Latest catch up on my reviewing and theatre writing.

I am aware now that I haven't been as hot on keeping a record on here of my theatre activities since December so this listing may be a bit link by link. The link to my @EM_Theatre Twitter account for my website, next to this blog post will hopefully help to keep readers informed too.

Here goes: in order of writing here are a list of my recent website posts for www.eastmidlandstheatre.com.

Derby Theatre's Cinderella production.

East Midlands Theatre.com and #culturematters

Jason Donovan to reprise role in Priscilla Queen of the Dessert.

Derby Theatre highlights of 2015.

Nottingham Playhouse. What's On Live.

Theatre talk for Club Encore news.

Brian Weaver Fellowship Offer to young actor.

War Horse goes on tour. Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Leicester Curve promotion. Jan/Feb 2016

Promotion for Anything Goes at Nottingham Arts Theatre

Oddsocks promotion. Family First.

#culturematters for the older generation.

Great opportunity to learn more about Greek Theatre.

Cats the musical returns in Summer of 2016 to Nottingham Royal Concert Hall.

http://eastmidlandstheatre.com/2016/01/23/review-priscilla-queen-of-the-desert-nottingham-royal-concert-hall/

Review: Priscilla Queen of the Dessert. Nottingham Royal Concert Hall.

Review: Cats at Loughborough Town Hall by Christchurch Theatre Club.

Review: The Snowman. Nottingham Theatre Royal.

The Great Gatsby. Coming to Derby Theatre. 

Writing for Sardines magazine. Professional writing.

Review: Hetty Feather at Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Twisted Dame Theatre Company writing opportunities. 

Piece on old time music hall event.

Review: Anything Goes. Musicality. Nottingham Arts Theatre.

Review: Any Means Necessary. Nottingham Playhouse.

Review: A Girl is a Half Formed Thing. Leicester Curve.

Promotion: Hetty Feather comes to Curve.

Review: Blood Brothers at Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Interview: Look Back in Anger interviews at Derby Theatre.

Round up on a month of reviewing across the East Midlands.

As you might imagine November and December have been rather hectic in terms of theatre and festive show reviewing as well as promoting events through www.eastmidlandstheatre.com. In early January 2016 I have been invited to Nottingham Playhouse to do an hour long talk to the Encore over 50s group about my theatre reviewing and theatre writing experiences. I am looking forward to that.

Here is a rough roundup of the reviews I have written since early November to the present date. I have also written an interview with actress Rebecca Little for Sardines magazine about her continuing presence in the annual Playhouse Pantomime. This will be published in the January edition.

Other relevant theatre promotion material features between the reviews on www.eastmidlandstheatre.com.

An Inspector Calls the National Theatre touring show of Priestley's famous work. Theatre Royal Nottingham.

A View From The Bridge. Nottingham New Theatre production at Nottingham University.

Beryl touring production about Beryl Burton acclaimed yet forgotten cyclist. Nottingham Playhouse.

Pam Ann - acerbic comedienne at Nottingham Playhouse.

Celtic Woman - Gaelic concert at Nottingham Royal Concert Hall.

Mack and Mabel. Touring musical starring Michael Ball and Rebecca LaChance.

The Diary of Anne Frank. Nottingham New Theatre at Nottingham University.

Dick Whittington. Panto at Nottingham Playhouse.

Oliver. Curve Leicester. Main house show.

The Great Gatsby. Nottingham New Theatre at Nottingham University.

Cinderella. Christmas show at Derby Theatre.

Neverland. Christmas show for children at Lakeside Nottingham.

Plus One. Helping under-privileged children and teens have access to the arts. Derby Theatre.

Hare and Tortoise. Neville Studio. Nottingham Playhouse.

The Witches. Curve Leicester. Studio show.

Review Brassed Off - Derby Theatre

Many happy years in this reviewer's life were spent in a hapless non- critical capacity just enjoying theatre as a form of entertainment and pleasurable education and there's nowt wrong with that lad. Then in the late 1980's this same reviewer took an unexpected big step into the world of higher education - an arts degree no less. This happened after a sudden redundancy from the Derbyshire based butchery firm he worked for at the time. Times were definitely 'a changing' as a certain Mr Dylan sang. Back then the papers and telly were full to bosting with news of the miners' strikes, the new and hated Poll Tax, Mrs Thatcher's government this and that - force for good - force for evil - dependent on the individual's and popular tabloid's bias. Be it political with a capital or small 'p' there was no escaping the dark mood of the apparently 'United Kingdom' in the 1980/90s and all domestic and economic security seemed to be going to rack and ruin for many. Communities in nearby or neighbouring Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, in the period covering the mid 1980s towards a decade later, felt the crippling effects of the changes and the devastation of once solid and mutually supportive mainly - working class - hands on - hard graft - industrial societies.

Meanwhile, this erstwhile and perhaps rather naïve theatre goer continued to haunt the Derby Playhouse, as was, and he saw every production at least once but, on the whole, considerably more times than that. The Derby Playhouse box office coffers swelled significantly at his generous and perpetual attendance.

Vicariously, he learnt so much psychological truth about other people's lives and gained much insight into the character's politics in all the senses; socially; politically; theatrically; surreally and even sexually. A certain German touring production of Miss Julie in the studio space even included real life naked actors!!!! Tut tut!

This theatrical house of 'well repute' was alive and kicking and still remains so today as it celebrates forty years of existence in its current form of the acclaimed Derby Theatre. Tonight this reviewer was honoured to help celebrate those forty years of theatrical excellence and wallowed in nostalgia as he chatted with friends new and old and counted at least 80% of the posters on the stairwell as shows he had enjoyed and even had been inspired to act in himself somewhat later in life.

Current artistic director Sarah Brigham, in a pre-show speech, referred to the hugely important need for a critical audience to share the theatrical experience and that notion can only be applauded and amalgamated into our shared theatrical consciousness. There are times in life when the spoken word can be perceived and truly understood as properly inspirational - not just some token 'put together' words for the occasion - but utterly heart- felt and honestly conveyed with a voice full with genuine hope and belief at its core. That is what I heard this evening. I heard of a Derby Theatre that has deep meaning for its community and beyond; one that is educational, inspiring and recognised. Here's to the next forty years and the future generations of theatre makers and theatre goers! I guess you were expecting a review of 'Brassed Off' so please read on...

Derby Theatre's gritty and realistic production of Brassed Off adapted by Paul Allen for the stage is as fluid and emotionally taut piece of theatre that you are ever likely to see on a British stage. It is directed with passion by Sarah Brigham and encompasses an incredible total of twenty-two actors (a professional and non-professional mix) who work on the piece over its entire run - plus a further, and much applauded commitment, from no-less-than forty members of the acclaimed Derwent Brass Band split between the shows. This band's involvement and talents cannot be under-estimated and must surely contribute to the standing ovations that the show has currently received every night of its performance so far.

Stage designer Ali Allen has brought to the stage a visual and working class concept that is abjectly poetic in its grimy coal crunching boot honesty. The fictional mining town of Grimley is conveyed through a clinging solid wall of grey dust and a clever perspective of council houses that desperately huddle together with coal dust hanging in the air and over every rimy roof - visually intimating a wintery despair for all. You can almost enter each property unseen in your head and visit the ghosts of Grimley's future. There they sit, angry, bleak and desperately cloying against mildewed wet-netted windows sodden with condensation under a pall of social doom. However, the tiny 'just visible' red light of the distant pit head depicts the ever prevalent human hope of the miners and their community. Imagination is all.

Well, this all sounds a bit Bleak House doesn't it? All is not lost though as this play offers a chance of hope and spirit renewed as the members of the fictional Grimley Brass Band struggle through their existences; their troubled lives; fatalities even, and as each political and social disaster befalls them mutual support prevails and prejudices are challenged for the better.

There are some excellent naturalistic performances from Garry Cooper as the passionate yet ailing Danny and Adam Horvarth as love struck Andy struggling between his feelings for old flame and talented brass band horn player Gloria (Seren Sandham-Davies) and the harsh realities of pit comradeship. Jimmy Fairhurst excels as troubled clown and miner Phil and his scene as he literally hangs from the pit head is heart-stopping and tragic.

At the throbbing heart of this poignant and often wryly funny piece are Darren Bancroft as Jim, Howard Chadwick as the lovable rascal Harry and the beating pulse of the piece belongs to the miners wives and girlfriends played with utter conviction and honesty by Jo Mousely (compelling as Sandra), Kate Wood as Rita and Lisa Allen as Vera. Supporting the female side are ensemble members drawn from Derby Theatre Community Ensemble - Nikita Mediratta, Sophie Whitebrook, Bethany Madden and Lucy Mabbit.

Brian Weaver Fellowship actor Jake Waring convinces us so well in his parts as miner, bailiff and announcer that he is barely recognisable in each separate role.

The children in the Brassed Off play are as important as the main actors and tonight Oliver Watts as Phil's son Shane totally steals the show. In a ridiculously assured performance his wish in the programme notes to one day 'be' an actor are blown out of the proverbial water. He 'is' an actor and a darned good one at that. With such promise maybe in twenty years time we will be enjoying his performances on the professional stage as an adult.

In a theatre full of 'hope and glory' the audience rise in a standing ovation at the end of an emotionally fulfilling night at Derby Theatre and in their unifying victorious applause are determined that the spirit of community and love of theatre is alive in Derby and beyond!

See DERBY THEATRE WEBSITE for booking details but don't leave it too long as this one is fast becoming a near sell out production.

For a fascinating insight into the working lives of Brassed Off actors Howard Chadwick and Jake Waring check out their recent interview HERE.

Production photos credit: Robert Day.

Interview with Brassed Off actors Howard Chadwick and Jake Waring

I met up yesterday with Howard Chadwick and Jake Waring after watching an hour of early rehearsal for Derby Theatre's forthcoming production of Brassed Off (18^th September to 10^th October). I explained to them that I had seen the acclaimed film some years ago and that I wanted to ask what the cast and production team have done in terms of research for the play set in a troubled mining community.

Howard Chadwick

Jake Waring

Phil: What have yourselves as actors experienced to understand the social and political impacts on the mining industry in the UK in the early 1990s?

Howard: I feel like mining is following me a bit at the moment. The last play I did (Digging In) was commissioned to commemorate the anniversary of the 1984 strike. So I have done a lot of research about that strike and about the period leading up to 1984 and the period immediately after. In our play the mining industry is in decline and tapering. The strike was categorically lost and Thatcher's government just beat them into the ground, didn't they? This play is the point where the bit of meat on the bones are just being picked off.

It was very interesting to go up to The National Mining Museum between Dewsbury and Wakefield. We all went there on the first day of rehearsal. I know you didn't Jake cos you were working on another play weren't you?

Jake: That's right.

Howard: The tour is underground and you go down in the cage and the tour is given by an ex-miner. The one that took us round was probably in his mid-fifties and therefore he would have been in his mid twenties in '84. Now of course his job is a tour guide. He was very funny, a very amiable guy and his tour takes the mining industry right back to its origins to the present day. It is really well done but... he's one of the younger guys amongst some tour guides a lot older than him. I thought about how long the museum can last with original ex-miners taking the tours with their first hand knowledge of being down the pit. Really after the mid 1990s period only a handful of existing pits remained and I believe the last one or two have just gone in the last month or so. It is quite a poignant time to be doing the play I think especially given that we have just had the 30^th anniversary of the 1984 strike. So, I suppose where we are in the play is just where all the politics and social unrest hits the wall and slides off really.

Phil: In the play a character called Gloria arrives into the mining community at Grimley and gives a bit of a boost to the miner's brass band. Tell me a bit about her. What is her intention in coming into that community?

Jake: It's to reconnect with her roots I think. All she really wants is to be accepted the whole way through the story. She is from Grimley originally and what I find interesting about Gloria is that she is just a foot soldier. There is an element of guilt surrounding her and like a lot of people she thinks she is just doing her little job and they are part of a jigsaw. Then when things like pit closures come about they live with the guilt even though they weren't implicit in the dealings. I think that is what she comes with and she wants to save the pit and then to be accepted by her community. Narratively I think the device is really interesting because she arrives as the outsider. I was born in 1989 so I wasn't around during the real strikes but we had the Brassed Off video in my family and even though I was perhaps too young to watch it - I did - and it has remained one of my favourite films over the years. There was that video “I Support My Dad” that we watched as well as research.

Howard: Yes that was about how the miners children were affected by the 1984-85 strike in North Staffordshire. The play that was I was in was written by Debbie McAndrew and it was commissioned to go into schools and community centres to tell the story of the '84 strike. This was to kids whose parents or grand parents were involved in the strike so it helped them if they (the kids) didn't know a lot about it. The 'I Support My Dad' film is about the '84 miner's kids and how the events shaped them. They are seen as the adults they are these days and they are talking retrospectively. In 1984 there were only six mines still open and now there are none. There is a colliery band that survives – Florence Colliery Band. It is also interesting to hear what their attitudes are now to authority – to the Tory Party – to the police...

Jake: The knock on effect is staggering actually. Looking at the police brutality, people being locked up simply for stepping on the road when they were introducing new laws on how you can picket and things like that. All of it is not a million miles away from things that happen now which is why I think it's amazing how this is echoed in the Brassed Off play. There are speeches in the play that resonate and you almost think it's happening now. For a play set twenty years ago it is amazingly relevant today.

Phil: Is this the first time a play has been developed from the original film script?

Howard: No. Sheffield Crucible were the first to produce it not so long after the film came out and then Sheffield Lyceum toured it with Touring Consortium in about '99. Several places have done it. York have done it twice as a co-production with York Theatre and Bolton Octagon. Oldham Coliseum have produced it twice too. With York and Bolton there was a tour last year. It is a play that is often done Phil. I think it speaks to people, speaks to communities. It is about a community and that community was dependent on the mining industry. Not only for the people that the pit employed but for economy. Without all those jobs the supermarket in the play will close, the video shop will close, the pub will close because there's no heart there. The pit is the pulse of the community and in our play the voice of that is the brass band.

Phil: The actual physical band you are using and their music – what emotional impact has that had on your working on the play so far?

Howard: Massively. When people say 'when you hear a brass band' they quite often put their hand to their chests (Howard demonstrates) and that's what we all collectively do when the brass band comes into rehearsal. And for those of us who are lucky enough to sit in and be with the band and have that sound around you it's fantastic. It really gets you. The Derwent Brass band are brilliant and the sound is just beautiful. As you saw in the rehearsal today – the blokes in the locker room getting changed – going through their rough and ready routine and then they go and play this beautiful music. As the character Danny says at the end “People will remember the music long after the pit has gone.” This means the band playing miners are able to still speak through their music.

The play is based in a place called Grimley – loosely based on Grimethorpe where they had the Grimethorpe Colliery Band who on Saturday won the British Open Championship! Our fiction band are playing in the National Championships at the Albert Hall which is a different competition. They win that and Danny has a very rousing speech about how music matters but actually, it's the people that matter. It's easy to forget this.

Jake: That's one of those speeches and it's message that could easily be said now with a few word changes. Basically the same message.

Phil: Jake, this is your first experience working here at Derby Theatre as 2^nd year recipient of the Brian Weaver Fellowship. How has it been thus far?

Jake: It's amazing because I found out that I'd got it in January and this is the first production I've come into. So I have been itching all year to get into it. I was doing another show at Edinburgh over the summer – a puppetry show. It had me in work since March until August and at the time I said to Sarah (director of Brassed Off) that this had come up and she said 'we want to support your career so it seems silly for us to stop you from doing another show'. There was an overlap of a week and she let me do that - hence why I have come into to this week later. In another kind of working environment that may have not been made possible so I am very grateful for that kind of support. From a logistical point of view it has been amazing that I have had the opportunity to be in work all this year. With this show I am playing six characters and I have six costume changes. It is really fun and what it does mean is that I'm in a lot of scenes without a lot of lines or a lot to do and this means that I can be in rehearsals all the time and watch very knowledgeable people like Howard who has masses of experience and soak up all that influence and acting knowledge. Equally there are other members of the cast and creative team of all ages from whom I can learn about their processes. It's an amazing opportunity. I am doing Cinderella after this and because I am from Derby, having lived in London for a few years now, it feels like a homecoming and I'm very lucky and loving the chances I'm getting through the Brian Weaver Fellowship and DerbyTheatre.

Thank you to Sarah Brigham, Heidi Mckenzie and Derby Theatre for the opportunity to interview Howard and Jake.

Review Dust and Dreamtime. Derby Theatre Learning. Youth productions.

Derby Theatre Learning encourage practical application in the theatre arts and where better as a young person to learn than in a professional theatre. Each year two new performances are shown by the Derby Theatre youth theatre groups – one made up of the younger members and another by the older members. In a sense it is aspirant learning; both groups gaining valuable skills on stage that also lead to greater confidence in life and the younger group – in watching the older group's show – aspire and are inspired to improve. Not only are acting skills developed but also those of a directorial and technical side for those interested.

This year we have Dust by Sarah Daniels directed by Emma Waslin. The story of Dust concerns a school trip to the Globe Theatre in London which turns surreal when Flavia and her classmates are evacuated from the Underground. Flavia somehow gets lost from the group and ends up with a Tube train driver who drops her off at an unused station to make her own way to the surface. There is a large explosion and things take a funny turn as Flavia gets transported back in time to Roman times.

In her own 21^st Century world Flavia (played beautifully by Holly Pridmore) is the victim of bullies at school and wants desperately to be part of their clique. In the Roman world she meets remarkably similar people but has the chance to learn how to deal with the world by defending herself and seeing the world in a different light. She has to gain courage even in the face of a wild lion. In her Roman journey she meets Queen Boudica, Centurions and Gladiators all played with gusto by the cast of twenty-four young actors.

 

Both shows are set in a semi-circle arena space with structural adaptations to suit each show. Each show also explores the lives of young people and their struggle to find their own voice.

Dust opens in the Underground with all the cast awaiting the next tube train. Throughout the piece good use is made of the casts group mime skills and non more so than in the full cast's amusing and frustrated reactions of tube trains shooting invisibly by. The sound effects ring true with added Underground station authenticity from a live saxophone player. When we reach the transformation to the Roman times there is a good atmosphere of period with the clothes and movement but I'm not overly sure about the modern language used by Boudica and The Romans. In saying so I do like the inclusion of short monologues historically referencing women who have changed the world.

There are some nice stand out performances including Tabitha Gresty as the aged Soothsayer and especially strong (as you'd expect and Amazon to be) was the portrayal of the Amazon Warrior by Jessica Kneale. Very gutsy and solid work. Reid Oliphant is really amusing as a cocky gladiator and both he and Kneale bring the production alive in their slow motion gladiatorial scene.

The most important thing in this production apart from dramatically and the entertainment value is what the young people are getting out of the experience. Just to quote a few; “It means a lot to me. I get the chance to grow and meet lots of new friends”, “building my confidence as an actor...”, “meeting friends with shared interests and doing what we enjoy best – acting”, “how to be more confident on stage and about the backbone of a theatre production”, “ that I get to meet new people and that I have had an opportunity to try and assist in directing”. If I was one of these kids parents I would be immensely proud.

The second production of the evening is from the older youth theatre students and the commitment shown in Dreamtime by Stacey Sampson and directed by Emma Waslin is very professional. The older group workshopped and improvised a number of potential scenes with characters they had created and worked with Stacey Sampson on the structure of the whole piece. After weeks of this collective script work the ideas were used and the script of Dreamtime evolved into a piece of theatre that had all of the older cast's names and ideas stamped on it as well as the professional writer. It shows in the quality of the work and the mature commitment to it.

Dreamtime draws upon a group of teenagers that gather together in an underground car park to share experiences and work our their emotional feelings in order to find common comfort and consolation. This is done in a very stylised way with great influence from Aboriginal culture and dance. The cast are all costumed in white with splashes of a darker hue on their costumes. The story of Danny, a young man leaving the group of friends to go to University and the support and criticism he receives in his decision is well portrayed. The warrior theme is picked up again but this time it is has a mix of admiration blurred with the realisation of idiocy as the cast watch YouTube footage of boy racers creating havoc in Derby city centre.

Dreamtime is great evidence of how exciting theatre collaboration can be and how this talented cast of twenty work tremendously well in the group pieces. This includes the vibrant Aboriginal style dance and, in the acting, creating a tangible atmosphere and adapting their body language and speech to accentuate mood. As in Dust the individual short monologues are especially well done utilising some very complex vocabulary in ways that are immediately comprehensible. There is a strong sense of family in Dreamtime and in the text an authentic notion of the young people trying to discover who they are. Brilliantly and professionally done.

Dust and Dreamtime run at Derby Theatre until Saturday 4^th April.

Photo credit: Robert Day

Bloody good Blood Wedding at Derby Theatre. Review.

Blood Wedding at Derby Theatre

This amazing co-production from Derby Theatre, Graeae and Dundee Rep Theatre of Blood Wedding is bloody good theatre.

Playwright David Ireland's new adaptation of Frederico Garcia Lorca's tensely beautiful poetic tale of love, lust, betrayal and death is a contemporary take told like a soap opera with a rapidly filling swear box on the side. It is bold, lusty, comical, irreverent and daring. It deserves to be seen as, like Graeae's other work, it gives a deeper meaning to the word 'theatrical' and properly demonstrates talents of the deaf and disabled and able bodied casts entwined.

Whilst Lorca's original story was full of poetic dialogue, symbolism and a deep feeling of heated sexual claustrophobia this production substitutes the heat of Andalusia with urban families (with violent backgrounds) in a 21^st Century environment. Former villains of each family are either dead or in jail but their legacies of violence live on throughout the unfolding story. The two families try to keep the peace for the sake of the future and the upcoming wedding of Olivia and Edward. Happiness should be on the cards but, in this adaptation, despite it being extremely funny, dark clouds loom over the family joys as bad boy Leonardo ruffles the feathers of the soon to be bride with his unbridled lust. She claims not to be interested but their lusts and her uncertainties tell another story.

The play is superbly directed by Graeae's Jenny Sealey and the excitement comes from her mixed cast of actors. What other company would give the audience a multi-sensory version of the same play? We have deaf actors and signing actors working together to build up a collusion of interpretation using simultaneous texting above the action - quite often with hilarious results as the deaf mother Agnes spills out her bitter feelings and Edward, the signing son, diplomatically edits them for the benefit of family peace. We have able bodied and disabled actors as lovers and it works superbly and interestingly, in this production we have the story-line deliberately referring to the deaf and disabled in a way that is supportive of them and their characters but, also reveals the difficulties other encounter in communication through humour. It is a brave piece of theatre work that deserves to be enjoyed and supported.

Most importantly, the deaf and blind members of the audience were able to enjoy the piece the same as any other audience member through the clever writing that described actions through and about the actors and the afore-mentioned simultaneous signing and projected text.

Does the adaptation work in the style that David Ireland has written and the director and cast have work-shopped? I was expecting to have to think hard about the story-line and the characters and perhaps struggle in understanding the poetics but no. It is written in clear, often very blunt, dialogue and the characters all lived for me as very recognisable. In particular to do with the kinds of behaviour that one witnesses at many weddings. It is funny but turns savagely dark at the end. It is brash and performed in a compelling mixture of styles and it is a shake up of perceptions. It entertains and disturbs to brilliant effect. The set is designed by Nickie Sangster as a neon lit environment where restaurants glide on in one scene and a wooded park is shown as a screen of movable bright green neon lights.

The wonderful ensemble are Ej Raymond as Agnes the mother; Ricci McLeod as the groom Edward; Irene Macdougall as neighbour Eileen, waitress and Doris the tramp; Alison Halstead as Alma and Diana the tramp; Millie Turner as Vicky the wife of Leonardo; Miles Mitchell as Leonardo; Ann Louise Ross as Shirley and Amy Conachan as Olivia the bride.

Review: Solace of The Road at Derby Theatre.

 

'Solace of The Road' at Derby Theatre ( until  14^th March) is a gutsy reworking of Siobhan Dowd's novel about Holly, a young girl in care on her journey across the country desperately hoping to find her real mum in Ireland. The stage adaptation is skilfully executed by playwright Mike Kenny and the creative realisation of the work is shown through the sterling work of director Sarah Brigham, her team of creatives, the technicians and the six versatile actors. If you are looking for an entertaining, inspiring and moving night out at the theatre look no further.

For those who love Siobahn Dowd's original story they certainly won't be disappointed. In fact they will be thrilled by what has been done overall in its magical transference to the Derby Theatre stage. You could say that it is like the original with extra theatrical meat. My sincere apologies to the character Vegan Phil for mentioning the M word.

The piece is perfect theatre. It has invention. It has class. It has pathos and it has a great deal of humour. Four of the six actors play twenty multiple roles in a fast changing storyline. These are Naomie Ackie, Neal Craig, Jack Finch and Polly Lister. All bring tremendous light and shade to the piece through their interpretations but special mention must be made towards the roles played by Polly Lister and Neal Craig. The subtleties they convey as they morph between Mam/Foster Mother Fiona, Denny and Ray plus other roles are master classes in acting.

Rebecca Ryan plays Holly/Solace with great authenticity throughout the play and exudes just the right amount of sympathy as the vulnerable fourteen/fifteen year old on the run. As Solace in her confidence giving blonde wig Ryan still shows her character as a vulnerable girl desperate to be loved but far too capable of being exploited by some of the men she encounters on her journey. Luckily most of the male roles are sympathetic to her almost defenceless position in the world.

One of the most sympathetic characters is her key worker Miko played with warmth and affinity by Robert Vernon. Close to the beginning of the book Miko leaves the story to find his own successes in the world but in the play he remains as a visible guide in Holly's head during her adventures. Again, differently to the book, we also find the influence of Holly's former care home friends Trim and Grace (Naomie Ackie and Jack Finch) inhabiting the stage and offering their feelings, opinions and more.

The set design by Barney George is deceptively simple but offers great scope for interpretation of time and place through the two main levels and hidden spaces coupled with the very inventive use of large props flown in as theatrical suggestions of environments. Even cars, haulage trucks and a speedy motorbike are featured in this show through clever suggestions of vehicles. All this and more are aided by wonderful lighting and sound by designers Alexandra Stafford (lighting design and composer/sound designer Ivan Stott.

Overall, a terrific piece of theatre that should prove a runaway success for DerbyTheatre commercially and in particular as a demonstration of excellence through Derby Theatre's position and commitment to being a learning theatre.

Photo credits Robert Day

Review and insight into Inside Out of Mind at Derby Theatre

The best description for the extra-ordinary play 'Inside Out Of Mind' written and directed by Tanya Myers is this passage found on the Nottingham University website.

 

 

'Inside Out of Mind' is an innovative new play depicting life on a dementia ward based on research from a team of ethnographers led by Justine Schneider, professor of Mental Health and Social Care in Nottingham University's School of Sociology and Social Policy. The project brought together playwright Tanya Myers with director Stephen Lowe of Meeting Ground theatre group and a team of ethnographic researchers to create a workshop production which brilliantly illustrates the multiple realities of life on a dementia ward. Unlike some theatre commissions which have explicit educational directives or messages to deliver, the playwright was given total freedom with the resulting outcome representing a triumph of imagination and inspiration which has the potential to reach a wide general audience.'

The play delivers even as the audience are finding their seats and in a packed house at Derby Theatre we are given the vision of electrical impulses softly exploding in a complex forest of nerves projected on to the set. The scene is frankly magical and thoroughly magnetic. Not only do we have the visual of the live projection but also live figures abstractly moving about in their duties or in their residence. This surreality is further deepened and enhanced by an amazing soundtrack of voices and music bleeding in and out of the action. This soundtrack is supremely created and orchestrated by David Wilson. The impression is that you are seated in someone's very confused brain listening to the thoughts and outside vocal impressions and trying to make a sense of it all – and failing. As someone who has had a male aged in-law go through dementia and alzheimer's this opening scene, for me, was very moving.

Playwright Tanya Myers has written that she wants the play, written from the heart, to touch people's hearts and judging from the first night audience reactions it certainly did that. You could have heard a pin drop throughout – except for natural reactions to the dramas unfolding and some gentle laughter in appropriate places. So, may we then, as humans, question whether dementia a thing to laugh at? Well, in fact in the programme professor Justine Schneider says this “ The NHS sponsors have been crucial partners in recognizing the importance of enabling all of their staff to have a better understanding of dementia and even to laugh at it: this is a very funny play – people leave laughing.” My humble opinion is this theatrical result is less a laughing at and more laughing with through love and sympathy.

The second half where the 'ward with no name' residents are dressed up to celebrate Halloween is particularly funny. Further on where we are told of, and shown. the emotional impact and the practicalities of a person in care dying - are tenderly and poetically done. The realities of being a member of staff in such a ward are also spoken of – directly and individually to the audience in short monologues. Many of the scenes in the play are beautifully accentuated by projections and multimedia and these lend even more depth – you might say great emotional depth - to an already deep and meaningful subtly nuanced and stylised production. Birds, birdsong and the flight of birds are a common metaphor in this play, to our fleeting life experience as humans and certainly of freedom.

I feel compelled to name all of the actors as they all deeply contribute to the extra-ordinary portrayal of human existence in the dementia ward shown on stage in 'Inside Out of Mind'. Each plays a variety of roles, carer, nurse, doctor, patient, lover or HCA workers and they morph into their new persona as the stories unfold with consummate professional ease. So we have: Robin Bowerman as Mr P aka Gabriel Proust, Joanna Macleod as Muriel/HCA Brenda, Ulrike Johannson as Gertie/HCA Hazel and Lily Lowe Myers as Sophie. The rest of the super cast are Anna Mottram as Anna Bissett/RGN Patricia, Jim Findley HCA Raj/Tom Bissett, Maxine Finch as Elsie/RGN Grace, Robin Simpson as HCA Keith/George/Dr Dido and finally Rebecca de Souza in a fine a sensitive performance as the newcomer nurse Youth.

Without the combined talents of Nettie Scriven (designer), Richard Statham (lighting designer) and Barret Hodgson (digital media designer) 'Inside Out of Mind' and the backing of the University of Nottingham and Lakeside Arts would be a good but a lesser show. The combination of all the creative teams make it extra-ordinary. 'Inside Out of Mind plays until Saturday 21^st Feb 2015 at Derby Theatre then tours to the following venues. Catch it while you can – it could change your life or your perception of the lives of others in dementia. Very respectfully – you would be mad not to!

Derby Theatre Wednesday 18- Saturday 21 February

Nottingham Lakeside Arts Tuesday 24 – Saturday 28 February

Canterbury Gulbenkian Theatre Tuesday 3- Friday 6 March

Warwick Arts Centre Tuesday 10 – Friday 13 March

Exeter Northcott Theatre Tuesday 17 – Friday 20 March

Curve Leicester Tuesday 24 – Friday 27 March

For the tweeters amongst us check on all the latest chat on #inoutofmind

Solace of The Road at Derby Theatre - interview with Polly Lister and Robert Vernon

On a freezing cold wintry Tuesday afternoon I came into forty-five minutes of rehearsal for Derby Theatre's 'soon to be' production of the late Siobhan Dowd's novel Solace of the Road. In this case it has been developed into a play format by the acclaimed playwright, Mike Kenny.

After the rehearsal I met up with Polly Lister and Robert Vernon – two principal members of the cast - for a chat about the story and how they fit into it and how the rehearsals under artistic director Sarah Brigham were going.

Heidi McKenzie introduced me to the actors and vice versa and outlined my acting and writing credentials. It was a very relaxed and intelligent interview.

Once we were quickly settled I read Polly and Robert a one page synopsis of the book and asked whether in theatrical terms it related to the story that Mike Kenny has developed.



They both agreed that in broad outline of the story and its characters it was spot on. I asked them how far they were into the rehearsal process. Polly said they were day two of week two into the rehearsal process.

Polly Lister

Polly: Earlier on we were a doing an exercise where we were all told to write things down for our different characters but when it came to present, Miko (Robert's character) said “Well actually I've got three characters” That was really funny and actually from that became a blueprint of Miko. And so when Sarah talks about it we have Michael the real guy and then we have another two versions of him which is really Holly the main character played by Rebecca Ryan.

Rebecca Ryan

Robert: When he has to leave his job then he's Michael and then when he has to relate with Holly he becomes Miko. The version she meets most of the time is that version. There is a third phantom ghost figure which represents the romanticised island calling her. Call it an idyll on the green hills. We talked in ways of saying that Miko pulls her through the story and he is the Irish spirit guide who is a fantasy.

Polly is playing Holly's mum, her step mum and a variety of other roles along the way. Polly said that all her characters have an impact on Holly/Solace's life on her particular journey. They all represent certain themes which are all important to her development. And so I play Mrs Atkins who embodies the authority that she is railing against. I play Chloe who is a university student at Oxford who she meets on the coach who represents a better future for women. This is a very sort of wholesome vision of a strong young woman whereas I think she has only had negative versions of strong women before and this girl is presenting something quite authentic, polite, kind, intelligent, generous and she is still strong and groovy.

Robert: She becomes more accessible as well because at first she seems like something that Holly couldn't be and then no, you've also got this commonality - meaning she could be like her.

Polly: Yeah yeah and then of course there is the awful mogit woman she meets at the ferry port. Actually this woman does just represent just utter misery. I do get to play just a one noted character too. (laughs).

I said that in the brief rehearsal I had just witnessed there was a lot of laughter and excitement as some of your cast worked through a motorbike riding scene that necessitated human balance and body co-ordination skills. It was very funny but I asked whether the play had a lot of humour in it?

Polly: I think it has every sort of voice and every sort of tone and there are belly laughs and I also think there are wry smiles. I think there are knowing laughs and I think are variants of all emotions.

Robert: There are some very human moments as well, aren't there? Warm. But then there are psychological elements. There are some quite harrowing moments that are just sort of teased out and then just moved away from it. They leave just enough remnants of those difficult emotions so it is really interesting. The thing is that the pace is really fast.

some of the cast in rehearsal

Polly: Sarah said that the piece we worked on last night has really worked and whilst we are characters we are definitely in the cranium of Holly Hogan and so that any image we represent or present has a feeling as if Holly is developing an old fashioned photograph. Every sort of influence we give it makes the photograph something that we can play with as it is developing. The best way I can describe it is as if we are subtly playing with the tonal levels in her brain as she calls upon the bits that she knows will help or scare her

Phil: And do you think that would be aided not only by the acting/ conveyance of emotions but also enhanced by Barney George's set design and the lighting and sound scape? I'm thinking of the whole bringing those things home in the theatrical illusion of moments fading in and out as memories. Like you would see in an old fashioned photograph developing in the dark room tray. Eventually we get to see the whole sharp picture but it can still be manipulated and interpreted by the onlookers – the cast and the audience.

Robert: We are shifting through all these memories and we keep getting reminded that the design is about black. So the ability to have absolute darkness on the majority of the stage and just pinpoint one area and seeing nothing else you can just frame it along with a few things simultaneously. Suddenly you can go 'look at this!'. That's really interesting, it has a focus and can create very intimate things.

Phil: It is very much like what I saw in the Derby Theatre promotional video for this show. Moving swiftly from place to place and scene to scene.

Robert: Yes, that's spot on. I think also the danger with this sort of thing is that there are so many things happening so fast it can all just blur into one and you don't get the detail. It goes bang look at this and now bang look at this.

Polly: And playing the dichotomy between the two things in her head she can conjure an image top right of warmth and 'come to me – come to me' and beckoning and down here something different that contrasts. We are talking a lot about light and colour and dark and shade and everything... but... down here we are now skew whiff, slightly at odds with the other impression. They are both co-existing in her head and it is the one she chooses to extinguish that carries the story forward or for that matter bring up or put down. It's like emotional puppetry with light, sound and acting.

Phil: That's very interesting. I can imagine that as you tell it – how it might be presented.

Robert: Stylistically it is fascinating and there will be lots of explosions of light very quickly...

Polly: There is a thunderstorm on the heath where it is her epiphany or her nadir. But from the nadir comes her strength and resolve. We did a time line today and we worked out that she's actually, if everything chronologically makes sense, on that hill, in the pouring biblical rain talking to Jane Eyre, for four and a half hours! So she's in one hell of a thunderstorm and in that thunderstorm every emotion is crashing over another one and she's manifested in most of the characters in the play … screaming at them all.

I asked in all this dramatic cacophony if microphones might be used. The answer was that Polly and Robert believed that it would be done live without mikes.

Polly: We are using two hung mikes for radio announcements and such and that's more of an artistic thing than a vocal thing.

I asked Robert to tell me something of his character.

Robert: Oh well, right. Miko in reality was her care worker in Templeton House and they've had a very strong relationship. He is very dedicated but at the start of the play he is moving on to new things. In the play he is a part of her psyche that she looks to for comfort, for advice, and for guidance. Also he is just a buddy on her road trip. Sometimes it s nothing more than that – someone to bounce off and say “ hey look at that – look at this”. Light-hearted. I'm finding where we are getting to in the play now he transpires to be a very pointed absence where she meets the most threatening character. Unfortunately, he is not there at all. This means that she is actually confronting the issue at hand herself and in a mature way. Her age is only 15 but the majority of the characters believe she is 17 or even 18 years old throughout the play because of her behaviour. Looking back at Miko he is very warm and human and that's the thing – I didn't want him to be just some apparition.

Polly: We had a day when lots of children who lived in care and were coming out of the other side of it came in to work with us and the biggest topic of conversation they wanted to talk about was Miko's character. This was because on a scale of one to ten, when he says he is leaving Templeton House, if ten is the worse and one is the best plus this represents absolute abandonment and say, you felt ten when your mum left, what would Miko be? They all said 'ten'. It is that important and so it is so important for Robert to get the role spot on and he does.

Phil: That must have been moving to hear such an absolute opinion from the children in care.

Robert: Yeah, it was good to hear it in such strong terms because in the story we obviously would never under estimate the significance of her mum in her life even though Holly says that she can't remember her mum properly – it is all stories and pictures – poetically described as a painting running in the rain. Whereas he is a real person and the person that has been the most dependable
for her.

Polly: In rehearsal we did a thing where we had to write who had been around in her life more so who has been a constant in her life. The only person who beat Miko was her pet dog Rosabelle– a fluffy toy to which she had clung for a good proportion of her young life. Rosabelle has been with her in every single life event until the audience meet her.

I was interested to hear about a human being focussing their loving nature and need to express love on a toy when there was little human love in their life and I related a story about myself going through a divorce some years ago and happening upon a toy monkey found in a work environment which became a focus for me of succour for a while.

Polly: That's very sweet. In the story of the play Miko says to Holly that she should put the toy dog down, not pretend to feed it food any more, keep it, don't dispense with it but set it aside and lessen its value – let it just warm your feet. You can't treat the toy like a real thing any more – you need to grow up. Holly then chooses to leave the toy dog at the care home.

Robert: I really like that idea of the mementoes because as the play progresses elements of that are bleeding through into earlier moments and revealing truths through experiences and items. As you say – with these qualities and ourselves as living mementoes (especially in this story) she is the memento. She is the only connection to the mother really and that is referenced to. There is a twinkle in the eyes – a memory of the mum...

Polly: Like a shadow looking into the same mirror as Holly so she can see her mum reflected and the mum's saying “There's a little bit of me in those eyes” and that's obviously Holly saying “I can see my mum.”

That was possibly the most intelligent and insightful and poetic interview I have ever done. Many thanks for your feelings, your information and your intellect actors Polly Lister and Robert Vernon I look very much forward to seeing Solace of The Road at Derby Theatre.

At Derby Theatre until 7th Feb. Girls Like That

Last night was the first night of Girls Like That and here are a just a few of the comments from the audience members of what sounds like a terrific production on the main stage of Evan Placey's explosive play about the dangers of sexting and the fragility of friendships. I wasn't able to attend as a reviewer but I have been hearing great things about and wanted to share them. More will be added in the next two days.

The play is performed to professional standards by second year University of Derby Arts students. #uodgirlslikethat

"It was great to sit down and already be immersed in the atmosphere of technology and cyberspace."

 

"Brilliant to see my classmates on the main stage at Derby Theatre. It looked and was very professional."

"I really appreciate the underlying themes of the show. It was really powerful."

"Technically fantastic! The acting was brilliant. I really enjoyed it."

Graeae Theatre Company, Derby Theatre and Dundee Rep Ensemble present Blood Wedding

Graeae Theatre Company, Derby Theatre and Dundee Rep Ensemble present

By Federico Garcia Lorca

In a new version by David Ireland

Directed by Jenny Sealey

This spring, a radical new take on Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding, co-produced by Graeae Theatre Company, Derby Theatre and Dundee Rep Ensemble will be touring to Derby Theatre, Beacon ArtsCentre, Greenock, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich and Liverpool Everyman after opening at Dundee Rep Theatre (4 – 14 March 2015).

Graeae’s Artistic Director Jenny Sealey MBE directs David Ireland’s modern day re-telling of a classic which is fuelled by searing lust, love and rebellion. When young lovers are overrun with passion and defy their families, the consequences are fatally heartbreaking as a wedding party turns sour and two families are torn apart.

All performances of Blood Wedding include a creative combination of BSL interpretation, captioning and audio description. The cast is made up of Deaf and disabled actors and non-disabled actors.

Graeae’s CEO/Artistic Director Jenny Sealey MBE says “Someone once said to me ‘Lorca did not write Blood Wedding for people like you (Deaf and disabled actors) to be in it’. Graeae, Dundee Rep and Derby Theatre beg to differ and challenge that statement with our adaptation by David Ireland, placing a glorious diversity of people centre stage, all of whom have a right to be there to claim their stake in the narrative.”

Tickets are now on sale at all venues.

The play contains scenes of an adult and sexual nature and strong language.

Recommended age 14+. Schools and colleges interested in booking, please contact Gemma Nicol, gnicol@dundeerep.co.uk for further information.

Girls Like That at Derby Theatre. A chat with Hannah Johnstone

 

 

Yesterday I caught up with Hannah Johnston  in the busy marketing department of Derby Theatre. Second year theatre arts student Hannah is currently in the midst of learning how to market and sell a play through sterling advice from professionals at one of the East Midlands top regional theatres. As part of her studies at Derby University Theatre Arts department  she is very much involved in a new production of 'Girls Like That' by Evan Placey. She said that so far it has been a brilliant experience but before embarking on the journey of arts marketing she had no idea how much work was involved. Hannah added "The professionals like Heidi McKenzie and Caroline at Derby Theatre are amazing and just when I think I have done my job they come up with even more ideas on how to promote a show!"

Hannah continued by telling me of her experience of being interviewed on BBC Radio Derby the other day.  "It was really interesting but scary for a first timer like me. I seemed to have a constant lump in my throat! Saying that I came away thinking that I had done a reasonable job and the next time I will have some idea of what to expect. Actually, it was exciting!"

Placey's play explores what happens when a fictional sixteen year old girl called Scarlett posts a naked picture of herself online and through modern media means it goes viral. Rumours run wild and everyone in the school pecking order is quick to judge. Scarlett finds out that she has no true friends as the friends she has grown up with become her worst enemies. However, when a picture of a naked boy pings its way through cyberspace the reaction is not the same. The play examines the fragility of friendship and the pressures on the digital generation. In the Derby University Theatre Arts production the cast runs to thirteen and the production is on the main auditorium stage. Booking can be achieved through this link on the Derby Theatre website. On the Friday morning there is a free performance for school parties but hurry as tickets are going very fast. Age guidance 13+

In our very interesting chat Hannah was keen to make people aware that the themes of the play have a deep link into celebrity culture. This was especially true as some years ago when certain female celebs naked photos from previous relationships were hacked it all became a big scandal and perceived as an invasion of privacy by many. Interestingly enough this new interpretation of morality gained ground even though the people affected had chosen to be in the public eye. The concept of the viewer being the 'one in the wrong' not the celeb for taking the photo was different from the interpretations of the past. Hannah said that when she did her research she found information going back to 1984 when Vanessa Williams was the first black Miss America. As a younger and unknown woman Vanessa had taken some naked photos of herself that were eventually taken up and published by the Penthouse magazine and Vanessa was forced to relinquish her title. Another Vanessa ( a young starlet for the Disney Corporation) had a similar circumstances and was forced to apologise for her exposure. Hannah thought that the moral journey and people's reactions to female and male photographic exposure had taken a different turn and these themes are explored in Placey's thrilling play 'Girls Like That'.

I asked Hannah to tell me a bit about the playwright Evan Placey. Hannah: " It says on the back of the script that he is British Canadian and the play was originally performed at Birmingham Rep toured and finished its original run at West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2013. It was done recently as well so I have been able to see how that performance was marketed and see how that could help market our production at Derby Theatre. It was done at the Unicorn Theatre in London and I had the social media side of that to look at too. They did a pre-show trailer as we have and I was interested how they used technology to promote the piece that is about 'exploiting' technology in a bad way. In our trailer we wanted to bring out the spite and bitchiness of the girl characters in the play."




We went on to discuss other plays such as Pilot Theatre's Antigone and a brilliantly done production of Spring Awakening produced by Headlong Theatre both of which really showed off how theatre can be enhanced through accentuating the storyline and themes through invention and technology especially to engage a modern young audience.

 'Girls Like That' looks to be an explosive production at Derby Theatre (Thursday 5th to Saturday 7th Feb 2015) and Hannah Johnston's growing skills as a newly confident marketing person and promoter will no doubt be a challenge and time to be proud of. I look forward to reviewing this show on press night