Greetings from the Trench. Exciting progress on my play.

Over the last few weeks I have been continuing my Skype rehearsals with Emma Brown and starting to put together my show 'Greetings From The Trench' ready for its European premiere in Karlsruhe in early December. As it is mostly a very well rehearsed reading it means that Emma and I need to have the books in the format that we will be using on stage. This is the character Frank Philips' famous book that he and his daughter Madeleine (Emma Brown) use to tell various stories in the play.

Yesterday I reformatted the script so that it is a larger font and readable without squinting and with one small exception no sentence goes over to the next page. Emma and I discussed this as a practical point to make the reading and acting aspects easier for ourselves and to give the piece a natural flow.

They have been ring bound with a card back and a clear acetate cover. The image on the book cover is designed by me and I wanted a 1960s look and type face as this is the period that the action takes place in.

I made up the name of the German publisher and Verlag is what appears on some of the books published in Germany. Verlag means publisher.




I also designed the poster for the show in Germany and plan to get it published through Instaprint in Nottingham as they made a good job of the books and they have a few offers on at the moment. I can't afford to spend a lot on publicity but it does need to sell seats and be promoted the same as any other play. We are hoping for a sell out two days. I have spoken to Carsten Thein at the Jakobus theatre and he has an idea of promoting the work through schools in Karlsruhe. I am currently working on other methods of promotion via the internet. The show is mainly in English with a fair amount of German and a small amount of French. It also has live and recorded music and singing.

I have had help with making sure that the German language in the play is correct and suitable for its often poetic use. My friend Thorsten Feldman has been especially helpful in this. Recently I made a short video in German to encourage my German audience to be interested in the play that I have especially written with the people of Karlsruhe and my friends at the Jakobus theatre in mind. The video can be seen at the bottom of this blog post.

My co-star Emma Brown currently lives in Holland and next week I will be going over to the city of Leiden for a week to rehearse with her and be the director as well as actor/author. Should the play see a life in England and Emma Brown not be able to join me in such a production I have been in touch with another actress also called Emma to act as understudy. Emma Nash and I had read through and discussion at the Broadway Media centre a few weeks ago and I have created a cd for her with the correct pronunciation for the German words and sentences. Both Emma's have been kind enough to send me some feedback on their work with me.

" Working with Phil on his play “Greetings from the Trench” is a real privilege. The play is beautifully constructed, combining different themes ranging from butchery and urban planning to comradeship and creative inspiration. I was allowed to observe Phil's craftmanship as the play came together. He had a clear, organised approach to the structure of the play, and paid attention to small details such as the nuances of each character's speech. The result is a moving and entertaining piece, and I am very much looking forward to help bring it to life in Karlsruhe this December." Emma Brown.

"The horrors of war are touched on in this heart warming and honest story of two butchers from separate sides of Europe who build an unexpected, touching and joyful friendship after meeting in the trenches in World War One. I thoroughly enjoyed an evening of acting and discussion with Phil, the writer, on Thursday; which allowed me an insight into the layers of emotional storytelling in his work.” Emma Nash

Sardines Magazine. WW1 Centenary feature and more!

I am proud to announce that I have written a World War One centenary special twenty-one page feature for Sardines Magazine (August edition - issue 23) plus an interview with John Godber, Joe McGann and Shobna Gulati. In the last issue Sardines published my interview with Warwick Davis (cover feature), a piece about myself as theatre reviewer and the twinning arrangement at Nottingham's Lace Market Theatre. It is an honour for me to be a contributor to this excellent
magazine.

 Paul Johnson - Sardines editor in chief - has done a fantastic job of editing my text and bringing the piece even further to life with some brilliant photo arrangements. Amongst the WW1 subjects (all to do with theatre) we feature the puppets from War Horse, an interview with Howard Brenton at The Globe theatre, insights into one production of Private Peaceful plus news and reviews from professional touring productions. Those include Northern Broadsides 'An August Bank Holiday Lark', Nottingham Playhouse's new play 'The Second Minute' by Andy Barrett and directed by Giles Croft and  Alex Gwyther's one man show 'Our  Friends, The Enemy'. Two amateur productions of 'Oh What A Lovely War' are seen in two very different ways and there is a great photographic compilation of pictures from many an amateur First World War play across the country. And much more...

The latest magazine - hot off the press - is chock full of articles that will be fascinating for any lover of the theatre and can be ordered through the Sardines website either as a single magazine or subscription or downloadable. Back copies can also be ordered through the same website.

The John Godber interview took place in the rehearsal rooms at the former Art College on Green Lane and I caught John mid-rehearsal with his production team and cast for a new touring production of his play April In Paris. He was a very straight talking and relaxed man in the interview and revealed some interesting thoughts on the success of his many plays and style of playing.

His actors, Shobna Gulati and Joe McGann were an utter delight to interview alongside John and were very amusing and insightful in their theatrical stories and tales of the rehearsal process.

Many thanks to Heidi McKenzie at Derby Theatre for arranging this interview. Also big thanks to Jo McLeish c/o Nottingham Playhouse and her own company The Media Room for her continuing support.

Well, that's a promotional flavour of my own contribution to this issue of the quarterly magazine - Sardines. I look forward to submitting more work and ideas in 2014.

Many thanks to Paul Johnson, Fariba and the Sardines team.

Phil Lowe

Twitter :PhilLowe7

A Christmas Carol - a play by author Phil Lowe

This play was first produced in December 2008 at the Lace Market Theatre and directed by Martin Berry. It is a traditional version of Dicken's classic tale and is perfect for amateur productions, youth theatre groups or schools due to the large cast and possibilities of doubling characters and showing off the versatility of the cast.

The original production won a place in 'top ten plays of 2008' through the Nottingham Evening Post's reviewers choice. The script is now available to download as an eBook in iBooks for ipad format for £3.99 plus vat. http://store.blurb.co.uk/ebooks/443316-a-christmas-carol-a-play

For further details about the play read my earlier Christmas Carol blog post (actually one of my most popular blog posts with over 1800 hits to date) and for information regarding royalties and rights please email me at phillming@aol.com titling the email Christmas Carol enquiry.

Phil Lowe.

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.

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.

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

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.