Mugs Arrows and Festive Fundraising

This week, you have your last few chances to catch Mugs Arrows at the Bike Shed Theatre. Developed by critically acclaimed touring company, Third Man Theatre, at the Bike Shed last year, the show has been running at the venue for the last couple of weeks and has garnered great reviews from Exeunt, Remotegoat and The Express & Echo.

Mugs Arrows at The Bike Shed Theatre

Here’s a bit about the show and the company from the press release:

“Mugs Arrows is a surreal black comedy set in very ordinary surroundings – the local pub.
With rural areas being forever altered through commercial development and extreme
weather conditions and locals disenchanted by a lack of jobs and the ever-increasing
allure of a life elsewhere, Mugs Arrows delves in to a world that is on the change. It
explores the depths of the human psyche, love, loss, friendship (and darts), leading to
hilarious, strange and ultimately disturbing results. Just your average night out down the
local then…

Third Man Theatre is an award winning company based in Cornwall and London that
specialises in new writing. Since forming in 2007, they have toured extensively around the
UK and the US. Their most recent show Botallack O’Clock was nominated for Best Fringe
Show Time Out 2011 and transferred to New York as part of the Brits Off Broadway season 2013 following a 3 week run at the Bike Shed in 2012.”

Mugs Arrows is also the first of this year’s autumn residencies at the Bike Shed Theatre, where companies from across the UK are given a chance to develop new work in the
theatre, while showcasing existing material.

That’s not all that’s happening at the theatre though: preparations are afoot for the Christmas show and The Bike Shed team could do with your help...

Their ‘exciting seasonal show’ is called Eliza and The Wild Swans and is an adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen tale, Wild Swans. It’s a collaboration with Bristol’s Wardrobe Ensemble, which will see the Bike Shed theatre and bar transformed into a wintery wonderland, with mulled wine at the bar, Christmas trees and ‘festive cheer all around’!

However, as they say on their Christmas Fund page, ‘making a new play doesn’t come cheap’ and they don’t receive regular public funding, so they’re trying a bit of crowd funding to help ‘make this Christmas production truly special’.

As with all crowd funding, if you give, you will receive. If you donate to the Bike Shed Christmas Fund, what you receive ranges from a ‘thank you’ in the programme, to having a unique song composed for you, a free year’s Membership and your own custom cocktail served in the bar! Obviously, the more you give, the more you receive, but if any of this sounds tempting then have a look at their Christmas Fund page for more information.

Useful Links

Mugs Arrows
Third Man Theatre
Eliza and The Wild Swans
The Wardrobe Ensemble
The Bike Shed Christmas Fund

tidy carnage puts Motor Neurone Disease in the Spotlight

I’m going to start this post with an apology: I apologise to anyone who has sent me a Press Release in the last couple of months. I have responded to some of you, but not been able to reply to all of you. I have been busy as both an Actor and Graphic Designer, so I haven’t been able to find the time to blog - even about the productions I’ve been working on - but keep the releases coming!

Apology over, Kelly Smith, producer of 'dream//life', contacted me with details of the show, currently running at The Bike Shed Theatre in Exeter and it sounded really interesting, so here’s a bit about the company and the show.

Helen Cuinn in 'dream//life'

Tidy carnage, is a new theatre collective from Glasgow, who merge new writing, movement and multimedia, and their current show, 'dream//life', is at The Bike Shed Theatre until Saturday 20th July. It’s a moving account of one couple’s experience of Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and has been developed in collaboration with Motor Neurone Disease Scotland.

Director Allie Butler was initially inspired by a piece of creative writing entitled ‘A Day In The Life’, written by someone with the condition. She further developed the piece by researching and talking to people who have MND or care for those with it. Performed by Neil John Gibson and Helen Cuinn, 'dream//life' became a piece, not explicitly about the illness, but about a relationship affected by it. The piece has been supported by Ovalhouse in London and The Arches in Glasgow, where the company presented early work in progress showings and received feedback from the venue, community and charity to enable further development. This development process certainly seems to have worked, as Arthur Duncan has given them a glowing review on Remote Goat: http://www.remotegoat.com/uk/review_view.php?uid=9970

Neil John Gibson & Helen Cuinn in 'dream//life'

The company has been in residence at The Bike Shed Theatre for the last two weeks and is collaborating with the local branch of the national charity, Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA), the only national charity raising awareness and money for research into MND and support for those affected, to raise awareness and support. Although the screening of the documentary film, 'I AM BREATHING' and their Q & A session have passed, there is still an opportunity for audiences who want to find out more about and support the charity, to do this, as there is a stall in theatre’s Café Bar where you can read and take away information.

Helen Cuinn in 'dream//life'

If you like their work, then you can also catch some of their work in progress before they leave Exeter. As part of their residency at the theatre, tidy carnage are collaborating with local writer Cally Hayes to create a new piece of Theatre. 'writer//collaborator' will be developed over a few days as the company give sections of text the tidy carnage treatment and then perform what emerges as scratch showings 18th-20th July (see the Bike Shed website for details).

You only have until Saturday to catch 'dream//life' in Exeter, but if you like the company’s work, then make sure you watch 'writer//collaborator' as you have the opportunity to be one of the first people to experience and provide feedback on their next show.

Links

The Bike Shed Theatre
tidy carnage on Twitter (@tidycarnage)
'dream//life' Remote Goat Review 
Motor Neurone Disease Association Website
I AM BREATHING Website
Ovalhouse Website
The Arches Website

Act 2: An Act of Twisting Reaches The Bierkeller

Last time I handed my blog over to the lovely Natalie Remington, but now, as we perform in Bristol, it's back to me.

It's only been a couple of weeks since I saw the team, but I have missed them, as they have kept me laughing on and off stage for the last couple of months. 'An Act of Twisting' is a dark comedy about torture and it's been great to perform with three ladies who genuinely make me laugh.

Kate with The Captive Combatant Image Copyright Hannah Drake 2013

A humourous play about such a serious subject might sound incongruous but it's not flippant, it's deeply satirical. When Hannah (Drake, our Director) first discussed the play with me, she explained that Ian's initial inspiration came from a question: 'What would happen if you put the WI (Women's Institute) in charge of torture?'. It's an interesting, absurd premise and although the play has moved on from that idea, 'An Act of Twisting' introduces a group of women set the unenviable task of improving the National standards of torture and the man on whom they will be 'practising' their new techniques.

What I particularly like about the play is, although it sets up the premise that it will be a story about being a woman and how torture affects women, you realise that it's about being human and how torture forces us to question our human identity.

'The cruelest technique of all...' Image Copyright Hannah Drake 2013

As part of the rehearsal process we researched methods discussed in the play, such as Waterboarding and references to the effects of torture, such as The Stockdale Paradox, but ultimately we found ourselves exploring questions around being human and what drives people to torture others as well as the justifications for torture, all of which influence how our characters see their world. So I thought I'd include a couple of links to some of the topics we found ourselves discussing. Some are directly related to the play and some indirectly, but equally interesting:

Journalist Christopher Hitchens being Waterboarded (YouTube Video)
Jim Collins.com Audio file about The Stockdale Paradox
Wikipedia Entry: The Milgram Experiment
Information is Beautiful diagram: Left vs Right (US)
TED talk from Dr James Fallon

It's in the dark side of the research that you find the light. They often say that truth is stranger than fiction and sometimes the gags write themselves, never more so than in the reference to Michael Bolton's music in the show: it's true. I'm not going to give it away here, you'll have to see the show to understand what I am talking about, but, according to Ian's research, it's true.

Penelope gives a little demonstration. Image Copyright Hannah Drake 2013

The Bierkeller is a completely different space when compared to the Rondo, but it creates a more intimate experience and keeps it fresh for us as we find new things and new ways of approaching moments in the play. Which can be challenging, but also a lot of fun!

All in all, it's a great show, and we've had a brilliant response from our audiences. We finish at the Bierkeller on Thursday, 4th April so, at the time of posting, you only have to two more chances to catch the show in Bristol. It starts at 8pm and it would be great to see you there!

PS - I'd just like to say a huge thank you to our formerly 'undisclosed captives', Phil Coote, Calum Anderson and Ben Crispin, who spend the entire show gaffered to the chair (not all at the same time)!

Links

Tickets for 'An Act of Twisting'
The Bierkeller Theatre Website
Hannah Drake's Interview with 17percent

Why Blue? Natalie Remington on ‘An Act of Twisting’

‘An Act of Twisting’ starts at The Rondo, in Bath, this Wednesday (6th March 2013). It’s directed by Hannah Drake, written by Ian McGlynn and features myself (Annette Chown), Lizzy Dive, Kirsty Cox, Laura Fautley and undisclosed males in the cast.

Today I am handing my blog over to Natalie Remington our fantastic Designer. She has a few surprises in store that will transform The Rondo and mean you will see it as never before, so although she won’t be giving away her secrets here, you can find out about how she got involved and her inspiration when designing a dark comedy about torture.

Before I hand over, there’s another member of the team I need to mention: our brilliant lighting designer, Luke Emmett. That’s enough from me for the minute, now it’s over to Natalie:

Eflyer for 'An Act of Twisting'

“Hannah Drake and I worked together twice last year, on June's 'Fertility Objects', and 'Product Displacement' in November. It was soon after the latter that she mentioned she would be directing Ian McGlynn's play ‘An Act of Twisting’, and that she would very much like me to design it, which was nice. I had not seen or read the play previously, although I had seen one of McGlynn's previous works at The Rondo some time before. I find his plays extremely witty and darkly entertaining.  With his company Provocation he approaches difficult subjects with both humour and pathos. This particular piece held me from the start. I won't say too much as I'll spoil it, but let's just say it keeps you guessing until the end.

Lizzy and I in rehearsal, Photograph Copyright Hannah Drake 2013

One of the things I liked about it is that the script is a blank canvas. There are minimal stage directions, and literally nothing is said about staging, setting or context. Hannah and I were very clear that we wanted to work this out for ourselves from the offset - that it was essential for us to have a sense of place and time, even if it is not important for the audience. This helps us to explore the play as we can start to visualise a context.

Sneak peek of Natalie's costume design for the show. Image and design Copyright Natalie Remington 2013

The design for this version of An Act of Twisting is very different to how it was last staged at The Rondo in 2008. Key words are utilitarian, clinical, and stark. I looked at a lot of images of abandoned hospitals, as well as images of 1940s nurses and girl scouts. I was certain that I wanted the girls to have a uniform, but without giving the impression of military. I've been working with a brilliant seamstress called Nel Johnson, and I think they are going to look fantastic.

I've had a great time working on this production - and hope that you will enjoy seeing The Rondo as you've never seen it before.”

Natalie Remington
Designer - An Act of Twisting

‘An Act of Twisting’ runs at The Rondo 6th-9th March, but if you can’t catch us there, then we play at The Bierkeller in Bristol 31st March - 4th April 2013.

If you’d like to keep up to date with the production and see more behind-the-scenes photos, you can do so on the Downstage Write and Provocation Facebook pages or follow us on Twitter.

Links

Rondo Website
The Bierkeller Website
Downstage Write Facebook Page
Provocation Facebook Page
Rondo Facebook Page

The Team on Twitter

@DownstageWrite
@Natmakesdreams
@ProvocationTC
@rondotheatre
@HannahDrakeUK
@ianmcglynn
@lukejohnemmett
@Lizzybombizzy
@LauraJFautley

The Last Blog Post (of 2012)

The end of the year is fast approaching, so I thought I'd squeeze in one final blog post.

Every now and again I am reminded it's a strange, small world, and never more so than in the world of The Arts. To cut a very long story (involving a New Year's Eve party 10 years ago, performing in a florist's shop, graphic design and 'Bunnies') short, I found myself designing the posters and flyers for this is tinder's production, 'The Last March', the Christmas show at The Bike Shed Theatre in Exeter.

I haven't previously discussed it on my blog, but as well as being an Actor I am also studying Graphic Design. Whilst I can't claim to have designed the beautiful main collage (Ian Nicholson, Tinder's Artistic Director, had already commissioned it), it was a great job to work on as Ian gave me a clear idea of what he liked, but plenty of room to be creative. In addition to this, I have watched the show and it is a great piece of Theatre!

On the left is the original collage and on the right is the final design for 'The Last March' poster

The play is the tale of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's final expedition to the Antarctic in 1912. He planned to lead the first team to reach the South Pole, but was beaten by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. Furthermore, Scott and his team died before they could make it home. “He didn’t go for material gain,” explains Ian, “It was a dream and he wanted to do it, it was important to him and his family. It was the last possible place left to be discovered, everywhere else in the world had been found.” Much like the story of Titanic, I haven't given away the ending and the heroic tale is full of myth and adventure. And tea, let's not forget the tea.

The final design for 'The Last March' flyer

Death and failure may not sound like the stuff of a heartwarming, Christmas, family tale, but Tinder saw the story from a very angle. After discovering Ian's great grandfather served under Captain Scott, Tinder did some research and discovered 2012 marks 100 years since Scott died. The story that emerged for them, was one of a very British adventure, with moments that appeared absurd and humourous when viewed from the 21st Century:

“They took out champagne and Christmas trees and a piano and a slide projector...They took 31 men and Amundsen took nine. Nine men and dogs while Scott had champagne
and brandy and footballs.”

Ian Nicholson, Director of The Last March, Artistic Director of this is tinder

The poster strapline states: "...This time, history is written by the losers..." because, as Ian explained to me, although it was Amundsen who won the race to the Pole, it was Scott's expedition and subsequent death that usurped his victory.

This is not to say that Tinder treat the expedition glibly, but the absurd and humourous moments they draw out make it both enjoyable and exciting, whilst in turn making the 'serious' moments more sympathetic and touching. If you are still concerned about it being a family show in which people die, the deaths are cleverly portrayed in a way which doesn't allow the audience to dwell on them and some younger children may not even realise that characters have died.

The Last March runs until 12th January 2013, so you still have time to catch it, before it disappears into the mists of time and a flurry of fake snow, but if you really can't find time to watch it, at least pick up a flyer to keep me happy!

Useful Links

Tickets for 'The Last March'
this is tinder on Facebook
this is tinder on Twitter (@thisistinder)

A blog post concerning an Actor trying to write about her involvement in a new play currently running at The New Diorama, or ‘I’m in Bunnies’ for short.

If you are reading this blog post before midnight on Sunday 28th October, you might still have time to take advantage of the ticket offer running via Time Out. You can see Bunnies for just £7 at The Diorama (on selected dates) if you book through Time Out, but the offer ends on Sunday 28th October. Here’s the link to the Time Out offer: http://uk-offers.timeout.com/deals/bunnies

Every time I’m in a play I have these grand plans to blog during the process and every time I realise that there’s no way that will happen until the show is up and running. So I’m typing this whilst sitting in my digs, listening to Radio 2, slurping a cup of tea and wondering if the condensation on the window is hiding the watermarks of rain on the other side, meaning this will be a waterproof-and-wellies day.

Don't trust the Bunnies...Photograph Copyright Annette Chown 2012

I am currently playing Eva in (to give it its full title), ‘A PLAY CONCERNING A FARMER’S RADICAL ATTEMPT TO RESTORE HIS LAND TO ITS SUPPOSED FORMER GLORY, AND THE DIFFERING REACTIONS OF HIS CHILDREN: OR BUNNIES (FOR SHORT)’, which is a dark satirical comedy, containing ‘swearing, violence and lots of taxidermy’. It’s definitely not one for the kids. Here’s some of the blurb from the flyer with more of what it’s about:

‘The once beautiful land is blighted by non-native species, including the grey squirrel, the Chinese mitten crab, the Siberian chipmunk, the Topmouth Gudgeon and, even, the European rabbit. They are wreaking havoc. Fortunately Stamper, a local farmer, has a solution.’

The play is written by Kieran Lynn (An Incident at The Border) and started life as a short play for The Bike Shed Theatre’s New Blood season in 2011. It went on to become a full-length play, won a Peter Brook Empty Space award and was performed at The Bike Shed Theatre in the Autumn. At the moment, if you search for the show on the web, you will probably find reviews relating to the first full-length production, but this is a different animal (see what I did there?), featuring a new cast (me, Jolyon Westhorpe and Richard Pulman) and a new director (David Lockwood). However, tonight is perhaps the scariest night of all: Press Night in London. So sooner or later there will be reviews floating around that relate to our production. Let’s hope they enjoy it...

Kieran watching from the sidelines, tweaking the script Photograph Copyright Annette Chown 2012

It is a comedy, but like all dark comedies it also makes us look at the world from a different angle. As the audience, we follow a ‘logical conclusion’ in Bunnies and for our director, it made him wonder how many steps it really is from, what he terms, ‘casual racism’ to extremism and ‘eradication’. Do ‘casual’ thoughts ultimately lead to extreme thoughts or does there have to be a catalyst that ignites extremism?
I don’t really want to give too much away, but hopefully, this has given you a flavour of what to expect and if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you can see more rehearsal photos and keep up to date with the show.

That's not a real frog, it is a real pencil. Photograph Copyright Annette Chown 2012

Before I finish this post I do just have to mention our programmes: I love them. They are published by Oberon Books and contain the script as well as biographies of those involved and only cost £3 if you buy them from theatres the play is visiting. If you want to buy the script at a later date, it will cost you more, so now’s the time to grab one. This will be the first time my biography appears in a published script, so for me, it’s extremely exciting!

Me excitedly holding a copy of the programme! Photograph Copyright Annette Chown 2012

Bunnies will be at The New Diorama until 3rd November, then we head to The Salberg Studio at The Salisbury Playhouse (6th - 10th November) and then we finish the tour in The Brewery at The Tobacco Factory in Bristol (13th - 24th November).

Useful Links

The New Diorama Bunnies Page
The Salisbury Playhouse Bunnies Page
The Tobacco Factory Theatre Bunnies Page
Oberon Books

If you missed it first time around...

I have some very exciting news which I will be blogging about soon (although those of you who follow me on Twitter already know what it is!), but in the meantime I have some re-exciting news: 'Private Peaceful' is back on BBC Radio 4 this Saturday at 2.30pm.

Image from the 'Private Peaceful' Podcast (available for a short period after broadcast).

If you missed it the first time around and want to know more about it, you can read about it on the BBC Radio 4 website or peruse the blog post I wrote earlier in the year entitled, 'Molly, Me & Private Peaceful'.

Hope you enjoy it and I look forward to divulging my exciting news very soon!