Tag Archives: theater

A Triumphant Production of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House

Posted on by

Baron’s Court Theatre

3rd Nov – 22nd Nov, 2015

7:30pm  (Two and half hours)

A Triumphant production of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House groupA Doll’s House, written by Henrick Ibsen, was first performed in 1879, and today the same discussions are still whirling about: the right of individuals to discover themselves, presumably at whatever the cost to others, especially the children.

This complex and multi layered play, and its premise, has always vexed me. Would the New Dreams Theatre Company’s production stir my depths again?

Oh yes, indeed. Dick and I not only had the great pleasure of seeing this controversial but popular play passionately performed at Baron’s Court Theatre, but argued all the way home about just these ‘rights’.

Paul Vates (Torvald Helmer) has been writing in Frost Magazine over the last few months, highlighting the processes involved in putting on a stage play. It was good, therefore, to join the audience in the intimate theatre below The Curtains Up pub on 10th November. Good, but slightly nerve wracking – would it work, would it move me, make me laugh, make me cross, make me re-join the argument?

A Triumphant production of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House paul

Kevin Russell’s production of Bryony Lavery’s pared adaptation is confident and  modern, but nonetheless steeped in the essence of the period. Ibsen writes of lives lived behind closed doors, and I believe he hints at the accommodations needed in order to hold everything together, though others see only the ‘rights’ within the play.

A Doll’s House touches on many things, fraud, debt, loneliness, unrequited love, death, the roles people play, the responsibility borne by bread winners, the sense of patronising male ownership of wife and children, and ultimately, the choice made by Nora to pursue her happiness and personal development whatever the cost. This attitude has never sat well with me, and never will.

The pace was crisp, the set utilized, Nora (Alexa Matthews) is compelling, beautiful and frenetic, Torvald (Paul Vates) a cypher of the age, and is as emotionally repressed as Nora, conforming to the norms of society and business as he does.

A Triumphant production of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House noraJust as circumstances strip Nora of her ability to role-play as a doll within a doll’s house, so too, they strip Torvald of his role as perceived by society. Vates’ confusion and desperation reveals a humanity that moved me,  brought me to tears, in fact, and more than balanced Nora’s implacable decision to strive to find herself, to grasp her ‘rights’ heedless of the contextual responsibilities.

The whole production is thoughtful, subtle, and all the players more than fulfilled their roles: Julia Florimo as Mrs Linde is a good foil to Nora, as she exposes  her controlling personality to bring about all that she wants. Ramzi Dehani’s Krogstad is ready to wreak his revenge, and is taken by surprise at the happy harbour into which he is being led by Ms Linde, by the nose one thinks. Brian Merry’s Dr Rank is painful and lost in love for Nora, but determined to wrest control back and terminate his illness at a time of his choosing.

adollshouseI thought Nora’s interior monologue worked well, and the brief by-play with  the maid Helene, was supposed to reassure us that as she’d brought up Nora, she would bring up the three children and all would be well. Tosh.

I loved it. A bravura production. It is with me still. And let me tell you, Dick was engrossed throughout and he so often isn’t.

Don’t miss it, grab the chance while you can.

A Doll’s House (Bryony Lavery)

Baron’s Court Theatre, (below The Curtains Up pub)

3rd Nov – 22nd Nov, 2015

7:30pm

PRODUCTION TEAM

Set designer: Katie Unsworth Murrey. Lighting design: Harry Amatage, Sound Design: Ben Cowen.

New Dreams Theatre

 

 

BACK TO SCHOOL | Theatre

Posted on by

Arty Kamikaze, Take 3 Management and Pleasance present

BACK TO SCHOOL

Wednesday 1st – Sunday 26th August 2012

Pleasance @ Braidwood Community Centre, 69 Dumbiedykes Road, EH8 9UT

Back To School is a site-specific, interactive experience where audience members are cast as students, premiering at the Pleasance for this year’s Edinburgh Festival. Part-comedy, part-social experiment, this new show from Britain’s modern day “Mary Poppins” in collaboration with playwright Ranjit Bolt (among others) promises to delight and amuse.

Mixing comedy and masterclass, ‘pupils’ attending ‘Saint Dumbiedykes’ will study insect dissection with one of the country’s most renowned entomologists, take sex education classes with flirtation expert Tracey Cox, hear their graduation speech given by Jonathan Ross as well as enjoying irreverent takes on the school assembly, school dinners (make sure to eat your greens) and the end of term disco. With a a resurrected school hamster and a mystery celebrity playing the school bell, Back To School promises to be a rollicking good show, full of Fringe fun, dark surprises and extra-curricular chaos.

The show is the brainchild of ‘Super Tutor’ and comedian Clementine Wade (founder of Arty Kamikaze productions). Wade commented; “Whether we loved or loathed school, we’ve all been through it! The nightmares, the celebrations, the trials and tribulations, all make up its theatre. Using this well-known format, normally the exclusive privilege of the young, the audience can relax from the responsibilities of adult life, enjoy the luxury of learning, whilst potentially exorcising a few demons.”

Developed in response to the renowned psychological experiments of Zimbardo and Milgram, Back To School and Back To School Disco are new theatrical experiences that play on the social construct of the school. Arty Kamikaze aim to amuse and enliven, giving the audience another chance to be big kids and mess around in assembly, spicing up the educational debate and proving it is never too old to be young and never too late to learn.

Back To School is being showcased at the Braidwood Community Centre which currently faces closure. Arty Kamikaze chose to work in partnership with the Centre to raise its profile and support its work as a hub for the Holyrood community. Throughout August, the performance team will be running free, daily community events, from storytelling to CV surgeries, for local Edinburgh residents to raise funds to regenerate the Centre.

Back to School will take place at Braidwood Community Centre, 69 Dumbiedykes Road, EH8 9UT from 1st – 26th August. The show lasts one hour and thirty minutes. Dumbiedykes Road can be found off Holyrood Road, running alongside Holyrood Park.

Previews: 1st – 2nd August, 4pm (£8)

3rd August, 1.30pm and 4pm (£8)

Weekday shows: 7th-9th, 14th-16th, 21st-23rd August, 1.30pm and 4pm (£10)

Weekend shows: 4th-5th, 10th-12th, 17th-19th, 24th-26th, 1.30pm and 4pm (£15)

School Disco: Every Friday and Saturday, 10pm – 1am (£10)

A Laboratory of Theatre; There's a New Venue in Town.

Posted on by

It doesn’t look like much from the outside but Manchester’s newest theatre space, the 3MT Venue, might just be one of the most important small venues in the country, writes Tim Austin.

Built in the gutted remnants of an abandoned shop, the 3MT is a self-styled laboratory of theatre. It’s a melting pot of new talent where musicians share the same stage as burlesque dancers; a place where first-time writers can test their material and aspiring actors can cut their teeth.

But it didn’t start out life this way. In fact, it didn’t start out life as a theatre project at all.

The two people behind the project are long-time theatre practitioners and teachers Gina Topliff-Frost and her husband John. Earlier in the year they opened a costume shop on the third floor of the city’s famous Afflecks, intending to sell off some of their old wardrobe stock.

In an attempt to attract and entertain new customers, they began inviting local actors and writers to produce Three minute long sketches within the shop. Afflecks liked the idea and soon offered them the opportunity to rent a larger shop on the ground floor and the Three Minute Theatre was born.

Now re-named the 3MT Venue, the theatre space is probably one of the most striking and unique venues I’ve ever visited. The auditorium is made up of 70 re-claimed and re-covered chairs, mainly from a Baptist church in Huddersfield. The walls are covered in an eclectic collection of artwork, photographs, theatre programmes and even, I noticed with keen interest, a unicycle. In many ways it bore a closer resemblance to a student flat-share than a theatre venue – but a theatre venue it is; and very a serious one at that.

“This is bums on seats theatre, not box ticking theatre” John tells me as he gives me a tour backstage. Everything you would find in a large theatre space, you’ll find backstage at the 3MT, however the venue currently receives no external grant funding and works on a profit-share basis; if no-one comes to see their shows, they make no money.

But far from being a hindrance, their business model has encouraged the team at the 3MT to be creative in their programming. It has also seen a focus on developing new talent.

“We are a cooperative in mind because we know that, in the long run, the business will benefit from the people we’ve been supporting” explains Gina.

They now have a core team of four in-house actors who produce a regular show based on the Three minute format. They actively encourage new and developing artists to rehearse and perform in the space, balancing a mix of straight theatre, music and variety acts.

Their creative policy encourages emerging performers to try out new work before taking it to the mainstream. Not only does this make it an exciting and refreshing venue to visit but, with funding fears leading to mainstream houses relying more and more on “name” faces to attract audiences, spaces like this are essential for the future of the industry.

Will it make John and Gina rich? Probably not but, then again, I doubt they care; this is a labour of love and their passion and dedication are infectious. And their love for the space is beginning to pay off, with audience numbers rising and more companies taking an interest in the space.

3MT is one to watch.

You can find out more about 3MT by visiting their website at http://www.threeminutetheatre.co.uk

Tim Austin is an Actor and Writer based in the UK. You can find out more about his work by visiting http://www.tim-austin.co.uk

Acting Up! Returning to a Life Less Ordinary

Posted on by

Well, it’s been a funny old year. About this time in 2010, I was sitting at a desk in a soulless office, writing websites, drinking coffee and watching my life and my ambitions swirl slowly down the drain. I’d only taken the job to pay for my wedding and already it had taken over my life, and not in a good way.

I was depressed. This wasn’t me. I’d been touring theatre and producing shows since I was 17. I was a performer, a creative thinker. Now here I was, getting fatter, grumpier and watching my life hit a brick wall in teeth-shattering slow motion.

So I stopped. One day I just walked into work and told my employers, in an embarrassingly polite, wet liberal way, where they could stick their job (“Sorry! I hope it’s not too inconvenient, I know you’re busy.”)

Some people said that I was insane. Mind-bogglingly, eye-wateringly insane. I’d just resigned from a secure, reasonably well paid job in the middle of a recession. Insane!

But there were others who said something quite, quite different.

They said “Well done”. They even used the word, and I’m embarrassed to repeat it because I still don’t really believe them, “brave”.

Truth be told, I’m not insane. I’m not particularly brave either. I just made a choice. Move sideways into another dead end job or move forward into a career that I actually enjoyed. Simple really.

But has it worked? Am I happier, more fulfilled, more engaged and more successful now that I’m back in on stage and screen?

Well over the next few weeks I’m going to be sharing my experiences, thoughts, triumphs and failures with the readers of Frost Magazine. There have been good times, bad times and just-plain-weird times. I’ll also be sharing a bit of the wisdom I’ve learnt from casting directors and actors along the way.

But first, I’ll leave you with a question; What is the most impulsive choice you’ve ever made,… and did it work?

You can find out more about Tim Austin at his WordPress page; http://actortim.wordpress.com.

Check back next Wednesday for more Acting Up!