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

Play rehearsal by Skype with Emma Brown

I don't know why I didn't latch on to the benefits of communicating by Skype before but I recently created an account for myself and Emma and I had our first Skype based rehearsal today.

Emma currently lives in Holland and I live in Nottingham in England so our regular rehearsals for 'Greetings from the Trenches' need to be actualised somehow. The Skype system turned out to be brilliant. With good web links the aural and visual communication were as clear as if we were sitting in the same room. Plus it is free and a great way to rehearse. Shame I couldn't make her a cup of tea online though and Emma, if the interruptive telesales woman selling Italian olive oil and sausages calls again please give her my number. Her sixty-two euro deal sounds a bargain.

We managed to go through the last twelve pages of script that have been written recently and in the practicing of reading aloud we agreed that two of her concerns about certain scenes do actually work theatrically. There may be a few other small things that need rephrasing or tweaking still plus considerations over songs and music. All in good time.

Rehearsal by Skype

Otherwise, Emma said that she thought the play was 'gorgeous' and would be a pleasure to do. I was thrilled to hear that good news and look forward to further rehearsals and what we can achieve from the piece destined for its premiere in early December at the Jakobus Theatre in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Poster for 'Greetings From The Trenches' designed by Phil Lowe

 

My one act play 'Greetings from the Trenches' completed

A couple of weeks ago I had eight pages of text out of a possible twenty completed and a synopsis and an ending in the bag. I wanted the piece to be just over an hour with no interval.

In order to complete the rest I went through all my research notes that I had unhelpfully filed in several notebooks and scraps of paper. To get a bigger picture of how the play would look I got a large sheet of paper about three foot by four foot and roughly marked it out with a good amount of squares. Each square counted as one page. This meant I could instantly fill in the first eight squares with rough plot notes. As I progressed I circled the squares where I believed there was a change in the dramatic journey. I don't know if this common practice as I just went on instinct and wanted a visual resource to work from. Plus, it is good to see you are actually getting somewhere in the writing.

 

 

So, up to page eight the script established the characters on stage and spoke of them and their relationships with a slight edge of mystery and quirkiness. Pages nine and ten continue luxuriously in letters about the two men's love of meat and then we get a supernatural event where Frank is compelled to write his famous poem - The Two Butchers. The tone changes and we start to delve into notions of exchange not just of letters but of creative ideas and Frank dreaming about famous people, historically and contemporarily to them in the 1920s, offering him and Hans creative advice in a dream café. By page twelve Hans has written about his rescue of a drowning dog and he includes a poem in German about a trench dog called Wolf. All the German language translations were done by my German friend Thorsten Feldman. My co- star Emma Brown has been kind enough to offer some advice on presenting various aspects of dramatic text mirroring the way of a musical composer. In particular she suggested talking about the ideas of The Two Butchers poem ie 'anti war - creation vs destruction' rather than trying to write Frank's fictional famous poem itself. All the poems in the piece are written by me other than Arthur Rimbaud's poetic work - Sensation.

Three more poems are included in the next three pages including a key poem Am Durlacher Tor written by Hans after falling from the tram. He sees this event as a near death experience in peace time and hopes it is not premonition. Am Durlacher Tor is spoken creatively both in English and German by Frank and his daughter.

Frank writes back with the first of two confidential letters about his feelings of melancholia and possible suicidal thoughts including the poem Falling In Melancholia.

Pages sixteen and seventeen give us a comical insight into what turns out to be Hans' obsession with the Karlsruhe tram system and its history. I have tried to write this to be shared between Frank and his daughter and read with amusement and I guess enjoyment at some cheery news from Hans without them encouraging his obsession too much.

By page eighteen we start to really understand how these two former combatants are finding their creative feet with ideas of inspiring themselves in their writing of poetry and in developing ideas.

In the case of the German Hans he imagines cabinets of curiosity - the Wunder Kammer - as his motivator and (at a much later date) I introduced a song into the following pages sung by Frank. I have called it 'If I had a Door'. This is based on a question I was asked at the entrance interview by professor John Newling. He actually gave me the idea of a brick and asked me, in a creative sense, what I would do with it to create something artistic or thought provoking. As there are several times during the play that Frank hears whispered requests to 'Open The Doors' I have chosen a door as the motivator.

I made a short video of the tune to demonstrate what it should sound like. And to be sung better too! I had a cold and didn't want to freak out the neighbours!



This song was only introduced after I thought I had finished the play and then I got the tune in my head and developed the lyrics over a couple of days to the point where I felt they conveyed what I wanted to convey. That being the creative doors of his mind being utterly inspired and his letting in all these influences.

If I had a door: final written draft

There is another piece of piano music I have called The Missing (visited in a previous blog post) and I have decided to keep it just the piano with no lyrics and it may get extended.

For the remainder of the play we hear that Hans is getting inspired and healed by new anti war poetry and books like All Quiet On The Western Front and the poetry of Gerrit Engelke. Frank and Winifred share good news about the new baby Madeleine and Hans gets new work in the city library. Frank writes to Hans with a new confession - the true reason why his daughter is called Madeleine and Hans writes back. Emma Brown sings Sensation by Arthur Rimbaud at the piano in connection with the Madeleine back story. Is that the end? No, but I suggest you get out the hankies because things get decidedly weird in the last two pages and there is a huge surprise for the audience in the last few seconds of the play.

For a blogpost about the first read through click HERE

Lace Market Theatre twinning. Fond memories.

After a very successful Theatre Exchange week in April this year I decided to give members from all three groups an opportunity to share their thoughts on the week and without further ado here are a selection of some of them. I was very touched by the often emotional responses. Phil Lowe.

Viktor & Stephanie Mueller ( Die Käuze)

The week before Easter the Karlsruhe theatre “Die Käuze” visited its friends at the Lace Market Theatre in Nottingham. The theatre exchange is a 32-year-old tradition. As two of the youngest members of this exchange program, we experienced an extraordinarily heart-warming welcome and enjoyed the Lace Market’s hospitality throughout our stay. The journey to Nottingham consisted of a few hours of driving, a nice night on a ferry and a few close calls in the left-handed traffic. We can imagine we arrived at Lace Market Theatre looking worn out but also excited to be there. The first tears started to run when the long-term members of both theatres fell into each others’ arms. It was a very moving moment to see them meet again.

Those of us visiting for the first time didn’t feel any less welcomed. Our particular host, Steve Parry, was great, and we had a few nice evenings with him, chatting over this and that. When the time came to set up our play for the performance, we had some difficulties to overcome which is normal when putting on a play in a new place. But even then, our friends from LMT were extremely helpful and worked overtime to finish the stage so we would have enough time to rehearse. The performance went well, and we had a great audience.

On the last day of our stay, we went to Stratford to pay homage to the Bard of Avon. Once again the LMT team proved themselves to be excellent guides. It was a real treat to see not only the beautiful city and the historical sites, but also take part in a special backstage tour of The Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

On departing, everyone gave each other hugs with tears in their eyes. New friendships were made and old ones strengthened. We are already looking forward to seeing the LMT members when they come over here to Germany, and we hope we can return the wonderful hospitality we experienced in Nottingham.

Norbert Wingender (Die Käuze)

Two things I learned in Nottingham

1. There's the left side and there's the wrong side.
2. Two yellow lines are not street decorations.

Didn't drive this time, wasn't towed away this time. But was carried away by the hospitality we received at the LMT. It's anyone's guess how much time and effort was spent to prepare things for us, cook for us (thanks, Max and all your little helpers) and support us, and how many wives/husbands suffered from their husbands/wives working long hours for us.  My guess is: a lot.

We were second to play so we were in a hurry, but it's nice - and comforting - to always see someone rushing up and down the ladder who really knows what he's doing, so the play went smoothly three times at last. Although half of the play is getting changed and providing proof that two bodies actually can take the same space at the same time. Since this is not perceivable to the public, I hope the audience enjoyed the visible part as much as we did.

My special thanks to Joy and Gordon who gave three of us a home for a week, fed us, transported us and endured all our mistreatments of their mother tongue. My special apology to the lady who checked the safety precautions at the theatre - I would have been pleased to give her my full attention but am a little shy when I'm busy changing my trousers.

Two things I learned this time in Nottingham:
1. Not all English buses are red.
2. English food is good.

Oh, and LMT has great people. But I knew that already.


Carsten Thein (Jakobus)

Performing a show in our German language on the stage of a theatre of Karlsruhe's twinning city Nottingham, is always a great pleasure to me. It's the best evidence that I can imagine that shows how small the distances between countries have become today. The people of the Lace Market Theatre have become very good friends for us at Jakobus and during the week in Nottingham we've even had the feeling of being part of a big theatre-family. We can't wait for the next meeting in Karlsruhe in the Spring of 2016.

Larissa Kaufmann (Die Käuze)

Ey up me ducks! It was this year around Easter when we, the Theatre die Käuze, came from Karlsruhe to the Lace Market Theatre in Nottingham again, like every four years. For me it was now the 7th time. I have always taken part in the twinning of the three theatres; from the time I was planned (in 1982) after I was born in 1985. The warm welcome of people that where there from the beginning makes you feel like you never had been away and of course it is very nice to meet new people too.

When I walk up the stairs to the theatre club  I feel like I have just been there just the day before. The rooms and corridors behind the stage and below the audience, where we get ready for the show, feel very familiar. There are the stickers of the two theatres from Karlsruhe on the dressing rooms´ mirrors and there are the pictures and everything from our long years of twinning the theatre club. There is the "last order" call from the bar at half past eleven.....the mingle-mangle of paints in front of the actors´ toilets... the conglomeration of technical stuff in the lighting corner. All join to create good memories.

Of course we also have much to do with rehearsals and setting up the stage, but this is a task we like very much. Especially finding solutions with the help of our friends. It is always exciting to see how things are arranged on a different stage, how everything will work out. And it is done in a way that is similar to ours.

But there is one sad aspect: after all the effort that was put in from our friends we have to leave after one week and again I could not speak to all the people we know from the years before. There is just too little time we have with our hosts.... What was going on during the years we were absent? What´s going on in Notts?..... I hope the time will not be too long until The Lace Market theatre will come to Karlsruhe again in two years time.

Gordon Parsons (LMT)

This was our first experience of hosting guests from Karlsruhe and Joy and I found it a most rewarding one. Personally, I think I had the best and healthiest breakfasts ever! We even coped with the early starts. We were impressed with our guests' punctuality and with their willingness to help and to speak English. As Joy said, I knew plenty of German nouns but had trouble stringing them into a coherent sentence.

We were also most impressed by the LMT's catering standards, a great credit to all involved. What we found especially heart-warming was the support our members and guests gave to the productions. We scored highly here. Boeing Boeing was an absolute delight. The ingenious way of narrating the story for non-German speakers was particularly impressive as were the musical interludes, costumes, acting and set. The charming Til Eulenspiegel formed an excellent contrast and both must make us feel that we should give considerable consideration in the future to exactly what we take on our return visit in two years time. The theatre was buzzing all week. A triumph."

Lisa Bossert (Jakobus)

It was my first time in Nottingham. My first time in England at all! I was totally " over the moon " - even the weather was much better than expected - who would have thought that you can get sunburned in England? ? To play Boeing Boeing in Germany , was great and we actors were very excited. But also – playing the same play for a foreign audience , who apparently really understood almost everything from the plot - at least they laughed in the right places - was sensational and memorable!

The mere fact that the stage looked almost like at home  when we arrived,  made it quite easy to prepare for the performances ... Thanks again to the many volunteers who have made this possible! I found the exchange between the three theaters and of course the people from all different ages and mentalities especially valuable. I am very glad not to have slept at a hotel because I could really " immerse " and have an English experience . What is the everyday life, they really only eat fish and chips ? ( No!) I have taken my hosts to my heart and cannot wait for it to be next time in Germany . This exchange was an incredibly beautiful experience . To meet so many people who are interested and have shown syphathy (Thanks Phil ! ) It was heart-warming and appreciated! Thanks and see you all soon. Lisa.

Karsten Stephan (LMT)

I would like to express my appreciation on behalf of the students studying German at Alderman White School and Bramcote College for the superb week of German theatre which you have just organised. All our sixth-formers studying German together with a large number of adult learners of German (Alderman White has a community-based language programme for adult language learners) came to see one of the two productions , 'Boeing, Boeing' and 'Till Eulenspiegel' - and it some cases both!
To quote one student ' It is great to have this opportunity to experience live German theatre'. ' My sixth-formers were still talking about the plays days afterwards, even the discussing the language they had learned and understood. One student raised some points of grammar which he had remembered from one of the plays.

This has been such a valuable educational experience for everyone and for those interested in theatre itself (and we have many students who are actively involved in extra-curricular drama) there was also a fascinating discussion with regard to stagecraft in 'Till Eulenspiegel'

Long may this wonderful international educational experience continue.

Simon Carter (LMT)

As a 'newcomer' to the Theatre Exchange, I thoroughly enjoyed the week. It was lovely to meet everyone and to assist both groups technically with their productions. Thanks for bringing two very different but equally brilliant shows to the theatre, and for making them so enjoyable even for those like me who's German is lacking. I hope to see everyone again in the future."

Cora Krukhof ( Die Käuze)

It was the first time I came to Nottingham and the Lace Market Theatre. I was impressed by the possibilities and equipment of your theatre, but even more so by the affectionate reception and the support all of you gave us.

Special thanks to Gill for organizing so well, to Max who provided us with such delicious food during the days of rehearsal, and of course to the whole team (technicians, "stage-rebuilder",...) who helped to keep everything going so smooth. In one phrase: It was a wonderful experience being with you. THANKS TO YOU ALL!

Gill Scott (LMT)

Organising and co-ordinating a week's visit from Jakobus and Die Käuze to our theatre may seem a daunting prospect, but there are two things I can always rely on.  The first is the unfailing good humour, adaptability and friendliness of our German guests and secondly, the generosity, flexibility, expertise and determination to make a success of everything of our own members.  It does, of course, mean a great deal of advance planning on both sides.  

An important element is identifying hosts and then trying to match up hosts, guests and parking requirements of transport to ensure a smooth transfer after long journeys.  Pet and food allergies  play a part in the matching up!  And this is one area where flexibility and unflappability of the person in charge, in this case Hilary Evans, is key.  There are often last minute changes to deal with.  

One other aspect also needs early planning - the day's outing.   The planned visit to Stratford Shakespeare theatre involved two reccies - to suss out the backstage tour of the theatre and the proposed restaurant for lunch.  Here Doreen Sheard's expertise as a courier is invaluable in ensuring an enjoyable day for everyone.

Building a set for a play not seen and at a distance as well as setting up the sound and light is a big ask, but Hugh, Philip H, Philip A, Simon and Peter did a fantastic job as did Rose in sourcing last minute requests for props.

And don't forget the commissariat - lunches for over thirty people plus tea and cakes for five days was amply provided by Max Bromley and Bar Fisher. And the party! Wow! what a send off Linda provided on the Friday evening. There are of course other elements, such as publicity, FOH, staff, bar staff, often taken for granted, but certainly not by me. I hope this has given people an idea of what is involved in this project. It is something of which all members can be proud. Gill

Phil Lowe (LMT)

What more can I add except to say what a wonderful week we all had! Alongside the plays and our 'official' events I enjoyed the pleasure of seeing our smiling guests in and around the theatre and out and about as we all enjoyed the fabulous weather, the beer at The Trip and the theatre bar and the pleasures of various restaurants in Nottingham and the fun morning at Batman's House with our friends from Jakobus. I will always remember the exciting challenge of creating the Friday party speech with help from Michael Darmola (keep it light hearted Phil!) and Carsten Thein and Markus who helped make sure the spoken German was good and funny. Doing that speech in German with Michael was one of the proudest moments of my life as a member of the Lace Market Theatre and just proved to me that our friendship with our beautiful friends from Karlsruhe is ever blossoming. Here's to the next time in Karlsruhe!

How casting and rehearsals differ in two German amateur theatres to their English counterparts.

How the plays are cast and rehearsed in our twin theatres in Karlsruhe, Germany.

It's always interesting to find out how our friends at the Jakobus theatre and Die Käuze theatre in Germany do things so I thought that I would contact someone from each group and ask how they cast plays, rehearse and perform. I was interested to discover that they certainly do things differently to us. They are usually very impressed that The LaceMarket Theatre have a programme of approximately fifteen plays a year. For a start they have much longer playing periods and quite often both groups revise a play in the same season and do it again if it has been popular. But first of all over to Norbert Wingender from the Die Käuze group.

Norbert: First of all we don't do auditions. People come to us if they are interested in our theatre, and we show them around, have a look at them, and if they want to act they can come to the first meeting of a new play. If we think they could play a certain role we check them at the first rehearsal. At the meeting, the play – or part of it – is read with changing roles so we can see who has a 'feeling' for the part.

Rehearsals are like this: for the Fairy Tale we have the first meeting after the summer holidays when everybody is back again (mid-September). Since usually a few kids are involved we explain what we will play meaning- the story of the play. Marita makes a list of the people who want to participate then we put up a cast. We form a Tuesday and a Thursday group depending on the everyday schedule of the cast members. Because we have two or three people for each part we have rehearsals until the première which is on the last Saturday of November. Just before the première we have two weekend “rehearsal confinements” where everybody is in the theatre and we also eat together – try on costumes … everything. Of course other members have been working hard in designing and creating the set. The Fairy Tale is usually played in the afternoons because of the young children coming to see it.

For the 'evening plays', meaning the adult plays, we choose the cast after the first meeting, then we have rehearsals on appointment. Usually we have one “confinement” there as we only have one person per part.

Thank you Norbert and now over to the Jakobus Theatre in the city centre of Karlsruhe. Here I spoke to Carsten Thein.

Carsten Thein: Normally we start rehearsing for our play about three months before the first show.
Afterwards we play every week on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and our shows are played about twenty-five times in all.

The kind of audition depends on the director and the sort of play.Sometimes the director knows exactly which people they want to cast the play, other cases we have the normal audition. There everyone who is interested to participate in the next show has a possibility to convince the director to take him or her for a role in the play.

The time of rehearsals means three or four evenings a week for a time from 6 pm till 10 pm and sometimes on a Saturday and Sunday as well. Normally we have about forty rehearsals before a new play starts. We perform around three new shows a year and sometimes repeat the most popular shows later in the season. Also our theatre can be hired for outside professionals and amateur groups to perform plays and music. Our programme is varied and in the recent past we have performed Die Entdeckung der Currywurst by J.Kaetzler and G Seidel, a comedy and a classical German piece from our region – Der zerbroche Krug. Also we played a popular fantasy called Die Nibelungen by Rudiger Pape and Catharina Fillers. We are about to start a play by Arthur Schnitzler called Reigen and look forward to bringing Boeing Boeing to you in 2014.

Acting 'A Chip In The Sugar' in Karlsruhe

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

"Oh my God Mother!"

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

"Get down, He's back!"

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

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

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

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

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

Phil Lowe

Finally learnt 45 mins of script

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Phil Lowe as Graham

March 2010 theatre exchange

Sometimes a week can go by far too quickly when you are having fun and I can certainly say that last week was fun. As previously mentioned I was involved in a cultural exchange that happens every two years between the Lace Market theatre and the Die Käuze theatre and the Jakobus theatre. Our theatre is based in Nottingham (UK) and the other two in the twin city of Karlsruhe in Germany.

scene from Die Hochmütigen

The Die Käuze theatre group performed a play called The Distainful (Die Hochmütigen), a stylised comedy with sur titles in English and the other group played Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy (Komödie im Dunkeln). Both pieces were in German and we were all delighted to get very good audiences for the shows. Each group performed their show three times with two evening performances and an afternoon performance and were well recieved. The Thursday afternoon show was graced by Mrs Jeannie Packer, Lady Mayoress of Nottingham.

We also arranged for Larissa Kaufmann and Manfred Paul to appear on BBC Radio Nottingham. I have to say, although I can speak some German I would have not be able to cope in an interview situation like this. Both of them sounded great and seemed to enjoy the experience despite being a bit nervous. Gill Scott from our theatre helped with some background details about our twinning arrangements and history.

Larissa, Manfred and Gill at BBC Radio Nottingham

The actors stayed in the homes of some of the theatre members here in Nottingham and all three groups spent a lot of time socialising and renewing old friendships from previous visits. I have written about the social side in my other blog http://mugofstrongtea.blogspot.com/.

I took a lot of photographs during their stay and enjoyed documenting the experience as well as having a great time with lots of laughter and fun with our German friends. I also had an opportunity to speak some German and was suprised at how quickly my limited language skills came back. Being able to speak with native speakers also helped to improve my skills. Try saying 'Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut und Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid' sober never mind a bit tiddly.

Phil with the Jakobus group

I really enjoyed the whole week and it was great to see old friends like, Markus, Thorsten, Carsten, Larissa, Manfred and Christian and to meet some lovely new people such as Michael, Lena and Volker. I will miss you all and look forward to our  return visit in two years time. We all keep in touch via facebook and emails and I am even considering going over to Karlsruhe to perform a one man show in the meantime.

Photo collage

This image is a big photo collage I have created for the Lace Market Theatre and the two German theatre groups mentioned in the last three posts. The Karlsruhe groups are coming to Nottingham at the end of this month with two plays to be performed in German as part of the Nottingham/Karlsruhe cultural exchange. The photo was taken as I finished attatching all the photos to the black card and was taken on my living room carpet. It will go on a big notice board at the theatre tomorrow as well as a smaller display of past productions that we have taken to Germany in 2004 and 2008.

Lace Market Theatre visit to Karlsruhe. May 2008

Ausgezeichnet! Fantastisch! Super!

Translated as: Excellent! Fantastic! Great! All three adjectives could certainly be used to describe another hugely successful event with our friends in the German city of Karlsruhe. Again we took two plays to be performed at the two separate theatre spaces in and around Karlsruhe.

This time we shared a coach with the Karlsruhe Friendship Club run by a chap called Arnie. They were going to Karlsruhe at the same time and to travel together was deemed a cost saving exercise. Being of an older generation they like to stop over in Lille to break the journey and we acquiesced with their arrangements. There was a delay on the Eurostar train journey and this had the knock on effect of delaying our arrival at the hotel Ibis in Lille. However the Lace Market folk still found time to enjoy an evening meal at a bistro in a nearby shopping centre. The following day we continued on our journey without any issues and met our hosts at the bus station in Karlsruhe. After some worry, Alan Price, one of the cast in Hay Fever travelling independently, was found waiting for the coach at the train station! A few phone calls later he was returned to the fold after his mistake.

Cast of Hay Fever

As usual our German hosts were incredible in their friendliness and generosity and Linda Croston’s team at Die Käuze enjoyed mountains of delicious local food each day. Larissa and her team kept us all fed and happy despite her father Carl being very ill in hospital at the time.

I had the interesting experience of being hosted by a wonderful old lady called Ursula Roth. She lived on the fifth floor of a block of flats which I often had trouble finding as they all looked the same, didn’t speak any English, had a dodgy front door key, was very nervous about me staying with her as she thought we would have difficulty communicating and she was ill from the early stages of stomach cancer. From the moment I started to speak a little German we got on great! She made me huge breakfasts in the morning, spoke clearly and I leant so much German in her company that when I left she called me her ‘second son’. Bless her.

Monday morning saw another official welcome at the Rathouse for the Lace Market Theatre and our travelling companions, the Karlsruhe Friendship Club. As the Reiseleiter I was very proud to represent our group and particularly proud to do our presentation partly in German.

Cast of Satin 'n Steel.

Satin and Steel by Amanda Whittington played for three performances at the Die Käuze theatre in Waldstadt and Hay Fever by Noël Coward played three times at the Jakobus theatre. Both plays were ecstatically received by the German and English audiences. Incidentally, Markus Künstler tells me that the phrase from Coward’s play, ‘Will you lean on the piano in an attentive attitude? It’s such a help.’ has now become folklore at the Jakobus theatre. They joke that they may well include it in every play that they do.

This time I was with the group at Die Käuze and the two main evening performances were a sell out. The audiences loved the singing, the humour and irony of the piece. Although from a few puzzled faces I do think the Germans did struggle with the strong Nottingham accents portrayed. A few tears were shed over Alison’s handling of the scene with Mum’s ashes. Many thanks also to the Hay Fever crowd for taking the early morning tram to see Satin and Steel’s 10.30am show. It was hot weather even at that early hour.

Our group at Die Käuze made a pilgrimage to the Jakobus theatre one night to see our friends perform Hay Fever on an improvised set and it worked brilliantly. The cast were on top form despite the baking weather and put tons of style and energy into the play. Max was hilarious in his role and the audience gave them several curtain calls at the end.

Jakobus Theatre. Karlsruhe.

Most of the early part of the week itself was taken up with technical preparations and rehearsals in unfamiliar spaces in readiness for the performances themselves. In between times we enjoyed the delights of the city itself including the parks and woodlands of Karlsruhe, all bathed in beautiful warm sunshine. The bars, cafes and shops got a look in too! Not only did we go for a bite to eat but most of the group got bitten too by the bugs in the grass. The Karlsruhe chemists have now sold out of Fenisten gel.

After all the performing was over we were treated to a coach trip to the typically Germanic town of Bretten and spent some time relaxing in the old market place enjoying a cool pils and great company. For lunch we ate at a superb hilltop venue called Steinsberg. Again, lovely food including local asparagus in a creamy blue cheese sauce. From the top of the tower at the venue we saw fabulous views of the vineyards and nearby town. It was alright going up the tower but coming back down the very steep and worn wooden steps again was quite another matter!

Later that afternoon we went to the Auto & Technik museum at Sinsheim and had the opportunity to go inside a real Concorde jet (well, two actually – one French and one Russian) as well as to admire all the amazing cars and planes there. Some of us also chose to visit the Imax Cinema and had a virtual journey through space. All these things given to us gratis by our generous hosts.

Friday saw us making our own entertainment and I know that a group of the younger members went on a bike ride through the Black Forest and others simply hit the shops. The baking weather was still very close and I spent some time at the Zoo and enjoyed an ice cream or two. Later that afternoon the weather broke and there was a dramatic thunderstorm and refreshingly cool rain.

On the Friday evening there was a superb farewell party with gift presentations, some lovely food, plenty of drinks and a chance to relax and enjoy the company of friends. There was also some very funny entertainment in the style of a short pantomime sketch and some singing around the piano with Markus on the keyboard and Helen leaning against the wall in an attentive manner. It helped him. Apparently.

At some ridiculously early hour on the Saturday morning everyone and their hosts gathered at the bus station to say our 8am farewells and Auf Wiedersehens. I must admit that I did get a bit moist eyed as we all hugged and kissed and shook hands. All the English parties got on board, our hosts waved us off and we heard, en route, that the Karlsruhe Friendship Group had had an equally good time with their hosts and were praising Alison and Neil for their performances in Satin and Steel. I don’t think they got to see Hay Fever.

Enjoying some French food in Lille.

The long journey back through three countries gave us all an opportunity for an overnight stop at the same Ibis hotel on the outskirts of the city of Lille. After freshening up a group of us went into the city via the slick metro system for some food and fun and we spent a very pleasant time in a French Bistro. French food, French wine and great company! What a way to end the week! Fab!

Courtesy of Vance the coach driver we all arrived safely back in Nottingham mid afternoon on the Sunday. Many of us just wanted to stay in Karlsruhe and have the experience last forever and there were ideas flying around of maybe doing some of our future plays there in German or at the very least something by a German writer. Hold that page.