who do we represent?

It was a late trip out and I managed to pick up a shabby daily free newspaper. Ubiquitous on London transport, they’re basically the commercial daily version of the Friday-ad, in that it is strewn with adverts trying to get you to buy from them. It’s a plus when travelling back from a theatre gig, when your phone battery is practically on its death bed, and you’ve missed Jon Snow or Krishnan Guru Murphy and that’s what article jumped out at me (not Wayne Rooney and his wonky St. George’s flag tattoo as he tries to behave like Johnny Rotten, although I did like the £1.99 McDonald’s coupons.)

Anyway, the London Lite reported that a claim has been made by a guy called Dr Samir Shah who is a non-executive director for the BBC. He’s principally stated that black and Asian people being ‘token’ represented on the box is a not a real representation.

The main point of the article was that he ‘blamed the problem on a “metropolitan, largely liberal, white, middle-class elite” for making sure ethnic minority people were on screen regardless of editorial content.’

Now, why does this sound all too familiar? I don’t think theatre can be held up as much as TV, but I do think there’s a real danger for it. I don’t mean that we shouldn’t be producing plays like Behzti, but I do feel there is a real possibility and potential chance of patronisation to be found upon the boards.

Nevertheless, I think that theatre is more culturally assure in its representation, as “editorial content”, if you can call it that, doesn’t usually take precedence when creating and so there isn’t the element of “token”. Well crafted theatre with purpose finds no compromise for this to happen.

But Shah’s other comment, and main counter movement for his stance ‘Calling for more black and Asian people to be BBC executives, he said the real positions were still filled by a “narrow culture circle”.’

Here, I couldn’t agree more. I accept that I don’t work in an executive environment, however as an outsider, I think it would be fair to find a truth behind Shah’s words.

I read the article and reflect with an awareness and analysis of the theatre of our time to not fall into this trap but to stay equal, non-patronising and true to what we want to communicate upon the stage.

There, that ain’t half bad on a midnight train to London. Who needs Jon Snow anyway, which, by the way, the reason why he isn’t reading today’s news is because he’s giving a speech at the place I’ve just been working.

don’t say a word

Nursing a hangover this morning, I played some gentle music, lay gently on my bed and read a gentle paper – well, The Times was the paper, but today’s edition seemed fairly gentle.

The page that I got to which gently inspired me to write today was The Daily Universal Register page; which was in fact the original name for the newspaper when it was first published in 1785. If you’ve not read it before, it’s a nice little round up of current general knowledge – On this day…, Top Ten, Going out… vs. … Staying in, etc. However, the section which most stood out was The Last Word which quoted a Spanish proverb: “Don’t speak unless you can improve on the silence.”

Apart from me thinking how last night would have been a better time to learn and use this proverb, as I sipped away a few hours of bubbly, red and beer (not mixed together) and got into many a slander about the world at large, it prompted me to think how, when creating theatre, we can learn so much from this. A vast amount of plays, nowadays, are stuffed full of language when it should really be heading in the opposite direction. I’m not saying that we should all be manufacturing The Hour We Knew Nothing Of Each Other, but I think that if the silence is there, it should be there for a reason. The audience reads so much upon the stage and that includes what’s not being said.

I know this is as clear as mud at the moment, so let me give you an example, although you may slap me on the wrist, because it is screen, where you are pretty much told what you can look at, and not stage but nevertheless – Lost in Translation is crammed with silences which communicates an unbelievable amount. The films is just as much about what is not being said as what is being said and this is the reason why I love it so much and why I feel it was so successful. It didn’t patronise the audience but made them work to fill in the blanks where each person could create their own mini episodes.

This is what theatre should be heading for and striving to achieve. The audience can be told a huge amount through the silences. Theatre needs to be created with precision and necessity and so words need to be stripped bare until this creation is achieved.

So, to round that all up: “Shut yer face and eat your humble pie.”

following the leader, the leader, the leader

One of the London’s and the UK’s leading dance houses has followed the lead of the National Theatre and introduced their own £10 ticket initiative. The inaugural Saddler’s Wells theatre, which sits pretty in the borough of Islington, will be offering audiences the chance to see some international choreographer’s debut work to the UK. The people at the Wells have so decided to call the scheme “Debut”, which is highly original and I’m sure took a great deal of pondering over.

The first company that we are lucky enough to see will be:-

“Emanuel Gat Dance, who will present Winter Voyage, Through the Centre and the UK premiere of Silent Ballet on September 19-20.”

It’s nice to see another UK flagship venue setting the bar of offering premium dance and theatre at a bargain rate, enabling a wide audience to taste some of the world’s finest. Let’s just hope we start seeing the rest of Theatreland, most notably the West End, following suit – although I wouldn’t hold your breath.

Check out these two links for more info:-

http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/21054/sadlers-wells-to-offer-10-tickets

http://www.sadlerswells.com/

i’m back! with a lift

After disappearing off of the radar for a little while (I had a degree to finish!), I’m back on the scene and have some things to write about (this is the part where you go “ooooooh” like a TV studio audience).

Most recent updates are that I will definitely be in Edinburgh for the festival this August. Although I’m working in a nice backstage role, I will be seeing plenty of good and bad theatre to blog.

But for now, I’m stopping by very quickly to mention LIFT 2008 – previously the London International Theatre Festival. What genius decided to swap the F and the T around?! Perhaps the London International Featre Thestival? Anyway…

It’s kicking off from today in Stratford until 21 June:-

“Lift Festival 2008 Stratford features 30 events including UK premieres from India and South Africa and local works from Canning Town and Stratford. Meet Lift International Associates, artists and local communities and join the conversation about what matters to us most.”

It then moves slightly more central to the Southbank Centre from 26 June until 6 July:-

“Lift Festival 2008 Southbank Centre presents global reports from Australia, Canada, China and New Zealand. These UK premiere performances, selected by Lift’s International Associates, are testimonies from artists and communities engaged with the issues of our time. Artists performing at Southbank Centre include The Black Arm Band (Australia), Lemi Ponifasio/MAU (New Zealand), Tara Cheyenne Performance (Canada) and Living Dance Studio (China).”

It culminates back over towards the east in Shoreditch from 16 until 24 August:-

“The Lift at Shoreditch Festival features a unique dance collaboration between ANGIKA and local troupe Ebonessence, spectacular French contemporary circus K’boum, Ragroof Theatre and a spoken-word evening produced by Apples and Snakes. The Lift will also host an intriguing world premiere event commissioned by Lift and devised by Coney.”

So take your pick from that lot. It’s nicely broken up so that you can catch it at some time or other, or if you’re hardcore and you want to see lots, you can take a break between the periods.

Here’s the link to the world wide website – http://www.liftfest.org.uk/festival.aspx – and look out for the uber cool ‘The Lift’ – “a mobile arts venue that could be raised quickly, with a flexible interior capable of hosting a range of events – from large-scale performances to intimate discussions.”

There we are. Sorry if you’ve missed this, but now my degree is out of the way I will endeavour to keep my blogs going until further notice.

pint and a play – the perfect combo

              

I’ve recently been working at a ‘theatre above a pub venue’ in London. The pub is slightly off the beaten track, however it is popular – especially the outdoor benches in the fine weather we’re currently enjoying. The theatre (simple stage and seats) is predominantly a live music and stand-up comedy venue which is usually only used at the weekends. During the week, the place becomes a dreary, dull and empty shell with only tumble weed to be seen tumbling… but for a few little theatre goings on.

Most recently it has featured a couple of up starting theatre companies as well as new writing and poetry evenings. It is perfect for these theatre folk as the pub leases the space for free, as they wouldn’t be using it so much in the week anyway, plus it brings in punters meaning more pints pulled and hard earned cash in the till. The win-win situation is further instilled as the new companies can showcase their work and find support from the public without forking out hundreds of pounds for a space otherwise underused.

What a most triumphant example being set here and I only cry out for more of these win-win situations. I can’t count on one hand the amount of new companies I know who are struggling to find exposure due to a lack of funds – free venues during the week at pubs is the solution to this.

If you’re a regular drinker reading this (not alcoholic) – I’m sure most of you are these days (but, again, not alcoholic) then perhaps apply some pressure to the landlord’s and get inquisitive about how their upstairs empty venue is being used. Alternatively, give your mates a kick up the arse to go and see some good standard theatre which is the same price as a pint – what better way is there to spend a night out!?

priorities are a must

I‘m a little bit busy at the moment – finishing university, writing a short play, stage managing a couple of productions and putting together a festival. For those of you regular subscribers, apologies for not posting anything of late – I just need to sort out my priorities!

Please do keep checking back or read my other posts – hit the ‘Best Of UFN’ page for some of my favourite posts. In the mean time, sit tight while I work on some of these posts which are in the pipeline:-

Boris Johnson in the London office – what does this mean for us?

A couple of reviews for shows.

Summer pickings – potential must-sees.

A carbon neutral summer music festival.

Thanks for your patience. I’m sure you understand!

theatre maths: choices + choices = risk

                 

As an undergraduate drama student I am approaching graduation. Success! I’ve made it. I’ve been through three years intensely studying for my future professional field. Learning as much as possible along the way and beginning to form some true values as to what making theatre is. However, it’s not that easy when being faced with so many choices. 

Being in an arts profession (same as any profession I guess) it is that we have to make many choices. This summer, I have to choose whether I should go to Edinburgh for 6 weeks and put off finding a job for the other 11months of the year or stay south and search for that job. Or, with a few potential work offers at the moment, I have to make some choices as to what I take to help me further my career – turning down paid work for unpaid work, for example. I know very well that I’m not the only one in this situation, which makes me feel better; however, it doesn’t hide the fact that I’m scared of choices and always want someone to make them for me.

“It’s all part of growing up!” I hear you say, and I understand this completely. I know that I do have to decide so I will, but always hoping that fate will take its course and I’ll end up landing on my feet.

The reality is I can’t rely on fate, but instead myself. The performing arts industry is a tough and varied trade at the best of times and to make any kind of success, you have to push your limits and make judgments that you often don’t want to. Although that is also part of the excitement.

Surrounding all of these decisions is the element of risk. If you take a high risk, you make a high gain – while not always, but sometimes.  The definition for risk is “The possibility of suffering harm or loss; danger.” – Something that scares me and many others.

Old William Shakespeare didn’t get anywhere without having The Lord Chamberlain’s Men almost being executed and Peter Brook with his cast of The Mahabharata wouldn’t have had anywhere near the success enjoyed if it hadn’t come under some sort of controversy. These, and many alike, took risks to take themselves further in their careers and they serve as an example for all.

So, I have to take a risk in my choices and hopefully will see a return. I may not like what could happen, but I have to trust in myself and other’s ability that it is for the best – even if I may not know it. In my career I know that there will always be risk and this is a place where I want to achieve.

I write this as a tribute, encouragement and testament to my peers in a hope that they will succeed.

that was amateur theatre you say? simply not true

         

On a short visit to my home town of Brighton, down by the sea, which is outside of London for you theatre folk who have never stepped foot that way, I made, of an evening, a visit to my old performing haunts. The Barn Theatre, Southwick, was staging Jekyll and Hyde by React Productions. This was an amateur piece of musical theatre, however amateur, in no way, suggests not important. In fact, the very opposite end is where amateur theatre ranks on my scale of importance.

Aside from reminiscing most of the evening, it became clearly evident of just how crucial a part amateur theatre played in my own career. As a youngster, it is where I found my performers voice. I was able to swan around stage bursting with confidence, thrusting myself forwards into the limelight and nobody was going to stop me. Towards my elder teens, my ego meant it was difficult to walk through doors and my self esteem was at boiling point. However, in naivety and not ignorance, I am completely grateful for my past experiences.

Aside from the maverick lifestyle that I enjoyed whilst treading the boards, I see now how valued the experiences were for me and many alike. The basic discipline, opportunity and skills that are learnt at an amateur level are something that I’ve carried with me to this very day. Not only did it give me a chance for self-expression but also to hone my performance skills in front of an encouraging and enthusiastic audience without the critics.

Amateur theatre should take an absolute precedence in theatres today. The community outreach and facilities for learning competes with, if not betters any of the opportunities that a school drama course can offer – especially with the steady decline in specialist drama teachers.

I was thrilled to be back in a place which helped me in more ways that I can even remember and I thank the people who supported me all the way. Whatever level or standard that amateur theatre exists, it can only ever be a good thing.

the battersea powerhouse of theatre

         

Good news. Our favourite place upon the lovely Lavender Hill, The Battersea Arts Centre, is saved! Wahey. If you didn’t already know this, please, get with the times. However, the reason why I am dragging this news story out again, is that it is not only saved, but already promising an excellent future concerning the development of British theatre. The centre’s propositions are tantalisingly good and a sole example of a future to aim for.

Here is a great summary of the BAC’s plans for the next few years on Andrew Haydon’s post for Guardian Unlimited.

The main point in the summary that I would like to draw attention to is the 2009 Home project:-

Another brilliant initiative is 2009’s Home project, which will see BAC offer actual live-in residencies to 24 practitioners.

After writing my blog about the use of theatre buildings for children, following on from Lyn Gardner’s review of theatre start times, emphasising the use of theatre buildings all day long, this is the exact way that theatres should be using their facilities. Granted, BAC is a huge building with the potential to do this, however, it is step in the right direction that many theatres could take. If you’re feeling creative at 3am, then jump up with your pals, hit the studio light switch and create! It sounds like a theatre-makers paradise and let’s hope we see some advantageous results of the scheme producing some first class theatre.

The BAC is a powerhouse for producing and developing theatre performance talent across the board. The situation they now face ensures that they can continue to provide cutting edge, innovative and excellent work in the grand way that they have done in the past.

it’s all for the kids!

     

Each time the inevitable school holidays approach, if I’m brutally honest, a shudder runs from the tip to the base my spine. No longer can I visit a shopping town centre or go for a leisurely swim without insurmountable disruption to my supposedly sordid routine.

Avoiding the everyday bumper scrape of the school time rush was hard enough, but during the break, it’s as if the school run hell took place all day. Town centre car parks become the epitome of a jam packed metropolis, British weather keeps up its crown for worlds most unpredictable weather as it disrupts many a trip to the local park for a wee picnic and chlorine companies empty their supplies as leisure centres try to compensate for the funny yellow colour of their swimming pools. The whole holiday escapade culminates with Mother’s running out of ideas where to take their “little cherubs” – of course by this time they are Satan’s aspiring generation – and PS2’s and Nintendo DS’s become the sole reason for the drain in the country’s national grid.

Taking all this into account, I decided that there had to be a solution to the lack of recreational activities for mothers to take their kids. I thought it would be a good idea to look no further than the Time Out website and see if my theatre counterparts could come to the rescue. I took a glance through Time Out’s section ‘School holiday activities for kids’, to see if I’d be able to find new possibilities of entertaining the tots, tweens and teens. I was somewhat ashamed to find less than a handful of a decent selection of theatre shows for children.

 A fair part of the shows selected were West End with ticket prices starting at around £20 – not at all ideal if you have a few young-ans. The other shows looked fairly decent, although the general selection was far too small. Mothers, for what it’s worth – you have my full understanding.

Lyn Gardner, of the Guardian, pointed out in her blog recently that theatre start times are too late and because of this, theatre buildings aren’t being used to their full advantage:-

Many theatre buildings are woefully underused throughout most of the day and late night, and are like ghosts that only come alive for a few hours in the evenings.

Surely the school holidays are a perfect reason for companies to use theatres in the daytime to entertain the children masses and keep them from being so bored at home. Not only can they entertain, but get our future generation through the theatre doors so we can brain wash them into the magical world of the performance. All jokes aside, it is a shame to see theatre buildings go to very little use in the daytime as well as a lack of children’s entertainment shows. If we have any hope of making theatre in the UK grow far and wide, this is certainly a situation we need to find solutions for. It is pretty simple.

Let’s tear these kids away from the television screens that we, ourselves, were far too subjected to and show them a way that is far more educational, more real and without doubt, a far better way of spending that little precious time.

a little bit more tree-hugging can’t hurt

            

Environmental vocabulary is thrown around all too often these days – Global Warming, Green Issues, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Neutral, Recycling Initiative Etc, where those who use the words lend very little integrity to them. Numerous large companies have come under scrutiny for their advertising of ‘green’ standards and policies, which is simply just awareness rather than action and so a misleading appearance happens on a regular basis.

In theatre, environmental policies come very few and far in-between. As a keen environmentalist myself, an avid recycling and water re-usage fanatic as well as a general responsibility for the earth, I make no hesitation in saying that my theatre counterparts fall very far behind. Our responsibility as ambassadors of the world at large is very poor when it comes to “being green.” I say it is our responsibility, under the circumstances that as theatre as a voice, we have a social integrity to recognise and represent some archetypal views and the environment is always high on the agenda.

I’m not proposing that there should be lots of plays consisting of tree-hugging, one shower a week and drinking our own wee, rather that throughout the production process, we can be more environmentally responsible. For example, implementing some sort of policy that helps a company to consume less – using less paper, recycling props and scenery and consuming power only when necessary; switching off lights when not in use. This applies to companies whoever they are – theatres, arts centres, music establishments, artists, performers, producers Etc, to which it goes without saying that the economic effect can only be positive.

This is all very obvious and easier said than done, but the point I’m trying to make is that pure awareness will have a knock-on effect to help facilitate future projects in terms of environmental responsibility.

A massive example of this is the Arcola Energy project at the Arcola Theatre in Hackney, North London. This is the scheme where they “aim to make Arcola the worlds first carbon neutral theatre.” A huge effort has been made possible under the guidance of the theatres’ executive director Dr Ben Todd who is also a consultant to the fuel cell industry. Through his and the theatres’ work, they have installed a hydrogen fuel cell to power the main part of the venue, including bar and main house. As well as the cell they “will be installing biomass heating, solar panels, fuel cells and state of the art energy saving technologies throughout the building.” This is a standard that we can all pursue to reduce the impact on Global Warming – the key achievement at the end of the day.

Furthering this, also one of the reasons for Arcola’s excellence, is the Greening London Theatre initiative – October 2007 Press Release:-

The Mayor has announced that he is working with London’s theatres to reduce their carbon emissions. Speaking at Somerset House where he helped launch the new energy efficient lighting scheme at the National Theatre, the Mayor announced a partnership across the London theatre sector with a shared goal of making London’s theatres more energy efficient.

Read the full release.

As you can see it isn’t only the Arcola Theatre making a difference; however they are the only body to openly publicise changes and undertake a genuine accountability into helping the environment. Arcola is an off-West End theatre where economic and financial tackling is an all time reality – yet they still manage to achieve something so wonderful. It is about time that more companies followed their lead and should make aware and fully implement green changes into their day-to-day running.

no more chair waving!

In all my time in education, if there is one thing, and one thing only, that I have learnt as a theatre maker, it is that scene changes are a huge waste of time, space, thought and energy and should be completely banished from any show, ever.

“Chair-waving”, as Nicholas Blincoe called it in his Guardian Unlimited blog, by definition is “between acts, in the set changes that usually take place in the dark.”  Yet, Blincoe, doesn’t seem to point out why they are so awful other than remarking that they are “bad, bad business” and are clumsily done. I have seen this all too often and it’s time there was an end. Scene changes in the dark often take a very long time, unnecessarily break the continuity of the action and, more often than not, are very noisy – all these factors can hinder a production to a disastrous point. Even a scene change between acts, an interval perhaps, the audience are thrown completely and take an immediate disinterest.

It is my belief, that if you are going to do a scene change, you should let it happen in front of the audience and curate it as part of the performance. If done well, there is nothing more joyous than seeing a swift and slick scene change to help the journey of the performance. The audience shouldn’t be masked from any such change because they become excluded and ousted but instead should be part of every single moment of the whole show.

I am currently working on a production of Woyzeck by Georg Buchner. Every change is openly played and crafted as part of the action – it becomes an important part of the story and there are certainly no chairs involved! The play, as with any, requires the empathy of the audience to follow the characters on their journey, and with so many scenes (I think our version has 28 in total), it is imperative that the story is clear and coherent so that we never lose the audience throughout the journey. We endeavour to show costume changes, set changes; although minimal, and clear lighting changes – all of which are a vital part of the story.

Quite clearly, through my own experience, the problem exists in the early education of any theatre makers’ career. Therefore, it should be included in the school’s curriculum that no chairs should be used to create a set and no set changes should take place in the dark. There are 101 ways to create a scene without a chair and even more to change a set – we can always go back to the ease of a chair (yawn).

But to the many professional productions that I have seen, I am coming to the stage where chair-waving nightmares often dominate my sleep. Please can we all put a stop to this for the greater good of the theatre world?

share the language and free the word! in theatre

Following on from yesterday, I raised an obvious point about everyday suffering in the world and the role that theatre can play in the healing of these afflictions. Theatre, as language, plays a hugely important part in the understanding between cultures, especially language shared globally. The modern climate allows for a vast amount of cross-culture collaboration to take place, with freedom of travelling growing at an implausible rate and international theatre companies joining forces left, right and centre because of this. It is only inherent that we should embrace these opportunities and make it a responsibility to learn, teach and grow together in co-cultures – language plays vital part of this.

In search of this responsibility, I should take time to highlight the upcoming Free the Word: A celebration of world literature festival taking place at the South Bank, London this weekend (11-13 April). The festival is being held by International PEN – a hugely established association of writers from across the world. Its focus is the breaking of divisions between countries using language. This is what the organisers say:-

Meet the great writers you know and the great writers you don’t…

Come and feast upon a weekend of events that promises to engage with stories from all over the globe in unexpected and extraordinary encounters. Be part of an intimate conversation, a raucous debate, a provocative cabaret, or just listen to dialogues between eminent and emerging writers as they discuss their role as creators, thinkers and interpreters in society.

Free the Word! is taking place at the National Theatre, The Old Vic, Southbank Centre and Young Vic.

The festival is the perfect opportunity to learn how language can incite, invite, inspire, invoke and inflame in the best way possible. This, in turn, can be used in the theatre, with all the above terms, to educate both creators and audiences alike.

However, the truth is that at the moment, there is, as Hassan Abdulrazzak puts it in his blog at the Guardian Unlimited, too big a “gap in knowledge” – particularly between Western cultures and the Middle East, for example. Abdulrazzak writes that the perception and understanding that we have about other countries and cultures has been filtered only by the news and television. Others also have the same closed view about us – that we are a male hooligan, violence driven nation, which plainly isn’t true.

Theatre is a medium which can change these views and Free the Word is an ideal festival to attend which can help support. So, again, I stress the value in our responsibility as theatre makers to take in every possibility and help shape the views of the world at large.

theatre should highlight the beauty too

The infamous poet, Dylan Thomas, is reported to have commented that Under Milk Wood was developed in response to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, as a way of reasserting the evidence of beauty in the world. If that was the case, then a play such as this should be written every day.

With everyday events of human rights abuse in Tibet, extreme world food shortages and the ever present war tearing apart nations, then theatre and the arts in general, needs to reassert the evidence of beauty at every possible opening. Living in a country where freedom of speech is a luxury, compared to some, and human rights come at very, very little cost, we need to take advantage of that fact.

As theatre makers, I believe it is absolutely vital, a duty perhaps, to search and expose the splendour that does exist in the world. Even if it takes a great amount of time, to use the cliché “Rome wasn’t built in a day” – Thomas worked on Under Milk Wood for eight years and what he eventually produced was an astonishing feat and an incredible commentary on the world at large, I think we’d all agree this is a lesson we can learn.

I accept that, in this day, we don’t have the time to write a masterpiece over an amount of years, although some attempt at this would be a tribute to writers’, such as Thomas, to theatre and audiences and it is somewhere to be aiming for.

It is then fitting, in these troubled times, that Under Milk Wood should be appearing at the Tricycle Theatre for two weeks in May. Director “Malcolm Taylor’s new, simply staged production gives full rein to the words and majesty of Thomas’ timeless masterpiece.” This is a fantastic opportunity for an audience to lend their ears and eyes to be seduced by Thomas’ words once again and also to be reminded of the beauty in the world.

hippodrome news update

The fate of the Derby Hippodrome will be decided at London’s High Court next Thursday. Until then “repair” works will cease. Read my post on Derby’s troubled theatres here. Read the full post on The Stage website here.

derby’s troubled theatres

 

After the atrocious scenes at the Derby Hippodrome last week, it is an understatement to say that theatre in Derby is in a very troubled time.

Firstly, The Derby Playhouse is in a severe state of non-funding. Derby City Council were the initial culprits to refuse to forward £40,000 of grant monies, back in November 2007. It was then, that the Arts Council England decided that it would subsequently be cutting its funding to the theatre. The current on/off Christmas production of Treasure Island came to a halt on 2nd February 2008 and the theatre has ceased to open since.

The Derby Hippodrome, although being used most recently as a bingo hall, was hit by a fire in February. The damage was small; however it was enough that the council ordered the building’s owner a repairs notice. Under the notice, the “repairs” came in; it was here where it went horribly wrong.

Last week, a ridiculous amount of demolition began with a “bucket excavator” and a “nibbler” – not the sort of machinery to help with repairs – it was alleged that the building was a high risk to public safety and must be demolished immediately. The council managed to prevent any further damage; although so much has already been done it appears as if it will all have to come down anyway.

The whole event is an absolute disgrace to the council and the building’s owner.I can’t really understand how this has all happened when there are meant to be a number of bodies in place to prevent this sort of thing. The Stage newspaper commented that “According to the organisation, [the Theatres Trust] the events of last week are unprecedented in the history of the Theatres Trust.” – Clearly demonstrating the seriousness of the recent events.

Here are some videos and photos to the Hippodrome events:-

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pS5UOSz2dBg 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimexplore/sets/72157604290842613/ 

Tell me whether you think any of this is an attempt at a repair?

Even though the Hippodrome wasn’t being used as a theatre, it can be if it gets rebuilt, which can happen with pressure from the public. While it will be a long time until it is rebuilt, it is down the Playhouse to show any sign of theatre life in Derby. Please show some support – either by joining the Facebook group Save Derby Playhouse:-

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7861676565

Or going to the site and following the instructions, for example signing the petition:-

http://www.savederbyplayhouse.org/index.php

Where’s the next place that this inevitable story will unfold? Well, after the Playhouse closure and other important, wonderful and thriving places closing in the recent past, such as the Gardner Arts Centre, in Brighton, Sussex – a place where I have performed, as well as some world renowned companies, a place where I first saw Frantic Assembly and Forced Entertainment and further ignited my passion for theatre. Now, the next generation will be very much deprived of such entertainment, which deeply saddens me.

When we will next hear of a closure which will send a resounding note out into the theatre community, probably much too late? It’s about time that the closures stopped, the councils gave more money and protection to different institutions and theatre grew out more than ever before. I know, this is in and ideal world – however, isn’t that what we’re aiming for?

who’s getting that edinburgh feeling?

          

The Edinburgh International Festivalhas released their new programme for this year’s festival (wahey!) and I have to confess, nothing gets me more excited. The fact that it features 11 major pieces of theatre, making it the most theatre focused programme in years, also gets my vote of confidence – especially with the daunting International Comedy Festival threatening theatre reputation at the festival.

Rumours were that Jonathan Mills, artistic director of EIF, was going to feature a lot of music, and so the theatre packed programme has come as a welcome surprise. Speaking to The Stage newspaper, Mills said:-

 “A lot of people said, ‘Oh, this guy from Australia is a muso, he’ll do a lot of music’. But, actually, I am as interested in the theatre programme as I am in the dance programme.”

Good on him.

There is also a potent feature of dance, which further strengthens theatre and dance as a major player of the whole Edinburgh festival – International and Fringe.

Mills also speaks about his “maturation of the relationship” with Matthew Bourne (Nutcracker! appeared in the 1992 EIF). Bourne will return to this year’s festival with his company New Adventures and this sort of household name is a welcome boost – let’s hope we see some other names up there in years to come, where Mills calls Edinburgh a place that “has nurtured many people’s careers.”

Now all we have to do is wait for 5 June – the launch of the Official Fringe Programme. It’ll be a first glance at who’s there and who’s where – for those who aren’t, they’ll certainly be missing out. I just can’t wait for the programme to drop through the door!

n.b. for those of you who read the post chiefs say – “no rain in our theatre!” – it was an April fool – of course you knew that though, right?

chiefs say – “no rain in our theatre!”

                

We all know that British summer time can be a bit dodgy at times, however, the chiefs down at Regent’s Park have decided that this year’s Open Air Theatre will have a temporary roof built for the whole season.

The decision has been taken that from last years heavy rainfall, there presents too much of a risk and the officials do not wish to leave any punters unhappy due to the cancellation of a show.

Three Shakespeare plays – Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (a true midsummer’s dream) will be some of the productions showing at the theatre, however, undercover, will it have the same feel as a true open air theatre?

Are you regular to the summer Open Air theatre? Will it be the same? Or is the park feel enough to captivate the true spirit of this summer event? Please leave a reply, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the decision.

theatre man spacey sparks a spat

So, the big-gun artistic director down at Waterloo has opened his mouth once again, for a good cause, and has shouted at the BBC and Andrew Lloyd Webber about their talent show series Any Dream Will Do and I’d Do Anything claiming that they’re a “a 13-week promotion for a musical”.

Yes, we all know him by now – Kevin Spacey of the Old Vic theatre, a pillar in the community of London theatre and Hollywood superstar. Michael Billington, theatre critic at the Guardian newspaper, has fully supported Spacey’s remarks about the shows being “unfair”, as well many others across the theatre circle, all in just one morning. When Spacey speaks out it spreads like the plague.

The real issue, that myself and many others seem to be pursuing, is the BBC’s disregard to theatre and the arts in general. When was the last time they gave precedance to any straight theatre play? I don’t think they ever have. To find that sort of programme you have to jump across to Channel 4 with shows such as The Play’s the Thing. There are no revivals of anything but Shakespeare featuring on the BBC and programmes such as the Culture Show give hardly any, if any, precedance to theatre and the arts at all. This debate has risen time and time again, and as much as the BBC deny that it is an advert for the productions, it’s hard to cover up that fact. Why else would Lord Webber have signed up?

So, what can we do about this? Well, just this moring, numerous amounts of people have written on Billington’s blog in support of Spacey and this can’t be a bad thing. However, instead of writing to Billington, who I’m sure knows enough about the issue, we should be writing to the BBC asking them to address the problem. After all, they’re the public service broadcast station and it’s the public that they listen to.

It’s in this vital time, with the fast approaching 2012 Olympics sucking all the money and ACE funding cuts, that the large corporations need to show some support to theatre and the arts. It’s about time that it isn’t only musicals that need bums on seats.

unrest across the pond

                             

Casting some thoughts to those over in the US, specifically speaking, Hollywood, it has come to my attention that ‘Tinseltown’ ain’t all it’s cracked up to be (I think I knew that already, but anyway).

To break it down more simply, before you read the full post, it is that the two major unions that represent the performers – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), have broken down in talks. The dispute is over power and representation – the SAG undermining AFTRA, as SAG hold more members.

The breakdown comes before there are talks being held with the big-gun studios, who are represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Pictures, about performers pay. In a few months time, a contract expires between the film and TV studios and the stars.

Things need to be resolved because it is quite probable that a strike could take place when the contract expires. If this happened, it would be a deadly blow to Hollywood, especially after the ubiquitous writers’ strike.

Now, to bring this into some relevance to British theatre, I feel that we should take a lesson from our, somewhat extremist, cousins. It is to the great lengths that they go in which they get some return – the artistes aren’t happy about the distribution of the money and so they do something about it. Perhaps, it is about time that British artistes – performers and writers alike, got together a voice, properly, about something that they weren’t happy with, usually pay, and made a real difference.

Read a couple of posts here, which, although I tried to put simply, they probably explain better and in more detail…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7321289.stm

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN3033905520080330