Molly, Me and Private Peaceful

There are some productions that stay with you and remind you why you love acting. On Saturday 4th February 2012, the Radio 4 production of Michael Morpurgo’s, ‘Private Peaceful’ will air as the Saturday Play of the Day, and for me, it is one of those productions. 

Image from the 'Private Peaceful' Podcast (available after broadcast). Click on it to go to the podcast.

Once upon a time I worked as a bookseller, and one day I decided I wanted to arrange a large event with Michael Morpurgo, to promote his latest book. Clearly I had gone mad. It meant co-ordinating 450 children from 9 schools to gather in the Bristol Old Vic for the event. Somehow I managed to bring it all together and I still remember watching the auditorium fall silent as the children became completely absorbed in the author’s words.

At some point during the day talk turned my acting and wouldn’t it be funny if I ended up in an adaptation of his work...so imagine my surprise when a few years later I got the phone call to say I’d got the role of Molly in the Radio 4 production of one of his most popular books - my jaw dropped and, let’s face it, I did a little dance.

I always hoped I would be in a production of his work, but 'Private Peaceful' was the last Morpurgo adaptation I ever thought I would find myself in!  Why? Because I had watched the original stage adaptation with Paul Chequer as Tommo, and assumed that if they ever did a radio version they would keep it as a  one-man production. I also assumed it would be recorded in a studio, but we recorded it on location in Iddesleigh and it wasn’t until we were on location that I understood why this was so important for the production. 

Iddesleigh is a rural village and we had the luck to be there on one of the most gloriously sunny days last Spring to capture, in the recording, all the sounds of nature that course through the village - and nature is definitely a character in its own right.

Here we are, squinting in the sun!  (Left to Right) Simone Reade, Christopher Bianchi, Amy Reade, Michael Morpurgo, Annette Chown, Paul Chequer, Alison Reid, Mark Quartley. This image is from the Radio 4 website listing and you can find more behind-the-scenes pictures of the production on the site. Click on the image to visit the full listing and find out more.

I’ll admit I was nervous as the others had already been working together and I was only with the team for one day of recording, but Susan Roberts, the producer, immediately put me at ease, and everyone was lovely and welcoming. The production also brought me back together with some familiar faces, including Chris Bianchi, Simon Reade, mini me, (well, mini-Molly) Amy Reade and of course, Michael Morpurgo!

Image from the BBC Radio 4 website listing for 'Private Peaceful'. Click on it to view the listing.

The play takes place in this idyllic Iddesleigh and the trenches of the First World War through the memories and inner thoughts of Tommo Peaceful, with the music of Coope Boyes and Simpson to transport you to the era. It’s very moving, so you might want to grab a box of tissues before you switch the radio on!

I’ve already listened to it and Susan Roberts has crafted a beautiful production which I am proud to be part of, and the only way I can describe it is ‘magical’, because it really felt like there was something in the air that day which has made its way into the final piece.

Useful Links

'Private Peaceful' Full Radio 4 Listing

'Private Peaceful' Podcast

Michael Morpurgo's Website

Und on We Fund

In my last post I showed you a little promotional video I created just to look at what we could create on a budget of nothing with the resources we have as we would shortly need to create a video for We Fund, the crowd funding website.

By some minor miracle we finally have a video and our project up on the site (it's a miracle because everything that could go wrong, did go wrong!) and I promised to share the final video on my blog, so here it is:

We've made it to 13% of our target, at the time of writing, but that's still a long way from our target and if we don't reach at least 100%, we get nothing. So, if you are able to help us reach our target click on this link to visit our We Fund page, or if you know anyone who might be able to help us, please pass the link on. Thank you!

Taking Und to Edinburgh

It's been another busy week, but I thought I'd quickly share what I've been up to...

As you may already know, Und  is heading to Edinburgh - woo hoo! However, we could do with a helping hand to fund the show and we're looking into crowd funding as one of the possible sources.

If we use a site like We Fund, we would need to create a video to go with our appeal and at the moment it looks like it'll be me putting it together. So, having never done anything like it before, I've started to play with what we've got (production stills, quotes and music from the show) to see what we can do and to learn how to do it. Below is my first creation - a little promo for the show - it is by no means the final product (I'll post the final outcome on here as well), but I was pretty chuffed with my first attempt:

Thanks again to Matt Chilton for sending me the haunting recordings of him and Seth Guy (if you didn't see the show this is some of the music they created from found objects and if you did see it, it may evoke a few memories), Alex Brenner for the production photography (he also designed our flyer which I use in the opening) and Abi Bansal for her pre-production photography (the black and white photos, taken in the warehouse, where we nearly froze taking them!)

I hope you enjoy it.

Doing it Anyway

If you read my last post, you can see I foolishly thought I would find time to increase my writing. As it is, I have been so busy, my writing has been forced on to the back burner. With this in mind I thought the best piece to start this year’s writing would be a brief post about some of my antics and how one thing has led to another...

There's a book by Susan Jeffers called Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway. I've never read it and with my very long list of books I want to read, it's unlikely I ever will (well, not for a good few years at least). However, it sums up the mantra by which I have been trying to live my acting life over the last 12 months and I have to say it’s worked pretty well so far.

Instant Wit

It began about a year ago with an audition for Instant Wit, the comedy improvisation group. I love comedy improvisation, but equally it terrifies me, especially when auditioning for a group of people who have been working together for years. It was as terrifying as I thought it would be, but they were lovely and although I didn't make it into the group, I did get recalled, which boosted my confidence, and meant I met some brilliant people that I'm still in contact with - I also laughed longer and harder in that rehearsal room than I have for ages!

Show of Strength Theatre Company

A few months later, Sheila at Show of Strength approached me about performing in Trading Local, a brilliant initiative aimed at regenerating local shopping areas. Site-specific monologues, sourced and developed from local writers are performed in shops - not empty ones, trading ones - creating some very 'intimate' theatre!


The thought of performing with no boundary between audience and performance sounded exciting, but I could feel the fear in the pit of my stomach. Once again, because I could feel the fear I knew I had to do it. 

Performing in Trading Local. Photograph Copyright Zuleika Henry

It was an great experience for many reasons, with a lot of strange coincidences, that if you believe in fate, could easily be read as signs.

Serendip Poster

One coincidence came in the form of Sam Randall, a playwright with a new play, called Serendip, about to be performed in Exeter. She approached me after one of my performances and asked if I would be interested in auditioning for her play if she could get me seen. I said ‘yes’ and to cut a long story short, within a few weeks I was rehearsing the roles of Gertie and Ten in Serendip at The Bike Shed Theatre.

Towards the end of the run an old friend, now a director, called me to ask if I was interested in auditioning for a production of a one-woman, Howard Barker piece, to be performed in an huge, freezing cold, empty warehouse on the Paintworks site in Bristol - with a proposition like that, how could I say ‘no’? Well, I thought about it, as the fear of doing a huge show in a short space of time with everything resting on my shoulders was great, but it was such an unusual opportunity, once again, I had to say ‘yes’. 

Performing in 'Und'

The play was Und and I got the role. What ensued one of the biggest acting challenges I have so far faced. Thankfully, the show was well received and soon the challenge will be even greater as we are taking the show to Edinburgh for the Festival. 

I don’t know what the next 12 months have in store, but over the last year I know that by stepping out of my comfort zone, I have developed in many ways, so I hope the offers keep coming and even if I feel the fear, I continue to push myself and do it anyway.

Happy Birthday Theatre West

I knew it had been a while since I had last posted on the blog, but I didn’t realise just how long it had been until I actually checked the date. June? June? Surely not...

In my head it doesn’t seem that long because I have been planning pieces and starting to write them in the intervening period, but have had to abandon them as events have taken over my time.

The last couple of months have been incredibly busy and I have had the opportunity to work on some really interesting and unusual pieces with some brilliant people, including Consulting with Chekhov at the Alma Tavern and Trading Local with Show of Strength. I am currently rehearsing a new play called Serendip at The Bikeshed Theatre in Exeter, so my ‘spare’ time is limited, but over the coming weeks, I plan to write about the production whenever possible. This piece, however, is one I’ve been planning to write for the last month, about the current Theatre West season.

Front cover of the 2010 brochure 

This season marks the 20^th birthday of Theatre West and Co-Artistic Directors Alison Comley & Ann Stiddard have programmed some really thought-provoking work from writers with very distinctive voices.

Children of Salt image Copyright Toby Farrow 2010

The season opened with the powerful Children of Salt by Edson Burton, directed by Amanda Horlock. It dealt with life after genocide and how you rebuild your life. Suspicion and guilt seeped through the play as the characters tried to hold onto the love they once shared. In the end you see that they have all been existing and not living as the psychological wounds continue to weep long after the physical wounds have healed.

A Laughing Matter image Copyright Toby Farrow 2010

Next up it was A Laughing Matter by Dom Rowe, directed by Ed Viney. It was darkly comic piece following a failing ‘suicide-mime’ artist and the inventor of canned laughter, as they go ‘on the run’. Full of cultural references and set in the desert somewhere in America, it was soon apparent that the people they were running from were insignificant and ultimately they were trying to out-run their past in order to escape their future.

Watching this one was particularly interesting as I had read an earlier version of the script, which had a completely different ending, so I wasn’t expecting it to end how and when it did end. At the time I felt the ending was positive and full of hope, but on reflection, I think this was influenced by my knowledge of the previous ending. The ending I watched was more open ended and although it still suggested hope, I think that for Audrey, the mime artist her future was far from certain.

Page from 2010 brochure



Pavement by Sharon Clark, directed by Emma Earle is the current production in the season and is described as a ‘fierce, funny and tender meditation on love, loss and broken engines’. Although I haven’t seen it yet, I’m really looking forward to it as I am familiar with Sharon’s previous work.

Page from 2010 brochure

The penultimate production will be the final part in Steve Hennessy’s Lullabies of Broadmoor series, Venus at Broadmoor, directed by Chris Loveless. Set in the infamous lunatic asylum, the story is based on the real-life ‘Chocolate Cream Poisoner’, Christiana Edmunds, the most notorious female patient at Broadmoor. Watch it and it will make you question your resistance to such enigmatic characters.

Page from 2010 brochure

As the programme points out, the season opened with a play about the effect of war on ordinary people and it closes in the same way. Rabbit Ears by Bruce Fellows is about women at home waiting for news of their men, soldiers fighting in Afghanistan. It will be directed by Theatre West’s very own Alison Comley and Bruce is the winner of their initiative with Southwest Scriptwriters. It sounds great, but unfortunately I won’t be able to see this one as I will be performing in Exeter.

Ann and Alison outside The Alma Tavern

I think Ann and Alison are amazing – the sheer amount of time they dedicate to sourcing and supporting new work is admirable and Theatre West is a fantastic asset to our region. We all know that the government and Arts Council cuts are coming, but I really hope that Theatre West weathers the storm. With Ann and Alison at the helm I have every faith it will be here to celebrate its 21^st birthday and beyond.

Happy Birthday Theatre West!

Useful Links:

Theatre West

Alma Tavern

Farrows Creative

The Bikeshed Theatre

Looking for Love in Script Space: An Interview with Gareth Jandrell

If you haven’t been to ‘Script Space’ before, it’s a fantastic opportunity to watch a series of rehearsed readings of short plays selected by the Tobacco Factory as part of their development programme. It’s also an opportunity to get involved and give feedback in a Q&A session with the actors, directors and writers.

Working with new and emerging writers, the third and final ‘Script Space’ of the 2010 season is happening this Sunday (27th June) at the Tobacco Factory.

I caught up with one of the writers, Gareth Jandrell, author of ‘Ache’ and asked him a few questions…

Can you tell us a bit about ‘Ache’?

”It's about four people who attend a speed dating night at a less than salubrious pub. It's a grimy, dingy venue but they're still looking for love, they're still hoping for something to happen. They're all funny and charming and caring, it's just it hasn't quite happened for them yet, so they end up here, tonight.”

What inspired you to write it?

”I walked past a terrible pub that had a chalk board outside that said 'singles night: come and meet that special someone.' (Which actually appears in the play) and I thought 'imagine trying to find the love of your life there', then I thought 'why not? Why not there, it's as good a place as any' and then slowly these characters who find themselves in a completely unlikely setting suddenly having to get along with each other appeared, trying to make the evening bearable, trying to make conversation and maybe, just maybe, trying to find even more than that.”

How did you find out about ‘Script Space’?

”There was a posting on the BBC Writersroom website and I had the play finished and in a moment of madness I thought I'd apply, not thinking anything of it. Then I found I'd been shortlisted, then that my play was going to be performed. A totally unexpected treat. To be at a great venue like the Tobacco Factory is a huge opportunity, let alone with a play which I enjoyed writing so much. I can't wait to see how the audience respond to the piece.”

Which comes first, the play or the development opportunity? By this I mean, do you already have an idea for a production (or maybe even an initial script) when you apply for an opportunity like ‘Script Space’ or do you see an opportunity/competition and start thinking of a plot so that you can enter?

“The play comes first for me. I think if you write to the opportunity you loose the drive which is behind the piece. For me, you write the play then if the right opportunity comes along that's amazing, it was meant to be. If you do it the other way round you risk writing things you never set out to write, and then end up being judged by them later on. You don't want to end up having to justify writing something you never actually believed in yourself.”

Looking at your previous success, you’ve already had some of your short plays performed in places like the Soho Theatre and The White Bear and now you’re working on a full length play, which will be read at The Southwark Playhouse in July. Is this your first full length piece?

“It's the first one I've fully developed with a production company. Luckily Ugly Sister Productions took a chance on developing a short play I wrote last year and now it's in good shape thanks to their dedication to it. So much of writing is people believing in your work and Esther and Julia at Ugly Sisters took a huge chance on me and I hope it works out for them, I owe them a lot.”

Do you remember your first piece of ‘creative writing’?

”My God, yes. I wrote a lot of angsty 'woe is me' unrequited love poetry as a teen. I still have it. It's terrible. Terrible. They say you learn from your mistakes. I learnt this: never show a girl a poem you have written about them. It's not romantic. It's weird.”

Why do you want to be a writer? What drives you?

“I don't know. When it's going badly I think I'll give up, tell all my friends I'll give up, go into a Heathcliff-esque brood. Then I'll think of a bit of dialogue or an idea for a scene or get angry about the world and start writing again... Until I get a rejection letter then the cycle starts back up... That's what great about schemes like Script Space - it gives new writers a platform for their work and the confidence to press on with their writing, as I will. Until the next rejection letter...”

Name one play you think everyone should read in their lifetime…

”Love and Money by Dennis Kelly. Incredible. Dramaturgically immaculate. Not a wasted word, and each syllable relates to the theme completely. His only mistake was to write it 3 years too early. Read it now, you'll assume it was written yesterday. A masterpiece.”


If you want to see ‘Ache’, then head ‘Script Space III’ on Sunday 27th June at 1.30pm, entry is £3. For further information visit the Tobacco Factory Website

Meisner, Jack and Ridley Scott

A little while ago I was contacted by Jack Price of Studio Films. Over the coming months he will be running courses in Meisner technique for actors at the Tobacco Factory. 

Taken from the flyer for the upcoming course

The first course begins on Thursday 6th May 2010 and it's a practical short course that takes you step-by-step through Meisner's core exercise and text analysis over 6 days. But if you've never heard of Meisner or, like me, only know the name, you're probably wondering what it's all about and why you should be interested.

You can look Meisner up on Wikipedia, but for this blog post I thought it was probably best if the answers came from Jack:

Sanford Meisner worked with Lee Strasberg as part of The Group Theatre  in New York, but he left the group and developed his own technique. In a nutshell what is 'Meisner' and how does it differ from ‘The Method’?

"Meisner is almost anti-method, its not about you its about the other person. The oft quoted Meisner line is its “About Living truthfully under a given set of circumstances” To live truthfully in the circumstances of a man who has murdered do you have to know what it feels like to murder? I don't believe so."

How did you discover Meisner?

"I studied with Scott Williams at the Impulse company in London. Scott is generous, brilliant and supportive. One of the best teachers I have ever had. "

I see you are developing a film course with Impulse company. How does Meisner for screen differ to Meisner for stage?

"I don't believe there is any difference between acting for stage or screen, except you have to have different types of stamina and the voice work is different. I believe people's bullshit-ometters are the same, if it's great it's great and if it's pants, we walk."

What does Meisner offer that other techniques/practices don’t?

"Meisner created a set of core exercises which connect you to impulse, they tune your instrument, in the case of the actor the instrument is the body, mind. I have not found another exercise which gives me a workout, makes me a better actor, connects me more to truth and as a note improves my writing and directing."

Do you need previous experience of the technique to attend the course at the Tobacco Factory?

"No. You just need to want to act and be willing to have some myths destroyed."

Reading about Jack on the Studio Film website (and IMDB), I had a few questions about the man behind the course:

The Man Himself

You say you’ve filmed extensively for Ridley Scott Associates, have you ever met Ridley Scott?

"I worked for Ridley Scott for 8 years as one of his directors, I have met him. I have also sat at his desk naked with Russell Crowe's Gladiator Helmet and Sword."

As you do...That was a much better answer than I was expecting, but I'll leave it there and let your students quizz you further in the workshop.

I understand your most recent film is Indigo, tell me more about it

"Indigo is a short film I wrote and directed about a boy who has a gift. You can see the trailer online at http://www.studiofilm.co.uk/. The film recently won special mention at the Berlin Film festival and I am developing it into a feature film with producer Andrea Cornwell whose last film was Scouting Book For Boys which is in cinemas now. The film stars Thomas Turgoose who was in This is England and right now I should be rewriting the synopsis."

Indigo received a Special Mention at the Berlin Film Festival

Just before you get back to your writing, I have to ask the question anyone who looks you up on IMDB will really want to know… is it true you were in an episode of Blossom?!

"I love that! I only just saw IMDB had added that to my profile. Do you think if I pay for IMDB pro they will remove it? For the record, No, I was not in the episode where Blossom gets her period!"

[Meanwhile, somewhere in the world, another Jack Price is miffed that his credit has been allocated to the wrong 'Jack Price', and wonders if he could reclaim his rightful title by joining IMDB Pro.]

The course dates are 6th - 8th and 13th - 15th May 2010 and there are only a couple of places left. The cost is £265, but if you mention that you read about it on this blog, you will receive a £15 discount, making it £240.

Click here for booking details and further information about the course or visit the Studio Film website to find out more about Jack and his work.

If you can't make the course in May, he will be running a 5 day course 4th - 9th July 2010, a taster session 1st - 2nd June 2010 or, if you have experience of Meisner there will be a drop-in session on 4th June 2010.

Useful Links

Tobacco Factory

Studio Film

Impulse Company

Wikipedia: Sanford Meisner

Jack Price on IMDB