Review: Balletboyz – the Talent. Derby Theatre. November 5th 2013

Co-produced by Sadlers Wells – Balletboyz-the Talent (ten very impressive professional male ballet dancers) electrified the Derby Theatre stage with two challenging ballet works. The fine attention to detail to every single body position, move and extension, the juxtapositions, the incredible balancing acts of male body against male body – still – gliding or in flight – held the mainly youthful audience in rapture. Once the lights went down and we were presented with a short film and the first dance sequence nary a sweet wrapper rustled across the auditorium. Such was the respect and admiration for this company.

Each of the two dance pieces is announced by a short film about the Balletboyz company's inner workings and rehearsals plus the two choreographers ideas and inspirations. The first work is called Serpent with music by Max Richter. It is choreographed by Liam Scarlett.The supine dancers create the abstract world of gliding and linked/unlinked serpents with utter fluidity, visual poetry, coiling and striking rivals through the medium of ballet. Throughout the dance and Richter's music amplified water drops punctuate the movement and the lighting by Michael Hulls works well with the near bare dancers. The over all effect is stunningly beautiful.

 

The second ballet work, Fallen, choreographed by Russell Maliphant is a completely different artistic animal. This piece is densely industrial in feel. The music by Armand Amar rises and falls to a dull beat and the dancers, clothed in quasi fatigues spiral from without a scrum and the bodies pulse and dive and spin like elastic crouching dervishes in green pools of light. The dancing becomes more and more animated and is impressive (perhaps an understatement) as bodies begin to fly across the stage as if light as feathers. Then the Balletboyz use balance to an extraordinary degree throughout manner of acute body angling and brave falls and catches. This is certainly a brave dance company and are acclaimed throughout the world for their depiction of forms old and new in ballet.

 

The Derby Theatre audience rose as one and gave the guys a well deserved standing ovation. Catch them if you can! 'Real men wear tights' as their t-shirts say.

Phil Lowe

www.balletboyz.com

A Stage Writing Development Project for all writers

The PLAYWRIGHTS’ PROGRESS
 

A Stage Writing Development Project for all writers
 

The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain is inviting emerging and established writers throughout England to take part in Playwrights’ Progress, an inspiring new script development project, FREE to the chosen participants with all expenses paid. This is a major promotion run in partnership with Royal Central School of Speech &... Drama (RCSSD) and Leicester Square Theatre.

The project (open to Guild and non-Guild applicants) aims to give writers the opportunity to progress their career paths. Four will be chosen to attend a three day, intensive workshop to develop their exciting new scripts in progress. The best work from the workshops will be showcased by actors of the highest calibre, at Leicester Square Theatre to an audience of invited literary managers, directors and producers.

Funded by the Arts Council England and The Writers’ Foundation (UK), with substantial support from the RCSSD and Leicester Square Theatre, this project has been set up by the Guild to promote writing through education and training. The scheme is open to all writers, at any stage of their careers, to enable them to work on their unperformed plays with professional actors, directors and dramaturges of the highest calibre.

To apply, candidates should:
Submit one hard copy plus an electronic copy of a draft of an unpublished, unperformed dramatic piece. Initially this needs to be the first act only (drawn from a full-length script of maximum running time of 2 hours 30 minutes). The text should include a cast list, essential production notes plus a resume/ scenario of the whole piece. A shortlist of contenders will then be drawn up and these will be asked to submit their full scripts for the final selection.

• Submit a brief biography of your experience and career to date, which must include at least one production for public performance or equivalent publication.

• Include a letter of application, of no more than 500 words, setting out your reasons for wanting to develop this piece, its potential as a drama and your aspirations for it. And why this experience would be valuable in terms of your personal development as a writer. This letter should also include all your contact details plus a stamped, addressed envelope if you wish your script to be returned.
The initial read-through workshops will take place in London in the week beginning 3rd March 2014, followed by the three day workshops held from 1 - 4 April. The public showcasing at Leicester Square Theatre will take place in the week beginning 4th May.

All applications and hard copies should be sent to the Writers' Guild of Great Britain, 40 Rosebery Avenue, London EC1R 4RX, FAO Richard Pinner by the 11th December 2013. Electronic copies should be sent to admin@writersguild.org.uk

Owing to the considerable task of selection, it will not be possible to offer a critique or respond to those candidates who have not been selected. But if you have any questions or need more information about this project then please do not hesitate in contacting Richard Pinner.

Review: September in the Rain at Derby Theatre. (on tour)

It is a great sign of comedy when the performers get laughs before they have even spoken a word and so it is at the very start of Godber's play about a pair of married pensioners looking back to the 1950s and reflecting on a succession of holidays at the same B&B year after year in Blackpool. As the actors John Thomson playing husband Jack and Claire Sweeney as his wife Liz shuffle across the stage set of a sea front at Blackpool the Derby Theatre audience are already giggling away.

The laughter grows and grows through the play as Thomson and Sweeney become their characters younger selves and chat with the audience about how they feel about the happy experiences and marital frustrations they go through at Mavis's B&B on Woodfield Road in Blackpool and en route to their holiday destination. Both Sweeney and Thomson are very adept at mimicry and throughout the play they temporarily become other comic personae like the landlady Mavis, a bad tempered haulage trucker and most hilarious of all – the sewer man. Thomson's telling of the story of the people gathered around a sewer drain to watch a large piece of excrement float by is classic comedy and comic timing. Both performances are very strong and likeable.

John Godbers characters, Jack and Liz are based on his parents and he says that he assumed that they went back to the same place every year for 50 years because they were attracted to the West End shows that played there, the appearance of variety acts and TV stars in end of pier shows, the beautiful sands, the famous tower and ballroom and the circus. Apparently not – they went to Blackpool after going to Scarborough in the first year of their marriage and his father discovered that the east coast air gave him asthma, something that Blackpool didn't seem to do. As Godber says “The randomness of life continually leaves me agog!”

The terrific writing and the playing of the characters has a real human warmth which the Derby audience fully appreciated as Liz and Jack were constantly bickering with each other and teasing one another as couples often do. Sweeney with her underplayed Liverpool accent and Thomson with his no-nonsense Yorkshire accent and mannerisms create characters that are like chalk and cheese and for all their faults and stubbornness you can't fail to love them. Their relationship is very believable and each character have their flaws so soon the comedy becomes a drama as the heavens open and they part company whilst rowing. You genuinely wanted to rush back after the interval to discover what happens next. There is a third character in this theatre piece and that is the character of Blackpool depicted here with a wonderfully realistic set complete with sand on the steps, strings of gaudy lights and the famous Blackpool tower in the misty background. You almost expected a seagull to fly across the stage.

The near to capacity audience lapped up every emotional minute whether they were laughing at Jack trying to erect the deckchairs (superb comic timing by Thomson) or sympathising with Liz as Jack storms off after a particularly vicious and unexpected argument and I suspect that many of them left the theatre with a cathartic and nostalgic feeling of a shared experience and an umbrella up and ready for the – all too real - October rain.

Originally posted on The Public Review website.

A Christmas Carol script by Phil Lowe now available as an ebook for £3.99

http://store.blurb.co.uk/ebooks/443316-a-christmas-carol-a-play

On the back of my most popular blogpost by far on the actor/writer site I have now published a script of A Christmas Carol through Blurb. The ebook downloadable version is £3.99. See link above.

There have been over 1660 hits on this blogpost about the Christmas Carol production. http://philloweactor.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/christmas-carol-adaptation-for-stage.html

On the whole I found Blurb a good site to work with in self publishing although their are a few annoying spacing errors and one typo in the body of my script. However it is good to have the theatre piece published for sharing. The details are in the back of the book for contacting  re royalties and performance rights. I am contactable at phillming@aol.com.

Phil Lowe

                            Roger Newman as Scrooge in the Lace Market Theatre production.

Review: God of Carnage at The Lace Market Theatre. Nottingham

Director Graeme Jennings has made a terrific job of bringing to life this one act play by Yasmina Reza (English translation from the original French by Christopher Hampton) at Nottingham's premier amateur theatre - The Lace Market Theatre.

God of Carnage is about the breakdown of two supposedly sophisticated and successful couples after they meet to politely discuss the potential solution of their young sons fighting and the resultant missing teeth of the young son of the Hunts - in whose modern and stylish house we meet the protagonists and remain in their company for the duration of the play.

The set design is of a very modern apartment based on a black and white hop scotch pattern and it serves the play perfectly with the designer, Emma Pegg, creatively following through on Reza's staging notes of ' a living room, no realism, nothing superfluous. With some colour highlights this is a monochromatic world that according to the excellent programme notes "alludes to the barely concealed conflict between the characters." Deliberately, only the two artfully arranged vases of flowers and the red carpet and cushions bring any bright colour to the set.

Easy going Michael Hunt (Hugh Jenkins) tries to reason things out with Alan and Annette Raleigh and attempts to form a friendship with Alan through recognition that all boys fight and that it is part of the growing up process. Alan Raleigh superficially goes along with this man talk but is constantly at the beck and call of his mobile phone. Fraser Wanless plays the arrogant Alan to perfection. This is no one dimensional character portrayal however. Wanless subtly switches his role from mood to mood whether he is speaking his business demands down the mobile phone or temporarily comforting his wife Annette (Emma Nash) after she has been dramatically sick on stage. He controls and commands the stage with Alan's persona and is the master of wry humour.

Photo by Mark James.

This is a demanding four hander and the performances are very professional especially from the actresses Sarah Taylor and Emma Nash playing the wives. The women go through a vast array of emotion throughout the play and Taylor and Nash bring out very truthful performances through their body language and barely controlled emotions that go from socially polite to sudden outrage and lack of control.

Hugh Jenkins plays the most sympathetic character in Michael Hunt, a man who just wants to keep the peace yet finds himself getting out of control with a toxic mix of problems including his mother constantly calling up for health advice and his weird decision to set the family hamster free to fend for itself in the wild. He valiantly tries to cope with all this, alongside the trauma caused by his son being attacked and injured by another boy. Jenkins plays the sympathy card well with this well rounded character, always at the ready with the hair drier to fix every disaster.

                                                              Photo by Mark James

On the surface the play could be perceived as a serious polemic on the breakdown of social morals caused through lack of compassion, uncivil and  selfish behaviour, stress and exacerbated by too much rum and it does have this in the background but the evening's entertainment was that of laughter as the characters descended into ridiculous childish behaviour. There are some fantastically funny situations and lines and the actors worked them to perfection. This is another 'must see' at the Lace Market Theatre.

The performances run until the 19th October.

Tickets can be booked online or by ringing the box office. Lace Market Theatre link.

God of Carnage next week at the Lace Market Theatre - Nottingham

I am really looking forward to going to the Lace Market Theatre next week to see their production of God of Carnage - a high energy comedy about parents behaving badly and directed by the talented Graeme Jennings.

Yazmina Reza's multi-award winning play is a hilarious and savagely funny comedy of modern manners. The translation from the original French is by Christopher Hampton.

Plot: When a playground fight between two boys results in one of them losing his teeth, both sets of parents decide to meet and resolve the matter. But as tensions rise the gloves are soon off and the God of Carnage reigns supreme as they descend to the level of wilful children themselves.

Tickets are available through this link.

Production dates: 14th -19th October plus matinee on Saturday 19th.

Review: Go Back For Murder. Derby Theatre.

Playing at Derby Theatre this week the - Agatha Christie Theatre Company - presents a brand new production of Christie's classic murder mystery, Go Back For Murder.(touring)

The plot revolves around Carla Le Marchant (Sophie Ward) who has returned from Canada to investigate the death of her imprisoned mother, Caroline. The death has taken place in prison, twenty years after Caroline's conviction of killing her husband and Carla's father - Amyas Crate (Gary Mavers). Carla's late mother, Caroline, has left her daughter an intriguing legacy - a letter professing her innocence. This we learn by voice over in the very first minutes of the play.

This is a fast paced 'whodunnit' that will delight fans of murder mystery stage adaptations and Agatha Christie and given the interval chat about who the murderer could be the audience clearly revelled in the plot and action on stage.

The plot unfolds, illuminates and deceives and the play begins with a determined Carla Le Marchant anxiously trying to uncover the truth behind her father’s murder by poisoning with the help of Justin Fogg (Ben Nealon) who is the son of her mother’s original defence lawyer. Christie controversially left Hercule Poirot  out of this one.

In the first act events take place at several locations in London, the arrangement of which is very well done by quickly executed scene changes and dramatic lighting. Gradually, we attain insights into the individual characters that were at the scene of the murder some twenty years previously at Alderbury House. The acting throughout was good and some deliberately hammy. Lysette Anthony was deliciously over the top as the older Lady Elsa Greer.

With the help of Justin, Carla manages to entice all the suspects back to the house where we witness a reconstruction of events that took place leading up to the 1948 murder in the second act. Stories unfold, twists and turns in the tale are abundant and there are more red herrings than in a kipper factory.

The staging design is simple and the lighting effects work especially well and gave a clarity to the plot that could have got confusing initially. The 1960s jazzy soundtrack helps create an atmosphere of time.

Could the murder have been committed by either of the brothers Philip and Meredith Blake (Robert Duncan and Antony Edridge) who had both been secretly in love with Caroline? Or maybe it was the dead man’s feisty opportunist mistress Lady Elsa Greer (Lysette Anthony) Of course no Agatha Christie play would be complete without an old fashioned governess, in this case a tea drinking Miss Williams admirably played by (Liza Goddard) and adding a little high spirited youth to the cast as the elder daughter of Caroline we have Angela Warren (Georgia Neville) in her professional debut. Each of these likely suspects, try to convince of their innocence with their own plausible version of events on the fateful day.

'Go Back For Murder' directed by Joe Harmston, is Agatha Christie at her best, a delicious play from her late years, well performed by a top notch cast and - as you'd expect - keeps us guessing until the very end. All could be guilty of the murder, but only one of 'em did it!