recommend never over doing them. Always review your notes before relating them to the actors, sit down somewhere quiet the morning after the show with a cup of coffee and choose the notes that will remedy several problems and that give the actors a link or connection to make too as this will help.

Key things to remember are to use your instinct; you will work out very quickly if people like you doing things in a certain way. Be patient and don't panic - if you panic you don't think clearly and can often miss an obvious solution. This also applies to the director's persona and it is crucial to maintain a professional relationship with your actors, especially if they are friends too. Find the right job; don't just settle for what comes around first, as everything you do says something about what you. Watch a much as you can and, most importantly, if you want to be a director, get experience directing. Theatre companies now are interested in people who have the talent, will thrive in the supportive environment they offer and have the potential to mount work at the highest level.

Image courtesy of Creative First.

Blanche McIntyre on Fringe Theatre Directing

Blanche began directing theatre, aged 15, whilst at school and continued this through university. She stuck with directing after graduating and started putting on fringe shows by raising the cash and her overdraft limit, performing them then doing it again. From here she went to study directing at The Drama Studio, gaining experience, contacts and confidence. After graduating, Blanche returned to fringe theatre putting in the graft and taking everything going as contacts were made in every one. She eventually applied for the The Leverhulme Bursary for Emerging Directors at the Finborough Theatre and National Theatre Studio; she went on to win. Blanche is now continuing to make work for producing theatres and, keeping to her roots, is a fully paid-up member of the fringe theatre fan club. Here are her tips on directing for the fringe.

Blanche: The two great things about fringe theatre is that its a jungle so you have to make your self stand out as there will be loads of other people trying to get audiences too, the other, more a piece of advice but its also one of the best things about fringe, is learn everything as you may end up having to be the lighting designer/sound designer/technical operator but this will help later in your directing career as you can tell your tech team exactly what you want, you will know if there's too much back light and be able to get that across.

The first things to consider are the practicalities of getting a show on, especially the venue. The thing about venues is that although not an absolute certainty, you might get some mad-cap Artistic Director who gives you a fantastic theatre on the cheap, is that you get what you pay for, the more you spend the greater level of support available. It's also useful to get on the good side of the venue's staff - they can give you pointers from their experiences at that theatre and warn you of potential problems before they arise. You can often do this before arriving at the venue or even before choosing where you are going to perform by researching what theatre's are into, what they usually produce and what their artistic interests are. Other non-theatre spaces are available for you to mount your work in and are usually a bit cheaper as you have more ability to negotiate but these come with their own small setbacks - pubs, for example, often have upstairs rooms which can be used as impromptu theatres but will be unlikely to have any tech equipment. Also with site specific work, although you may not need much in the way of lighting or sound gear there and they can often be free regarding hire, there can be problems with licences and insurance. In the case of venues there is always a trade off between the cost to you and the support you receive from where you are putting on your work. One of the best things to do regarding all of this is to team up with a young, switched-on producer who is in the same position as you careers-wise and let them take the logistical and organisation strains off you, leaving you free to be creative.

Next comes funding. This is always a difficult part of putting on theatre as it does cost money. There are various places you can apply to and try and get them to fund you. If your show has a possible educational angle then running schools workshops around the text can make you money and be really rewarding. Also, educational charities and local funding bodies are a more likely to give you some cash toward the project if it can demonstrate you are doing more than just putting on a show, you're providing a learning opportunity too. If you're a student then applying for money from your university's alumni foundation can be a great source of cash toward taking shows to fringe festivals. Sponsorship and links with businesses can help with cost but you have to be careful with this and work out how much money is worth a small logo on your marketing or in the programme. Don't harm the artistic integrity of your piece by having to use it as an advert for the company who've helped you get the funding for the show. If your show is based in your community and uses local people and their skills then your district council or other public bodies may offer funding too. The Arts Council are another group who you can contact and ask for funding but they are likely to give money to projects which they deem artistically exciting and worthwhile. One of the best ways to see if your work would fit this brief is to download the Arts Council's accounts from their website, as this information is in the public domain, and then you can see what projects have gotten funding.

After getting funding you need to decide how you're going to spend the money. Fees will be crucial to this budgeting and whether you pay your actors or ask them to work for free. In this profession many people are willing to work for free but in my experience you get better work from people who are paid as they feel what they are doing is valued and I've have always paid my actors as much as I can afford to. Profit sharing is a good way to offset some of this expense until the end of the run and getting them to agree that you will evenly split the takings between the team does bring the group together knowing that the better they do the better reward they could receive. Always try and pay them in other ways too, this can be a sandwich, a cup of coffee, a travel card or a beer down the pub but it all goes toward making your actors feel valued and that their work is important to you. Try and do the same for your tech team but in my experience there are fewer technician and designers than there are actors and even fewer willing to work free as they know their skills are more specialised, this allowing them to ask for payment. Other costs that can catch you out are public liability insurance as some venues don't have this and PRS fees which relate to any recorded music you play in the performance so be wary of them.

Rehearsal venues are similar to performance venues in you get what you pay for. Try local colleges and schools for spaces or, like performance venues, the upstairs rooms of pubs - sometimes these can be free or a landlord will ask that you have a drink afterward - and willing keep costs down. Professional rehearsal spaces do exist and can be hired; some like the Jerwood space in London can knock money off your hire costs if you explain your budget to them as they are a charitable foundation and you can get a room next to where the Donmar are rehearsing which is exciting.

Next: marketing. This is where you've got to sell your play and it is important to know who you're aiming it at. Your blurb on the play is key to this and in my experience there's no harm in selling your play on one core aspect. It's also important not to scare your audience with the blurb, don't be over-wordy as people will switch off and think the play will be too intellectual. I've found that flyer distribution companies aren't really worth it and I've never seen a show because I pulled a flyer out of a rack. One of the best ways I've found to market is free, the internet. Using Facebook and sending out emails to people is a great way to get the information directly to an audience. With a venue, a rehearsal space, funds, a team to put the show on with and an audience to watch it then you should have a piece of theatre.

Finally, always remember that your role as a director is as somebody who reminds an actor of something they know but might have forgotten; this is my approach to the work. Otherwise, I'd also recommend that although you can learn everything in theory nothing beats seeing how it works live so get out there and do it.

Image courtesy of Elixir Theatre Company

Interview with Playwright and Screen Writer Michael Eaton

Michael Eaton, writer of the forthcoming Nottingham Playhouse production Families of Lockerbie, is a Nottingham based, award winning dramatist. His most recognisable and famous work has been in writing for television including drama-documentaries like Why Lockerbie?, Shoot To Kill and Shipman whilst his critically acclaimed film Fellow Traveller, about a blacklisted screenwriter in 1950s Hollywood writing a screen version of Robin Hood, won Best Screenplay at the 1989 British Film Awards. He is also Visiting Professor in the School of Creative Writing at Nottingham Trent University.

I asked him about how the Families of Lockerbie project came about, how creating plays for theatre contrasts with his other work and his plans for writing and producing more work in the region.

The Weasel under the Cocktail Cabinet: So Michael, how did you come to write Families of Lockerbie?

Michael Eaton: Over the last 21 years, since the disaster took place, I have taken a close interest in the developing concerns of the Lockerbie story becoming increasingly confused and frustrated that those involved are no closer to finding the truth than when I first encountered it in 1988-89 whilst writing Why Lockerbie? for Channel 4 and HBO. Since then I have tried to return to the theme by dramatising an account of the courtroom using the transcripts of the event for television however this is yet to be produced. Lockerbie and the events surrounding the disaster weren’t actually what brought me to the Playhouse for this project either. Giles Croft [Playhouse Artistic Director] and I where discussing another piece I had been working on about noted Victorian criminal Charlie Peace when the news of Mr Al-Megrahi’s release was announced. We got chatting about that and my connections with the story so really the really process started there.

Weasel: You were already keen on writing about Lockerbie, but what about the medium? How did writing for stage differ from your other work as many would know you primarily as a screenwriter?

ME: The approach I took to this piece was very different to that which I use when working for radio or television. From the start I was told I was only able to write for four actors which whilst restrictive allowed me to investigate the ideas from a new angle.

With this in mind I knew I couldn’t have a large host of characters so settled on creating three central characters which corresponded to different generalised reactions that I saw from the families in the wake of Al-Megrahi’s release: Firstly, the understandable want for revenge, which I call the Old Testament response and see as comparable to the US justice system; secondly, the frustration with what can be seen as an unsatisfactory treatment of the whole case, from Fhima’s innocence to Al-Megrahi’s appeal now never to be heard because of his compassionate release; and finally an approach of forgiveness and conciliation which was denied to their loved ones but should not be denied in return – do unto others as you would have done unto you, this I call the New Testament response.

I will stress that the characters I created from this are fictional and that these approaches to their character are entirely mine taken from generalisations I have made. This was a significant decision, to work in this way, and a departure to my normal practice when working with real events as I left behind the heavily research-based drama-documentary style to instead create from these responses three characters of pure fiction. These characters then being woven into the factual narrative of the Lockerbie story over the last 21 years.

In this respect, the play has developed into a hybrid, taking onboard my past practise from working at Granada Studios making drama-documentaries in the 80s and 90s, other styles such as verbatim theatre and the ‘speculative’ drama documentary similar to that of Peter Morgan who wrote The Queen and Frost/Nixon and pure drama which I have written.

I understand that this can seem a little confusing between what is quoted and what I have created but in the sections which are taken from source material, especially the court transcripts, then I have used the words that have been officially reported as being said. When working with real life characters and events you can be accused of putting words in people’s mouths so using transcripts has been key to these moments. Also, where I have written about an event that actually happened, whilst I have had the freedom to dramatise, the audience must always know and fully accept that this did take place and that I truly believe that they happened in the way that I have presented them. Some in my school of work see fictional drama as a last resort when they cannot find the documentary sources from which to recreate, whilst I reject this as a playwright – it is my job to dramatise these events – I do use the verbatim transcripts if they are available.

Weasel: And what about Nottingham Playhouse? You’re a local writer, have you written work that’s been performed there before?

ME: I’ve worked with Nottingham Playhouse twice before as a playwright, both back in the 90s. The first was a community drama which was performed in Newark but produced by the Playhouse called The Leaves of Life. This was a fantastic project to be involved with as I had the freedom to write specifically for and about all the different people and groups that were involved, including a choir and a jazz band although the jazz band got booked for a tour and had to pull out! The second was at the Playhouse and directed by another Nottingham native Jonathan Church. The piece, Angels Rave On, looked at how religion had taken on new and different significances in modern society and formed part of a trilogy of which the other parts were TV dramas. I also hope to continue my association when my next play, which as I said before was what me and Giles were discussing when this project presented its self, about how the story of Charlie Peace, a notorious 19th century thief and murderer, became a popular myth – very fitting for Nottingham I thought!

Interview originally carried out for Theatre Writing Partnership in association with Nottingham Playhouse.
Image courtesy of Robert Day.

Review: Hatch, St James's Street

Hatch returns to the streets of Nottingham, this time St James’s just off the Market Square, accompanied with its usual inclement weather. This however is the subject of work by artist Liam Herne who interviews passers-by about the British climate whilst the Metro-Boulot-Dodo rickshaw whizzes along this narrow boulevard.

Leaving St James’s Street, The Chameleon plays host to The Gramophones who give a preview of snippets from their up-coming show Ahoy! Whilst disjointed there were some great moments and the crowd seemed to really enjoy what they were presented with: as the girls say in the performance this work is ‘to be continued’ and many will be excited as to where this piece goes next.

At the opposite end of the street The Park Plaza Hotel has also been invaded for the night. Medium Rare’s Someone to… offered a room service experience like no other with ‘hotel employees’ delivering pillow fights, a shoulder to cry on or renditions of Celine Dion. The piece’s downfall however was its lack of fun in the performing of it with the actors unwilling to adapt to the different requests of their audiences, but in spite of this there were some interesting and unsettling ideas on display here. Downstairs at the Plaza cross continental installation Brain Bridge was underway with performer Ollie Smith having his environment mapped by fellow participant Kathryn Cooper, 1066 miles away in a hotel in Barcelona!

The final act, Action Hero’s A Western, was a real treat of Sergio Leone pastiche and wittily structured delivery with lashings of cheap tomato ketchup, the smell of which becoming a lasting memory of the whole night. Other wildly varying acts in and around The Malt Cross included Venom and The Terrortones, whose Theremin-fuel garage rock was as entertaining as it was raucous, whilst outside Search Party’s Save Me attempted to communicate a normal conversation using only Morse Code and Adam Goodge, resplendent in sparkly waistcoat, gave a performance lecture on the 'game of life', Snooker.

As an event Hatch delivered on its promise of a ‘platform for performance-y work’ outside of traditional performance venues and vehicles which made for a good night of curious and often slightly disquieting entertainment with innovative new work at the fore.

Hatch: ****
Image courtesy of Hatch.