Amateur Stage Magazine April 2010 by Amateur Stage Limited

amateur amateurstage THE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE FOR AMATEUR THEATRE APRIL 2010 www.amateurstagemagazine.co.uk

£2.95

tech talk

BETTER THEATRE SOUND costumes

MAMMA MIA PROFILED feature

POLITICAL PLAYS APR10_1-11.indd 1

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John Morley’s Pantomimes “The Doyen Of Good Pantomime Writers (The Times 1994)

Cinderella Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Peter Pan Babes in the Wood Beauty and the Beast The Sleeping Beauty Puss in Boots Red Riding hood Humpty Dumpty Wizard of OZ Mother Goose “No one knows more about Panto than John Morley (Sunday Times) From Noda LTD. 58-60 Lincoin Road, Peterborough PE1 2RZ (01733 865790)

Aladdin Robinson Crusoe Goldilocks & The Three Bears Pinocchio Jack and the beanstalk The Wind in the Willows Sinbad The Sailor Dick Whittington “Written byJohn Morley, this is Panto at its best” (The Guardian) From Samuel French LTD 52 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 5JR (020 7387 9373)

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amateurstageapr10 FROM THE EDITOR Firstly, a quick apology for the delay in this months magazine. We’ve been hit by a bug here at Amateur Stage central and it put us a bit behind. In this months magazine we have loads of technical expertise on offer. Theo Holloway is taking us back to basics with theatre sound and Lucy Gaiger tells us there is more to costuming Mamma Mia that spandex and sparkles. My thanks also to the fabulous crowd who attended the NODA North conference last month. I couldn’t have been made more welcome. The incriminating pictures can be seen in the magazine - there are lots more I’ve been told not to publish! I hope you enjoy this month’s magazine. Doug

THIS MONTH 5

NEWS

FIRST NIGHT INSURANCE

Robert Israel ASCII looks at insurance issues.

BETTER THEATRE SOUND

Theo Holloway from Orbital takes us back to basics.

POLITICAL PLAYS

Martin Bowley QC looks at political plays in this election year.

NODA NORTH

A pictorial report of the recent NODA North conference.

MAMMA MIA!

We speak to Lucy Gaiger about Mamma Mia’s costumes.

PRODUCTION DIARY

A quick guide to what’s on around the UK

GETTING PUBLISHED PT 2

Stuart Ardern looks at the importance of proofing.

News from around the country.

PLAYSCRIPT REVIEWS

David Muncaster looks at the latest playscripts.

THE FINAL WORD - DORIS

Cover: Love Never Dies

credits Published monthly by Next Phase Media Limited Suite 404 Albany House, 324/326 Regent Street, London W1B 3HH P: 0207 622 6670 www.amateurstagemagazine.co.uk Publisher - Paul Webster : paul@nextphasemedia.co.uk Editor - Douglas Mayo : editor@asmagazine.co.uk Subscriptions/ Diary Listings : diary@asmagazine.co.uk Advertising : Zoya Berkeley: zoya@asmagazine.co.uk P: 0207 078 4893 All rights reserved throughout the world. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written consent of Amateur Stage. The views and opinions expressed by the contributors to this magazine may not necessarily represent the views of Amateur Stage.

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

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NEWS Society ofﬁcials had to decide whether to cancel the show – its most ambitious and expensive in its history – or try to ﬁnd another venue. Agreeing that “the show must go on”, they found another venue within a week – a local comprehensive school – but then hit another stumbling block! The hall and stage was not available until the school’s Whit holiday week in June. Would all the cast, scenery, costumes, director, musical director and orchestra, stage crew still be available? Would the rights holders agree to a postponement? How could all the patrons who had tickets be contacted? Would the production, including a complete rain set, designed for one stage, transfer easily to another in such a short time? The problems seemed insurmountable, with new ones rearing their heads every day! Fortunately, all the principals in the show were still available, but a couple of chorus members sadly had to drop out because of other commitments. All the other components of the production were successfully negotiated and within two weeks the show was “back on the road!” Director Marjorie Bolam said: “On initially hearing the news regarding the closure of the hall, I was devastated as I had just returned that night from a very successful principals’ rehearsal and plans were in place for a full cast rehearsal on the following Sunday.

IT NEVER RAINS A cloudburst has hit an operatic society’s forthcoming production of the musical Singin’ In The Rain. With five weeks to go before its April 27th opening night, Seaham Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society, in County Durham, received the shock news that its show venue was to close immediately - after a surveyor’s report condemned the building on health and safety grounds. The venue – Vane Tempest Social Welfare Centre – has served Seaham since 1934 as a popular community centre at the heart of the town and the society has performed its shows there for over 40 years. Trustees of the centre have spent many years fighting for its survival and efforts were launched to revamp the building, but the plans hit funding difficulties. The tough decision to close the centre was made when the surveyor’s report revealed asbestos in two rooms and that the repair bill for its removal and rewiring and re-roofing the building to make it safe would be over £500,000.

Operatic society chairman Dorothy Porteous said: When we received the news the centre was to close we were all stunned and devastated. Although I and another society official are committee members of the centre, the announcement was sudden and unexpected. The thought of having to cancel the show after months of hard work rehearsing and organising the production was most upsetting and I couldn’t stop thinking about the costs we may incur. “However, after much hard work by society officials and many frantic telephone calls, we managed to find another venue although the date of the production had to change. This gave us many more problems but, with the strong support of our cast, production team and suppliers, we expect the show to go ahead as planned. “We have had wonderful help and sympathetic co-operation from Durham County Council, our scenery supplier, costumier, lighting and sound people, Gordon Richardson our NODA representative, fellow societies and the rights holder Weinberger, whose staff couldn’t have more helpful and supportive. Our grateful thanks to them all.”

“I just couldn’t imagine cancelling the show, after all the hard work everyone had put into it. I received many calls and text messages from the cast who were very upset at the thought of having to cancel the show, as they were all enjoying the experience so much. “However, now a new venue has been found, and although I am losing two of my cast, which I am so sorry about, we have to now work towards our new date, and also to keep the high enthusiasm going which we had before this shocking news.” Singin’ In The Rain is, of course, the stage version of the classic Hollywood movie starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor – arguably one of the best screen musical ever made. Its plot revolves around the change-over from silent movies to sound, following the release of the Al Jolson ﬁlm The Jazz Singer. The Seaham society’s show will now be staged at Seaham School of Technology, Burnhall Drive, Seaham, from June 1 to 5. Tickets available by ringing 0191 5812838. Pictured outside the condemned show venue are principals, left to right, Graeme Smith (Cosmo Brown), Amy Bagnall (Kathy Selden) and Brian Jordan (Don Lockwood).

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

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NEWS

SOUTHERN COUNTIES DRAMA FESTIVAL 2010 During the last week in February, 11 amateur dramatic groups from Surrey, Kent and Sussex performed their chosen one-act play at the Barn Theatre in Oxted. The competion was the Southern Counties Drama Festival which is a first round festival of the All-England Theatre Festival. Six adult and five youth groups competed for a variety of awards, judged by professional adjudicator, Arthur Rochester. The winner of this first round was the final entry to take to the stage, the Barfield Players performing ‘The Window Cleaner’ by Gillian Plowman, directed by Sandra Barfield. In addition, this society scooped the award for Best Actress and Actor. Best Actress went to seventeen-year-old Sophie Kisilevsky who played Jill the window cleaner and the Best Actor Award went to Richard Jeffreys who played Daryl the burglar. Jill discovers Daryl in a flat for which she has the keys and they get to know a great deal about each other as the situation unwinds and tension builds. The set was also praised for giving the impression of wealth which the lighting complemented. The runners up for the third year running were the Young Oxted Players with ‘1 of 56’ written and directed by Ben Atterbury. The play tells of Joshua Thompson who finds himself a

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prisoner of his imagination when he falls into a coma and tumbles through his own memories. This was nineteen year old Ben’s first attempt at writing and directing although he is already an experienced actor having won Best Young Actor at last year’s festival. The group was also awarded the Gatwick Airport Community Trust Award for Best Youth Production. Gatwick Airport Community Trust has given financial support to the festival for the last 3 years and has committed further support for the next 5 years. One of the Trust’s core interests is supporting and promoting youth work. In recognition of the support given by the Trust, the Festival have named the youth award The Gatwick Airport Community Trust Award for Best Youth Production. The complete list of award winners is as follows

Best Young Actress

Jessica Barrett in Hush Little Celia - Heathfield Drama Club

Best Young Actor

Matthew Martin in Hush Little Celia - Heathfield Drama Club

Best Actress Sophie Kisilevsky in The Window Cleaner – Barfield Players

Best Actor

Richard Jeffreys in Barfield Players

The Window Cleaner –

Best Stage Presentation

The Oxted Players - Alternative Accommodation

Adjudicator’s Award

Mary Pearson – Heathfield Drama Club

Festival Runners-Up

Young Oxted Players – 1 of 56

Festival Winners

Barfield Players - The Window Cleaner Both the winners and runners-up went on to compete in the Quarter Finals at The Playhouse in Walton-on-Thames on Sunday 7th March. Unfortunately neither group were the winners but Ben Atterbury received the Adjudicator’s Award for writing and directing his play 1 of 56 for the Young Oxted Players.

The Gatwick Airport Community Trust Award for Best Youth Production Young Oxted Players 1 of 56 written and Directed by Ben Atterbury

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

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NEWS

AMATEUR STAGE REVIEWS A few months ago we sent out word that were would be starting play reviews of amateur productions. We have subsequently been inundated by people volunteering their services. As you can imagine co-ordinating reviews for groups across the UK is no small feat and as a result the logistics are taking a little bit longer than we anticipated but we hope to start bringing you reviews in the next few issues. If you could like your show reviewed please email a review request to editor@asmagazine.co.uk. Please give us as much notice as possible and we’ll do our best to get one of our reviewers out to you. We are still looking for reviewers in London and the south. If you have an interest email us.

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AMATEUR SHOWS HIT TV At the time of writing Channel 5 have announced two new shows which will feature amateur theatre. According to the broadcaster, the first of these shows “The Show Must Go On” will “reveal the trials and tribulations” of the actors and crew from the chosen theatre company, as they prepare to present a comedy play. In the documentary, Jason will select the comedy play for the chosen society to perform. The society then have three weeks to cast, learn and rehearse the play, and present it in a West End theatre. Jason, best known for Only Fools and Horses and A Touch of Frost, said: “I was astonished to learn that there are hundreds of thousands of amateur actors and groups around the country enjoying local drama as I did many years ago. It was such a great way for me to enter into the theatre and so I was very excited about the prospect of returning to the world of Am Dram and seeing behind the scenes.” The second show called “Don’t Stop Believing” will be a reality style show aiming to cash in on the enormous success of Glee, the television phenomenon which has proven a massive success in many countries. More information on both of these production as it becomes available.

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FIRST NIGHT INSURANCE

ROLL ON SUMMER Robert Israel ASCII from Gordon & Co discusses the latest insurance issues affecting amateur theatre. As I pen this article on the last day of March, with my spies in Scotland telling me that they are having to wade through snow drifts, I thought it was probably the right time to look at open air performances which will be taking place during our summer! Certainly, as far as the First Night Insurance package is concerned, we do include a number of exclusions relating to performances that take place out doors. The standard First Night Insurance Policy covers more than one class of insurance and the exclusions relating to out door performances affect both the Material Damage and Cancellation Insurance Sections. The Material Damage Section covers all risks of physical loss or damage on equipment. However, the following perils are excluded to property whilst in the open:Theft, Wind, Rain, Hail, Sleet, Snow, Flood, Dust or Malicious Damage. One of the points that Societies sometimes forget to consider relates to the hiring in of equipment on a temporary basis for the duration of the performances. If a Society were to hire equipment and cover that equipment under their insurance policy, as almost certainly required by the hiring company, the issue is that the terms applicable to your own equipment automatically extend to any hired in equipment. Thus, the hire company will require you to have All Risks cover on the equipment but, whilst you do have the appropriate cover, it is of course subject to the exclusions shown above. So, you could be in a situation where some hired-in equipment is stolen whilst out doors and you would not be able to make a successful insurance claim under your Policy. This could potentially be of severe financial embarrassment to the Society as the hire company will look directly to the Society for reimbursement. Unfortunately the problem may not end there because, within the terms of the hire company’s contract, there may be a clause which states that the Society will be responsible for continuing hiring charges until such time as the stolen item is replaced. Ah! I hear you say, but we know that the First Night Policy has an automatic extension to cover additional hiring charges. Yes, that is correct, but the additional hiring charges cover is provided under the Material Damage Section of Policy, which of course is subject to the Property in the Open Exclusion Clause. So you can see that the Society could be faced with a bill, not only for the replacement of the equipment, but also for loss of continuing hiring charges. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that, if an Insurance Company is not going to pay for the replacement of the stolen equipment, then it may well take the Society longer to generate the money to pay for the lost equipment and thus the hiring charges bill will be that much higher. One potential answer to this issue is to approach your Insurers to see whether they would be prepared to amend the exclusions. A lot will depend on whether overnight security is being employed, or whether all the property is being packed away over night once the performance has finished. All of these factors would be taken into account by an Underwriter should a request for an amendment to the basic wording be forthcoming. Sometimes, with acceptable answers to the above questions, an Underwriter would perhaps agree to provide the cover, subject to an increased excess, together with the payment of an additional premium. Even if an Underwriter increased the standard excess from £100 to, say, £1,000, at least the Society then knows what their maximum liability would be in the event of such a claim occurring. This is, of course, a much better scenario for the members of the Society than having no cover whatsoever. However, there is of course no guarantee that the Underwriter would be prepared to change the standard terms, but at least you should ask. As far as the Cancellation Insurance Section of the Policy is concerned, this is of course much more complicated because there is within the wording a standard exclusion, not surprisingly in this country, for adverse weather conditions. It is far less likely for an insurer to agree an amendment to the Adverse Weather Exclusion under the Cancellation Section than to an amendment under the Material Damage Section. If such cover is required then we would look to try and place a separate Insurance Policy in the general London Contingency Market, away from the First Night Package. The problem is, of course, that the

weather statistics for the UK show, even in the middle of the summer, a more than likely chance of rain. It then becomes a problem as to how much rain needs to fall, and over what period of time. Premium rates for this class of insurance for risks in the UK are substantial for obvious reasons, but the risk can be placed. However, you need to look very closely at the wording being offered to you to make sure that it complies with your requirements. Finally, just a word about the Public Liability Section. If your performance is going to take place out doors, there is a possibility that you may be hiring in tiered seating for the performance. If this is the case then you must inform your insurers. The problem with tiered seating is that, if it were to collapse then a significant number of people could be injured at the same time and your insurers will want to know whether you have hired the tiered seating and, if you have, whether the suppliers have erected and will dismantle the tiered seating. They may also ask for you to obtain confirmation as to the level of Public and Products Liability Insurance carried by the suppliers. The reason for asking for the level of cover is to make sure that you as the hiring company do not have a Public and Products Liability Indemnity Limit which is higher than the suppliers because, if the claim is substantial and the suppliers’ insurance cover is not adequate then your insurers could well be faced with paying the claim above the indemnity limit of the supplier. All it remains for me to say is that I hope we all enjoy a great summer with fantastic weather!

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

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TECHNICAL THE MUSICAL PRODUCED

PROFESSIONAL SOUND FOR THE AMATEUR STAGE (Part 2) In his second article Theo Holloway from Orbital Sound goes back to basics en route to better theatre sound. Some Necessary Theory The central thrust of this series of articles is to convey that theatre sound isn’t a black art – getting good results is rather more a matter of understanding and applying a simple set of principles. So, in this article, we will be looking at some useful theory which forms the basis of these principles. Theory isn’t an end in itself, but a bit of theory will make your life considerably easier. While sound engineers are exactly that – engineers, not theoretical physicists – it’s well worth revisiting some basic physics. Physics Revisited - The Motion of the Waves Those that did physics at school can probably recall a stretched Slinky spring being used to explain wave motion. Waves can travel along the spring in two ways – either longitudinally, demonstrated by moving one end of the slinky backwards and forwards, triggering compression waves along its length, or transversely, shown by moving one end from side to side, resulting in ripples of displacement. Sound is transmitted by longitudinal wave motion in air – that is, ripples of air compression that travel outwards from a source of sound – your mouth, a bell, or a loudspeaker. A large part of the effort that goes in to designing a loudspeaker is to control the shape of these ripples. You want as much energy as possible hitting the audience, and not the walls or spilling back on stage – we’ll cover this in detail in a later article. There’s another reason for mentioning the physical nature of sound beyond simply

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establishing what sound is, and that’s to provide a warning on the limits of a theoretical approach. We’ve established that sound is a longitudinal wave, but all sound kit you’ll use assumes that you can fudge it and treat it as a (mathematically simpler) transverse wave. We get away with it because the size of the ripples that form sound is small compared to the overall air pressure – but it’s an approximation. Using theory is often not about absolutes, but more about understanding the approximations you’re using, and identifying the limiting factors that stand in the way of improving the end result.

Keeping Tabs on Decibels As decibels are cast about so freely in what we do, it is useful to clarify their principle. Decibels are not a measure of loudness, or signal level – they are simply a dimensionless ratio. They become a specific measurement when we define 0dB; so, if 0dB is a point on a mixing desk fader that corresponds to a certain signal level, then +5dB, -10dB and so on correspond to a certain amount of amplification or attenuation of that signal. Equally, we could decide that dBO (references are normally indicated by a letter after the dB) is a measure of fruit, and that 0dBO should correspond to ten oranges – in this case, -20dBO would be one orange, and +20dBO, a hundred. You’ll notice that an additive increase in decibels corresponds to a multiplication of the quantity described – we work in this way because audio electronics operates in terms of ratios, as does the human ear. If double the

amplitude of a sound, and then double it again, we perceive each change as being equivalent, even though the absolute increase in level is twice as much the second time. A doubling of amplitude corresponds to an increase of 6dB, but a subjective doubling of “loudness” is normally seen as being about 10dB. There are certain flavours of decibel one comes across regularly in sound – dBm is a measure of power, where 0dBm is one milliwatt, dBV is a measure of signal amplitude, where 0dBV is 1 volt RMS (see below for RMS definition). Confusingly, dBv (small v, also written as dBu) is a more common measure of amplitude, where 0dBv is 0.775 volts RMS. This is due to how audio and telephone electronics used to be designed – the convention has outlasted its original application. dB(SPL) is a measure of sound pressure level, where 0dB(SPL) is defined as the quietest noise the ear can hear. The ear can cope for a short period of time with levels of up to about 110dB, which is a change of amplitude by a factor of over three hundred thousand. dBA and dBC are also measurements of loudness, but with different frequencies weighted according to the human ear’s sensitivity – dBA is used to assess continuous exposure; dBC to examine peak levels.

What’s in a Watt?

Consumer loudspeakers are often advertised with misleading claims such as “70 Watts Peak Music Power!” This is a bit like saying that a car will accelerate from zero

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

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www.amateurstagemagazine.co.uk

TECHNICAL

to sixty mph in three seconds if you drop it off a cliff. For speakers and amplifiers, peak power isn’t a particularly useful quantity, unless it’s given with some other qualification – in which case it can be used to measure the ability of the system to handle accidental momentary overloads. Peak level does have uses in signal processing, where it can be used to control the effect of compressors and gates. A more informative measurement of signal level, speaker and amplifier power output is a signal’s “Root Mean Squared” level, or RMS. The mathematics is strictly optional (for any given signal, it’s the square root of the average value of the signal multiplied by itself), but it’s a far better measurement of the actual intensity of the signal, and the power it’ll deliver into a given load, such as a loudspeaker, irrespective of its content. Also bear in mind that raw wattage is no guarantee of loudness – a 30-Watt valve guitar amplifier will sound considerably louder than a 100-Watt nearfield monitor. There’s always a trade-off between fidelity (desirable in a nearfield monitor) and efficiency – and guitarists tend to want to be louder than everything else, favouring the distortion introduced by high-efficiency designs and overdriven valves.

Everything to Gain

It’s worth remembering that our job in theatre sound boils down to making things louder, without the process of amplification becoming a distraction. In our rush to tweak every option available, the details of this basic process, known as Gain Structure, are often overlooked. Gain is the measure of amplification or attenuation performed on a signal by a given process - as it is a ratio, it is dimensionless, and is normally expressed in dB. Every point in your signal chain will have an associated gain – such as the microphone pre-amplifier and many subsequent stages in a mixing desk, the processing electronics and power amplifiers. Each point will also have an envelope of signals that it is designed to deal with. This envelope is call the “dynamic range”, and is the range between the biggest signal that the object can handle, and the background noise produced by the object, beneath which the signal is inaudible. The challenge of gain structure is to set the gain of each point in your signal chain, to optimise the noise-floor-to-maximumheadroom dynamic range of the next item of equipment, or amplification stage, in the chain. Speakers and microphones also have a dynamic range, and they should be chosen and deployed as to best exploit this. Once you start thinking in terms of gain structure, you can create a mental checklist of things to watch out for, en route to making any system sound better and be easier to use. Some typical questions to ask include: • What’s the loudest part of the show? At this point, all the controls that the operator has access to (the faders) should be at nearly full, every point further down the signal should be getting a good hot signal, but still a fair way from peaking, and the amplifiers should be set to the appropriate level for the volume you’re after. • Can my microphones handle the loudest sounds thrown at them? If you’re getting distortion, you need to start at the microphone and work down the signal chain – once you’ve got distortion, no amount of attenuation will get rid of it. • Can I get the quietest things I’m amplifying loud enough without the noise floor of the system becoming audible, and the system becoming too “live”, and verging on feedback? The solution is invariably to get more noise in to the microphones (without risking overload), which normally just means moving them closer to the source they’re picking up – studio microphone technique tends not to apply! The answer is often something very simple; perhaps by just turning the amplifiers down, the operator finds they can mix on a larger fader range before the system feeds back, resulting in a better mix, with each component in the system after that point being driven harder, resulting in better sound quality. Irrespective of how experienced one is in terms of sound design and operation, it’s always beneficial to go back to basics from time to time, which is why we have set out these few theoretical oddments before we move to more practical matters in later articles. Your questions or comments would be greatly welcomed – contact me at amateurstage@orbitalsound.co.uk.

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

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PANTOMIMES By JOHN CROCKER The Smaller Cast Versions ALADDIN “PEAK OF PANTO PERFECTION” Exeter Express & Echo MOTHER GOOSE “FUN FILLED SCRIPT” Western Morning News SLEEPING BEAuTy “ A RIP-ROARINg SUCCESS” Exmouth Herald CINDERELLA “TRADITIONAL PANTO AT IT’S BEST” Hampshire Gazette DICK WHITTINGTON “A CRACKER OF A PANTO” Evening Herald, Plymouth BABES IN THE WOOD “WONDERFUL NEW ChRISTmAS PANTO” Herald Express and the latest JACK AND THE BEANSTALK “gIANT ChRISTmAS TREAT” Tiverton Crediton, Culm Valley Gazette PLUS the much loved favourites with music and lyrics by ERIC GILDER CINDERELLA, PuSS IN BOOTS, DICK WHITTINGTON, ALADDIN, BABES IN THE WOOD, SINBAD THE SAILOR, MOTHER GOOSE, ROBINSON CRuSOE, SLEEPING BEAuTy, HuMPTy DuMPTy, QuEEN OF HEARTS, RED RIDING HOOD, JACK AND THE BEANSTALK And a zany potted panto sketch POTTy PANTOMIME Also a Rock Musical THE FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER SHOW By JOHN CROCKER and TIM HAMPTON Music by KEN BOLAM Lyrics by LES SCOTT All obtainable from SAMuEL FRENCH LIMITED Training52course Mar10 11:51 Page Fitzroy St, London11/2/10 W1P 6JR Ph: 020 7387 93731

Professional sound for the amateur stage weekend of 8–9 May 2010 Place theatre sound at the top of your 2010 agenda by signing up for one of our free two-day courses. Theatrical sound can be a demanding subject, but many of its mysteries can be unlocked by learning a few tricks of the trade. Held at our base in Brixton, Orbital Sound’s newly-developed series of training courses are structured to broaden your theatre sound skills, irrespective of previous experience. For more information on our courses and modules, please visit: www.orbitalsound.co.uk/training/

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15/04/2010 16:20:00

www.amateurstagemagazine.co.uk

FEATURE

A POLITICAL RENAISSANC Martin Bowley QC examines the impact of political theatre in the run up to the General Election. In the run up to the spring General Election and with national media dominated by duck islands, moats and the Prime Minister’s taste in biscuits when it is not obsessed by Big Brother, the X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing - the theatre, at least, has been debating the major issues which should - though probably will not - be at the heart of the campaign, the credit crunch and the global financial crisis, Afghanistan and Iraq, climate change and immigration, civil liberties and terrorism. Leading the debate - as he has so often done in the past, has been Nicholas Kent, the artistic director of the tiny Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn. Over the past ten years his “tribunal plays” “have changed the idea of what performance is” (The Observer) and according to The Daily Telegraph “no theatre in Britain has told us more about the way we live now”. One Sunday in June I spent a whole day at the Tricycle watching “The Great Game” - 12 short plays by leading writers including David Edgar, David Greig and Ron Hutchinson, which between them explored the political military and social history of Afghanistan from 1942 to the present day. In 12 hours I learned more about that deeply troubled country that I would have from a month of broadsheets. In the autumn Kent staged “Not Black and White”, three new plays by established black writers - Bloa Agbaje, Kwame Kwei-Armah and Roy Williams - examining immigration, the Mayoralty and the prison system from their special perspectives. Performed in repertoire by a fine ensemble company they provided a powerful antidote to the bigoted ramblings on these issues from most of the tabloids. In addition the Tricycle presented two more “verbatim plays” “Deep Cut”, which focused on the army barracks in Surrey where four young recruits died of gunshot wounds between 1995 and 2002, and “Stockwell” which recreated the inquest into the shooting of Jean Charles De Menezez - and Simon Stephen’s “Pornography”, a fascinating, if oblique, examination of the London bombings in July 2005.

The Bush - another small fringe theatre with a remarkable record of encouraging new writing - opened its 2009 season with a promenade production of Adam Bruce’s “Stovepipe” dealing with mercenaries in Iraq and Jordan. A few months later the same theatre presented “The Contingency Plan”, two plays by Steve Waters - “On The Beach” and “Resilience” - which dealt - almost certainly for the first time - with the political, scientific and personal responses to climate change. Michael Billington wrote of Waters’ “massive achievement in making the most important issue of our time into engrossing theatre”. And in September in “2nd May 1997” The Bush - again somewhat obliquely - examined the personal impact of the first Blair landslide on that date on couples from each of the three main political parties. The Soho Theatre in January presented the first financial play of the year - Steve Thompson’s “Roaring Trade” - which even then seemed to have been overtaken by the Northern Rock crisis of the previous September. In the summer Lucy Prebble’s “Enron”, directed with huge theatricality by Rupert Gould, was an enormous success, first at Chichester’s Minerva, then in London at the Royal Court prior to its West End transfer which is still selling out. It has been described as “an exhilarating mix of political satire, modern morality and multimedia spectacle”. Among very many striking visual images it was impossible to forget the Lehman Brothers as Siamese Twins trapped in one huge overcoat. Prebble, quite brilliantly, dissected one of the greatest financial collapses of modern times. But only one. In “The Power Of Yes” at the National, David Hare attempted to do something much more difficult - and much more important. His avowed aim was to be found in his subtitle “ a dramatist seeks to understand the financial crisis”. His leading character, “The Author”, was clearly Hare himself. In some ways it is less a play than a two hour lecture, based on verbatim interviews with many of the key players. But in those two hours I learned as much about the origins of the credit crunch as

I had about Afghanistan in “The Great Game”. And even at a Sunday matinee a packed house was totally absorbed. Earlier in the year the National presented another major political play - Richard Bean’s “England People Very Nice”. For reasons I totally failed to understand it was attacked in some quarters as racist. It was nothing of the kind. It was rather a serious, but very funny, analysis of the process of progress of immigration into this country from the seventeenth century Huguenots, through the Irish and Jews in the nineteenth century to the Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and now Somalis of today. Bean set his play in Spitalfields where the original Huguenot church on the corner of Fournier Street and Brick Lane became in turns a Methodist Chapel, a synagogue and eventually a mosque. Finally two productions, both at the Young Vic, demonstrated the extraordinary range of modern political theatre. In “Kursk” the Maria Studio was converted into the interior of a British nuclear spy submarine, deep in Arctic waters, which in August 2000 is refused permission to try to save at least a few of the surviving crew members of a fatally damaged Russian submarine on which it had been keeping covert observation. In “The Container”, a cast of 6 and an audience of 28 spent an hour inside a very real - freight container, in the street outside the theatre, and explored the attempts of a group of illegal immigrants - Afghans, Turks and Somalis - to enter this country. Of course there is nothing new about political theatre. It has been around for more than 2500 years ranging from the Greek tragedies of Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles to Shakespeare’s Roman and history plays. Writing in “The Guardian” four years ago Chris Smith - the former Culture Secretary suggested a number of reasons for the cultural renaissance - “the absence of real effective opposition in the political and parliamentary sphere; the sharpened public awareness that comes with an unpopular war; a range of global issues that traditional political systems do not seem to be addressing; the renewed questioning of the nature of power by the people over whom it is exercised.” No doubt there are others, but certainly there is now a huge audience hungry for informed intelligent articulate political debate. We are all the better for that! And probably much wiser.

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

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EVENTS THE MUSICAL PRODUCED

NODA NORTH CONFERENCE 2010 16 events.indd 2

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

15/04/2010 07:42:35

www.amateurstagemagazine.co.uk

Amateur Stage were delighted to be invited to attend the NODA North Conference in Darlington last month. Delegates enjoyed a great quiz night, a great talk by Utopia Costumes, a dinner dance, awards ceremony and an all night sing along in the hotel bar. Our sincere thanks to the many great people I met during my visit and for being

EVENTS

so incredibly welcoming. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking forward to a visit next year. Meanwhile we are interested in hearing from other NODA regions about your yearly conferences.

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

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17 15/04/2010 07:43:12

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15/04/2010 18:33:28

www.amateurstagemagazine.co.uk

COSTUMES

A MODERN CHALLENGE Lucy Gaiger is the Associate Costume Designer for Mamma Mia Worldwide and Acting Costume Supervisor for Mamma Mia London. Douglas Mayo took time out to examine the challenges of costuming a modern show and found out that when it comes to Spandex everything may not be as it seems. AmStage: How long have you been involved with Mamma Mia? Lucy: The show has been running for 11 years this year. I’ve been on it from the very beginning.

AmStage: Did you honestly think the show would be as big as it is? Lucy: It’s as a fantastic show, I thought it would be successful but I didn’t know that it would be so global.

AmStage: That’s an awful lot of costumes. Lucy: We do a new set of costumes for nearly every production. There must be an awful lot of Super Trooper costumes. We have one lady from London who has made costumes for most of the productions (not for the Far East or America) but she’s done nearly all of the European costumes, she thinks that there’s about six or seven hundred costumes that she’s made herself. They really are glamourous costumes, the rest of it is quite modern. We have some fabulous things in the wedding scene and we do try to keep it quite current, but I suppose it’s the Super Troopers that everyone remembers so we have many hundreds of pairs of silver boots.

I’ve got Swedish friends who were of that era and were a little bit embarrassed about the ABBA thing. They thought that’s how everybody thought of Sweden. They took a little bit more warming up but I think that they’ll really proud to be honest. AmStage: The show is huge in America, did that suprise you? Lucy: At one point we had four productions running in the US including Broadway, Las Vegas and two tours. The Vegas production ran much longer then any other show there. What was interesting was that every other show was cut (to stop people running out to gamble during intermission) but we didn’t cut our show. I loved being in Vegas, it was so much fun. They took it off really because as a hotel you have

to keep having shows that are new. It never dropped off though. Now we have Broadway, London and we have the international tour of the world. AmStage: How does the international tour work? Lucy: It usually starts in an English city for practical reasons. This year we’ll do the tech in Newcastle and then it goes off, they’ve done the Far East, and masses of Europe. This year we’ve got Milan and Paris and Copenhagen all in the same two months. Were going to China next year, which has been pending for some time. AmStage: So how do you manage to control all those productions? Lucy: In Scandinavia I’ve got a good costume supervisor who I can trust, in Germany I have a fantastic girl who is back with us who will do Paris and Milan. I have a core group of people who I can trust and who are fantastic. We’re quite a small team.

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

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COSTUMES AmStage: So when did you think: Hang on, this show is going to be massive? Lucy: Once we were beyond previews, word of mouth spread. A lot of people thought it would be a hideous disaster. It changed a lot during previews and word of mouth was really good. Fairly soon afterwards we had a meeting where we were told we were going to do Canada. There were certain people on the show who’ve done the big shows, they knew the picture and how it all works. Phillipa, our director, had never done anything like it before. She was quite surprised but everybody else was like, ‘Yep, lets go for it.’ I don’t think anyone realised how many would go out, I think we beat Phantom at one point when it came to the number of shows touring, which is quite amazing really. AmStage: That’s an awful lot of Spandex Lucy: Ah, but its not normal Spandex, our fabric is especially made for us in Italy, there’s nothing normal in this show, it has to do eight shows a week! So the fabric we use is part silk and part lycra. The costumes have to wear, especially on tour, they can do three or four days in an arena and then they pack up and go. Unlike a lot of show costumes and ballet costumes, we try to keep our costumes as natural as possible. They have to be easy to launder otherwise it can all get a bit grim. You can wash our costumes if you take off the collars and belts, if you didn’t they would soon rot and they don’t last so well. Our wardrobe mistress in London, who is our international shoe supervisor, goes round the world doing all the shoes for the shows because we are so specific. We want them to look like real shoes that you would buy for yourself not dance shoes. She’s worked out how to sort out insoles and all the things that dancers need. She’s also worked out all these methods of cleaning costumes so there’s no excuse for them being grubby. Only the trooper ones are really costumes, the rest of them are really clothes and they get a lot of wear. We have a lot of real things, it’s meant to be a real show with clothes as opposed to costume costumes. When people make them look like costumes I think it looks really fake, I think they should look like clothes and as real and current as we can make it. It’s why we don’t have lots of wigs, or tights and other things that many people would love, Phillipa was very clear on that. We try very hard, but obviously you can’t have your eyes everywhere. Bobby, who designs the sound, and Brian

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Beasley are so specific about that, we don’t have mics on peoples faces, we work very hard on that. It takes extra time and is difficult but visually it makes a huge difference. It’s really important that you don’t see those hideous things. I think all those sort of things are important, people know that shows are miked but I think you can forget these things. Our people are really hot at keeping the standards up, otherwise there is no point of doing it really. We’re very lucky. One thing we’ve been big on since day one is watching the small details. AmStage: So just how many costumes are in a production of Mamma Mia? Lucy: Counting the understudies we’ve probably got 400 costumes. I don’t think people realise how complicated it is. When we first started working abroad people would be very ‘Oh it’s just some some stuff from Gap.’ The easier it looks the harder it is to do. I’ve worked on Phantom, and whilst it is a challenge it’s nowhere near as challenging as doing something like this. On a show like Phantom you can hide people’s bodies in those costumes but we’re dealing with peoples bodies in normal clothes. You have to make them look as good as you can. There’s a lot of hand dying in this show and a lot of very complicated methods that go into making things. There’s a lot of maintenance, it’s a lot of work. Most people do enjoy working on it, they get a lot of satisfaction.

is there any specific advice you could offer groups doing the show? Lucy: If your doing an amateur production then I would say keep it simple. I would keep it current and fresh, I wouldn’t try and copy everything. The troopers you would have a go at, just make sure you’ve got the proper underwear on! That’s quite an important thing! You can do a lot with buying things and adding to them, especially in the party and wedding scenes. Do what suits people, don’t try and copy what we’ve done. Modern clothes are really difficult, what might suit me may not suit you. Don’t do wigs, do real hair! It’s all about keeping it natural. We did have a meeting once in Germany where all the women came to me and said “we are not going on stage bare legged”, they were horrified. But you just

AmStage: Have there been any nightmare moments in the costume depertment? Lucy: You get the usual nightmare scenarios, one of your principles being ill before you’ve made the understudies. zips on super troopers falling apart during fast changes but it’s rare if I am honest. Shoes break all the time but for me, not anything absolutely hideous. AmStage: So has going from country to country thrown up any interesting situations? Lucy: All countries do things differently, they all have their different characters. It can sometimes be a bit scary but you have to let people try. You don’t want to have people saying “Oh here come the English with another show”. You have to be a bit careful of that, but it always works out in the end. .. It must be strange for countries that never originate their own stuff, the UK and America have such a history of theatre. … we’re the lucky ones who get to create it. AmStage: When the rights for the show become available for amateurs,

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

15/04/2010 18:14:59

COSTUMES can’t have tights in flip flops. AmStage: How important is colour in a show like Mamma Mia? Lucy: We have hundreds of bibles of all the places we’ve been. Colours are very important. We start off in natural tones and the colours change as we move through the day. Voulez Vous uses midnight colours, Does Your Mother Know uses hot afternoon colours, and the wedding uses evening, sunset colours so you are looking at a palette of pinks, oranges and purples. You can do a lot with colours if you are incredibly strict. In ‘Does your mother know?’ we’re very strict, no green. It’s blues, orange and natural colours…. No red. That’s very very important because it focuses you right in on the scene. If you start putting in other colours then you start to loose the scenes. People who arrive on the island are dressed in natural colours, creams and beiges, people who arrive on the island

wear watches whereas people who live on the island don’t. They are very subtle little things but I think these sorts of things are really important. There are lots of little tricks like that, perhaps people don’t notice. But in the bigger picture there is always a reason why people do these things. Ideally you want someone on the production who has a really good eye. Just think about closing your eyes and identifying what it is about a scene that really registers with you. There are always things that you could cut down, we’re pulling back a bit as we’re doing smaller tours now. They’re doing a tour in Holland, they made some things but not that much, we tried loads of things on people, it looked fabulous but its quite a difficult area to go into if you don’t know what you’re doing. AmStage: So what are you and your team working on now?

Lucy: I’m doing the London cast change, there’s about four of us but not everyone works all the time. I’ve got one girl who comes in 2 days a week, Jemima who isdoing South Africa and popping over to Korea and then I’ve got Howard who used to be my original assistant, now he comes back and does all the horrible paperwork. There’s a pool of us, but not as many as in other departments. It’s great fun, that’s why I prefer it to doing something like Phantom. It’s a completely brilliant show but nothing changes. If you’ve got brilliant costume makers, which we have got plenty of in this country, then we don’t have too much of a challenge. If you’re presented with someone the size of an ox then you’ve got a challenge, but I love that, usually I’ll find a fabric I really love and you’d design something for that person… it’s much more interesting for me, and that’s why I’m still here.

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

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SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdia 18th One Act Play Festival

Anyone for Breakfast

w/c 21 June 2010 Preston Playhouse Preston, Lancs 01772 463122

13 - 15 May 2010 Princess Theatre Club Princess Theatre Hunstanton, Norfolk 01553 671539

42nd Street 11 - 15 May 2010 Kettering Operatic Society Lighthouse Theatre Kettering, Northants 01536 414141

50 Years of ROS 13 - 15 May 2010 Redditch Operatic Society Palace Theatre Redditch, Worcs 01527 527363

62nd Annual Adult Play Festival 24 - 29 May 2010 Skegness Playgoers The Embassy Theatre Skegness, Lincs 01754 765137

A G & S Cavalcade 21 - 22 May 2010 CAOS Musical Productions Assembly Rooms Chichester, W. Sussex 01243 783945

A Spot of Murder 06 - 08 May 2010 Arrow Players St Edmunds Hall Northwood Hills, Middx 020 8868 7785

Allo Allo 19 - 23 May 2010 The Chameleons United Reformed Church Wembly, Middx 020 8123 6443

Annie 03 - 08 May 2010 Taunton A O S Brewhouse Theatre Taunton, Somerset 01823 283244

Anything Goes 29 May - 05 June 2010 St Annes-on-Sea A O & D S Lowther Pavilion Lytham St Annes, Lancs 01253 658666 31 May - 05 June 2010 Saundersfoot Footlights Am Music Theatre The Regency Hall Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire 01646 682058 09 - 12 June 2010 Walkerville Musical Society Walkerville Community Hall Newcastle Upon Tyne 0191 236 2647

Apollo Players Back to the 60â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 05 June 2010 Whitby Amateur Dramatic Society Whitbys Pavilion Theatre Whitby, North Yorkshire 01947 60485

Bakers Wife, The 09 - 12 June 2010 Felixstowe Musical Theatre Spa Pavilion Felixstowe, Suffolk 01394 285893

Bat Boy: The Musical

07 - 12 June 2010 Blaenau Gwent Young Stars Beaufort Theatre Ebbw Vale, Gwent 01495 301049

Anybody for Murder 24 - 26 June 2010 Curtain Up A D S Totland Church Hall Totland, Isle of Wight 01983 754654

22 diary.indd 4

Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, The 11 - 15 May 2010 Larbert A O S Dobbie Hall Larbert, Stirlingshire 01324 623365

Betrayal 15 - 26 June 2010 Formby Little Theatre Formby Little Theatre Formby, Merseyside 01704 875821 www.formbytheatre.com

Bill Naughton Centenary Festival

Billy Liar

10 - 13 May 2010 Washington Musical Theatre Company Arts Centre Washington Washington, Tyne & Wear 0191 416 9751

12 - 15 May 2010 Boston Playgoers Society Blackfriars Theatre and Arts Centre Boston, Lincolnshire 01205 363108

Beauty and the Beast

Black Widow

04 - 08 May 2010 Curtain Call Productions Lyceum Theatre Crewe, Cheshire 01270 537333

Annual Concert

23 - 26 June 2010 Young Inspirations Theatre Co Pomegranate Theatre Chesterfield, Derbyshire 01246 345222

Beatles to Broadway

02 - 05 June 2010 Cowbridge A O S Llantwit Major School Llantwit Major, Vale of Glamorgan 01446 713110

25 - 29 May 2010 BROS Musical Productions Alexander Theatre Bognor Regis, W Sussex 01243 841763

09 - 12 June 2010 CCADS New Theatre Royal Portsmouth, Hampshire 023 9264 9000

12 - 20 June 2010 Bolton Little Theatre Bolton, Greater Manchester 01204 334400 www.boltonlittletheatre.co.uk

04 - 08 May 2010 Green Room Productions Wyllyotts Theatre Potters Bar, Herts 0208 360 1957

11 - 15 May 2010 Radlett Light Opera Society The Radlett Centre Radlett, Herts 01923 859291

04 - 05 June 2010 Margate Operatic Society Winter Gardens Margate, Kent 01843 292795

26 - 29 May 2010 Argosy Players Compass Theatre Ickenham, Middlesex 0845 838 9058

12 - 15 May 2010 Sheffield Manor Operatic Society City Hall Sheffield, S Yorks 01709 365108

Annie Get Your Gun

26 - 29 May 2010 Sainsbury Singers The Hexagon Reading, Berks 0118 988 2510

04 - 08 May 2010 Trinity Players Sutton Coldfield Town Hall Sutton Coldfield, W Mids 0121 382 4214 05 - 08 May 2010 Mayhem Musical Theatre Company (MMTC) Secombe Theatre Sutton, Surrey 0208 770 6990 10 - 15 May 2010 Watford Operatic Society Watford Palace Theatre Watford, Herts 01923 225671 19 - 22 May 2010 The Hastleons White Rock Theatre Hastings, E Sussex 01424 462280

29 April - 01 May 2010 Locko Amateur Dramatics Spondon Village Hall Spondon, Derbyshire 01332 669138 www.derbyartsandtheatre.org.uk

Blithe Spirit 12 - 15 May 2010 Rayleigh A O & D S Palace Theatre Southend on Sea, Essex 01702 351135

Blitz! 18 - 22 May 2010 Masqueraders Theatrical Society Abbey Theatre Nuneaton, Warks 024 763 93211 22 - 29 May 2010 Trowbridge A O S The Arc Theatre Trowbridge, Wiltshire 0845 299 0476

Blue Remembered Hills 08 - 15 May 2010 Bolton Little Theatre Bolton, Greater Manchester 01204 334400 www.boltonlittletheatre.co.uk

Boogie Nights 25 - 29 May 2010 Blackpool & Fylde Light Opera Company The Grand Theatre Blackpool, Lancashire 01253 290190

10 - 15 May 2010 Workington & District Amateur Musical Soc Carnegie Theatre Workington, Cumbria 01900 602122

Bouncers 06 - 07 May 2010 Egerton Players Egerton Millenium Hall Egerton, Kent 01233 756188

Boyfriend, The 10 - 15 May 2010 Pickering Musical Society The Kirk theatre Pickering, N Yorks 01751 471553 11 - 15 May 2010 Gosport A O S Ashcroft Arts Centre Fareham, Hampshire 01329 223100 www.pad.hampshire.org.uk 29 May - 05 June 2010 Scarborough & District Light Opera Society YMCA Scarborough, N Yorks 01723 506750 23 - 26 June 2010 Spotlight Musical Theatre Company Compass Theatre Ickenham, Middx 01895 430031

Breezeblock Park 03 - 05 June 2010 Harlequin Theatre Harlequin Theatre Northwich, Cheshire 01606 353534 www.harlequinplayer.co.uk

Brigadoon 03 - 08 May 2010 Greasborough Operatic Society Civic Theatre Rotherham, S Yorks 01709 523573 09 - 12 June 2010 Bexhill Light O & D S The De La Warr Pavilion Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex 01424 229111

Broadway Pirates, The 12 - 15 May 2010 Henfield Theatre Company The Henfield Hall Henfield, W Sussex 01273 495220

Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story 19 - 22 May 2010 Stevenage Lytton Players Gordon Craig Theatre Stevenage, Herts 08700 131030 09 - 12 June 2010 New Directions Theatrical Society Theatr Elli Llanelli, Carmarthenshire 0845 226 3510

Bugsy Malone 01 June - 2 September 2010 Kidz R Us St Ives Theatre St Ives, Cornwall 01736 797007

But Chiefly Yourselves! 20 - 21 May 2010 Kingswood Players Kingswood Community Centre Bristol 0777 205 6562 www.kingswoodplayers.org

Calamity Jane 13 - 15 May 2010 Rayleigh A O & D S Rayleigh Mill Arts and Events Centre Rayleigh, Essex 01268 771751

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

15/04/2010 08:03:10

Wdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>> 19 - 22 May 2010 Coliseum O & D S Coliseum Theatre Aberdare, RCT 01685 882685 31 May - 05 June 2010 St Luke’s Arts & Drama Society St Luke’s Parish Hall Salford 0161 281 7423 09 - 12 June 2010 Nomads Drama Society Nomad Theatre East Horsley, Surrey 01483 284717 www.nomadtheatre.com 09 - 12 June 2010 Lochgelly & District A.M.A. Carnegie Hall Dunfermline, Fife 01592 780723 15 - 20 June 2010 Andover Musical and Operatic Society The Lights Andover, Hants 01264 368368

Carambas Revenge 01 - 08 May 2010 Wilmslow Green Room Society Wilmslow Green Room Wilmslow, Cheshire 01625 540933

Carmen 11 - 15 May 2010 Hatton Operatic Society The Magna Carta Arts Centre Staines, Middx 01784 256320

Carousel

Classic Acting Group

Constant Wife, The

10 - 15 May 2010 Lamproom Musical Theatre Company Lamproom Theatre Barnsley, S Yorks 01226 200075

27 May - 05 June 2010 Hartley Arts Group Victoria Hall Hartley Wintney, Hampshire 0795 6412826

06 - 08 May 2010 Abbey Foregate Drama Group St Nicholas Hall Shrewsbury, Shropshire 01743 356023

19 - 29 May 2010 Louth Playgoers Society Riverhead Theatre Louth, Lincolnshire 01507 600350 www.louthplaygoers.co.uk

Cleo Camping Emmanuelle & Dick

Cowardy Custard

24 - 30 May 2010 Newry Musical & Orchestral Society Town Hall Newry, Down 0785 1754478 25 - 29 May 2010 Crowthorne Musical Players Wilde Theatre South Hill Park Bracknell, Berkshire 01344 762380

Cavalcade of West End Musicals 19 - 21 May 2010 Edith Harrison Performing Arts Town Hall Theatre Hartlepool 01429 890000

Cemetery Club, The 22 - 29 May 2010 Rossendale Players New Millenium Theatre Rossendale, Lancs 01706 228720

18 - 22 May 2010 Humdrum Spring Arts & Heritage Centre Havant, Hampshire 023 9247 2700

17 - 22 May 2010 Seaford Musical Theatre The Barn Theatre Seaford, East Sussex 01323 492240

Crazy For You Come and Sing the Mikado 30 June 2010 Ipswich G & S Society New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich, Suffolk 01473 624333

Company 07 - 12 June 2010 St Augustine’s Musical Theatre Company Solihull Arts Complex Solihull, West Midlands 0121 705 2789 09 - 12 June 2010 Stratford Upon Avon Operatic Society The Civic Hall Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire 01789 296123

Confusions 05 - 08 May 2010 Argyle Players Tovey Hall Bath, Somerset 01225 858112

04 - 15 May 2010 Hinckley Concordia O S Hinckley Concordia Theatre Hinckley, Leics 01455 615005 12 - 15 May 2010 Birkenhead Operatic Society Trust Empire Theatre, Liverpool, Merseyside 0151 677 7084 25 - 29 May 2010 Eastbourne O & D S Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne 01323 505182 www.eodsinfo.co.uk 22 - 26 June 2010 East Surrey Operatic Society Harlequin Theatre Redhill, Surrey 01737 276500

Dangerous Corner 29 May - 01 June 2010 Whitby A D S Whitby Pavilion Theatre Whitby, North Yorkshire 01947 604855

Duston Players - Father Christmas Up the Pole!

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

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SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdia

Nomad Theatre - Puss In Boots

Darling Buds of May, The 19 - 22 May 2010 Burnley Garrick Club Burnley Mechanics Theatre Burnley, Lancashire 01282 664400

End of the Pier Variety Show 20 - 22 May 2010 Uxbridge Musical Theatre Iver Village Hall Slough, Berkshire 020 8848 8265

Death Defying Acts 18 - 22 May 2010 The Nomads Nomad Theatre East Horsely, Surrey 01483 284747 www.nomadtheatre.com

Equus

Disco Inferno

Fawlty Towers

11 - 15 May 2010 Bedford Marianettes Amateur Musical and Comedy Society Bedford Civic Theatre Bedford, Bedfordshire 07508 857217

Dresser, The 07 - 12 June 2010 The Progressive Players Little Theatre Gateshead Gateshead, Tyne& Wear 0191 478 1499 www.littletheatregateshead.com

Educating Rita 12 - 15 May 2010 Nomads Drama Society Nomad Theatre East Horsley, Surrey 01483 284717

Elephant Man, The 13 - 15 May 2010 Sawbridgeworth Players Victoria Hall Old Harlow, Essex 07752 161802

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08 - 15 May 2010 Rugby Theatre Society Rugby Theatre Rugby, Warks 01788 541234

20 - 22 May 2010 Cosmopolitan Players The Carriageworks Leeds, W. Yorkshire 0113 224 3801 02 - 05 June 2010 Whitley Bay Theatre Company Playhouse Whitley Bay, Tyne & Wear 01670 531604

Fiddler on the Roof 05 - 08 May 2010 Retford & District A O S Majestic Theatre Retford, Notts 01909 476005 01 - 05 June 2010 Chester Operatic Society Clwyd Theatr Cymru Mold, Flintshire 0845 330 3565 25 - 25 June 2010 Livewire Opera Company Wymondham High School Wymondham, Norfolk 01953 851543

14 - 15 May 2010 Halifax Thespians Halifax Playhouse Halifax, W. Yorkshire 01422 365998

11 - 15 May 2010 West Wickham Operatic Society The Churchill Theatre Bromley, Kent 020 8658 5117 www.wwos.org.uk

Footloose

Godspell

Flamingoland

03 - 08 May 2010 Christchurch Theatre Club Loughborough Town Hall Loughborough, Leicestershire 01509 231914

22 - 26 June 2010 Concordia Youth Theatre Concordia Theatre Hinckley, Leicestershire 01455 637700

18 - 22 May 2010 Brassneck Theatre Yeadon Town Hall Leeds, W Yorks 0113 250 5011

Golden Revenge

25 - 29 May 2010 Horwich A O & D S Albert Halls Bolton, Gr Manchester 01257 481068 01 - 05 June 2010 The Norfolk and Norwich Threshold Theatre Group Playhouse Theatre Norwich, Norfolk 01603 598598

Full Monty, The 02 May 2010 Brentwood Operatic Society The Queens Theatre Hornchurch, Essex 01708 443333 11 - 15 May 2010 Salisbury A O S City Hall Salisbury, Wilts 01722 434434 www.salisburyamateuroperatic.org.uk

11 - 15 May 2010 Lyme Regis Operatic Society The Marine Theatre Lyme Regis, Dorset 01297 443382

Gondoliers 11 - 15 May 2010 Three Towns Operatic Society Lowton Civic Hall Warrington, Cheshire 01942 883722 09 - 12 June 2010 Tynemouth G & S Society The Playhouse, Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear 0844 277 2771

Good News 10 - 15 May 2010 Caprian Theatre Group Little Theatre Gateshead, Tyne & Wear 07941 705024

Grace Darling, The Musical 30 June - 03 July 2010 The York Stars Joseph Rowentree Theatre York, North Yorkshire 01904 623568

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

15/04/2010 08:03:57

Wdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>> Iver Heath Drama Club - Jack & The Beanstalk

Waterbeach Community Players pantomime The Pied Piper. Photos Christine and Mark Easterfield

Grand Duchess, The

Half a Sixpence

08 May 2010 Haverfordwest O S Fishguard School Fishguard, Pembrokeshire 01437 781014

27 April - 01 May 2010 South Downe Musical Society Kings Theatre Southsea, Hampshire 023 9282 8282 www.pad.hampshire.org.uk

11 May 2010 Haverfordwest O S Theatr Mwldan Cardigan, Pembrokeshire 01239 621200 13 - 14 May 2010 Haverfordwest O S Torch Theatre Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire 01646 695267

Guys and Dolls 11 - 15 May 2010 Sussex Musical Productions Pavilion Theatre Worthing, W Sussex 01903 537383 www.sussexmusicalproductions.co.uk 02 - 05 June 2010 Denmead Operatic Society Park Community School Havant, Hampshire 02392 868386

03 - 05 June 2010 Phoenix Arts Company The Mick Jagger Centre Dartford, Kent 01322 221840

Heavens Below! 22 - 26 June 2010 Spotlight Musical Theatre Group Public Hall Beccles, Suffolk 07887 750846

Hello Dolly!

09 - 12 June 2010 Sidmouth Musical Comedy Society Manor Pavilion Theatre Sidmouth, Devon 01395 514413 23 - 26 June 2010 Clacton Musical Theatre Society Westcliff Theatre, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex 01255 436656

HMS Pinafore 30 June - 03 July 2010 Aycliffe Musical Theatre Greenfield School Comm & Arts Centre Newton Aycliffe, Durham 01325 379048

Hobson’s Choice 07 - 15 May 2010 Chapel Players Chapel Playhouse Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire 01298 813176

Hollow Crown, The 27 - 29 May 2010 Harlow Theatre Co Victoria Hall Theatre Old Harlow, Essex 01279 460062 www.harlowtheatrecompany.co.uk

Hollow, The 16 - 19 June 2010 Waterloo & Crosby Theatre Company Little Theatre Southport, Merseyside 0151 924 0231

05 - 08 May 2010 Broxbourne Theatre Company Broxbourne Civic Theatre Hoddesdon, Herts 01992 441946

Habeas Corpus

11 - 15 May 2010 Durham Musical Theatre Company Gala Theatre Durham, Durham 0191 332 4041 www.dmtc.co.uk

12 - 15 May 2010 The Oxted Players The Barn Theatre Oxted, Surrey 01883 724852 www.barntheatreoxted.co.uk

25 - 29 May 2010 STC Musical Society Dolman Theatre Newport, Gwent 01633 676270

20 - 22 May 2010 Wheathampstead D S Memorial Hall Wheathampstead, Herts 01582 763510 www.wheathampsteaddramaticsociety.co.uk

02 - 05 June 2010 Dover O & D S St Edmund’s Catholic School, Dover, Kent 01304 824400

High Society 11 - 15 May 2010 Wellington Arts Association The Wellesley Wellington, Somerset 01823 663597

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

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SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdia Honk!

Kiss Me, Kate

Mikado, The

18 - 22 May 2010 Starmaker Theatre Company The Oakwood Theatre Woodley, Berks 0118 978 9238

09 - 15 May 2010 Bromsgrove O S Artrix Bromsgrove, Worcs 01527 871426

03 - 08 May 2010 Dursley O & D S Lister Hall Dursley, Glos 07890 203318

Hot Mikado

11 - 15 May 2010 East Berkshire O S The Wilde Theatre Bracknell, Berks 01344 484123

11 - 15 May 2010 Trinity Methodist Music & Dramatic Fellowship Civic Theatre Chelmsford, Essex 01245 606505

15 - 19 June 2010 Springers Civic Theatre Chelmsford, Essex 01245 356106

Noises Off 09 - 12 June 2010 Maghull Musical Theatre Company Little Theatre Southport, Merseyside 01704 530521

Humble Boy 11 - 15 May 2010 Stafford Players Malcolm Edwards Theatre Stafford, Staffordshire 01785 254653 www.staffordgatehousetheatre.co.uk

Importance of Being Ernest, The 27 April - 01 May 2010 Marlowe Players Darley Abbey Village Hall Derby , Derbyshire 07961 607372 www.derbyartsandtheatre.org.uk 12 - 19 June 2010 HIADS Station Theatre Hayling Island, Hampshire 023 9246 6363

Iolanthe 19 - 22 May 2010 Chapel End Savoy Players The Deaton Theatre Snaresbrook, London 020 8527 0215

25 - 29 May 2010 Banstead & Nork A O S Epsom Playhouse Epsom, Surrey 07725 473178

Ladies Day 15 - 19 June 2010 Workington Playgoers Club Theatre Royal Workington, Cumbria 01900 603161

Lady in the Van, The 27 - 29 May 2010 Ingatestone and Fryerning Dramatic Club The Community Club Theatre Ingatestone, Essex 01277 352615

Les Miserables 02 - 05 June 2010 Stage One Youth Theatre Ferneham Hall Fareham, Hampshire 01329 231942

Jekyll & Hyde 11 - 15 May 2010 Solihull Theatre Company Solihull Arts Complex Solihull, West Midlands 0121 7046962 26 - 29 May 2010 Basildon Operatic Society The Eastwood Centre Leigh-on-Sea, Essex 01245 222267

Jesus Christ Superstar 21 April - 01 May 2010 Darlington OS Darlington Civic Theatre Darlington, Co. Durham 01325 244659 08 - 12 June 2010 Great Horton Theatre Company Town Hall Cleckheaton, W Yorks 01274 423824

Just Between Ourselves 18 - 22 May 2010 Highbury Players St. Phillip’s Hall Portsmouth, Hampshire 023 9238 9359

12 - 15 May 2010 Marsden Parish Church A O D S Marsden Parochial Hall Marsden, Huddersfield 01484 845311

Move Over Mrs Markham

Murdered to Death

22 May 2010 Godalming O S Electric Theatre Guildford, Surrey 01252 703376

Likes of Us, The 18 - 22 May 2010 The Elizabethans A O S Ossett Town Hall Ossett, W Yorks 01924 280344 20 - 22 May 2010 Barnstaple Young Generation Queen’s Theatre Barnstaple, Devon 01271 324242 23 - 26 June 2010 Handsworth & Hallam Theatre Company U of Sheffield Drama Studio Sheffield, S. Yorkshire 0114 247 6179

Little Shop of Horrors 16 - 19 June 2010 Nailsea Musicals Backwell Playhouse Backwell, Somerset 0845 224 7429 18 - 21 June 2010 Dryburn Theatrical Workshop Park View Theatre Chester-le-Street, Durham 0191 388 9709

Mack and Mabel

King and I

Memories

diary.indd 8

Moon Over Baffalo

Let’s Talk about the Weather

11 -15 May 2010 Mellow Dramatics Brewhouse Arts Centre Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire 01283 508100 www.mellow-dramatics.org

28 June - 03 July 2010 Havant Light Opera Spring Arts & Heritage Centre Havant, Hampshire 023 9247 2700

12 - 15 May 2010 St Herberts A D S St Herbert’s Parish Centre Chadderton, Lancs 0161 624 5856

Just So

04 - 08 May 2010 St Albans Operatic Society The Alban Arena St Albans, Herts 01727 844488

02 - 05 June 2010 Bath G & S Society King Edward’s School Bath, Somerset 01225 833349

24 - 26 June 2010 The Harlequins The Palace Theatre Redditch, Worcs 01527 65203

Jack the Ripper (musical) 19 - 22 May 2010 Platform Musicals Headgate Theatre Colchester , Essex 01206 366000

11 - 15 May 2010 Huddersfield G & S Society Lawrence Batley Theatre Huddersfield, Yorks 01484 430528

17 - 23 May 2010 Redcar Operatic Society Middlesborough Theatre Middlesborough, Cleveland 01642 815181

12 - 15 May 2010 Peterborough Playgoers John Clare Theatre Peterborough, Cambridgshire 01733 315684

19 - 22 May 2010 Ruislip Dramatic Society Compass Theatre Ickenham, Middlesex 01895 675343 www.ruislipdramatic.org 17 - 19 June 2010 Skegness Playgoers The Embassy Theatre Skegness, Lincs 01754 765506

Music Hall 03 - 05 June 2010 Haslemere Players Haslemere Hall Haslemere, Surrey 01428 643334

My Cousin Rachel 17 - 22 May 2010 St Austell Players St Austell Comm Centre St Austell, Cornwall 01726 879500

My Fair Lady 02 - 08 May 2010 Eastleigh Operatic and Musical Society The Point Eastleigh, Hampshire 02380 556749 04 - 08 May 2010 Whitby Area Musical Theatre Company Whitby Pavilion Theatre Whitby, N Yorks 01947 604855 19 - 22 May 2010 Aldridge Musical Comedy Society Prince of Wales Theatre Cannock, Staffs 01543 480626 09 - 12 June 2010 Wimbledon Light Opera Society Wimbledon Theatre Wimbledon, London 0870 060 6646

06 - 08 May 2010 Parlour Players Sanderstead U.R. Church Sanderstead, S. Croydon 020 8657 6509 12 - 15 May 2010 Harrogate Dramatic Society Harrogate Theatre Harrogate, N Yorks 07770 630299

Odd Couple, The 13 - 15 May 2010 Hemel Hempstead Theatre Company The Boxmoor Playhouse Hemel Hempstead, Herts 01442 234004

Oklahoma! 11 - 15 May 2010 PHEOS Musical Players Watersmeet Theatre Rickmansworth, London 01923 711063 www.watersmeet.co.uk 12 - 15 May 2010 Herne Bay Operatic Society Gulbenkian Theatre Canterbury University, Kent 01227 780217

Oliver! 19 - 22 May 2010 Penarth O & D S Paget Rooms Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan 029 2071 2260

Once upon a time at the Adelphi 04 - 08 May 2010 West Kirby Light Opera Society Floral Pavilion Theatre New Brighton, Merseyside 0151 512 7079 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 12 - 15 May 2010 Bonkers Theatrical The Masque Barton Seagrave, Northants 07857 186005

One Vision - A Journey Through The West End 17 - 22 May 2010 Kingston Vale O & D S Kingston Vale Village Hall Kingston Vale, Surrey 07982 046210

Orpheus In the Underworld 06 - 08 May 2010 Battle Light Opera Group Memorial Hall Battle, E Sussex 01424 211140

Our House 26 - 29 May 2010 Airbrush Productions Hazlitt Theatre Maidstone, Kent 01634 315620 08 - 12 June 2010 Derby Opera Company Derby Theatre Derby, Derbyshire 01332 255800 www.derbyartsandtheatre.org.uk

Out of Focus 14 - 19 June 2010 Keighley Playhouse Keighley, W. Yorkshire 08451 267 859

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

15/04/2010 08:04:37

Wdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>> Every two weeks you can read the complete, unabridged reviews of all the major national drama critics, reprinted with photos in Theatre Record. Send for a free specimen copy to:

Theatre Record PO BOX 445 CHICHESTER, W. SUSSEX

COSTUMES COSTUME HIRE, SHOWS KING & I, PHANTOM, LES MIZ, OLIVER, FIDDLER, KISS ME KATE, FOLLIES, PINAFORE, ANNIE, ALL PANTO SUBJECTS, ORIENTAL COSTUMES www.bpdcostumes.co.uk

Out of Sight, Out of Murder

Pillowman, The

Prometheus

05 - 08 May 2010 Phoenix Players St. Peterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Theatre Southsea, Hampshire 0845 293 9350 www.pad.hampshire.org.uk

18 - 22 May 2010 Kelvin Players Theatre Co The Studios Bishopton, Bristol 0117 959 3636 www.kelvinplayers.co.uk

09 - 10 June 2010 Side By Side Theatre Group Stourbridge Town Hall Stourbridge, W Mids 01384 395350

Outside Edge

Pirates Of Penzance

22 - 26 June 2010 East Berkshire Operatic Society EBOS Pinewood Theatre Wokingham, Berks 01189 733464

11 - 15 May 2010 Ramsgate Operatic Society Granville Theatre Ramsgate, Kent 01843 591750

Pack of Lies

Portrait of Fear

09 - 12 June 2010 Clacton A D S West Cliff Theatre Clacton-on-Sea, Essex 01255 433344

17 - 22 May 2010 South Shields Westovian Theatre Society Westovian Theatre South Shields, Tyne & Wear 0191 456 0980

Pajama Game

Private Lives

04 - 08 May 2010 Lancaster A D & O S Grand Theatre Lancaster, Lancs 01524 64695

01 - 08 May 2010 Halifax Thespians Halifax Playhouse Halifax, West Yorkshire 01422 365998 www.halifaxplayhouse.org.uk

Patience 26 - 29 May 2010 Harrogate G & S Society Harrogate Theatre Harrogate, N Yorks 0113 250 2677

Phantom (by Yeston & Kopit) 08 - 12 June 2010 Farnham A O S The Maltings Farnham, Surrey 01252 722233

Producers, The 12 - 15 May 2010 Southend on Sea O & D S Cliffs Pavilion Westcliff on Sea, Essex 01702 351135

Quartet 25 - 27 May 2010 Limelight Drama Group The Carriageworks Leeds, W. Yorkshire

Quarttet: 4 one-act plays 12 - 15 May 2010 Quarndon A D S Quarndon Village Hall Quarndon, Derbyshire 01332 840007 www.derbyartsandtheatre.org.uk

Real Inspector Hound & Harlequinade 20 - 22 May 2010 Redbridge Stage Kenneth Moore Theatre Ilford, Essex 020 8553 4466 www.redbridgestage.co.uk

Reefer Madness 25 - 27 May 2010 Vie Bheme Productions Spring Arts & Heritage Centre Havant, Hampshire 023 9247 2700

09 - 12 June 2010 Bournemouth & Boscombe L O C Pavilion Theatre Bournemouth, Dorset 07864 166299

Regina Monologues & Bombshells 04 - 15 May 2010 Highbury Little Theatre Sutton Coldfield, W Midlands 0121 373 2761

P: 01273 481004 Iver Heath Drama Club - Sleeping Beauty

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

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SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdia Stages and Hens 28 May - 05 June 2010 Woodhouse Players Welsh Church Hall Leytonstone, London 020 8504 3872 www.woodhouseplayers.co.uk

Strange Orchestra 02 - 05 June 2010 Southside Players Chestnut Grove School Balham, London 07914 657524 www.southsideplayers.org.uk

Streetcar Named Desire, A 12 - 19 June 2010 Halifax Thespians Halifax Playhouse Halifax, W. Yorkshire 01422 365998

Sugar (Some Like It Hot) Rehearsal for Murder

Scarlet Pimpernel, The

Sorcerer, The

24 - 26 June 2010 Watson Players Guildhall Theatre Derby, Derbyshire 01332 343649

11 - 15 May 2010 Ebbw Vale & District O & D S Beaufort Theatre Ebbw Vale, Gwent 01495 350179

27 April - 01 May 2010 Meersbrook Park Church Operatic Society Dronfield Civic Hall Dronfield, Derbyshire 0114 255 7634

Return to the Forbidden Planet

Seussical The Musical

Sorry, Wrong Number & Stop and Run

27 - 29 May 2010 Barking Music and Drama Kenneth More Theatre Ilford, Essex 020 8553 4466

Summer Holiday 28 April - 01 May 2010 Hayling Musical Society Station Theatre Hayling Island, Hampshire 023 9246 6363 www.pad.hampshire.org.uk

Romeo and Juliet - a Rock and Roll Musical 09 - 12 June 2010 Littleport Players Littleport Village Hall Littleport, Cambridgeshire 07799 604209

Rose and Crown 03 - 05 June 2010 Adur Theatre Company Shoremham Community Centre Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex 01273 463730

Ruddigore 04 - 08 May 2010 Eastbourne G & S Society Devonshire Park Theatre Eastbourne, E Sussex 01323 412000 05 - 08 May 2010 East Norfolk Operatic Society The Maddermarket Theatre Norwich, Norfolk 01603 620917 11 - 15 May 2010 Plymouth G & S Fellowship Devonport Playhouse Plymouth, Devon 01566 775557 16 - 18 June 2010 Hull Savoyards A O S The Middleton Hall Hull, Yorkshire 01482 876918

Rumours 29 April - 01 May 2010 Petuaria Players Brough Village Hall Brough, East Yorkshire 01482 668610 www.petuariaplayers.co.uk

Salad Days 24 - 26 June 2010 Wolverton G & S Society MadCap Wolverton Milton Keynes, Bucks 01908 262250

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17 - 19 June 2010 BOS Musical Company The Regent Centre Christchurch, Dorset 01202 499199

Seven Brides For Seven Brothers

18 - 20 May 2010 Penrhyn Bay Players Penrhyn Old Hall Penrhyn Bay, Llandudno 01492 596020

Spend, Spend, Spend

28 June - 03 July 2010 Newmarket O M & D S Kings Theatre Newmarket, Suffolk 01638 663337

11 - 15 May 2010 Wakefield West Riding O S Theatre Royal Wakefield, W Yorks 01924 211311

Shows R Us

Spot of Murder, A

Walton & Weybridge A O S The Playhouse Walton on Thames, Surrey 01483 770130

06 - 08 May 2010 Arrow Players St Edmund’s Hall Northwood Hills, London 020 8868 7785 www.arrowplayer.org.uk

Showtune: Jerry Herman 20 June 2010 Forest Musical Productions Kenneth Moore Theatre Ilford, Essex 020 8553 4466

Singin’ In The Rain 25 - 29 May 2010 Sutton Coldfield Musical Theatre Co Ltd Lichfield Garrick Lichfield, Staffs 01543 412121 29 May - 05 June 2010 Cromer & Sheringham A O & D S Cromer Pier Pavilion Theatre Cromer, Norfolk 01692 678010 29 June - 03 July 2010 Torbay O & D S Priness Theatre Torquay, Devon 0844 8472315

Sisterly Feelings 20 - 22 May 2010 Parish Players St. Mary’s Church Hall Merton Park, London 07546 065 267 www.parishplayers.net

Small Hours, The 12 - 15 May 2010 Broughton Players Preston Playhouse, Preston, Lancs 01772 463122

Something to Hide 10 - 12 June 2010 Rowlands Castle A D S Parish Hall Rowlands Castle, Hampshire 023 9241 3124

Spring Concert 07 - 08 May 2010 Haworth-West Lane Baptist A O S West Lane Baptist Chapel Haworth Keighley, W Yorks 01535 603065

05 - 08 May 2010 Youth Onstage The Old Rep Theatre Birmingham, 0121 474 2104

Summer Revue 25 June - 03 July 2010 Hemel Hempstead Theatre Co The Boxmoor Playhouse Hemel Hempstead, Herts 01442 234004

Sweeney Todd 11 - 15 May 2010 Sussex Musical Productions Pavilion Theatre Worthing, W Sussex 01903 206206 02 - 05 June 2010 Richmond Operatic Society Georgian Theatre Royal Richmond, N Yorks 01748 825252

DIARY SUBMISSIONS Diary submissions are published each month for the two months immediately following publication. Please note that the submission deadline is the 1st of each month. Submissions should be sent in the format shown in the magazine to diary@asmagazine.co.uk Production photos should be emailed to editor@asmagazine.co.uk

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

15/04/2010 08:05:19

Wdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>SHOWdiary>>

Dollar Drama Club - Meat & Two Veg

Sweeney Todd Shock’n’Roll Show 21 - 22 May 2010 Knights Youth D S Tolleshunt Knights Village Hall Maldon, Essex 07954 229869

Sweet Charity 03 - 08 May 2010 Blackburn Musical Theatre Co Thwaites Empire Theatre Blackburn, Lancs 01254 685500

19 - 22 May 2010 Albrighton Musical Theatre Company Albrighton Junior School Albrighton, West Midlands 01543 502958

Toe in the Water

Utopia Limited

17 - 19 June 2010 Crofton A D S Theatre Hall Stubbington, Hampshire 01329 661143

16 - 19 June 2010 Sheringham Savoyards The Little Theatre Sheringham, Norfolk 01263 822347

Trial By Jury & The Zoo

Watercolour Weekend

Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf

09 - 12 June 2010 Swaffham Bulbeck Summer Theatre Downing Farm Swaffham Bulbeck, Cambs 01638 508171

29 April - 01 May 2010 West Moors Drama Society West Moors Memorial Hall Ferndown, Dorset 01202 861090

15 - 26 June 2010 Highbury Little Theatre Highbury Little Theatre Sutton Coldfield, W Midlands 0121 373 2761

Twelfth Night

Wedding Singer, The

Winslow Boy, The

10 - 15 May 2010 Kinver Light O S Edgecliff High School Kinver, S Staffs 01384 836963

19 - 22 May 2010 Deben Players Seckford Theatre Woodbridge, Suffolk 01394 382240

08 - 12 June 2010 Great Barr Musical Theatre Co Crescent Theatre Birmingham, West Midlands 0121 680 3525

26 April - 01 May 2010 Keighley Playhouse Keighly, West Yorkshire 01535 604764 www.keighlyplayhouse.co.uk

26 April - 01 May 2010 Brookdale Theatre Brookdale Club Bramhall, Cheshire 0161 439 0505

24 June 2010 Mikrokosmos Theatre Co. Bodelwyddan Castle St Asaph, Wales 01691 777074 www.mikrokosmos.co.uk

West Side Story

Wizard of Oz

02 - 05 June 2010 Nottingham Operatic Society Youth Group Nottingham Playhouse Nottingham, Notts 0115 941 9419

02 - 05 June 2010 Cheltenham O & D S The Everyman Theatre Cheltenham, Gloucestershire 0779 448 7822

25 June 2010 Mikrokosmos Theatre Co. Whittington Castle Nr Oswestry, Wales 01691 777074 www.mikrokosmos.co.uk

07 - 12 June 2010 Pershore O & D S Community Arts Centre Pershore, Worcestershire 01386 555488

16 - 19 June 2010 Kaleidoscope Players Guildhall Theatre Derby, Derbyshire 01332 281900

22 - 26 June 2010 Morecambe A O & D S Lancaster Grand Theatre Lancaster, Lancs 01524 64695

17 - 19 June 2010 Nuneaton Panto & Revue Society Civic Hall Bedworth, Warks 024 7637 6707

When The Lights Go On Again

Write Me A Murder

Sweet Panic 23 April - 01 May 2010 Company of Ten Abbey Theatre St Albans, Herts 01727 857861

Titfield Thunderbolt, The 20 - 22 May 2010 Shiphay A D S St John’s Church Hall Torquay, Devon 07595 306171

To Have and Too Old 20 - 22 May 2010 Kibworth Theatre Co Kibworth Grammar School Hall Kibworth, Leics 07812 203654

26 June 2010 Mikrokosmos Theatre Co. Erdigg Wrexham, Wales 01691 777074 www.mikrokosmos.co.uk 30 June - 03 July 2010 Mikrokosmos Theatre Co. Theatr Clwyd Mold, Wales 01691 777074 www.mikrokosmos.co.uk

04 - 08 May 2010 Woodford Community Players Woodford Community Centre Stockport, Cheshire 0161 292 2420

04 - 08 May 2010 Workington Playgoers Club Theatre Royal Workington, Cumbria 01900 603161

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

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PLAYSCRIPTS

THE ROAD TO PUBLICATION Part Two: In his second article Stuart Arden from Lazy Bee scripts looks at the importance of correct spelling and presentation in a playscript. Have you ever found an error in the text of a published play? I certainly have - including (but not limited to) errors in the ones I’ve published. The rarest sort is introduced during the publication process (where the editor thinks he knows better than the writer). More commonly, it’s a failure to remove errors from the text. So what can be done to improve this process? Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn used to write in different coloured inks, depending on how he felt about the individual sentence. I’ve seen playwrights do similar things. This always strikes me as odd, since publishers almost invariably publish text in black and white. The publisher is looking for simplicity and consistency. That means the minimum number of font styles and sizes to cover the necessary information. A play needs to convey little detail (in addition to the text): generally scene headings, directions, speakers’ names and speeches. Within speeches, there may be emphasis. That’s five sets of information. If the body of the text contains more than five font styles and sizes, then it’s likely something has gone amiss. The more variation it contains, the more the editorial process will struggle to boil the text down to the essential elements (and the more the text will suffer). Beyond that, there’s the matter of consistency in character names. (If anyone feels the need to remind me that Shakespeare was inconsistent in this

respect, I shall feel constrained to remind them that they are not Shakespeare. Shakespeare did not own a word processor.) Think of the poor actor, looking for lines and directions that could be assigned to “Doris”, “Mum” or “Mrs. Hardcastle”. Responding to editorial corrections to his grammar, Raymond Chandler wrote “I write in a sort of broken-down patois which is something like the way a Swiss-waiter talks, and when I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will remain split.” What applies to Chandler’s first person narratives also applies to characters in a play - they need to sound real, and real is not necessarily grammatically correct. The corollary is that the author needs to check the speeches for consistency with the character. The only breaks with grammatical conventions should be the deliberate ones (which, by definition, the editor should not correct). Of course, this gets sorted out by the actors and director during the first production of a show - which is one reason why the author should get involved in the readings: to improve his own text. Another area where reading through with actors will help is with punctuation. Especially sight-reading. If an experienced actor struggles to phrase a line correctly, then the chances are that it could be punctuated better. Have you read “A Number” by Caryl Churchill?

It’s an absolutely brilliant play (published by Nick Hern Books). Churchill’s writing captures the way people speak: in fragments and malformed sentences where one idea interrupts another. She also keeps her punctuation to a minimum. I first met the play in a play-reading group and it was absolute murder to sightread. As someone commissioned by professional theatre companies, Churchill can afford to do this. Exploring how to phrase fragmentary dialogue becomes part of the development of a production. However, for writers selling a show from the printed page, using punctuation to indicate where one idea breaks off and another starts makes the script easier to understand and therefore more attractive to potential producers. Whilst most editors keep a bucket of commas under their desks for just such a contingency, it is far better that the writer sorts out the punctuation first, not least because the writer should have a better understanding of ambiguous phrases. If the writer presents a clean text then the editorial process will stand a better chance of catching remaining errors and ambiguities. The more a script gets read before publication, the better it will get. As the old joke goes, you can never have too much poof reading. Stuart Ardern is the general manager of Lazy Bee Scripts (www.lazybeescripts.co.uk)

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PLAYSCRIPTS

PLAYSCRIPT REVIEWS - APRIL David Muncaster reviews the latest playscript releases.

A HEALTHY GRAVE AUTHOR: Simon Brett PUBLISHER: Josef Weinberger ISBN NO: 9780856763366 CAST: 1M 1F Robert and Hilary are in their seventies and have been married for more than forty years. As a university lecturer Robert is used to having an audience, but now he only has Hilary, who puts up with his self indulgent diatribe with an understandable lack of good grace. For an elderly couple their manner of speaking seems quite youthful and they both demonstrate something of a spring in their step when it comes to extra-marital affairs, his being rather less clandestine than he imagines. There is a lot of gentle humour in this play and Brett captures nicely the kind of banter that only exists amongst people who know each other very well. The moments of affection feel particularly natural for a couple who have been together for so long: for example, in one touching moment, Robert says “We’re all right aren’t we?” rather than a more obvious declaration of love. As Robert’s bitterness at not getting the kind of rewards from his career that he believes he deserved is revealed, there are a few heartfelt side swipes at the world of academia and its relationship with the media and, due to the characters being so believable, I could not help feeling sorry for the pair of them: Hilary for the sacriﬁces she has had to make to support her husband but Robert also, for the deeply hidden knowledge, brieﬂy exposed, that he has been deluding himself for most of his life. A two-hander is always a challenge but it is refreshing to read a play that offers such rewarding roles for more mature actors.

TWICE UPON A TIME AUTHOR: Jim McKeon PUBLISHER: New Theatre Publications ISBN NO: 97818409447144 CAST: 4M 4F It is rural Ireland in the 1970’s and Nora and John Joe are worried about their son Jeremiah. He is a fine strapping lad but his company of choice, Susie, has double the number of legs than would be ideal. To his parents, the fact that Susie goes to mass every Sunday is not enough, they would prefer Jeramiah to take up with someone less porcine. This is an example of the pleasantly surreal touch to this play which, with its outrageous behaviour in a conventional setting, is somewhat reminiscent of the television programme Father Ted. At times the dialogue seems a little heavy handed, as though it is only there in order set the scene, and I am puzzled by the cast list at the front of the script naming a character ‘Miss Smith – twenties’. When this character appears she is Miss Smidt, a black German Jewish girl. I can only imagine that the author did this in order to not spoil the surprise for the reader when Miss Smidt enters, but this is quite wrong. Plays are written to be performed, not read, and cast lists are there to help people decide if it is possible for them to stage the play. This is a minor quibble though, and we are carried along by the charm of the storyline, the laughs coming frequently in the first act as the misguided parents scheme to find a suitable partner for their son. After the interval we move forward thirty years and Jeremiah finds himself in a similar position to that of his parents with one remaining son who refuses to be married off. Also called Jeremiah, he couldn’t be more different from his father being a smart, successful, jet-setting playboy but, as the play reaches its climax, we are reminded that the more things change the more they stay the same.

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AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

16/04/2010 00:42:41

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PLAYSCRIPTS

THE THIRTY NINE STEPS AUTHOR: Adapted by Patrick Barlow PUBLISHER: Samuel French ISBN NO: 9780573114403 CAST: Min 3M 1F RECOMMENDED RETAIL PRICE: £8.95 The Thirty Nine Steps on stage! How can this be possible? Let me see what I can remember from the Hitchcock film. Well, there is Mr Memory in the music hall. That shouldn’t be too difficult. Then there is the kiss and subsequent betrayal in the railway carriage, Pamela removing her stockings whilst handcuffed to Hannay (I was at an impressionable age when I first saw the film), the attempt at a speech at a political meeting that has the crowd cheering. Certainly I can see how that can be achieved in a theatre, but as for dangling from the Forth Bridge, running through the heather in the mist, the plane crash, the sheep! I wonder how much will have be missed out to make it possible to do all this on stage. The answer? None! It is all here. All the characters we remember from the film take us through every bit of the action at an insane pace. The four actors play a minimum of one hundred and thirty nine roles over thirty three scenes. One actor plays Richard Hannay throughout. An actress takes on Annabella, Margaret and Pamela and two other actors play everybody else. Of course, it is possible to include more actors if you have the resources. One production had a cast of fifty, so one has to admit that casting is certainly flexible. But if you do have a couple of actors gullible enough, I’m sorry, I mean talented enough, to take on an enormous number of roles then I am sure they will have a huge amount of fun playing them. The script is an absolute joy. Barlow remains faithful to the story and as I have said, it is all here. The pace certainly contributes to the humour, but the author has introduced a lot of silliness to generate more laughs: the telephone that continues to ring after it has been picked up; the two heavies that appear under the lamppost each time Hannay looks out the window, but with their timing not always spot on; and the actors literally changing hats as they take on different characters. It is reminiscent of a Farndale Avenue type comedy, relying on the fact that the audience realise that the mishaps and missed cues are deliberate and feel that they are in on the joke. It is a long time since I read a script that I have enjoyed reading as much as this; the humour is ever present and with a plot that everyone knows like the back of their hand, the play relies on being funny to be successful. My one fear is that, as with the Farndale Avenue series, if done badly this could be an embarrassing flop, but done well it would probably be the hit of the season.

BINGO ROYALE AUTHOR: Nicholas Corder PUBLISHER: J Garnett Miller ISBN NO: 9780853436669 CAST: 10M 5F +14 The name’s Blond. Jane Blond. And so we set off on our journey of beautifully cringe worthy gags as our hero takes on the wicked Ernst Stavro Postlethwaite and attempts to bring his evil sausage, black pudding and meat pie empire crashing to the ground. This is a play for children that adults will enjoy. In fact many of the jokes and references to the Ian Fleming character will, I fear, be lost on younger minds but there is still plenty of fun to keep everyone happy. Corder has employed just about every comic device known to man and the puns come thick and fast: if you didn’t like the last one, don’t worry, there will be another along in a second. There is Queue and his bizarre inventions; a discontented chicken (who should have got a speaking part); the innocent Mrs Customer, who happily discusses words that rhyme with banger whilst Postlethwaite seeks to turn her into an ingredient for a sausage; two very stereotypical Americans; and the unfortunate Slobachops who is the recipient of all the nasty surprises intended for Jane Blond. This is a large cast play that will appeal to youth groups and should prove popular with audiences.

Samuel French Ltd The play publisher

NEW RELEASES! Mrs Affleck

by Samuel Adamson, from Henrik Ibsen’s Little Eyolf Cast M3 F4, 2 boys. sCene A house, a beach

Samuel Adamson takes Ibsen’s Little Eyolf, a haunting psychodrama of guilt and self-deceit, and re-locates it to 1950s England. Rita Affleck is a sensual, intelligent woman, stifled by circumstances. Her troubled ex-serviceman husband Alfred returns home from the Scottish Highlands and vows to devote himself to their disabled son Olly. Rita decides that Olly has stolen Alfred from her, and claims her right to her husband’s unconditional love. When he overhears their arguments, Olly — who was crippled whilst his parents were preoccupied with lovemaking — follows the mysterious Flea into the sea, and tragedy ensues. Price £8.95

Now you can choose from these and over 2000 other plays online! Visit:

samuelfrench-london.co.uk Our house a play by John Godber Cast M5 F5. SCene A house. May’s husband Ted, a retired miner, has died, so May is moving out of the house they shared for 50 years and going to live in Spain. Through a series of flashbacks, we share May’s memories, from the early days of their marriage and their son Jack’s childhood, through to Jack’s graduation from teaching college, the miners’ strikes and the more recent past of Ted’s decline in health. The long-absent Jack returns to help his mother with the move. Price £14.99 (As part of a volume)

On The Rocks a play by Amy Rosenthal Cast M2 F2. SCene Two cottages in Cornwall. Period 1916 Spring 1916. DH Lawrence and his wife Frieda have found a new life for themselves in a remote Cornish village. Rejuvenated by the beauty around them, they persuade close friends Katherine Mansfield and John Middleton Murry to join them in their idyll. But no sooner have Katherine and Jack arrived than long-simmering tensions bubble to the surface, and Lawrence’s dream of communal living starts unravelling before his eyes ... Price £8.99

French’s Theatre Bookshop

52 Fitzroy St London W1t 5Jr Tel: 020 7255 4300 Fax: 020 7387 2161 Email: theatre@samuelfrench-london.co.uk AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

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PLAYSCRIPTS

WUTHERING HEIGHTS AUTHOR: Emily Bronté adapted by April De Angelis PUBLISHER: Samuel French ISBN NO: 9780573114953 CAST: 6M 4F When it comes to adaptation of the classics it is pointless in me spending too much time discussing the storyline, so I will start instead with a consideration of this play as a piece of theatre. The author’s intention is that the piece is presented as though the players are acting out a story for the beneﬁt of the audience. Sets and props should be simple: the actors change the scenery themselves and the presence of creatures such as dogs and ghosts should be left to the imagination. I believe that April De Angelis has adopted this style of presentation through her faith in the ability of the story to captivate the audience, and I entirely agree with her. We don’t need fancy sets and special effects; all we need is to present a faithful rendition of Bronté’s tale and let the words do the rest. The author has shown tremendous skill in producing a script that feels like a natural piece of theatre yet captures the story so completely. With Nelly Dean as the Narrator and Mr Lockwood as the listener, the tale of ‘cruel Heathcliff’ is brought to life. I wonder if there ever was such an understatement in the history of literature as the greed for property and power sees the romantic hero tear apart the lives of everyone around him until he ﬁnally receives both what he desires and deserves in the chilling climax. This is a masterful adaptation that I would certainly enjoy seeing on stage.

CELEBULITE AUTHOR: Derek Webb PUBLISHER: New Theatre Publications ISBN NO: 9781840946826 CAST: 1M 3F Celebulite is a one act play about the cult of celebrity. Victoria is a minor sleb who wakes up one morning to find herself looking 20 years older: a middle aged woman staring back at her from the mirror when she is only in her mid twenties. Russell has suffered a similar fate: he has suddenly gained 5 stones. It is an intriguing premise but I feel that this play fails to explore its potential. We start off with an unnecessarily long conversation between Victoria and Katherine, a cleaner, who is described as ‘working class and proud of it’ but whose language doesn’t really seem to fit this description. Things don’t really seem to be heading anywhere until Russell appears and we get the reveal about the changes in appearance. There are some pretty heavy hints that perhaps these people are older/fatter than they liked to think they were, so when the end comes there are no real surprises. I think more could have been made of this idea. The characters are a bit two dimensional, which may be a deliberate attempt to make them look like Reality TV personalities. However this makes it difficult to like them or to care about what happens to them, and there isn’t enough humour for a play which is supposed to be witty. The cult of celebrity is certainly a hot topic at the moment but it is a shame that this play doesn’t quite live up to its promise.

CARRY ME KATE AUTHOR: Rachel Musgrove PUBLISHER: Samuel French ISBN NO: 9780573120367 CAST: 6M 2f Dave and Kate: thrown together by a misunderstanding and deciding that, perhaps, it was meant to be. They meet at a Tupperware party; Dave seems to have overlooked the word ‘Tupperware’ and has turned up with a crate of beer. What Kate sees in him is anybody’s guess but they agree to go on a date which is such a disaster that it is a wonder that either of them want to see each other again. But Kate is besotted with Dave and arranges a mini break for them in the Lake District where she accepts his proposal for marriage; a

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www.amateurstagemagazine.co.uk proposal that Dave didn’t realise that he had made. Carry Me Kate is a cheerful little one act play that carries us along on a combination of live action and direct addresses to the audience. For the most part it is a play that is written to amuse rather than produce belly laughs but it does build to a very entertaining climax and will leave an audience smiling.

GETTING THE BREAKS AUTHOR: Derek Webb PUBLISHER: New Theatre Publications ISBN NO: 9781840947281 CAST: 3M 3F I Male Voice Getting the Breaks is a one act youth play about growing up: the changes that young people have to face and how they cope with them. There is an element of fantasy in all the characters’ lives which ranges from harmlessly dreaming about scoring a maximum break in snooker in front of a worshipping crowd, to more serious delusions that can cause damage to the relationships between friends and loved ones. Zoe announces that she is pregnant and when Jason gets to hear this news he assumes that he is the father. We sympathise with the position that Zoe ﬁnds herself in: Jason is carefree and irresponsible and Zoe feels that this is something she is going to have to deal with on her own. In the end though, it is Jason who takes hold of the situation, separates fantasy from reality and brings normality back to everyone’s lives. This is a play that a young audience would enjoy and the author should be congratulated for creating an educational script that avoids preaching.

CASTRO’S BEARD AUTHOR: Brian Stewart PUBLISHER: Josef Weinberger ISBN NO: 9780856763267 CAST: 4M PRICE: £8 It is the eve of Fidel Castro’s historic visit to the United Nations Assembly in New York in 1960 and the CIA have hastily assembled a think tank whose aim is to find a way to bring down the Castro regime. As the play starts so does the clandestine meeting, a convenient way to meet the characters and discover their mission. The author wastes no time in mocking the all powerful CIA operatives through their inability to get the overhead projector to function or even find a working flip chart pen – other than a pink one, and what self respecting CIA operative would write with a pink pen so soon after the end of the McCarthy era? As the four characters come up with increasingly bizarre ideas, one wonders how much of it is true. Did the US government really consider an offer from the Mafia to take care of Castro in return for turning a blind eye to a few wrong doings? Did the CIA seriously discuss sending the Cuban dictator gifts such as socks that make a beard fall out, or exploding cigars. Well, looking at the bibliography at the back of the script, it seems that they did. Stewart’s script is clearly very well researched and the characters, though a little two dimensional at times, convey the hysteria that we associate with the United States and Communism during this period of their history. The play starts at quite a frenetic pace and slows down as we go on. Although divided into two acts, it might be worth considering the author’s suggestion to play it all the way through as act two might come as something of an anticlimax otherwise. A play about a CIA plot to bring down Fidel Castro might not be an obvious choice for a society in rural England but there is plenty of humour, and poking fun at powerful organisations is always enjoyable. TO HAVE YOUR SCRIPT REVIEWED SUBMIT A COPY TO PLAY REVIEWS NEXT PHASE MEDIA SUITE 404 ALBANY HOUSE 324- 326 REGENT STREET LONDON W1B 3HH

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

16/04/2010 00:43:18

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WEST END THE MUSICAL PRODUCED

Really Old, Like Forty Five

LOVE NEVER DIES ADELPHI THEATRE, LONDON Musical theatre sequels are historically prone to disaster. Who remembers Bring Back Birdie, the Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, Annie 2 – Hannigan’s Revenge, Grease 2, or any number of other stellar flops? It was with this in mind that Andrew Lloyd Webber was quick to brand Love Never Dies, which continues the story of the Phantom and Christine ten years on, as a stand alone venture. Love Never Dies finds the Phantom, Meg and Madame Giry ten years on based in New York’s Coney Island. His obsession with Christine intact, the Phantom (now called Mr Y) summons her to sing in his new venue Phantasma. Love Never Dies is the result of ten years of work by Lloyd Webber with a number of collaborators and perhaps that ,more than anything, is the missing link with this production. So what can audiences expect from Love Never Dies? The cast is uniformly superb. Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom is vocally rich and dramatic. He is a striking presence on stage commanding his domain. His Christine, Sierra Boggess, is as winsome and lovely as any Christine could ever be. It’s with the supporting cast that this show really comes into its own, though. Joseph Millson (Raoul), Summer Strallen(Meg), Niamh Perry (Fleck), Adam Pearce (Squelch) and Jami ReidQuarrell (Guangle) do much to make this show take flight. Lloyd Webber’s score is epic and symphonic, soaring ballads, eerie themes and

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so many beautiful melodies that continued to haunt me for days after leaving the theatre. Lyrically Glenn Slater has done the Phantom proud, with intelligent witty words that sit well with Lloyd Webbers score. The fault with Love Never Dies though comes with its book which is principally credited to Ben Elton with meddling by Lloyd Webber, Frederick Forsyth and Glenn Slater. It’s shallow, thin and ultimately unsatisfying, I can only liken it to reading an abridged novel – all the salient points but no depth, light or shade. As with many Lloyd Webber productions this is no small undertaking. Bob Crowley has designed a brand new “Phanstastic” playground for the Phantom. Complete with giddying projected recreations of Coney Island and a lair complete with automatons and a Gorgon chorus, Love never Dies is a visual feast. Director Jack O’Brien and Choreographer Jerry Mitchell keep the production fast paced, focused and slick. So skilled are they, that they very nearly almost manage to deceive the audience into not noticing the lack of a credible book. Ultimately though, I thoroughly enjoyed Love Never Dies, I have returned to see it again and have purchased the recording. It’s a joy to see a big new score in the West End. This is no film adaptation or jukebox musical. It’s dramatic, fresh and original and should be applauded. It’s not often you get to sit through a West End show without knowing any of the music. Watching Love Never Dies unfold, you realise this is a real treat, Andrew Lloyd Webber is back on form and better than ever. There are times though in some of the more intimate moments of Love never Dies when you wonder just how much personal emotional history has been poured into this piece.

Eigengrau www.loveneverdies.com

Eigengrau The Bush The audience at the Bush’s production of Penelope Skinner’s new play Eigengrau was full of even more young professionals than usual, particularly women, which is no doubt because it portrays a world of singletons living in flat shares trying to find love, or at least sex. However, this is no rom com and, despite providing plenty of laughs, it has a dark, unsettling side that makes for uncomfortable viewing at times. Cassie, a feminist lobbyist, finds a flat mate through Gumtree, but hyperactively upbeat Rose turns out to be desperately lonely and needy. She attaches herself to Mark who is interested only in sex, but he is still in need of companionship, renting a room to his university friend Tim who is bereaved after losing his beloved nan. The production, directed by Polly Findlay, is full of drama and sharp dialogue, performed by a superb four-strong cast of Geoffrey Streatfeild, Sinead Matthews, John Cummins and Alison O’Donnell. However, it is a bleak vision where there is not much light to balance the lack of meaning and hope in urban life, much like the play’s title which refers to the colour seen by the eye in total darkness.

AMATEUR STAGE | APRIL 2010

15/04/2010 08:13:13

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WEST END

Really Old, Like Forty Five Cottesloe, National Theatre The challenges of an ageing population are tackled in Tamsin Oglesby’s new play, Really Old, Like Forty Five, set in a near future where scientists look for a solution to the growing numbers of people aged over 65 with failing mental faculties. The action is initially split between two separate worlds. One sees the scientists coming up with a plan to put older people into hospital and administer drugs that accelerate death, and the other depicts the realities of a family where the older members are becoming infirm and suffering from Alzheimer’s. Later, these two worlds come together in a hospital populated by robotic nurses programmed to meet the needs of patients suffering from dementia. In dealing with these issues, the play has a variety of different tones, shifting suddenly and sometimes jarringly from broad comedy to the painful pathos of people suffering memory loss and confusion. Despite these reservations, it is an entertaining and generally funny examination of our attitudes to old age and illness and how families deal with it. Under Anna Mackmin’s direction, the production has excellent performances from veteran actors Judy Parfitt, Marcia Warren and Gawn Grainger as well as Paul Ritter as the head scientist and Lucy May Barker as a streetwise teenager.

Love Never Dies. Photo Catherine Ashmore

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THE LAST WORD

Wisteria Cottage Garrick Road Campton Royal

Dear fellow thespians, I did indeed fulfil my obligations to ‘Murder in the Cathedral’ and I have to tell you, it took all my will power. Mercifully, the whole unfortunate affair has been put to rest, as the bard has it ‘for this relief much thanks.’ On the positive side, I was delighted to have been in the cast, because it was not something I would have enjoyed watching. I was further gratified that over those three very long nights, we had an audience of less than four dozen. It would do my, till now, unblemished reputation absolutely no favours if word got round that I had been involved with such a theatrical debacle. For a start, the reverend, for reasons best known to himself, decided to construct a stage in the centre of the nave. Why, when there was a perfectly good pulpit already available would you bother to build another? I would say it was unnecessary expense, but discovered that said edifice had been created from a large cardboard box that once held a washing machine. This, of course, proved a false economy because one of the knights fell heavily against it on dress rehearsal and it was never the same again. And the stage itself, my dears! The local school had donated it to the church as a gesture of goodwill. Personally I think they simply wanted rid of it. Most of the corners were broken, I suspect the underlying trestles had wood worm and there were treacherous gaps between the sections. I warned the vicar. “Someone will sprain and ankle.” I said. But did he listen? So on first night, directly after the murder, Marjorie, who you will remember is no sylph, stepped forward and disappeared into the yawning chasm that had been opened up by the reverend’s excessive death throes. When she had been extricated, it was unfortunate that the chorus recommenced with the line ‘We did not wish anything to happen.’ The audience convulsed and the evening came to an untimely close, somewhat earlier than Eliot intended. The central position of the stage meant that it was practically impossible not to have your back to someone in the audience. An absolute no-no in my book, so I did my best to adjust my position as often as possible. This resulted in the vicar accusing me of fidgeting. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Released from the normal confines of the pulpit, the wretched man dived from one side of the stage to the other on alternate lines which gave a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘turbulent priest’. It must have been like watching a yoyo. ( I’ve just noticed that ‘no-no’ and ‘ yo-yo rhyme’ – must remember that) In fact, I think I should draw a veil over his whole performance. Mind you, since he can’t act his way out of a paper bag, a veil would cause untold problems. By the end of the run I had come to the view that King Henry was absolutely right and Becket should have been put out of his misery at the earliest opportunity. Till next time. Regards

Doris Richardson-Hall

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