Richard Griffiths. RIP.

I was very sorry to hear today of the death of Richard Griffiths, one of Britain's most celebrated character actors, who died from complications following heart surgery. The stage and screen performer, who played Uncle Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter films, was 65. The married actor, was born in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, and grew up caring for his deaf parents and was awarded an OBE for services to drama in 2008. He was a Tony-winning character actor and an inspiration to many actors for his subtle and often quietly comic roles.

 

 

I personally remember him for many of his roles and particularly for his hilarious role as an accountant who falls in love with a pig about to be slaughtered in the Handmade Films movie, A Private Function, and for his role as the quarrelsome chef/detective in the television sitcom, Pie In The Sky. I loved that show and the depth he brought to it.

Griffiths died yesterday at the University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire. Sir Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre, said that, “Griffiths's unexpected death would devastate his "army of friends". Mr Hytner, also said, “Richard Griffiths wasn’t only one of the most loved and recognisable British actors – he was also one of the very greatest and his performance in Alan Bennett's, The History Boys, as Hector, the charismatic teacher, was quite overwhelming: a masterpiece of wit, delicacy, mischief and desolation, often simultaneously.”

Daniel Radcliffe, today led tributes to the actor whose "encouragement, tutelage and humour" made work "a joy". Radcliffe, who also performed with Griffiths ( RG as Martin Dysart) in the stage play Equus, said: "Richard was by my side during two of the most important moments of my career.”

 

He continues, "In August 2000, as I nervously started on my first Harry Potter film he made me feel at ease and seven years later, we embarked on Peter Schaffer's play, Equus, together. It was my first time doing a play but, terrified as I was, his encouragement, tutelage and humour made it a joy. In fact, any room he walked into was made twice as funny and twice as clever just by his presence. I am proud to say I knew him." (Source: internet tributes)

 

 

Aside from the Harry Potter films, Richard Griffiths was most famous for his role as the gloriously camp Uncle Monty in the cult film favourite, Withnail And I. He had a busy and varied career in the theatrical arts and fairly recently played the charming Monsieur Frick in the popular film, Hugo.

Well, “ Dear boy, dear boy” I will miss you being here on earth to entertain us on our screens and stages with your avuncular charm, wit and impish mischief. My condolences to your family. We never met but you touched my heart and made me laugh. Thank you.

Phil Lowe.

Trying out a stand up comedy set

Last Wednesday I took part in a 'Tesco's Got Talent' competition in a semi final at the conference suite at the Leicester City Football ground. I had already won a preliminary round in my current workplace with a stand up routine about butcher's shops and the meat and fish counter at Tesco.

Tesco have very strong guidelines about being rude about customers so the observational comedy I devised and wrote was more about the joke being on me than being about the customers really.

The set comprised of two jokes about butcher's shops ( themes were a cheeky rabbit and an intelligent dog) then I moved into observations about me being able to speak a bit of three languages namely French, German and Chinese. I went on to explain that we have a lot of Chinese customers and that they appreciate my attempts to be polite and I demonstrated that and then went into mock Chinese as I demonstrated verbally what I could do to their sea bass. The joke was on me as, after a lengthy explanation, it turned out they didn't speak Chinese.

Then I told the audience a true story about a strongly accented customer who said that he wanted "To piss" and that my colleague Paul was attempting to show him where the loos were. It turned out he wanted 'two piece' of salmon.

For the final part of my act I told the audience that I do the counters' announcements on the mike at work and that I had a fantasy that the Daleks had opened a branch of Tesco and I wondered what the announcements would be like. I do a good Dalek impersonation and proceeded to do three Dalek calls echoing subjects that normally happen in the supermarket.

I had woken up early (3am) the day I was due to perform and had some funny ideas that I wrote down but later in the day decided it was best to stick with the routine I was familiar with rather than adding new material last minute.

On the evening of the Tesco's Got Talent gig, I followed a young woman (No! not that kind of followed!) who was on first doing a dance routine. I was on second. Another twenty three acts were to follow, mostly singers.

The conference room was very wide and the stage was a temporary, poorly lit affair in the middle of the room by the back wall. I was confident in my material after some rehearsals at home and I found that I had to compete with a lot of chat from the tables whilst I was performing. It wasn't like the theatre or a comedy club where folk go quiet and let you entertain. I didn't let this put me off and used my skills to get the attention from the audience, the most important ones of looking and sounding confident and eyeballing each section of the audience and the judges as I spoke so that they all felt included. I got some laughs (always good for a comedian!) and the material that went down well was the Chinese language section and the Daleks in Tesco material.

The judges said that I had done very well with writing my own material, the timing of the humour and the originality of my act. I wasn't the outright winner but I got a trophy for my efforts, a fun night and a few beers and some food. The experience has made me think about doing an open mike slot at a proper comedy club sometime where people actually go to see and listen to the comedians rather than chit chat about their social lives during a set.

Richard III on the roof of a carpark.

Recently I wrote a blogpost about Richard III and thought it would be fun to attempt the famous first speech by Richard Gloucester ... "Now is the Winter..." and as Richards remains were found under a car park in Leicester what better to place to film this but in a car park. In actuality on 'top' of the car park at Fletcher Gate in Nottingham. The Lace Market Theatre is down below me as I'm acting so it all seemed fitting somehow.

The idea was for a modern day take of the first speech by Richard in Shakespeare's play Richard III. Apologies to WS for some small mis-quotes but as this was practically take 155 and I was freezing up there and I finally felt happy with this last attempt. Plus my hands were like ice blocks from holding the laptop and the biceps brachii muscle in my upper left arm was seizing up big time!

Character-wise I wanted to get Richard's dark sardonic sense of humour into the piece and reflect changes in thought with halting as he moves about the space. Also I considered how the speech itself demonstrates his embittered considerations of how nature has given him a bad deal and his murderous thoughts of betrayal and cunning social climbing.

This video was filmed on my laptop and I wanted Richard to be moving around the space as if it were a stage. I chose this car park because of the tower at the end of the parking area. It made me think of a castle and also symbolic of The Tower of London where the Princes are held in the play. I hope you enjoy my take on this character.

PS: This famous speech is a sod to learn and even more difficult to remember and to perform when there is the potential of folk parking their cars around you!

Thoughts around Richard the Third.

Following the recent finding of the remains of King Richard the Third beneath a car park in Leicester I thought I would look back on a production of Shakespeare's 'Richard III' that I was involved in 2008. It was directed by Cynthia Marsh for The Lace Market Theatre in Nottingham and Richard was played by Chris Ireson. Although still of some playing length the play was cut and the dress code a mix of modern and Elizabethan styles. It also played in repertoire with a play called Terrorism by The Presnyakov Brothers with a translation bySasha Dugdale and this was directed by Martin Berry.

The links were the emotion of fear and the chaos and friction that irrational and real fear cause. Some of the cast in Richard III were also in Terrorism. I was not so brave to commit myself to both plays in one week and quite content to gets to grips with the Shakespeare, thank ye all the same.

 

 

The casting for Richard III was for over fifteen actors who often played multiple roles: I, for example; played Derby (Lord Stanley), a gentleman, a citizen, Rivers (brother of Elizabeth; Lord Mayor, Tyrell, Surrey and, to add contrast a bit of humour, a very camp Bishop of Ely.

One young man, new to the theatre and never seen again afterwards, played Grey, Lovell, a guard and one of the murderers and decided that, unfortunately, due to a vigorous bought of projectile vomiting, he couldn't make our last performance on the Saturday matinée. His mother phoned in just one hour before we were due to 'go up' (start the matinée performance) and so the rest of the cast frantically busied around sharing his roles between them. Thankfully his woeful acting skills weren't up to much and he had very few lines, therefore we were able adjust and to get by without him. I think it leant to a much more pacey show! There was certainly a sword sharp edge to the performances that afternoon. We told some friends who had been to see the show and they said they couldn't tell that we had an actor down. There's no business like show business as they say.

To paraphrase Cynthia, the director, she felt that the two plays presented during this exciting week were disparate; one late 16^th Century, one 20^th Century; one presenting a violent King the other presenting modern day violence in all its forms. She said that 'Richard the Third propagandised the founding of the House of Tudor to Elizabethan England beset by its own succession worries. Terrorism locates violence and bullying in the routines of contemporary life: travel, sex, work, gossipping and the banter of the changing room.' Source: programme notes.

Interestingly, the very unusual fact that we had two plays running together during our week long run echoed an almost bygone age of repertory theatre and like our Richard III actors playing several roles, seemingly effortlessly, (historically, known as the sweating lords for very good reason as, like us, they ripped off one costume and donned another set of clothes and identity) they would also have played several parts in Rep. Given the massive amount of Shakespearean text our Richard and the cast had to learn and perform this was no mean feat!

Some interesting things about the play Richard III generally.

• Shakespeare's main source for the play was the historian Raphael Hollinshed and Shakespeare's (strongly Tudor influenced) portrait of Richard took a great deal from Sir Thomas More's work, History of King Richard the Third.

• The ruthless ambition and semi satanic moral code given by Shakespeare to Richard were intended to make the usurpation of Henry VII (grandfather of Queen Elizabeth) seem necessary. Remember that Shakespeare's company needed the financial and royal support of the Queen to exist. The plays written could not afford to be seen as anti Queen Elizabeth or of her line. Heads would roll!

• Some modern day defenders of Richard (the man) believe that Shakespeare's portrayal of him as Richard Gloucester and King Richard in the play are unfair. Alas the play's popularity and continual success in the theatre and in film continues to convince people that he was evil, manipulating and violent.

• Richard III shows off some of Shakespeare's early formal verse at its best. The extraordinary scene where Richard woos the ultra reluctant Anne (act 1 scene II ) gains many of its effects by means of its clever use of parallel, quasi sing song constructions. “Was ever woman in this humour woo'd? Was ever woman in this humour won?” Despite initially hating him, Anne is won over by his pleas of love and repentance and agrees to marry him. When she leaves, Richard exults in having won her over despite all he has done to her, and tells the audience that he will discard her once she has served her purpose. Nice guy! Poor gal!

• Other courtly women in the play hate the manipulating king more and more as he plots the murders of children and adults alike on his rise to corruption and power. The distraught Queen Margaret exemplifies this point in her famous speech lamenting the existence of King Richard and his terrible deeds: we join the speech at it's climax here:

Queen Margaret: ... No sleep close up that deadly eye of thine, unless it be while some tormenting dream fright's thee with a hell of ugly devils! Thou elvish-marked, abortive, rooting hog! Thou that was sealed in thy nativity the slave of nature and the son of hell! Thou slander of thy heavy mother's womb! Thou loathed issue of thy father's loins! Thou detested...

Richard: Margaret.

Queen Margaret: Richard!!

• In the play, Clarence dies after Richard is named Protector (how ironic!): in reality, Clarence died five years beforehand. Here and elsewhere William Shakespeare the playwright took historical liberties to dramatically construct his play.

Famous critics have said:

“Crimes are Richard's delights but Macbeth is always in agony when he thinks of them” (Thomas Whately)

“The hump... the conscience, the fear of ghosts, all impart a spice of outragousness which leaves nothing lacking to the fun of the entertainment, except the solemnity of those spectators that feel bound to take the affair as a profound and subtle historic play.” (George |Bernard Shaw)

“There is another peculiarity of the present drama which ought to be mentioned – the frequent use of the curse, it is a terrific weapon and is employed here with terrific violence. (Denton J Snider).

My recommendations in books and films:

Year of the King by Anthony Sher: I read this back in the 1980s and it is a very accessible record of Anthony Sher's acceptance of the role of King Richard for the RSC and Barbican and his journey as an actor to discover another way of portraying the crippled king with the ghost of Laurence Oliver's well known depiction of Richard III on his heels. This terrific book is also illustrated with Sher's wonderful sketches and drawings. Highly recommended.


                                                                    

Richard III: The 1996 film with Sir Ian McKellan playing the title role is set in Britain in the 1930s and offers yet another slant on duplicitous evil. In this version civil war has erupted with the House of Lancaster on one side, claiming the right to the British throne and hoping to bring freedom to the country. Opposing is the House of York, commanded by the infamous Richard who rules over a fascist government and hopes to install himself as a dictator monarch. The film is severely edited for text but gives a very clear depiction to Richard's rise to power and his downfall through violent means. I would encourage anyone to watch this as a lesson in film acting and as an encouragement to delve further into the play itself.


                                                                     

Looking for Richard starring Al Pacino: A documentary style film about Al Pacino's quest to find the inspiration to play the role of King Richard III.

                                                                            

Lace Market Theatre production photographs by Mark James. Copyright.

Anna Karenina - the 2012 film.

 

Anna Karenina is acclaimed director Joe Wright’s bold, theatrical new vision of the epic story of love, stirringly adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s great novel by Academy Award winner Tom Stoppard . The timeless story powerfully explores the capacity for love that surges through the human heart, whilst illuminating the lavish society that was imperial Russia.

'The year is 1874. Vibrant and beautiful, Anna Karenina (Keira Knightley) has what any of her contemporaries would aspire to: she is the wife of Karenin (Jude Law), a high-ranking government official to whom she has borne a son, and her social standing in St. Petersburg could scarcely be higher. She journeys to Moscow after a letter from her philandering brother Oblonsky (Matthew Macfadyen) arrives, asking for Anna to come and help save his marriage to Dolly (Kelly Macdonald). En route, Anna makes the acquaintance of Countess Vronsky (Olivia Williams), who is then met at the train station by her son, the dashing cavalry officer Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). When Anna is introduced to Vronsky, there is a mutual spark of instant attraction that cannot--and will not--be ignored.'

 

I originally saw this spectacular and highly theatrical film at the cinema last year and again today on DVD that I ordered through Amazon.

 

Once again I enjoyed the theatricality of the piece and the superb photography and choreographed action. My favourite section was the horse race and the crowd reaction as Anna gasps thinking that her lover Count Vronsky is dead. Director Joe Wright arranges and frames this potentially complex narrative by use of a sumptuous Russian theatre of the period. I loved the arched dance like mingling of the main characters and the crowds. Tom Stoppard's text was as unfailingly brilliant as one would expect from this master of the genre.

 

 

 

I thought that Keira Knightly gave a very mature performance in the title role as did Jude Law as her husband. Matthew Macfayden was brilliant as the philandering brother Steva Oblonsky and I thought that the slow burning love affair between Levin and Kitty was very touchingly and effectively done.

 

Jude Law.

 The last scene was totally jaw dropping beautiful. I'll not spoil it for those who have had the pleasure of this film.

Alfie 40 years on. The making of.

This short film reflects humorously on the later life of the iconic film character played by Michael Caine. We find Alfie forty years after the end of the film and he is just as sexist as ever and a chain smoker.

I enjoyed the film again recently on DVD and made note of Caine's expressions and use of language. His constant usage of the term 'birds' for women (his alleged conquests) and the expressions 'mumsy but in good condition' for an older woman with whom he had a sexual liaison or two. Also I decided to call the little dog he befriends 'It' after the fact that he refers to all his girlfriends as 'it' - this has got to be one of the most demeaning put downs against womankind ever. There is also his constant belief that women still find him irresistible despite his obvious lack of tact, manners and down at heel looks. Note egg deliberately spread on t shirt.

I don't smoke but watched the way that Alfie lit up during various parts of the film (hand guarding against a draft.)

The piece was filmed at my home on the stairs with the front door open to let in a goodly amount of light for filming and the ciggy smell out! It was done in one take after a practise run.

Michael Caine's screentest for Hitchcock.

This is one of my short films on Youtube featuring my impersonations of Michael Caine in various fictional situations. This particular one came about because I had purchased the silly shower cap with the intent of doing another video of me as Colm Wilkinson singing 'Bring him Home' in the bath. I thought this would be funny and practised the song (it ain't easy) yet when I came to film the piece in he actual bath - minus water - I found I simply wasn't up to the job I had given myself.

 

 

So I reluctantly abandoned that project and set thinking what I do to add another fun video to my Michael Caine's Brief Encounters collection. I came up with a fictional premise that Michael Caine and Terence Stamp 'potentially' could have auditioned for Hitchcock in the 1950s when Psycho was made. The joke is that they didn't screen test for the male role but for the girl in the shower (played by Janet Leigh). I played with a few script ideas and practised my filming with the camera in my laptop. I had to remove all the mirrors in the bathroom as I could see that more of me was being exposed than I would have liked!!!

 





The film started with me holding the laptop up high and slowly coming to a holt at a head and showers shot. On playback the sound was a bit wobbly in places but I was pleased with the result.

Les Miserables Nottingham Playhouse

This Friday the film of the musical Les Miserables goes on general release and I expect to be amongst the excited fans queuing to see how the cast and director have done.

Back in 1992 I was thrilled to be in the professional production of Christina Reid's play version at Nottingham Playhouse. There were eight hand picked male extras to play soldiers, citizens, students at the barricade and a chain gang. The story started with Gavroche and Eponine meeting in heaven after being killed on the barricades and suddenly shot back in time to the battle of Waterloo with the Thenardiers picking over the corpses.

I remember going to the rehearsals and trying to behave as professionally as possible (I was a performance art student in my third year at the time and this was a paid job). I made a good friend of the actor Roger McKern and kept in touch with him for years and went to see him in many productions around the midlands and in London. Through him I started to learn about the life of a professional actor.

Unfortunately, I don't have any decent photographs to put up on here, only copies of copies.

That's me with my arms folded as a citizen in the dressing room, alas not all the extras were as professional as myself. A few of them were quite noisy backstage and pissed about. I was probably one of the older ones and tried to keep myself to myself or mingled with the pros.

There was no dialogue for the extras but we did get  to sing the French National Anthem as we constructed the barricades each night. On the first night the actor who was supposed to get trapped under the cart forgot to come on (he was playing multiple roles) and the extras had to improvise with one of us falling under the cart to be rescued by the actor playing Jean Valjean.

Michael Caine's brief encounters

This is the first of a series of funny videos that I am filming for Youtube. Although I do a passable M Caine impersonation the idea is to create some funny moments through improvisation. This video took five goes until I was satisfied with it... and not a lot of people know that.

Developing my writing

I am currently researching for more information on the world of butchery for my proposed book "Tales From The Block" as well as developing my comedy writing by creating pieces for Youtube and other comedy formats.

I seem to have a surreal sense of humour influenced by Monty Python, The Goodies, classic TV series such as Steptoe and Son and others broadcast in the 1970s. These were my teenage years and the years where I started to realise that I could make people laugh. Then came the Canadian comic Kelly Monteith with his observational comedy sketches whose show I used to love.

I was never a fan of the traditional stand up comic like Bernard Manning and similar comedians. My sense of humour was rather in the style of Not the Nine O'clock News and further comedic adventures with Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder. I saw Jasper Carrott in his early days at Derby Playhouse and followed him throughout his career.

Then along came the clever American humour of Third Rock From The Sun and the hit TV show Frasier. I was also influenced by the styles of Woody Allen and his films and somewhat by the corny style of the Mel Brookes films such as Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles.

These days I am a fan of the Black Books series, Father Ted, Eddie Izzard and Bill Bailey.

Acting 'A Chip In The Sugar' in Karlsruhe

Regarding the title of this blogpost, I can only speak for myself in this as I did a monologue as Graham and seven other characters from A Chip In The Sugar. All the work I'd put in over the last three months paid off in the three performances I did at the Die Käuze theatre in Karlsruhe. They weren't perfect but then live theatre rarely is and that is the joy in doing it. Working with the imperfections so much that audience of oblivious of them and still entertained is worth the struggle.  I learnt very quickly not to be self critical and analyse oneself or judge the words issuing forth as one acts. To do so is fatal and therby mental blanks can come thick and fast. Not what you want in front of a full auditorium.

"Oh my God Mother!"

The Tuesday morning performance was the probably the best in being pretty much word perfect and the energy from doing an early show paid off plus the fact that I knew that there was a big group of English language students in and also our gang from the Lace Market Theatre had come across town ( some with hangovers) to support myself and the team who were performing The Typists. So all in all I was very pleased with the quality of the performances I gave and the applause, the whoops and the stamping of feet that came as a reward for doing well was very gratifying.

"Get down, He's back!"

I enjoyed the talk back with the students and felt very surprised and happy that they had clubbed together to buy me two very nice bottles of  French wine as a reward for sending them a script marked up by me to illustrate some points about the text and the peculiar English expressions in the work and my understanding of the characters. I also sent them a companion audio CD explaining all and an audio CD of me doing A Chip In The Sugar

"We were just letting our midday meal go down when the Vicar calls."

.As I got towards the last performance I was able to trust that I knew the script well enough to take more pauses and work with the laughter ( a surprising amount actually ) that was coming my way, without losing the plot - so to speak.

"There's a car parked out side and I think there's somebody watching the house.."

Whilst I was in Karlsruhe it was suggested to me that a one man show called Der Kontra Bass or The Double Bass by Peter Suskind might be of interest to me. I have since had a little search on the Internet and from what I've seen it looks interesting. Watch this space.

Phil Lowe

Finally learnt 45 mins of script

So, after three months of learning Alan Bennett's A Chip In The Sugar I now feel I am ready to perform it in Karlsruhe mid May.

I have had to fit in my rehearsals where I can and do a full time job as well and, of late, I have been rehearsing at the Lace Market Theatre ready for a members only pre-view on May 13th before the group goes to Germany on the 18th.

It has been an interesting journey, the text interpretation getting subtler over the last week or so. Because I have made sure that I know the script very well with time to spare this has given me the opportunity to play around with it a bit and become ultra familiar with the rhythms and subjects. As you may be able to see from the picture above, there are many large passages of text and later in the piece the main character, Graham, starts to reveal his anxieties and breaks away from the story telling to sit quietly in his room (depicted by an armchair). In my rehearsals last week I was having a bit of trouble with mental blanks and realised it was these transitions that were causing the problem. Lots of time concentrating on the main text and character(s) portrayal, less time on the equally important asides were the culprits.

I have also learnt a lot about the techniques of doing one man shows through my experience of performing A Christmas Carol in Germany and UK last December and my training on my Performance Art degree course have all helped me to develop a method and style of solo performance. This is particularly important with using the voice to portray characters in A Chip In The Sugar and also demonstrating the geography of the characters on stage and keeping a connection with them as an actor. In the simplest of terms - not having the character -Mr Turnbull  - mentally to the left of me and suddenly he's over on the right for no reason at all. Also I have used a style of speaking across to 'Mother' for example (seeing her sitting in the chair) and then saying her lines for her forward facing the audience. It's like seeing the character from different angles. Well, that's my intention anyway.

Having a few friends in to watch the rehearsals has helped as the added 'pressure' to perform brings its own rewards and lessons learnt. So thank you to Janette, Paul, Colin, Hilary and David for being my audience. Hilary was particularly helpful and a great laugher. An actor needs to be able to ride the laughs.

Max Bromley suggested slowing some the dialogue down for the German audiences because it is very colloquial in style and another friend - wise in the ways of the theatre - said give yourself time to enjoy any business and don't feel you have to keep talking all the time. On this note I have improved the piece by allowing my character time to go from one time slot to another or one situation change to another. It works so much better that way.

Plus, I created a qulaity CD for myself to listen to myself performing the piece well and have given copies to some friends and acquaintances to listen to and the feedback has been very favourable. One couple said they had listened to it twice and it was like listening to a radio play - only better. Thus encouraged I am now ready to perform the piece in Germany. I can't wait.

Phil Lowe as Graham

Audition for Little Shop of Horrors

The other day I went for an audition for the role of Mr Mushnik in the musical A Little Shop of Horrors. I had never sung at an audition before and was nervous about even trying. However the role appealed (as if I haven't got enough to do!) and I went along.

It was a bit short notice to learn the 'Mushnik and Son' song properly so I took along two songs from Jesus Christ Superstar that I am familiar with and ended up singing a verse and chorus from the bouncy Herod's Song. Apparently I did OK and was a baritone.

I didn't get the role but the experience was good. I think it helped that I knew the director and have worked with him before. I will certainly go and see the show in July as Martin's shows are always brilliant.


Onwards and Upwards with A Chip In The Sugar then...

A short video of the first part of A Chip In The Sugar.

A short video of the first few pages of A Chip In The Sugar by Alan Bennett.

Rehearsing A Chip In The Sugar

Rehearsing ‘A Chip In The Sugar’ written by Alan Bennett.

At the moment I am two weeks into my ad hoc rehearsal schedule in learning Alan Bennett’s ‘A Chip In The Sugar’ monologue. My pet name for this foolhardy project is ‘Chip’ and it is going to Germany in May alongside another short play called, ‘The Typists’. In my enthusiasm to perform, I blithely ignored the realistic fact that this humorous and pathos filled theatrical piece from Bennett’s original Talking Heads TV series  is actually sixteen pages long and forty minutes in performance on me tod!!!  Proverbial light comes on when Phil realises a monologue is one person talking! Alone! On stage! Without a script!

In this case, the monologue has the main character of Graham, an older gay man with mental health problems, living with his elderly mother who has met up with an old flame, a Mr Frank Turnbull , and is courting him despite her own problems with a failing memory. I have chosen to use differing voices for the various characters in the storytelling unlike Bennett who originally played Graham himself and all of the other characters with his own iconic voice. Both work equally well in performance and the writing is undeniably Alan Bennett in style; laconic, Yorkshire through and through and witty, very witty indeed, and also full of understanding for human frailties.

It is a joy to try and learn and even though there are lots of ‘she said – he said - Mr Turnbull/Mother saids’ liberally scattered throughout the piece they are a part of the rhythm of the theatrical writing and though these interjections seem odd  to an actor, at first, they actually work very well. They help create a rhythm, a pace and a balance.

Like any comedy, a lot of the performing does rely on being aware of where the laughs/chuckles are likely to occur and whilst rehearsing I have left a short space after the punch lines to practice, albeit sans audience, the art of remembering the pick-up lines or the proceeding passage and story development. To help me with the rehearsal process I have recorded the piece with my Dictaphone and put it on a CD to play again and again at home and get me used to the story and the pace of its’ telling. I have also kept a copy on the Dictaphone itself to listen to during the day via a set of headphones.

Consequently, I think that I am now the official ‘nutter on the bus’ who mutters to himself on the 6am Indigo bus to work each morning.  I am even getting brave and almost talking the script out loud as I walk the streets of Nottingham. I can almost imagine folk looking out for the ear piece and mobile connection. "Surely' he's talking to a friend on his blue tooth jobby. except he hasn't got a blue tooth jobby. Mavis, call the cops!"

Alan would be proud

I am often tired after a day’s work and don’t always feel inclined to spend the evening rehearsing and getting frustrated with myself because the lines aren’t coming out right, so I rehearse as and when the energy or enthusiasm is with me. I am enjoying the rehearsal process and the humour of the piece so I do try and find time to devote to learning it. The fact that I really need to be ready by the end of April (my deadline) spurs me on. Come June I will look back with astonishment that I managed to learn it all and perform successfully in Karlsruhe!

The script itself has a lot of repetition throughout and it is easy to find oneself verbally leaping on to another section in the story so concentration is paramount and doing one’s best to be true to every word and inflection helps build confidence in the piece. Without sounding immodest I often give myself a mental ‘slap on the back’ when I think that I am getting stronger in the recalling and performing without the script in front of me. Any actor would agree that these moments of freedom from eye-balling  or gripping on to the script are scary but also very satisfying part of the rehearsal process.

I mark up the script itself to remind myself of my own verbal errors (the odd word wrong or slight paraphrasing) and to illuminate links from one ‘idea’ within the storytelling to another. A good example of this last notion would be that Graham mentions his mother sitting on the cold pavement and in the next breath says, ”Come on Mother, we don’t want piles!” The link being that a cold bum might give her piles. The additional fact that pile and pavement both begin with P helps to cement the script memory too. Additionally, I often try to visualise the scene like a mini movie in my head and find this helps and I am prone to making little drawings in the margin to remind me of the thread and order of the prose.

At this stage of writing this up (mid March) I am confident in the first six pages. Only ten more to go!!!

A Chip In The Sugar

The Lace Market Theatre are taking three plays to Karlsruhe as part of a twinning arrangement in May. They are Hedda Gabler, The Typists and A Chip In The Sugar. The Alan Bennett piece (Chip) is a late entry offered by and performed by myself and I have about ten weeks rehearsal to learn sixteen pages of monologue.

I started three days ago and have the first two pages secure. The script is very well written and mostly chronological in the story telling and relatively (ahem) easy to learn. Saying that there are several characters to deal with as well as the main character, Grahame. For an actor this is a gift.

A CHIP IN THE SUGAR

My own poster design above shows Grahame nervously looking outside the house as he feels 'someone' is watching the house.

Later in the rehearsal process I'm going to have to rehearse this with a director/overseeer to cement the work and get used to pausing and picking up dialogue where the laughs are and there are many laughs in this piece.

I am already muttering the lines to myself at any given moment, on the bus, in the street, under my breath at work. Fun times.

A Christmas Carol catch up with reviews

These are an article and two reviews that recently got published in the Lace Market Theatre's journal, The Boards. For those who are interested and don't have a chance to read the paper document here they are online.

Taking ‘A Christmas Carol’ to Germany and back, by Phil Lowe.

Where do I begin? Well, I was certainly shown great hospitality from my hosts Gerd and Herrlich Lehrmann and their friendly dog Frickr and got a very warm reception at the Jakobus theatre from Markus, Carsten, Manfred and all my other friends there. Everything possible was done to make my stay and my performances as comfortable and easy as possible and I had a thoroughly good time. The dramatic readings had been very well advertised in the local papers and arts magazines too.

Alright, the weather was a tad inclement, raining nonstop for two days out of the three, but there ain't a lot one can do about that. The last day (Thursday) cleared up and I was able to be a tourist in the beautiful city of Karlsruhe without getting soaked to the skin. There were plenty of opportunities for chilling out and taking a host of festive photos and enjoying some mulled wine, coffee and warm apfelstrüdel and cream in a steamy café or two.

My friend Thorsten Feldman came to the first performance on Tuesday night and we met up on the Wednesday and enjoyed each other's company at the Christmas Fair over a glass of mulled wine: dining later at a student pub: and further, viewing the damp sights around central Karlsruhe in a downpour. I also went to the Theater "Die Käuze" with Thorsten and saw the fantastic set they had built for a production of Snow White or Schneewittchen und die sieben Zwerge.

Having a passion for discovering new food experiences I managed to find a fair few foodie joints to nose around and learnt some new names in German for the specialities on offer. I'm sure one exists, but I never got round to finding an indoors market to investigate. It seemed though, that on every street corner and sometimes one or two in between there was another Apotheke (a chemist). I have never seen so many in one city!

On Thursday I spent some time during the lunch period  in * Café Bleu with a well deserved beer and also ate there later that same evening with Andrea, Gerd, and Herrlich. Lena Maia from the Jakobus theatre made a surprise visit to say 'hello' and it was nice to see her too since their theatre's visit to Nottingham. I feel that I have some real good friends in Karlsruhe formed through the twinning events that we all enjoy and, hopefully, I look forward to another visit with the Lace Market Theatre next May. Maybe, the weather will be better and warmer in the Springtime!

Regarding the performances, I enjoyed them both and enjoyed employing some subtle physical actions to enhance the verbal storytelling. Both the audiences were very attentive considering that the English was very flowery and Dickensian. I felt the idea of playing the music of Personent Hodie and creeping on as the Storyteller rather than just walking to the lectern really worked.

The bigger process of organising the events had been going on since August 2011, including making my own costume. From a performer’s point of view, even though I had been totally been re-writing the script and adding in some authentic German, the production was still a growing piece even as I actually performed it at the Jakobus theatre each night. That added to the excitement of the creative process and kept it alive for me and the audiences.

This development continued as I performed ‘A Christmas Carol’ for a final time this year at the Lace Market Theatre in Nottingham on the evening of Sunday 11^th of December. Back home I had to adjust again to a new staging and lighting style and edit out all the German. Over forty people attended the performance at the Lace Market and Mr Alan Geary was generous in his review. I would like to progress in this style of story-telling and see where it takes me professionally. I already have plans to approach the Nottingham Playhouse for next December as well as the Waterstone’s Bookshop in Nottingham.

Phil Lowe.

*For anyone who has been on the twinning events in Karlsruhe, the lovely Café Bleu opposite the Jakobus theatre has a special place in their hearts. I imagine that the Trip to Jerusalem will have a similar magic for the Germans when they visit us in Nottingham.

A Christmas Carol

Lace Market Theatre

December 11^th 2011

One –man show pays homage to Dickensian delivery.

Phil Lowe’s successful rendering of this Dickens’ classic is a development on the highly successful full-play version he presented three years back.

It is admirable that Lowe doesn’t attempt to usurp the author. This is an homage to the writer; a demonstration of his greatness. And it isn’t a play of the sort with one actor who keeps changing hats – that might have been an embarrassing error.

Rather, it’s an entirely engaging dramatic reading, the kind of show that Dickens himself took on the road. At the start, as soon has some jaunty carol music has faded, Lowe enters from the audience, goes straight to the lectern and gets down to business.

The narrative is beautifully spoken, of course. But Lowe also does the characters well, particularly the grotesques. And he evokes the colours the smells and the emotions. He brilliantly brings out the unfailing emotional tug of the story – Tiny Tim is as annoying as ever, but that’s always the price you pay for Dickens.

Storytelling is, alas, no longer a central part of our culture, but on the strength of this piece of work, it should be.

Alan Geary

Nottingham Post.

Second review.

The choir sings with purity and clarity as a bent up, decrepit looking figure makes its way to a lectern, divesting itself of its winter clothes and metamorphosing itself into an impish, spryer figure with a twinkle in his eye to begin to tell us a well known tale.

Though the story was familiar, some of the smaller details surprised me, such as the use of ribbons by the Cratchits to brighten up everyday clothes, and the cage like support around Tiny Tim’s lame leg (something I don’t remember seeing in any adaptations of the story, though I may be wrong.)

Phil Lowe’s dynamic rendition of the story, and Dickens’ own words, enabled the audience’s imagination to form rich and intricate pictures rivalling anything seen in the cinema. He kept our attention throughout the telling of the story as we eagerly awaited each and every word. His vocal acrobatics allowed each character to be distinguished from each other. The intensity of his performance both emotional and dramatic, was reminiscent of Steven Berkoff’s  one man performance of Edgar Allen Poe’s, The Tell Tale Heart.

Having missed this show the first time round, but having seen and liked the ensemble version that that performance led to, I was curious to see this version. I was not disappointed.

Neil Duckmanton.

For further reading on this subject click on to any of the links below.

http://mugofstrongtea.blogspot.com/2011/08/christmas-thoughts-of-performing-in.html

http://mugofstrongtea.blogspot.com/2011/10/if-you-go-down-to-cemetery-today.html

http://mugofstrongtea.blogspot.com/2011/08/perculiar-yet-creaive-day.html

http://mugofstrongtea.blogspot.com/2011/11/not-long-now.html

http://mugofstrongtea.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-carol-in-nottingham-final.html

Some of my favourite shows/plays I've been in.

I've performed in and written a fair few shows over the years and wanted to have a light-hearted look at my faves. In no particular order they are:

A Doll's House: Nils Krogstad. Having seen this role played at Derby Playhouse I was delighted to be cast as the protagonist later in life.

Comedians: Gethin Price. There comes a time in an actor's life when one is in one's prime and ready to play a particular part. That happened with my first role with the Lace Market Theatre after graduating from my drama degree. It was great to play a bastard.

Play it again Sam. Great fun playing Alan Felix (the Woody Allen role) and a super cast and director.

An Inspector Calls. National Theatre tour. Just an extra in this one but a great show to learn from and revel in some sterling acting and production standards.

The Dresser: Averham Theatre. Playing Norman was a big challenge as masses to learn, very emotive script from Ronald Harwood and learning the part taught me a great deal about pacing oneself and variety of interpretation.

Cabaret: Just love the music and story so any tiny role in this is good to do. The first time was with Derby Theatre in The Round and I was into reading the Berlin novels of Christopher Isherwood at the time too.

The Crucible: Judge Danforth. Playing this role made me realise that you should never mis-judge the amount of work you need to put into learning the story and lines. I under-estimated the work and had to really concentrate on memorising the lines right up to the last minute. Scary stuff. Good role to play though.

Abigail's Party: Played Laurence Moss. Almost the same cast as Play it Again Sam. Just great fun to learn and perform and make folk laugh. Nice director too.

Anna Karenina: Levin. Good ensemble discipline and tense drama.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Puck, first Shakespeare I ever did and it gave me a whole new interest in the English language. Never did Shakespeare at school.

Resting at last

I've had a pretty busy last six months. The rehearsal period for a play is normally three months from audition to performance and my biggest commitment since writing an adaptation of A Christmas Carol last year and seeing it successfully performed to full houses on stage last December was playing Laurence Moss in Abigail's Party in September this year. This was for the Lace Market Theatre in Nottingham. I was happy to be working once again with a group of friends with whom I had worked in the past on various shows. It was great fun and all the hard work paid off.

Following that production I was straight into the next working as a German language tutor to the young woman lead in Kindertransport and also I was commissioned to take the promotional photos for the same studio production at the LMT.

I was expecting to rest up and spend some time finding work but last minute I was roped in to performing in the new production of Festen on the main stage. This time I had only one week to learn a small but important role of Kim the chef. I spent every day going through the lines and moves and by three rehearsals later I was ready for the first night. Phew.

In the last few days I have been watching Andrew Davies' BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' Little Dorritt for the first time on dvd and my love of acting gave me the impetus to create this blog to record my thoughts about my passion for the theatre and cinema.

First post of my second blog

I already have another blog at http://mugofstrongtea.blogspot.com/ which features my passions for food and drink and currently has over fifteen thousand hits since January this year. I have occasionally referred to my life in the theatre and have decided to start this seperate blog to let people know more of my creative life. I welcome any constuctive comments. Phil Lowe.

LMT refers to Nottingham's Lace Market Theatre.

Theatre/film and tv listings to date.

November 2009. Kim. Festen. LMT

October 2009. German language tutor. Kindertransport. LMT

September 2009. Laurence Moss. Abigail’s Party. LMT.

December 2008. A Christmas Carol. Phil Lowe Writer/adaptation for stage. LMT.

June 2008. Both Sides Now. Phil Lowe Writer/director. Short theatre pieces festival. LMT.

May 2008 The School for Scandal. Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Mr Snake. LMT.

February 2008. Richard the Third. Shakespeare. Derby. Bishop. Cardinal. Soldier. LMT.

September 2007. Charley’s Aunt. Brandon Thomas. Brassett. LMT

January 2007. Frozen. Bryony Lavery. Ralph. LMT

April 2006. Anna Karenina. Tolstoy adaptation by Helen Edmundson. Levin. LMT.

November 2005. The Diary of Anne Frank. Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Mr Kraler. Nottingham Arts.

June 2005. An Inspector Calls. J. B. Priestly. Ensemble. National Theatre tour. Theatre Royal Nottingham.

April 2005. The Crucible. Arthur Miller. Governor Danforth. Nottingham Arts.

September 2004. Play it Again Sam. Woody Allen. Alan Felix. LMT.

April 2004. A View From The Bridge. Arthur Miller. Immigration Officer. Jacobus Theatre Karlsruhe.

March 2004. A View From The Bridge. Arthur Miller. Immigration Officer. LMT.

October 2003. A Bright and Bold Design. Peter Whelan. Ulik. LMT.

December 2002. A Christmas Carol. Dickens. Devisor of one-man show/performer. LMT.

March 2001. A Doll’s House. Henrick Ibsen. Nils Krogstad. LMT.

December 2000. A Christmas Carol. Dickens. Devisor of one-man show/performer. Gotham, St Lawrence’s Church.

December 1999. A Christmas Carol. Dickens. Devisor of one-man show/performer. Gotham, St Lawrence’s Church.

Between 1991 and 2001 I also worked as a Equity professional supporting artist in Crossroads (ITV) Peak Practice (ITV) Boon (BBC), Signs and Wonders (BBC) Barbara (ITV) Doctors (BBC) video work for the OU, training film with East Midlands Arts (main lead male), US funded John Lennon film as doctor.

Performance Arts student writing and performing projects included (*). Also between 1989 and 1991 I would have been involved in a variety of performance pieces live and film as part of my degree. The (*) marked items are the main ones and usually involved considerable creative input.

September 1999. Dead Funny. Terry Johnson. Nick. LMT.

October 1993. Poppy. Peter Nichols. Emperor of China. LMT.

January 1993. A Chip in the Sugar. Alan Bennett. Director. LMT.

November 1992. Comedians. Trevor Griffiths. Gethin Price. LMT.

November 1990. The Dresser. Ronald Harwood. Norman. Averham Theatre. Notts.

June 1990. Les Misérables. Christina Reid. Ensemble. Nottingham Playhouse.

* 1991. Film project with Inter-media, Nottingham. Paid, post – graduate work. Actor.

* 1991 Co-creator and MC in The Life of Nellie Wallace. Nottingham Powerhouse theatre and LMT (hire).

* 1991 Writer/creator/director in ‘Apollinaire’. Nottingham Powerhouse theatre.

* 1991 Writer/performer with Emma Ghafur in EXPO festival of theatre and arts. Nottingham venues. (various)

* 1990-1 Performance Poet: Nottingham venues. (various)

* 1990 Writer/ co-creator/performer. “Home” performance piece about the plight of the homeless. Various Nottingham venues.

* 1990 Writer/ co-creator/performer. “Friend or Foe” performance piece about flat-sharing experiences. Powerhouse. Clifton Campus

* 1989 Writer/ performer in ‘Taming a Cloud of Butterflies’ Nottingham Powerhouse theatre.

* 1989. Beowulf. Devised by ensemble and Joe Robinson from classic Penguin text. Beowulf. College Street Arts. Nottingham Arts Festival.

Prior to moving to Nottingham from Derby I gained theatre experience by working with Derby Theatre In The Round, The Derby Shakespeare Company and the Littleover Players. I was also occasionally involved with a couple of amateur Opera companies in and around Derby although I certainly wouldn’t claim to be a singer! To my knowledge I don’t have specific months for performance dates. The DTITR performances were mainly in the small ‘black box’ studio venue at Derby Playhouse.

Derby Theatre In The Round 1980 – 1988

The Crucible. Arthur Miller. Ezekiel Cheever. Derby Playhouse Studio.

Breezeblock Park. Willy Russell. Nick. Derby Playhouse Studio.

Doctor Faustus. Philip Marlowe. Wagner. Derby Playhouse Studio.

Fools. Neil Simon. Snetsky. Derby Playhouse Studio

Saturday Sunday Monday. Eduardo de Filippo. Atillio. Derby Playhouse Studio

The Body. Nick Darke. American soldier. Derby Playhouse Studio

One Flew over a Cuckoo’s Nest. Dale Wasserman. Aide Turkle Derby Playhouse Studio

Andorra. Max Frisch. The Journeyman. Derby Playhouse Studio

The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew. Robert Bolt. Obidiah Bobbleknob. Derby Playhouse Studio

In Camera. Jean-Paul Satre. Valet Derby Playhouse Studio

The Bald Prima Donna. Eugene Inonesco. Mr Martin Derby Playhouse Studio

Cabaret. Kander & Ebb. Ensemble. The Guildhall. Derby.

She Stoops to Conquer. Oliver Goldsmith. Roger Derby Playhouse Studio

The Lark. Jean Anouih. Ensemble. Derby Playhouse Studio

Of Cabbages and Kings. Co-writer and ensemble. Derby Playhouse Studio

The Philanthropist. Christopher Hampton. John. Derby Playhouse Studio

Beckett. Jean Anouilh. Ensemble. Derby Playhouse Studio

The Dresser. Ronald Harwood. Shakespearian actor. Derby Playhouse Studio

The Rose and The Ring. William Makepeace Thackery. Co-writer/performer. Derby Playhouse Studio

84 Charing Cross Road. James Roose Evans. Bill. Derby Playhouse Studio

When the Wind Blows. Raymond Briggs. Director. Catholic Club Derby.

Also played parts in annual Music Hall that we performed for the Catholic Club (rehearsal venue).

Derby Shakespeare Company. 1979 - 1988

A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shakespeare. Puck. Guildhall Derby.

Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare. Ensemble. Guildhall Derby.

A Winter’s Tale. Shakespeare. Clown. Guildhall Derby.

Central Operatic Company.

Salad Days Julian Slade. Troppo. Guildhall Derby.

Derby Opera Company

Cabaret. Kander and Ebb. Chorus/Ensemble. Derby Playhouse Main Stage.

Derby Colleges Musical Society.

Orpheus and the Underworld. Offenbach. Chorus. Derby College.

The Littleover Players. 1977 – 1980

In Sickness and In Health. Co-writer and performer. Revue. Littleover School.

Dry Rot. John Chapman. Flash Harry. Littleover School.

Full Treatment. Michael Brett. Wallcott-Brown. BBC reporter. Littleover School.

Sleeping Beauty. Linda Nelson. Fairy Goodanov. Littleover School.

The Emperor’s New Clothes. Linda Nelson.  Comedy dancer. Littleover School.