Posts Tagged ‘derby shakespeare theatre company’
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
I’ll go into a bit more detail about this production once I have finally wound down from the experience. In the meantime the local press gave us another fantastic review. It’s a bit sad it didn’t make it into the paper proper especially since this underperformed play was getting a long overdue outing in Derby and that it was the first performance of Titus in our company’s 100 year history. However, over the course of the run the shows gradually made their way towards the sell out that was Saturday night and every performance that week felt like a full house anyway.
From the opening curtain, it was apparent the audience could relax into Chris Scott’s securely directed production of Titus Andronicus. Using a minimalist set, effective lighting and provocative music to drive the tension, Scott sets the scene of Rome, founded in bloodshed and quickly unfurls the tale of power, passion and revenge.
The mix of modern and traditional costume gives the piece accessibility, richness and sensuality. The mobile platform provides movement, height and depth and is firmly choreographed around the cleverly designed set. Great attention is given to lighting which successfully emphasises the mood and emotion of each scene.
The performances are sound, in particular the collective company on stage balance perfect stillness with engagement. Clever touches include Lavinia’s bleeding hands, inspired from Edward Scissorhands perhaps? The rape scene is cruel, brutal and yet does not appear gratuitous or over played.
The production enables the portrayal of a spectrum of emotions and the cast do not disappoint. There are strong performances all round, some who shine brightest include: Niki Caister, who uses attitude and sexuality to portray deliciously evil Tamora, Richard Davy as Aaron for rich and credible delivery of script, Matthew Sharratt as Quintus for balancing enunciation and projection within anger and Alan Smith and Nick Hallam (Marcus and Titus Andronicus ) for poignancy and care for their loved ones. The synchronicity of Matthew Swan and Danny Duder as evil brothers Chiron and Demetrius also merits a mention.
It’s always a problem what to do with dead bodies on stage and as this production has bodies aplenty, Scott manages to direct swift dispatches via innovative methods, thus maintaining the pace.
Shakespeare may not attract everyone and this tragedy is more brutal than most, but on the other hand, you can trust this Derby Shakespeare production, the story is clearly told and easily understood and a credit to the company. (Source: Derby Telegraph)
Tags: demetrius, derby shakespeare theatre company, saturninus, shakespeare, tamora, titus andronicus
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Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
I auditioned for Titus Andronicus last week and got cast!
Interestingly, I auditioned for the role of Saturninus because it seemed to fit and presented me with some opportunities to develop aspects of my acting that I had already worked on like presense and authority. Instead I got Demetrius, one of Tamora’s sons.
After the usual initial disappointment of not getting a role I had my heart set on I realised that rather unwittingly I had been presented with an opportunity that offered me more of a challenge than Saturninus and a chance to develop on the advice I had been recently given by Cynthia the director of Helen.
Rehearsals start this week, so I’ll write more about this when I’ve discussed my ideas with my director Chris.
Tags: demetrius, derby shakespeare theatre company, helen, saturninus, shakespeare, tamora, titus andronicus
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Friday, February 27th, 2009
Last night near the end of the performance as I was stalking across the stage towards Nicky (Viola) I slip on something particularly slimy, undoubtedly the residue from a previous Belch and Aguecheek scene and nearly ended up on my backside. I let out a huge high-pitched squeal and somehow managed to regain my footing using manoeuvres that wouldn’t seem out of place on the high beam in a gymnastics competition. As the audience howled with laughter I somehow managed to remain in character and even gave the audience a cheeky little look before carrying on as if nothing had happened. I’m sure it was the biggest laugh I had that night!
In other news we had a fab review in the Derby Evening Telegraph and here it is:
Over the past few weeks, Derby’s Guildhall theatre seems to have seen more Shakespeare than The Globe in London.
Following on from Derby Live’s professional production of Much Ado About Nothing, this week we get Derby Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. And if ever there were an example of the imperceptible differences between professional and amateur, we have it here at it’s finest.
As usual, Mr Shakespeare manages to string together a decent story with all of his normal plot devices, including mistake identities and women dressed up as men, but this ensemble cast manages to get as much emotion, pathos and humour from the tale as possible.
Lisa Kelly shines as the countess Olivia, who falls for the charms of Cesario, the disguised, shipwrecked Viola (Nicky Beards), who in turn falls for the handsome Duke Orsino (Colin Dawes).
Matthews Shepherd and Swan create a fine comedy double act as the scheming and drinking Toby Belch and Andrew Aguecheek and Christopher Scott almost steals the whole show as Malvolio, Olivia’s manservant. When you can make an audience laugh with subtle facial nuances and, in a trice, play broad comedy to equally strong effect, then you know you have an ace in the deck.
Director Caroline Reader has set this production in Victorian Paris, but the open master-of-ceremonies’ speech, delivered, with aplomb by Alan Smith, seems to sit uneasily in that context. At other points, though, the music choices and live songs convey a sense of purpose and add much to the drunken songstress character of Feste, played by Irene Button.
This is another quality piece of work from one of the city’s prized amateur dramatic companies.
(Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)
Tags: derby evening telegraph, derby shakespeare theatre company, Review, sir andrew aguecheek, twelfth night
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Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
What a terrific first show! Thanks to everyone who came.
One of the problems acting in this comedy and any comedy for that matter is that the laughs I got early on in rehearsals soon dried up once everyone had heard them a couple of times. It can be quite difficult to remain positive when delivering a line that got a great laugh the first time and now gets little more than a stony silence - even from our prompt Margaret and her generous sense of humour. I had to fight the paranoia that attempts to creep in and ignore the questioning and self-doubt that seems to bubble to the surface. Why is no one laughing? Was it ever funny? Should I try doing it differently?
The best thing to do is treat it like a straight play. Forget it’s a comedy and convince yourself it’s the noblest of dramas. Even when your charmingly portly male co-star has you in his arms and is giving you a full on snog! Not only does this get me through the horrors of a deathly, unresponsive rehearsal, but it allows your audience (when you are finally and blissfully stood in front of them) to feel like they’re in on the joke rather than being spoon-fed the gags. After all, these characters we’re are playing are more often than not unaware that they have an audience - suspension of disbelief and all that.
I had some costume issues during the dress rehearsal, which really threw me and had me a bit worrying time yesterday. However, with the help of Karen’s incredible Velcro shirt the problem was resolved last night.
It was the first time I had got that particular scene right and so I was very surprised to experience it resulting in something new occurring in the scene; something that had never had a chance to develop through rehearsals. It was quite a thrill for something to happen for the first time not only for the audience, but for me too; very organic. I obviously won’t give the game away; you’ll have to wait and see if you have tickets and if you don’t have tickets and are intrigued get you and your friends some from here or call the box office on 01332 255800.
It took a while to come down from last night and now I really can’t wait for this evening’s performance.
Tags: character development, derby shakespeare theatre company, performance, sir andrew aguecheek, twelfth night
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Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
Rehearsals for Twelfth Night have got off to a flying start and I really enjoyed my second rehearsal last night. There are some superb characters and performances already, so it’s promising to be quite a show. Twelfth Night is one of the smallest casts I’ve been involved in for a while, so I feel very privileged and proud that I’ve made it onto the team.
Andrew is shaping up nicely. I find it intriguing that what I work on at home never seems quite right and yet at rehearsal it’s coming together wonderfully. I imagine in the company of my fellow actors and under the watchful eye of our director Caz, the often raucous ambience that’s generated must act as a kind of creative gel, filling in the gaps and smoothing over the rough edges of the character. Ok maybe a bit far with analogy there, but I’m sure you take the point; the positive, jovial atmosphere is definitely assisting the creative process.
I’m very pleased that this early in rehearsals Sir Andrew is already bedding in because it bodes well for what I might achieve by the time we finally get to perform.
Tags: cast, derby shakespeare theatre company, rehearsals, sir andrew aguecheek, twelfth night
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Friday, October 3rd, 2008
The Minack Theatre, Porthcurno: Henry's home for a week.
The Minack Theatre is hacked spectacularly into the cliffs of Porthcurno bay a stone’s throw from Land’s End. What struck me about the theatre was the sense of tranquillity you experience as you wander around its nooks and crannies. I say wander, hike may be more appropriate and it’s probably far less elegant than that. More often than not I found myself gasping for breath and rubbing my splitting calves. Get-in was a new kind of hell. At the time I thought nothing of bounding up and down the steps carrying props, costumes and other assorted acting paraphernalia. “How fit as a fiddle am I?” I convinced myself, but waking the next morning my legs were barely functional. This, compounded with the resulting maelstrom in my head from the previous night’s revelries, made for an interesting day running the technical and dress rehearsals.
Backstage at the Minack the horizon feels like it envelops you. “Where else can you go out of the stage door for a cigarette and get a view like this?” said John, our production’s Warwick. Stage right exits and entrances are not a problem, but in order to make your entrances upstage and stage left you have to take a cliff side path. This runs parallel to the back of the stage, with the stage itself being on one side and a vertical drop onto the rocks and crashing spray on the other. Apparently at one time there was no railing and many a promising thesp was lost to the hungry ocean below. Maybe.
Tags: derby shakespeare theatre company, dress rehearsals, exits and entrances, henry v, minack theatre, performance, porthcurno bay, stage door
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Thursday, August 21st, 2008
In the early hours of Saturday morning I will be heading down to Cornwall to perform in Henry V at the Minack Theatre. I’m really looking forward to it and weather permitting it will be fantastic. I’ll blog about it when I get back, but in the meantime click on the image to see backstage photos from the shows at Derby Grammar School.
Fluellen - Angry about leeks or something
Derby Shakespeare Theatre Company frequently hire costumes from the Royal Shakespeare Company. More often than not there are labels inside and you can find out the production, actor and role the costume was used for previously. I was particularly excited to find out that my Montjoy costume belonged to Jonathan Slinger’s Richard II in the RSC’s recent histories cycle. If you click the link it’s the one he’s wearing in the photo, minus the jerkin.
If that wasn’t impressive enough our Fluellen Mat’s suit of armour belonged to Brian Blessed in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Tickets for Henry V are available from the Minack Theatre website.
Update: Henry V has been and gone, I hope you enjoyed the show.
Tags: brian blessed, derby grammar school, derby shakespeare theatre company, henry v, performance, robin hood prince of thieves, royal shakespeare company, slinger
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Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
Despite his best attempt to disguise it as a weather report, Andy Potter has given Henry V a lovely review in the Derby Evening Telegraph:
Shakespeare in the open air and a British summer - the recipe for a fine and relaxing night out. The British weather does its best to compound that idea, ensuring that in the lead-up to this latest production by the Derby Shakespeare Theatre company of Henry V, everyone was watching the skies, hoping that the battlefields of France wouldn’t become a sodden quagmire.
As it happened, we happy few, armed with umbrellas and warming refreshments, witnessed yet another excellent telling of the Bard’s work.
Chris Scott has to carry the full weight of this production on his shoulders as the King intending to fight for the lands of France. He has to be astute, grand, personable and a man whom we believe people would fight for.
Scott pulls this off with ease, cutting a swathe through the performance area at Derby Grammer School. So immersed is he in the character he also sports a rather serious haircut to add to the illusion.
Under long-term Derby Shakespeare member Ian Arnot’s direction, the introduction of the warring sides is handled with simple isolation. Scott aside, Helena Franklin as Princess Katherine enchants with her learning of English, and is coyly believable in the protracted finale.
The production is punctuated with fine performances, Matthew Shepherd, Joe O’Brien, Michael Gaunt, Eddy Chambers and Jack Bamford are just some of the people who provide them and when this production heads to the Minack Theatre in Cornwall at the end of the month it will be a fine advertisement for the talent we have in Derby.
Cry God for Harry! England and St George and look forward to another hundred years of Shakespeare in the City, with the sun shining and not an umbrella in sight!
(Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)
Tags: battlefields, british weather, derby evening telegraph, derby grammar school, derby shakespeare theatre company, haircut, henry v, performance
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Thursday, August 7th, 2008
I had a terrific time at Henry V rehearsals last night. Andy our soundman made his first appearance and this meant much topping and tailing of scenes in order that he could work out the cues for sound effects. I spent most of my time standing around chatting or gabbling my lines when required in order to save time. It’s amazing how the rhythm of Shakespeare’s verse can allow you to deliver your lines at pace and how trickier it is to accomplish the same with prose. When speaking prose you have to stick to the cadences in order to maintain speed whereas with verse speaking once you lock into the iambic rhythm you can just whizz along.
Despite being in several of Shakespeare’s plays Henry V is the first I have done in traditional costume and it was the arrival of the costumes from Stratford that really made the rehearsal for me. AMAZING! I’ve been in a few productions, all with terrific outfits, but these are in a different league. Hanging banner-like from the greenroom walls were polythene bags containing the type of military wear that you would have expected to see running around the fields of Agincourt 600 years ago. The room was a melee of brigandines and tabards displaying the Lancastrian coat of arms, barbute helmets, plate armor, gauntlets, hauberks of chainmail and chausses for the legs. Apparently there is more coming from London. It’s all very exciting.
For more information about Henry V and booking tickets visit the Derby Shakespeare Theatre Company website.
Update: Henry V has been and gone, I hope you enjoyed the show.
Tags: coat of arms, costume, cues, derby shakespeare theatre company, henry v, rehearsals, sound effects, tabards, traditional costume
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