Interview with the leads in The Odyssey at Derby Theatre.

Interview with Wole and Emma currently in rehearsal for Derby Theatre's new production of Mike Kenny's The Odyssey.

I introduced myself to Emma Beattie and Wole Sawyerr as an aspirant writer for theatre and theatre reviewer and a big supporter of Derby Theatre having had a long and enjoyable experience of seeing most of their productions so far plus probably hundreds of plays from the former Derby Playhouse. I said the interview would be a relaxed talk about aspects of Mike Kenny's play The Odyssey. I wanted to find out how it was formed and how the play's text worked as a construction and story-telling medium and differed from translations of the original poetics by Homer. I had a brief understanding from the hour's worth of rehearsal I witnessed today and grasped that it has elements of narration through Odysseus, the lead, and other injections of story telling through the other actors who play a variety of other roles. This practice continues throughout the work and carries the story physically and vocally forward. Wole is playing Odysseus and Emma is Penelope/Athene / Man and Ensemble. Mike Kenny's The Odyssey is an ensemble work with eight actors directed by Derby Theatre Artistic Director Sarah Brigham.

The interview:

Phil: Emma, I understand that you were an actress in Electra and Iphigenia in Tauris. Did they have any similarities to this show?

Emma: Actually I work shopped it at the National with Josette Bushell- Mingo. The idea for them work shopping it and potentially doing it was for them to do an all black production. I think though I was the only white actress! (laughs) The idea was to open up these great plays that were just seen as 'white' the whole time. At the time I was involved in Last of the Haussmans at the National so I agreed to do this project for them. It was interesting, we had a German girl from a physical theatre company so it was similar to this in that it was quite physical plus quite about the power you can create using the whole body not just the voice with your complete self, rather than it just being about the words. And I think that's what we are trying to achieve here though it's not completely physical theatre and it's about every bit of you on stage telling the story. It's about the emotion coming from every bit of you and that will mean that, hopefully, it's about eight of us creating a powerful theatrical story and landscape on stage for you to enjoy and hear the story from. With some songs, with some music too although we are backing away a bit from 'songs' but trying to explore musically the combination of vocals so that it become a blend of all. It's like holistic theatre I guess. It's not just physical, it's not musical, it's not – verse. It's everything! We move the stage. We create it. We tell the story together. Odysseus tells the story as well as being the story. So suddenly he goes from narrator to Odysseus in the moment.

Wole: You are right Emma. It isn't just about having song it's also about that musicality being part of our world that we may sing during our actions, during our character's lives on stage. A natural thing rather than 'hey let's now sing a song!'

Phil: How long do the actors have to prepare for rehearsals and I appreciate that it may differ from production to production, from job to job - if you like? Also how much time do you have to study independently before rehearsals start so that you have a degree of preparation for the role/s you are about to play?

Wole: Good question. Definitely, it does vary from job to job. With this one, for example we had the script from Mike quite some while ago.

Emma: When decisions had been made mid December 2013 we had the script but also Christmas gets in the way and we were under the impression that it may be a draft and therefore could change.

Wole: Maybe not significantly but it is one of the drafts along the production line and Mike is a hard working writer- creative force. So we've got that time with it. In terms of being prepared there is obviously the research that any actor can do depending on what the job or script requires and Sarah and Mike were quite keen to share one of the books they were using as what you might call a cornerstone and were referring to it a fair bit. I think it was by Dr Jonathan Shay and it's the Odysseus in America and he did also do...

Emma: Achilles in Vietnam. Both were about combat trauma using Homer's characters as models.

Wole: That's right. So basically we can use those texts and beyond and more as well as looking at translations of Homer's original if we choose to.

Emma: You can do as much or as little as you have time to do depending on how much time you've got before you get to rehearsals. And sometimes... er it's a lovely luxury to have access to the script and to let it wash over you a bit but I find you don't want to make any huge decisions before you get to the rehearsal room cos you don't know which direction your director's going to lead you; where other actors and their ideas are going to take you. So it's good for you to remain fluent and flexible and be able to adapt. So that means that now this process, which we are shoe-horning into three and half week's rehearsal (which is quite short) with a lot to do, I think is a very intense three and a half weeks.

Wole: Which we are only starting to feel. I don't know about you Emma but I am only just starting to feel the intensity today.

Emma: Today?! (laughs)

Wole: Yeah cos last week it felt slower and Sarah's style is quite relaxed.

Emma: Is it? (laughs louder)

Wole: You've not worked with some taskmasters, believe me. Erm, yeah Phil, so that allows us as a company to be jovial and jokey but also to work and concentrate but also to breath a little. I think, as with any director, I don't want to speak for Sarah but, I assume we'll start to ratch it up a little because we have to and for our own sake as well.

Emma: You have your first week and then you think 'oh my God' we've got two and a half weeks!
You don't want it to just be about learning lines and turning up. You want to keep thinking about it and still allow things to change, to shift. I find I just eat sleep and breath it and have had all sorts of weird and wonderful dreams and have to resist the temptation to text Sarah about various ideas that had come to me.

Wole: Just to interrupt. I didn't resist the temptation to email about some music even though I'm not that musical. I had to actually let them know.

Emma: It's exciting to be able to contribute to the piece creatively.

Phil: I've seen some of Derby Theatre's pictures on facebook of some the costume designs. Can you tell me about those and the modern soldier style of them.

Emma: Yeah, I texted an actor friend over the weekend. He's actually in The Musketeers, so he's doing very well and I said to him that we are doing The Odyssey in Derby that the costumes are great and sort of military and think Sarah Connor Terminator 2 and he said, “Sarah Connor - much more fun than a toga.” I am very happy with the costumes. They give you an earthiness and a grounding and hopefully it will be a very raw experience for the audience and hopefully they won't feel that there are words and verse floating above them and that it's all Greek and inaccessible. Hopefuly it will...

Wole: Hit home.

Emma: Yes. In the great way that films like Terminator 2 and Alien do. Whatever you think about these films, they're classic films. They take you … and ...

Phil: Pull you to bits.

Emma: Yeah and that's exciting to do to an audience.

Phil: At what point or points during the play does the notion or motif, if you like, of a soldier's experiences, namely haunted (as the publicity says) by the experience of war and horrors of The Odyssey build into the script?

Wole: Into the script? I'd say literally the first moment we see Odysseus. But then it doesn't carry on again until the end of the first half and then on into the second half.

Phil: So it's a non linear piece?

Wole: Yes, as Homer's is really. Reflective. I think Mike Kenny has reflected that because we have a starting point where we see Odysseus and then we get taken through Odysseus's journey and it's the journey of his men and his family. Then we come back to the end of the first half and come back full circle to where we first saw him and then, carry on with the rest of the story. Does that make sense?

Phil: Yes.

Emma: We haven't even touched on that bit yet in rehearsals.

Wole: As Emma says, we haven't even touched on that yet although it's in the writing and Sarah and I have had some discussions around that and the effects of PTS (post traumatic stress) on Odysseus and the soldiers who have fought at Troy and tried to return home to a degree of normality. The effects of PST will influence Odysseus even through his narration because he has hindsight now – he's been through it to an extent and he's re-living it and he's not re-living it separate to what has happened. That makes sense in my head I hope the words make sense!

Phil: Perfectly. I can understand the cyclical theatrical device in the writing. It sounds very exciting and emotional. Lastly, has this particular play ever been performed before?

Wole: No, it's new writing.

Phil: New writing for Derby Theatre? Excellent. Thank you very much for your time.

Emma: Thank you. It's been great.

An evening of Nottingham Playhouse delights

As a supporter and theatre reviewer of the theatrically excellent Nottingham Playhouse I was invited along, with other guests, to the venue tonight to hear about their forthcoming Spring Season. Regular readers may well recall that I went along to another event earlier in the year to hear about the proposals and theatrical development of their new home grown show 'My Judy Garland Life'. More about this shortly. For more detailed background info on the writing process of My Judy Garland Life please link here.

From the Nottingham Playhouse marketing and publicity department.


'Find out more about our ambitious five theatre co-production of Brecht and Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, a riot of a musical for riotous times. Looking ahead to autumn, we present a season inspired by the theme of time and memory. Our autumn shows include dazzling, time-spanning dramas from two master playwrights of the modern age:  J.B. Priestley’s Time and the Conways and Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia. Our piece of new writing this autumn is Propaganda Swing, a toe-tapping new show from Peter Arnold which explores how music can be manipulated in the most evil of times.

Actors will deliver one short scene live on stage from Time and the Conways and Arcadia. We’ll also be interviewing the directors of both productions to find out more about their visions for the two shows.

Giles Croft, Artistic Director of Nottingham Playhouse will also be introducing elements for the neat2014 festival (Nottingham & European Arts Theatre Festival) which will run 23 May – 1 June.

We’ll be taking a look at our fantastic dance season which includes Richard Alston Dance Company, Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre, and the magnificent Ballet Boyz.'


I saw the Ballet Boyz last year at Derby Theatre and can certainly recommend a visit to their show. Read my review here. The Fabulous Beast piece looked totally un-missable. A fabulous blend of mask work, dance and performance art.

'Benjamin Zephaniah’s Refugee Boy is set to be a huge hit when it reaches us in March. As part of our season launch, you will have an exclusive chance to see how this hilarious and heart-breaking play is shaping up in the rehearsal room.

Lucy Speed, best known for her roles in EastEnders and The Bill, and star of our Neville Studio show, co-produced with Fifth Word, Amateur Girl, by Amanda Whittington will be taking part in a Q&A session on stage.



And to wrap up the evening there will be a live duet from the two stars of My Judy Garland Life, Sally Ann Triplett and Faye Elvin, accompanied on stage by their actor-musician band.'

For an interesting read about the background into Amanda Whittington's work and development in taking the script form page to stage click here.

All exciting stuff and a fabulously varied programme for theatre goers in the Nottingham region and beyond. I do sincerely hope that you will support the Nottingham Playhouse and their excellent programme spring 2014 and beyond.

Phil Lowe

Recording 'I Could Pee On This' and 'I Could Chew On This'

As well as my theatre projects I have been inspired to record on video the compete books of humorous poetry by Francesco Marciuliano. The best selling books are called ' I Could Pee On This' and 'I Could Chew On That'.

I have enjoyed the process and learnt something about basic editing and they seem to be getting attention on Youtube. My account is linked through HERE. I am hoping to be able to develop some leads for professional performance poetry readings.

There are four 'I Could Pee On That' videos and the same amount of doggy 'I Could Chew On That' videos. In both sets I have added extra video content for added amusement.

I can be contacted at phillming@aol.com for professional bookings.

The Odyssey - Mike Kenny's major adaptation for Derby Theatre.

Homer’s  classical story,The Odyssey in a new version by Mike Kenny directed by Sarah Brigham will be playing at Derby Theatre Fri 14th February – Sat 1st March 2014. This promises to be an epic new version of the classic tale and Derby Theatre’s big production for Spring 2014 and its third home produced production with the excellent Cooking With Elvis and Kes as previous critical and theatrical successes.   

To mark 2014’s First World War centenary, The Odyssey, one of literature’s oldest stories, will explore and highlight the consequences of war through a brilliant and moving new adaptation brought vividly to life to life by an exceptional cast of performers through live music and emotive storytelling.

The Trojan War is over and it’s time for Odysseus to return home. The fighting may have ceased but storms still rage on the high seas. Our hero is forced to run the monumental gauntlet thrown down between him and the long- awaited reunion with his family. But getting home is only half the battle, as twenty years have passed and everything has changed in his absence. 
The show has been adapted by one of England’s leading writers and Olivier Award-winning playwrights, Mike Kenny (who has numerous production and adaptation credits to his name including The Railway Children for York Theatre Royal in association with The National Railway Museum).  

The cast includes: Wole Sawyerr in the central role of Odysseus (Henry VI Parts 1 & 2, Shakespeare’s Globe directed by Dominic Dromgoole); Emma Beattie as Odysseus’ wife, Penelope (The Last of the Haussmans, Iphigenia in Tauris and Elektra, National Theatre); Christopher Price (the Riddler in Batman Live, International Tour; Hansel and Gretel, Kneehigh; Oh What a Lovely War, Northern Stage); local actress Anna Westlake (who most recently appeared in Oddsocks’ production of Comedy of Errors) and Ivan Stott (Musical Director on Derby Theatre’s production of Kes and Musical Director and performer in Derby Theatre’s Christmas show in the studio, Pinocchio). The cast also includes Ella Vale and Rich Dolphin.   

Artistic director, Sarah Brigham said: “Mike’s modern adaptation of this classic story, about a soldier who returns home from war and who has to piece his life back together, has a modern day feel, resonance and relevance through its language and themes. It is a timeless piece which the brilliant ensemble of actors will deliver with a powerful and emotional punch against a soaring, live musical score.”   

Alongside the main show runs a connected piece called, Penelope RETOLD,  with performances from Wednesday 19th February until Saturday 1st March and it is billed as the perfect accompaniment and companion piece to The Odyssey, as it looks at the story from the perspective of Odysseus’ wife, Penelope.

The RETOLD programme is a series of brand new one-woman plays commissioned by Derby Theatre, from some of the most exciting female voices in contemporary theatre today. Penelope RETOLD will be created by theatre maker and performer, Caroline Horton, described in relation to her production of Mess as “a major, major talent”, Time Out.   

Tickets for The Odyssey: £10 - £25.50, concessions £10 - £23.50. Group and school rates available. 16-25 year olds: £5 per ticket on Friday evenings (proof of ID required). 
Tickets for Penelope RETOLD: £9, concessions £6. Or see it for £5 if you book for The Odyssey.

For more information and to book tickets call the Box Office on 01332 59 39 39 or online at www.derbytheatre.co.uk 

A stunning production of Chicago at Curve Leicester. A review.

In 1975 the iconic, dark and edgy, sexy musical Chicago (based on the play 'Chicago' by Maurine Dallas Watkins) was originally named Chicago- a vaudeville revue. The original creative team of John Kander & Fred Ebb (famous for the musical Cabaret and forty years of musical collaboration) produced the piece around the same time that another musical was about to hit the Broadway scene and swamp the Variety headlines and win acres of musical theatre awards – this was the tamer but enormously popular show called - A Chorus Line. It opened five days before Chicago.

At the time Chicago was seen as a success but met with a mixture of varied revues and perhaps seen, retrospectively, as well as before its time, due to the dark nature and perverse humour of its subject and the thrilling choreography and direction by Bob Fosse who dealt in steamy yet stylised minimalist dance movements. It was a style that nobody then was aware of and it was seen as difficult yet fascinating. Chicago the musical was violent and moody and the audience were expected to laugh at people being killed and be sympathetic with the perpetrators whilst, at the same time, imagining they (as an audience) were having a wonderful time at a Broadway show.

Although set in the 1920s it reflected the morality of what was happening in the mid 1970s in the USA and every type of debauchery and scandal that was taking place. For instance, the concept of honouring 'celebrity out of criminality'!? Scandalous! Who'd have thought that would make a popular musical? Why would anyone want to celebrate the morally bad folk getting away with murder? Yet this was done with such an underlining core of fun and sexy dark humour and somehow it worked and people loved it and continue to love it today so much so that it became a soar away success not only on the stage around the world but, also as a film version in 2005.

The new Chicago musical currently playing at Curve is directed by Paul Kerryson, the musical director is Ben Atkinson and the choreography by Drew McOnie and the multiple sets designed by Al Parkinson. Sound design and lighting design are by Ben Harrison and Philip Gladwell.

In musical terms this is a concept musical – not just a story with songs that end a scene followed by another song that ends another scene i.e. a traditional musical. A concept musical has numbers that comment on what is happening in the plot and the combined dance work visually illustrates what the motifs are and doubly demonstrates the character's motivations in a form that is often a pastiche in order to bring the point across in a theatrical way within pertinent musical and theatrical genres like ragtime or vaudeville. The dance beat and rhythms draw out the drama in a way that is enhanced and comprehensible to an audience theatrically. In Chicago there is an unreality and a stylisation in the portrayal of the major characters that lends the story a dramatic feel in these stories of corruption and murder. It sensationalises how a guilty party gets away with shooting her lover another more innocent victim hangs for a crime she didn't commit and celebrates the murderous actions.

The two female leads of Roxie and Thelma are played excellently by Gemma Sutton and Verity Rushworth and each are very strong in their dance and vocals. There is a lot of dark humour associated with each character and the actors bring it out in spades. These are performances that Curve will be proud of for years to come.

Sandra Marvin as Mama Morton practically blows the roof off the theatre with her powerful rendition of 'When You're Good to Mama' and commands the stage with her presence every time she appears on stage.

David Leonard as has a sleazy manipulative authority as the crooked lawyer Billy Flynn and is assured in his vocal numbers such as Razzle Dazzle and All I Care About (is love) and he really comes into his own in the surreal court scene. Matthew Burrow brilliantly inhabits Amos, the pathetic husband of murderess Roxie Hart. Amos believes that he is so insubstantial as a human being that he is practically invisible. Burrow does a great job with a very plausible character interpretation and wins sympathy with his song Mr Cellophane. Most inspired is the choice of Adam Bailey as Mary Sunshine the newspaper reporter who follows the trials of both Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly and Bailey has a startlingly good singing voice.

The whole twenty strong ensemble work hard to create the grubby vaudevillian sleazy atmosphere of this prohibition era Chicago. The major song and dance numbers are sexily realised through Kerryson's direction and the sizzling hot choreography of Drew McOnie and are thrillingly costumed to the point of cross dressing the dancers. The famous dynamic numbers such as All That Jazz and Cell Block Tango do not disappoint and are counterbalanced with more reflective numbers such as Nowadays. The live band on stage brings a terrific musical energy to the show.

The large stage is often dominated by dozens of hanging lights used to great effect and the set pieces of the County Jail and Speakeasy are strong. Furniture slides into place to create other venues such as the court or Billy Flynn's office or a bedroom. The lighting by designer Philip Gladwell is superb moving the story along and even blitzing the audience with hundreds of flashing camera bulbs as the journalistic frenzy builds as the body count grows.

This show is a hot ticket. If you can't get one just murder a friend who has one!

http://www.curveonline.co.uk

Runs until Saturday 18^th January 2014

This review was originally published by www.thepublicreviews.co.uk on 5th December 2013.

Written by Phil Lowe.

My top shows of my reviewing year are...

These choices are taken from my reviewing around the East Midlands and have been  difficult choices because I have the privilege of seeing some excellent shows both professional and amateur.

Top show of the year. Cooking with Elvis at Derby Theatre directed by Mark Babych.

Best musical. Chicago at Curve. Directed by Paul Kerryson.

Best Panto. Jack and the Beanstalk at Nottingham Playhouse. Directed by Kenneth Alan-Taylor.

Best drama. The Pitman Painters (touring). directed by Max Roberts.

Best dance work. Balletboyz - the talent. Choreographed by Liam Scarlett and Russell Maliphant.

Best children's show. A Christmas Carol. Lakeside. Directed by Martin Berry.


A Christmas Carol at Lakeside Arts Centre from Lakeside Marketing on Vimeo.

Best amateur musical. Oklahoma! Nottingham Operatic Society.

Best amateur drama. God of Carnage. Lace Market Theatre. directed by Graeme Jennings.

Well done to all these super shows that made it to the top of my reviewing list. Here's to some great theatre across the East Midlands in 2014. Phil Lowe.

An insight on my year as a theatre reviewer and writer.

Well, this time last year I would never have known what 2013 was about to grant me. With my 'proper' job I went on a course in mid Wales to learn about beef and lamb slaughtering and meat packaging and I got to appear on a national television advert for Tesco as the Tesco butcher in their Love Every Mouthful campaign.

More importantly to me I found an opportunity to work on a new aspect of my writing and from it I began to further develop my second blog about my involvement with the world of professional theatre. This came about through a chance finding of a review website called www.thepublicreviews.com. They were asking for new reviewers and so, as per their remit, I sent in a copy of a review I had done for Piaf at Curve theatre in Leicester which was accepted with some critical suggestions for style improvement and a particular way of writing. I also received an online booklet that gave all reviewers guidance and rules about the way a review should be submitted. The way it works is that every Sunday a listing is sent by email and you send in a 'bid' by email if you want to critique a particular show. If successful you get a notification saying that two tickets will be at the box office to pick up. There is no choice in the night you go and often it can be a press night so there is a chance to mingle and have a chat with the theatre staff with a glass of wine. There is a time pressure to have the review in on time. It is sent by email and must be with Public Reviews by 12pm the next day or you may be taken off their books. Considering I don't get home from the shows until about 11pm I still have to write the review and am often up until 1am until I am satisfied with the result. I do some research prior to going to the show which is important and helps with the writing. Incidentally, there is no wage to do this – it is done out of love for the theatre and writing. The tickets are comps.

I still review plays independently and now I have got my name and good reputation known over the year I get invites from Nottingham Live and Derby Theatre to review a variety of shows. I also use Twitter and Facebook to promote my blog post reviews and those that appear on the Public Review site.

Over the last ten months (I started in March 2013) I have reviewed over thirty shows mostly in Derby. I began at The Guildhall with Hardgraft Theatre's 'I Love Derby' and Reform Theatre Company's 'Me and Me Dad' and UK Touring Theatre's new translation of Strindberg's 'Miss Julie'.

For Derby Theatre I have reviewed their home grown productions and touring productions including Balletboyz -the talent, The Opinion Makers, Cooking with Elvis, September in the Rain, Go Back for Murder, Kes, Blue Remembered Hills, The Seagull, The Pitmen Painters and Horrible Christmas. For Derby Live I went to their amazing arts festival (Derby Festé ) and witnessed the stunning outdoor event – As The World Tipped.

For Nottingham Playhouse I have reviewed, The Ashes, The Kite Runner, Richard III and Jack and the Beanstalk and I went also to a free event about the writing process of a future production by Amanda Whittington called My Judy Garland Life. There have been very few chances to review at Nottingham's Theatre Royal but Nottingham Live did ask me review Nottingham Operatic Society's Oklahoma!

Recently I returned to Curve in Leicester to review the musical Chicago and even attended Martin Berry's 'A Christmas Carol' at Lakeside before going to work one Friday morning and then working until nine that evening! When I got home at 10pm I wrote their review and put it online. Phew!

There have been talks and shows that I have attended and decided not to do a review. This isn't because I didn't like them but usually to give myself a rest from 'having' to review everything and work full time and write my food blog as well!

I tend not to review at The Lace Market Theatre because I have so many friends there and it is difficult to offer an impartial view on a production when you know practically everyone involved. I do write articles for their monthly magazine -The Boards however and like to promote ex members who have gone on from an amateur status to study drama and theatre design with an aim of working professionally in the arts.

If I were to choose – the best play I have seen over the last ten months I would unreservedly say it was Cooking With Elvis at Derby Theatre.

The old Derby Playhouse (same building) gave me my grounding and enthusiasm for theatre going and acting during the 1970s and 1980s and this led to me joining and performing with Derby Theatre in The Round and Derby Shakespeare Company and eventually coming to Nottingham in the late 1980s to take my degree in the performing arts. I then spent many a happy year performing with The Lace Market Theatre and others and dipped into the world of television through Central Television productions and some film work.

So, thank you fate for steering me on this exciting course of writing about the theatre that I love. Who knows what 2014 will bring!

Do check out my theatre reviews on this blog!