Interviews – Page 26 – Theatre Things

Preview: DAODS’ Annie Get Your Gun at the Orchard Theatre

Published on October 3, 2016 by LizLeave a comment

This week, the Orchard Theatre plays host to the Dartford Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society (DAODS) and their production of Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun. Established in 1906, DAODS have over 200 musicals, plays and revues to their name – not to mention some pretty high profile former members, among them West End stars Lara Pulver and Rebecca Thornhill – and they’re showing no sign of slowing down any time soon.

Annie Get Your Gun, which first opened on Broadway in 1946, tells the story of Annie Oakley, the best shot around, who’s discovered by Colonel Buffalo Bill and persuaded to join his Wild West Show. She soon falls for the dashing Frank Butler, but can their romance survive when she outshines him professionally, or will his bruised ego prove too much of an obstacle?

“The show is a classic, with some of the best known numbers in the musical theatre canon, including Anything You Can Do and There’s No Business Like Show Business,” explains DAODS’ Pat Walsh. “Those who have seen our shows at the Orchard Theatre before will know to expect the highest level of production values, with a full orchestra and professional lighting and sound, as well as a cast of over 50 adults and children, who will be on stage giving it their all.”

DAODS have been performing at the Orchard Theatre since it opened in 1982. “We typically perform two shows a year: one in the spring and one in the autumn. This production of Annie Get Your Gun will be the third time we’ve staged this show, the second time we’ve performed it at the Orchard Theatre, and our 66th show at the theatre in all.

“In many ways the Orchard’s become our second home, and it gives us the opportunity to put on shows to professional standards, where we can hire professional sets and orchestra as well as lighting and sound. In the last few years we had to cut down to just one show a year at the theatre, with the others being at our own venue of Heathfields Hall. However, we’re glad to say that we’re back to our normal six-monthly cycle, with Made in Dagenham coming up in the spring and Singing in the Rain in October 2017.”

Made in Dagenham marks a particularly exciting time for the Society: “We’ve been incredibly fortunate to be one of the first groups in the South-East to be given the rights to perform this recent West End smash hit show,” says Pat. “It’s a really feel good show, telling the real life story of the Ford workers’ strike in 1968, and is a testament to the power of ordinary people standing up for what’s right.”

Made in Dagenham is a show that requires a large cast of all ages, and auditions to join the Society will be taking place after their current show. To find out about auditions, email daodscom@gmail.com – DAODS are always looking for new members of all levels of experience.

Book now to catch DAODS’ Annie Get Your Gun at the Orchard Theatre from 5th-8th October.

Interview: Hatstand Productions, Never The Same

Published on September 17, 2016September 17, 2016 by LizLeave a comment

“We began as four year olds playing with a dressing up box, bringing stories to life… and not much has changed since then,” says Lily Lowe-Myers of Hatstand Productions, the company she founded with her best friend Robyn Cooper. “As children we made many funny films that we hope no one ever digs up, and as teenagers some better ones that won national competitions – and eventually we formed Hatstand Productions four years ago in response to the professional work we were making. This is our fourth play since then and we are currently finishing our third film.”

That play is Never The Same, which opens in the Bridewell’s Lunchbox Theatre on 27th September: “It’s a dark but joyful female two-hander, exploring the beauty and sorrows of friendship and the lengths and limitations of what we can do for another person.”

Hatstand Productions have built a reputation for creating fun and innovative two-hander female musicals, and Never The Same is their first non-musical. “I didn’t set out to write a non-musical this year, but the deeper I fell into writing the play, the clearer it became that this would be a straight drama,” explains Lily. “I wasn’t sure how to break it to the fantastic composer we’d collaborated with the last few years, but then he contacted me to say he was in the midst of his PhD and couldn’t do a show this summer. Life is sometimes mystic like that!

“Working on a non-musical felt a lot like I was writing a play for the first time all over again. I realised how much collaboration had been involved working with a composer, and how nice it was to have someone to bounce ideas off. I felt a lot more vulnerable about sharing it, in fact; when I had to get the first draft done to submit it to the Ms Shakespeare new writing festival, I sent it with an apologetic cover letter saying, ‘This is my deformed baby, but I think it will grow into something strong and beautiful.’ Luckily they thought so too and it was chosen to be performed.

“Since then, it’s been a great pleasure to work with the phenomenally talented and generally fantastic Matt Costain as our director. His excitement about the play makes me fall in love with it all over again, and means that I can leave my writer’s hat at the door and concentrate on being an actress.”

Never The Same is Hatstand’s fourth show at the Bridewell Theatre. “When we first created a one-act show, we quickly learnt that the Bridewell was the top place for lunchtime theatre, and we loved that they reached an audience that might otherwise not get the chance to see a show. Knowing this, we stalked them and won them over. We’re so happy that we did, as we now have a great relationship with them and this is our fourth show in their beautiful venue. Did you know that under the floor of the theatre is still an old Victorian swimming pool (minus the water!)?

“We were worried this year, with a drama play, whether they’d still be as keen because we had such success with our ‘perfectly sized mini musicals’, but their response was ‘whatever you make will be great’. It’s lovely to work with people with such belief in us.”

Never The Same is the story of two best friends reunited after seven years. “It’s the most thought-provoking, heart warming, funny, honest, entertaining lunchtime ever!” promises Lily. “Every action we take comes from somewhere. Over 45 minutes, we invite you to piece together the mystery of why two friends find themselves on the run, and whether they can ever find their way back, or if they would even want to.”

In their work, Hatstand explore many types of story telling mediums including film, theatre, puppetry, dance, magic and song – and their choice of name is hugely significant: “Our aim is to create entertaining work that sheds light on the beauty and complexity of the human spirit and to create work with strong, entertaining and complex female roles.

“We called our company ‘Hatstand’ as we liked the idea of our audience shedding their hats of worry or coats of doubt on our metaphorical hatstand as they took their seats. And hopefully, having experienced another reality, as they go back out into the world their coat seems lighter, or they try someone else’s for size, or leave theirs behind for good.

“Oh, and we try to get our lovely hatstand – that we named Ted – into our shows!”

Never The Same is at the Bridewell Theatre from 27th September-7th October.

Interview: Louise Breckon-Richards, Can You Hear Me Running?

Published on September 17, 2016July 22, 2018 by Liz1 Comment

Louise Breckon-Richards is an actress, performer and playwright, with an inspiring true story to tell. That story, about how Louise lost her voice due to a rare condition, and tried to overcome it by running the London Marathon, is the subject of her upcoming one-woman show Can You Hear Me Running? at the Pleasance.

“Can You Hear Me Running? tells the story of a woman’s quest to re-find her voice and run a marathon – never giving up till the finishing line,” explains Louise, who’s collaborated with writer Jo Harper and director Steve Grihault on the show. “I had a basic idea for a play based on my real experiences of running the marathon and having vocal problems. I met the writer Jo Harper and together we created Can You Hear Me Running?!”

The show’s based on Louise’s notes, blog and diary entries written while she was recovering from vocal chord surgery, and training for the marathon. That experience has led her back to the stage, in a fun and thought-provoking show about defiance against all the odds, featuring live music, video projection and storytelling.

“I feel excited and terrified in equal measure to be back on stage,” she says. “It’s great to be doing what I love and what I trained to do. I’ve missed it so much. I hope audiences will feel inspired, informed and moved at the story we’re telling, but equally that they’ll have been entertained and had fun too.

“The show has universal themes running through it such as loss and grief, but it’s also about finding new ways to overcome difficulty. I don’t think there have been many plays about the voice and running, so hopefully it will be informative, but also fun, moving and hopeful.”

When she lost her voice, Louise turned to running as a new challenge. “I ran a little before, but my real passion for running grew when I was struggling with other aspects in my life,” she explains. “My voice was failing and I needed to find a strength somewhere else. I watched three of my closest friends run the marathon years before and they were always a source of inspiration to me and this just felt like the right time.

“I think everyone’s journey is different with vocal problems, but for me as a performer, I had to find another muscle and form of creative expression that would help alleviate the stress of what was happening. Running definitely helped me, and also writing and painting as I found that I could still have an identity. Come and see the show to find out more!”

Louise still runs regularly: “Running is now a habit for me – a ritual and I can’t imagine life without it. The best runs for me are the ones with my friends where we chat and put the world to rights. I did a half marathon in March, but I’d love to do another marathon, maybe when I’m 50!”

So what are Louise’s top tips for surviving the London Marathon? “My advice would be: get your long training runs in, don’t eat every single jelly baby that the hugely supportive crowds offer you, and enjoy every minute!”

Can You Hear Me Running? is at the Pleasance from 4th-23rd October.

Review: Sister at Ovalhouse

Published on September 8, 2016January 6, 2018 by LizLeave a comment

How to describe Born Mad’s Sister? It’s a tricky show to review, actually, because there’s no easy way to sum up what goes on without it sounding a bit… eccentric. So let’s just say this: Sister is beautiful, powerful, inventive, moving and heartwarming. It will make you laugh. It will almost certainly make you cry. It’ll make you hear sounds in a whole new way, and it’ll send you home reflecting on your own relationships – with sisters, if you have them, and with family in general.

The show is made up of many different memories, all of them collected from real women. Some make only a brief appearance, while others resurface throughout the hour-long production. Through these recurring stories we meet Mira, who was separated from her sisters for 15 years by the Albanian civil war; Tara, “a bit of a pyromaniac”, whose earliest memory of her younger sister is the day she accidentally burnt their house down; and Annabel and Jessica, who are best friends as well as sisters. Some of the memories shared are of life-changing events, while others are totally mundane, but together they build up a picture of what it means to have – and be – a sister, with all its highs and lows.

The identically dressed Daisy Brown and Nia Coleman are in perfect harmony throughout – and not just when they’re singing (beautifully), but also in their movements and even the way they speak. They’re so in sync, in fact, that at times it becomes hard to believe we’re watching two individuals. The pair present the verbatim accounts that make up the show, bringing to life women of all ages and backgrounds, keeping each persona distinct and instantly recognisable when we return to them later.

Directed by Rebecca Hanbury, Sister is a very visual show, both in terms of the performers’ body language and facial expressions, and in Ben Jacobs’ incredible lighting effects (at one point I genuinely thought the theatre was on fire). But what makes this production unique is its use of sound and music, composed by Alex Groves and all created live on stage by the performers, then amplified by the microphones that cover the set. Gentle opera combines with the simplest of sounds – a hesitant ‘um’, the sound of tea being poured (and the satisfied sigh after that first sip), a crying baby – looping and soaring to build a sort of audio patchwork quilt, each sound bringing to mind a particular story or character, and reminding us once again that life doesn’t always have to be glamorous or exciting for it to mean something.

There are a few moments when the sounds intrude and make it difficult to hear the performers – on at least one occasion this is clearly very deliberate (and spine-tingly effective in a climactic scene), but there are also a couple of times when it’s not so obvious, and we find ourselves straining to hear the spoken words over the speakers above our heads, without really knowing if we’re supposed to be.

But I’m nitpicking. Sister really is a beautiful production, and packs quite a punch emotionally, too – one story in particular, towards the end of the show, very nearly broke me. Ultimately, though, this is a celebration of a unique bond. It doesn’t matter if you have sisters, brothers or neither of the above; if you’re interested in human relationships and enjoy unique, creative theatre, Sister is well worth a look.

Can’t see the map on iPhone? Try turning your phone to landscape and that should sort it. I don’t know why but I’m working on it… 😉

Interview: The Two Bit Classics, Pride and Prejudice

Published on September 3, 2016 by Liz1 Comment

It’s one of the world’s most popular love stories, the ultimate boy meets girl romantic comedy. Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen in the early 19th century, has been adapted countless times for stage and screen, in many different ways – but perhaps never quite like The Two Bit Classics’ production, which is about to return for a second UK tour from October. Joannah Tincey’s adaptation features just two performers: Jo herself, and her husband, Nick Underwood.

The unique production was last staged in 2014, when it was described by A Younger Theatre as “a delightful little gem of theatre that pulses with comedy and energy”. As the company prepares to tour again, Nick explains, “We decided to bring the show back because people enjoyed it so much the first time! We had so many wonderful emails from people, many of whom wanted to see it again. We love playing the show, we enjoy working together. It’s a great fit all round.”

Pride and Prejudice has brought us some of literature’s most iconic characters, from the romantic to the ridiculous. “The characters are immediately recognisable, fallible, funny and engaging,” says Jo. “Austen creates these fully fleshed characters, full of strengths and weaknesses. We recognise ourselves in there somewhere, I think.”

But does a cast of just two actors mean we only get to enjoy two of these brilliant creations? “Definitely not!” says Jo. “21, in fact,” clarifies Nick.

Jo explains what inspired her unique adaptation: “I’d been doing a lot of work as an actor on various multi-role style productions – including some Shakespeare and Dickens. Each time I was involved in one, it struck me how clear the language becomes when you have to use it to tell an audience who you are and what you want (when you’re changing characters from moment to moment, that’s important!). I love Austen’s wonderful language and wit and it struck me that here was a way to bring it to life theatrically.

“Pride and Prejudice is such a wonderful story and there are so many double-acts within it: Jane and Lizzy, Darcy and Lizzy, Mr and Mrs Bennet, Lydia and Kitty, Bingley and Darcy…”

“All the words we say are ones that Austen wrote herself,” adds Nick. “Jo didn’t need to invent dialogue. Characters use Austen’s text, we talk to the audience in character, and our job is to grow that relationship each night. It’s a really immediate and exciting way to work.”

Bringing to life so many characters with just two performers naturally presents quite a challenge. “An actor’s job is to find the truth in every character, otherwise we’re wasting an audience’s time,” Nick explains. “That doesn’t mean characters can’t be funny, but we aren’t sending them up in any way. If this was two hours of silliness, people would get bored. This is two hours of pure Austen. As for other challenges, well, you need to be pretty fit to play 21 characters between the two of you…”

Unique it may be, but die-hard fans of the novel need not fear – The Two Bit Classics’ production remains completely faithful to Austen’s original. “The straightest form of the story is the novel of course, and any adaptation will offer a different experience from that,” says Jo. “Screen adaptations or more traditional stage adaptations usually need to invent dialogue – because Austen didn’t write a script! There’s always something new in there. Our take is two actors, but our language is as pure as it gets.”

Both Jo and Nick agree what excites them most about this second tour is new audiences for their show, and a fresh chance to play the story each night. “The audience are a part of the show, as it’s their imagination and response to our story-telling that brings the show alive,” says Jo. “We want them to go away having actively experienced the story of Darcy and Lizzy, having heard and felt the brilliance of Austen’s writing in a way that is really immersive.”

Nick concludes, “I hope they go away having laughed and having been moved by the brilliance of Austen’s story and characters.”

Pride and Prejudice opens at Preston Guild Hall from 6th-8th October and all tour dates can be found at www.pandptour.com.