tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43078757332553052362024-03-13T02:40:48.212+00:00Grassroots Shakespeare London - The BlogThe official blog for the 5 star, Off West End nominated Shakespeare ensemble. We are the resident company at Leicester Square Theatre in London's West End.
Our next show is Twelfth Night, 5th April - 14th May 2016. Join us as we celebrate Shakespeare 400!Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-70482321077262777212016-06-16T15:51:00.002+01:002016-06-16T16:32:46.549+01:00Falling in Love is so Hard on the Knees: Siobhán Daly on the power of falling in love <u><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Falling in love</span></b></u><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Shakespeare. I'm often asked why I am so passionate about his work and about the work of Grassroots. Aren't there enough Shakespeare companies? What are we doing that is so different and who cares anyway? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is a question that I have reflected a lot on over the past few years, and indeed, have scrutinised my own feelings and motivations as we have gone through everything from building a company, to having money stolen from us as well as business information, to performing at the RSC and becoming the first ever resident company at Leicester Square Theatre in the West End. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The only answer that I can really come up with that captures every thought and aspect of my feelings, is that I fell in love.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember the first time he caught my eye. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was newly at secondary school and studying a speech by Oberon from <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i>, which we also had to memorise:</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,<br />Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,<br />With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:<br />There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,<br />Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight;<br />And there the snake throws her enamell’d skin,<br />Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in:<br />And with the juice of this I’ll streak her eyes,<br />And make her full of hateful fantasies.<br />Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove:<br />A sweet Athenian lady is in love<br />With a disdainful youth: anoint his eyes;<br />But do it when the next thing he espies<br />May be the lady: thou shalt know the man<br />By the Athenian garments he hath on.<br />Effect it with some care, that he may prove<br />More fond on her than she upon her love:<br />And look thou meet me ere the first cock crow.</span></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDXU5uSBiinWxdlEIxZiat5VaPmfveUsat_R7277kTDtB48-IXEpoD5HBw-AacFrFOXMsuXeqoMSLEzFseboEsN_YschSWphzSw2e0xwUXPde7VOoIOTXWoYRNKGHO8sBwt35H-c0GyVE/s1600/Ob%2526Puck+Dream+174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDXU5uSBiinWxdlEIxZiat5VaPmfveUsat_R7277kTDtB48-IXEpoD5HBw-AacFrFOXMsuXeqoMSLEzFseboEsN_YschSWphzSw2e0xwUXPde7VOoIOTXWoYRNKGHO8sBwt35H-c0GyVE/s640/Ob%2526Puck+Dream+174.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Max Wilson as Oberon and Emily Jane Kerr as Puck in our 2012/2013 production of <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The imagery of sweet musk-roses, eglantine (sweet briar rose) and woodbine (honeysuckle) captured my imagination, and I could hardly believe that a mere sequence of words could collectively have such transportive power to the extent to being able to evoke smell or the visions of this magical bower. What was this seductive, immersive sorcery?!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And it happened. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was completely enthralled and enamoured.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> I kept asking when would we be studying the next Shakespearean play. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We had to wait far too long in my impatience to learn more, but were so richly rewarded by <i>Macbeth</i>. <i>The Tempest</i> was enjoyable, despite the new relationship having to survive the obstacle of a truly painful production of the play. We stuck together and moved through it.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1GTQZa5dcKnKxPQfrdKp1VVzk_0BkWkS1LB0hV1891_2F4NHMFuI12GQxKZohw1ccLsdZ4TIADOpzyXnCwKI0vxFsC0zrwJLm_TzbqkAk4QolllmqwzsbAmuXB4x5G3B9uIFgyMuc8Mc/s1600/522759_502852129747043_1279078995_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1GTQZa5dcKnKxPQfrdKp1VVzk_0BkWkS1LB0hV1891_2F4NHMFuI12GQxKZohw1ccLsdZ4TIADOpzyXnCwKI0vxFsC0zrwJLm_TzbqkAk4QolllmqwzsbAmuXB4x5G3B9uIFgyMuc8Mc/s640/522759_502852129747043_1279078995_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matthew Walker as Prospero in our 2012/2013 production of <i>The Tempest</i></td></tr>
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<u><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Falling out of Love</b></span></u><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But it was a difficult relationship.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We didn't always get on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sometimes he said things that were utterly obscure and I would think he was being difficult on purpose. It would upset me, and I consulted various books trying to figure out what on earth he was going on about. Maybe someone else out there could shed light on where he was coming from. I hoped. I wanted to stick with him, but it was trying.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then I had to study and perform <i>Cymbeline</i> at RADA as part of my degree. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I definitely wasn't on amorous terms with him after that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I can't entirely recollect what it was about that production that I disliked so much. From memory, it feels disjointed, lacking in clear storytelling, a gloss over what isn't exactly an easy play at the best of times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I decided I'd had enough. It was far too much hard work and we didn't speak for quite some time. Years in fact. I buried him away and hoped he would go away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He didn't.</span><br />
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<u><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Realistic Love</span></b></u><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was rather like a coal burning away deep inside my heart. The more I pretended it wasn't there, or I ignored it, or buried it further down, the more it defiantly glowed with an annoyingly increasing intensity. Without me quite realising, he was wooing me all over again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I don't really recollect an inciting moment, but I had become fed up of being afraid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was hard at first. It took a lot of humility. I struggled to admit that I was intimidated by Shakespeare, of what I didn't actually understand and to be open about the fact that I felt, particularly in light of having studied at such a prestigious school, so shamefully embarrassed </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">about the work that I had to put in to try to comprehend those difficult passages or words.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I realised that I had put him on a pedestal, and in fact had stopped relating to the real man. It is impossible to sustain romantic feelings of first love. I had to go back to basics, on my own terms, and get to know who he really is. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was so much more satisfying.</span><br />
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<u><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mature Love</span></b></u><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Something magical happened.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In being open and honest, I was able to really fall in love, not with an idea but with reality.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the things I tell all of our Grassroots actors is never feel ashamed in rehearsals about asking what you don't understand because I can guarantee no-one was born having complete knowledge of Elizabethan English, and everyone has had to study and learn. I encourage the use of dictionaries, and if actors are still stuck, I see no problem with using modern English editions to dig out the meaning, and then apply that insight back to the original text. In a collaborative, nurturing environment, which is what we encourage, this means that the actors was also provide support for each other in exploring the story. Together we can find out what is really means.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Most importantly, this work is crucial, because once we can grasp the heart of the play, we can communicate it to our audience. They too can feel the love we have for Shakespeare, that we want to share, because, to quote Juliet,</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"My bounty is as boundless as the sea,<br />My love as deep; the more I give to thee,<br />The more I have, for both are infinite.”</i></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5r5xlbCKb-vS6sPFh4OxZE_crGuqSwmvxHkgpo2-YXhOziqUkaLBbOznWXiqppCNWLlLO1zhEbcg5hcDHZiHYyIM7nnumXDgRP_gBdsVSErv-dQc6vysLQGT8A_so5SDN23RSoaDQ1s/s1600/boris+and+loren+R%2526J.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5r5xlbCKb-vS6sPFh4OxZE_crGuqSwmvxHkgpo2-YXhOziqUkaLBbOznWXiqppCNWLlLO1zhEbcg5hcDHZiHYyIM7nnumXDgRP_gBdsVSErv-dQc6vysLQGT8A_so5SDN23RSoaDQ1s/s640/boris+and+loren+R%2526J.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loren O'Brien as Juliet and Boris Mitkov as Romeo in our 5 star 2013 production of <i>Romeo and Juliet</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We long to strip back the pretence that has accumulated around Shakespeare, the fear and the intimidation. When we dispense of these unnecessary additions, a heart to heart connection can be made. Finally. You don't need to dress up, talk differently, be on your best behaviour, pretend to be someone else because you can connect from where you are, as you are.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, it takes work, every good relationship does. To quote the modern wordsmith Steve Tyler, falling in love is so hard on the knees. But it is so rewarding. Seeing audiences who have come to the theatre for the first time ever because their friends have told them about the play, and to hear them say "I can't believe that was Shakespeare, I enjoyed it so much", which is something I heard regularly during our recent production of <i>Twelfth Night</i>, is absolutely thrilling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And that is why I am passionate. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because everyone deserves to fall in love.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOyELAmGYjd7zf4gS7GEUd8841goNMF4tZgwoWzeQ773k1SIa-GcIYv5HPQiP8p1ylBd8EwIMUMav1beSwxlmITAcCUu7CduD0MImyTkifrF6UUoDcYzK-1QfvTyewf05spdi09LlRaCY/s1600/5M6A6390.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOyELAmGYjd7zf4gS7GEUd8841goNMF4tZgwoWzeQ773k1SIa-GcIYv5HPQiP8p1ylBd8EwIMUMav1beSwxlmITAcCUu7CduD0MImyTkifrF6UUoDcYzK-1QfvTyewf05spdi09LlRaCY/s640/5M6A6390.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tamaryn Payne as Lady Olivia and Ellie Nunn as Cesario/Viola in our 2016 production of <i>Twelfth Night</i>, celebrating Shakespeare 400 from London's West End</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Siobhán Daly is the Artistic Director and Producer of Grassroots Shakespeare London.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To join the adventure, please check out <a href="http://www.grassrootsshakespearelondon.com/support.html">www.grassrootsshakespearelondon.com/support.html</a></span><br />
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Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-63810643548380634822016-06-05T21:12:00.004+01:002016-06-05T21:49:33.473+01:00Shakespearean Spring Jam: Chris Thomson on partnering with Grassroots<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";">It is not a foolish assumption
of mine, I hope, to say that we can all agree that theatre is pretty much a
good thing. Personally I would go so far as to say it is a great, exciting and
valuable thing, but then, I am an actor. It is rather like Bob the Builder
telling you about the joys of scaffolding. Not joyous to all, but indisputably
a good and necessary article. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbArxOHg2T2tHvT3hKwr9uGiWvJG73QViN_IZTYMOsFodebGBNfbzTs9pBHGqdM9fLlUDXqZjZIBwF2Vx0OIE3VnFFOV892PdGjoLzth38jg_6Y3Dq2xOtAFOAP13D3doRzJOU6XZuh2U/s1600/GoPro_GrassrootsLON_ShakespeareLive_2249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbArxOHg2T2tHvT3hKwr9uGiWvJG73QViN_IZTYMOsFodebGBNfbzTs9pBHGqdM9fLlUDXqZjZIBwF2Vx0OIE3VnFFOV892PdGjoLzth38jg_6Y3Dq2xOtAFOAP13D3doRzJOU6XZuh2U/s320/GoPro_GrassrootsLON_ShakespeareLive_2249.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Team in Leicester Square for the Shakespeare 400 <br />
'Dawn Til Dusk' Launch (L-R: Kit Loyd, Chris Thomson, Siobhán Daly, <br />
Louis Labovitch, Benjamin Bonar, Richard Soames)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";">During the run of <i>Twelfth Night</i> we experienced an
overwhelmingly positive reaction both in and out of the theatre, you need only
peruse the Grassroots' Twitter feed to validate such a claim. Never before have
I experienced such a consistent enjoyment from an audience on a nightly basis. Standing
ovations, repeat visits, raucous laughter, children on the edge of their seats;
this last one in particular, for me, is signifier that we were doing something
right. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";">I have generally
been pretty lucky with my acting jobs so far in my career; mostly working in
friendly, well-intentioned and creative environments, working with Grassroots
for the first time was no exception. Notably with this job though, I made a
great many advances and breakthroughs in realisations on how I wish to function
within this business. For an actor, the ensemble way of working is indeed
intense, but forces one to treat the art, and other actors, with dexterity and
care; an approach which I hope comes through in their work’s execution. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj93z24u2yB94jJDd0xRIfKQQTzynOA6Bo5SqVjeZYarYOu7L5E-kx1EykBPtSofHjjTOfpdzp4SLI_CCpvVlhCkIlxq55IzBIk9tMolCVAvl85Vh5ZNsbIWiuINrpHi4ybVyWERvPh0KU/s1600/5M6A5045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj93z24u2yB94jJDd0xRIfKQQTzynOA6Bo5SqVjeZYarYOu7L5E-kx1EykBPtSofHjjTOfpdzp4SLI_CCpvVlhCkIlxq55IzBIk9tMolCVAvl85Vh5ZNsbIWiuINrpHi4ybVyWERvPh0KU/s320/5M6A5045.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chris Thomson in rehearsals for <i>Twelfth Night</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";">Here’s the thing
though; as grateful as we are for them, hordes of positive tweets doth butter
no parsnips. For all the great press in the world, the cogs of theatre will undoubtedly
grind to a halt should they be neglected by the oil of finance. Of course I
believe that your support should be given, from my point of view this kind of
job is in short supply in terms of creative and educational opportunity for an
actor, and I could go on for pages about why I think we should be given a chance
ahead of all the other ventures racing towards the bottleneck of theatrical
success and longevity. But why should YOU support it? What’s in it for you, the
viewer? Well, I have prepared a short listicle (if the internet has taught me
nothing else, it’s that we all love a little listicle) of reasons why you might
wish to lend us your support.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></b><span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";"><b>Original
Practices</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";">Grassroots are a
company whose hook is that we work with original practices. What does that even
mean mate? Well, essentially it means that we have taken inspiration from the
way in which a theatre company might have worked 400 years ago, and
incorporated it into the structure of the Grassroots work and performance
ethic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx7GfWL-czDmaOYFhcceKSaPWHK27c48rTsRPhWlzSXcJmrSgJJhT7pmW6P5034_0fsHbhNJrZONU_dDT7MM1rGlnGmGJ3Ew1n4jWn3qiuT4Q1mJuRxr6iou7Q21IkayeLwnuRUpkShlA/s1600/5M6A5078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx7GfWL-czDmaOYFhcceKSaPWHK27c48rTsRPhWlzSXcJmrSgJJhT7pmW6P5034_0fsHbhNJrZONU_dDT7MM1rGlnGmGJ3Ew1n4jWn3qiuT4Q1mJuRxr6iou7Q21IkayeLwnuRUpkShlA/s320/5M6A5078.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jim Conway, Ellie Nunn & Darrell Davy in<br />
rehearsals for <i>Twelfth Night</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";">For us, as
actors, the main curve from the contemporary system is that we are without a
director, and therefore shape the work as a collective. This has it benefits as
well as its difficulties. Although it perpetuates a lot more debate, it also
means that a larger pool of ideas and angles are there to play with. This, so
far, has ended in a very carefully crafted and well-rounded product. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";">Original
practice also refers to a return to original intentions. Centuries ago, before
theatre was a corporate machine that needed feeding with big names and fancy
lights, before it was decided that spectacle was required at the expense of
quality content to keep the masses happy, before we started making theatre for
the actors and stopped making it for the people, the role of theatre was to entertain
and to educate. It was not the reserve of the spangle-dangled gentleman and
glitter-knickered madam, it was intended for all to enjoy, from Lord to latrine
monitor. Grassroots’ wish is to help create a landscape where good theatre, and
indeed Shakespeare, is easy to find and enjoyable to behold. Which bring us to…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></b><span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";"><b>Accessibility</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";">We hear a lot
about this in entertainment. Are we really sure what this is actually supposed
to mean? I suppose it comes down to a combination of things. To our
understanding this is what it means:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDY1h5W_DKli1NwSAlIGAa1pGCux6JedbMcrlC2gRkpLP0nnJiSvkAX_aNVMcr5PpmTUtpBHOnoxENWZoD-3E_oUPc1XtpP6f4qsnDo_HvS80EUZAx9YLP3ssYds5gTmRWnrNoN0bO-OM/s1600/5M6A5833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDY1h5W_DKli1NwSAlIGAa1pGCux6JedbMcrlC2gRkpLP0nnJiSvkAX_aNVMcr5PpmTUtpBHOnoxENWZoD-3E_oUPc1XtpP6f4qsnDo_HvS80EUZAx9YLP3ssYds5gTmRWnrNoN0bO-OM/s320/5M6A5833.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tamaryn Payne as Lady Olivia in <i>Twelfth Night</i></td></tr>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";">Clarity.
I know when creating <i>Twelfth Night</i> our biggest priority was to tell the story
really, really well. You do this by knowing the text inside out and making
every thought absolutely clear. Productions too often get caught up in all the
concept and spectacle of a production and forget about the foundation of the
art, storytelling. This is a Grassroots core value.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";">Price.
As we know, one of the issues in encouraging people into the theatre is price,
and in that vein, value for money. A night at the theatre is, in general,
expensive and a rare treat. On top of that, if you have just spent a lot of
money on something not so great, you are most unlikely to go again and feel
like it was money well spent. No wonder so many feel unwelcome. Not only do
Grassroots very carefully craft their plays with the audience at the forefront
of their thoughts, they will continue to do their very best to ask a reasonable
price in return. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";">Welcome.
Come one, come all. Young and old, theatre goers and novices. Bring your
popcorn (a girl bought some really decent smelling lentil soup in one night,
she wouldn’t give me any. Had to settle for a cashew nut biscuit from the lad
behind her. It was fine, bit dry), bring your commentary, bring your slippers.
Make yourself damn comfortable, we are here for you, not you for us. When you
come and see us it should feel as comfortable as if you were in your own living
room, come as you are. We want you coming back, we are building…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-i8JCouxS6DUfPca9Gq-pHf21W3QRbXcoKkh8cMcWcYMTcZ06vTUxslhyphenhyphenh4dmnWXXpF3LdZlKLWDHnfG7sNNNIixcGpDBr7pelR_opK6JatIiWeunRv8meIoysQ8C7Huam1-BXleRgDw/s1600/O2+photo+shoot1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-i8JCouxS6DUfPca9Gq-pHf21W3QRbXcoKkh8cMcWcYMTcZ06vTUxslhyphenhyphenh4dmnWXXpF3LdZlKLWDHnfG7sNNNIixcGpDBr7pelR_opK6JatIiWeunRv8meIoysQ8C7Huam1-BXleRgDw/s320/O2+photo+shoot1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Siobhán Daly and Emily Jane Kerr promoting <i>Twelfth Night </i><br />
Up at the O2, 52m above London</td></tr>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></b><span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";"><b>Community</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";">There is
concerted effort to break down the divide between actor and audience.
Grassroots love to encourage communication between their actors, Online and
offline. A show is not complete without its audience; you are just as valuable
an ingredient as the text, the actors, the music, the costumes, all of it. When
you re-visit us in the future we want it to feel as if you are coming back to
see and old friend. It is club, but everyone is invited, all are welcome. It
all adds to the…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></b><span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";"><b>Quality</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";">The care and
fierce detail observed in the rehearsal room is top drawer. All in the name of
putting the best experience together for the viewer. However, we realise that what
we arrive with on opening night is by no means the final product. You, the
viewer, are instrumental in rubbing that last sheen of quality on to the
theatrical surface. Every laugh you offer, every gasp, every grunt and every
silence is important to us; we listen to every one. We are not afraid to grow
and change, we hear you. Every reaction helps us to add detail and to produce
the finest vintage for you. We are striving…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></b><span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";"><b>The
best of intentions…</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDv9LizlVKRBOczzkV8uW4Mvfjt8iPDELLbZrQK1LeNbY1srm47S637IhLbtfT6euFGry2IBQOvv8nmz31Y91neJpmoaz9GoEjujM-R3xCOx0seYC3bwrGjSUm8YGo43ALZJu34r-mn8g/s1600/5M6A5799.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDv9LizlVKRBOczzkV8uW4Mvfjt8iPDELLbZrQK1LeNbY1srm47S637IhLbtfT6euFGry2IBQOvv8nmz31Y91neJpmoaz9GoEjujM-R3xCOx0seYC3bwrGjSUm8YGo43ALZJu34r-mn8g/s320/5M6A5799.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard Soames as Feste in <i>Twelfth Night</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";">All of the above
points, and all the attributes I have probably missed, fall under the blanket
of good intention. This company is built on nothing but love for the work and
desire to bring our audiences the best. Capital gain is not how we measure success
here, but we do need a little financial support to keep going towards the point
at which we might deem ourselves successful. We only wish to be able to sustain
the ability to keep bringing the public the best, by being able to hire the
best people to do that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "gill sans mt";">So help us out
here chaps. Perhaps you can’t empty your pockets for us, or even toss us a
copper right now. At the very least do your best to get the word out. Go forth
and slather this article over the internet like Shakespearean Spring Jam over a
Bardy Brioche. To paraphrase Grassroots Associate Artist, Emily Kerr, ‘If you
like what we are doing, please support us in any way you can. If you don’t…
don’t.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>If you would like to financially partner with Grassroots Shakespeare London and join our journey, we have a number of campaigns including '10 for £1k', Give What You Can, Legacy Donations and corporate sponsorship to suit fellow adventurers like you! </i></div>
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<i>Please head over to our website and check out our <a href="http://www.grassrootsshakespearelondon.com/support.html" target="_blank">'Support'</a> page where you can donate via Paypal, or for larger donations, please email hello@grassrootsshakespearelondon.com</i></div>
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<i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA97R_mIEaKo11oT-YuZIZsSOGAz20f7NHqxJfuOX5d20Uvbr0-jHryKhdNwY_jUxhyqnxoZvWrBjsI9nh6fDJd-Lcf2t1jZwhkBFOTiVfGVeXxTK2E-1Jqu9IpITxVX0iDQkP2SeltGI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-05-03+at+13.30.08.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA97R_mIEaKo11oT-YuZIZsSOGAz20f7NHqxJfuOX5d20Uvbr0-jHryKhdNwY_jUxhyqnxoZvWrBjsI9nh6fDJd-Lcf2t1jZwhkBFOTiVfGVeXxTK2E-1Jqu9IpITxVX0iDQkP2SeltGI/s640/Screen+Shot+2016-05-03+at+13.30.08.png" width="640" /></a></i></div>
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Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-17403795455031885762016-05-02T16:32:00.002+01:002016-05-02T16:32:33.484+01:00Emily Jane Kerr on comedy and bubble baths<div class="p1">
It is Monday afternoon. I am currently in my pjs. I am exhausted. I don't think I have ever been this tired. Honestly. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHlOhKowN2oCavWONaFhgTlVvArj946-tN8hYomY-aMFqLw9vAcGpxZtj3m_dUsXmmlHqMhbv0wjAzf-f8QsqqqRcwNuXdBiM0D46PrTh8P3zVi_AW87NN9xN17I-uLEEfv9w2mBUX3Fw/s1600/1966273_719953208036933_1066812446_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHlOhKowN2oCavWONaFhgTlVvArj946-tN8hYomY-aMFqLw9vAcGpxZtj3m_dUsXmmlHqMhbv0wjAzf-f8QsqqqRcwNuXdBiM0D46PrTh8P3zVi_AW87NN9xN17I-uLEEfv9w2mBUX3Fw/s320/1966273_719953208036933_1066812446_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emily Jane Kerr in <br />Grassroots' 2014 production of <i>Othello</i> as Emilia</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">I have done a 10 show a week schools tour (for 3 months). I have done two double show 30 day stints at the Edinburgh Fringe. Considering I (spoiler alert) died on stage every night as Emilia in <i>Othello</i>, and all the other tragedy that happens within the play, I am still more tired after our two show day of <i>Twelfth Night</i> than I ever was after a two show day of <i>Othello</i>. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Now, I am aware I am two years older than I was when performing in <i>Othello</i> and now much nearer to 30 than I have ever been (watch it...) but it can't just be age... It can't. Please, someone tell me it can't be.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I think what I've come to realise is that comedy is actually quite a serious business. No really. The amount of focus that is required to perform <i>Twelfth Night </i>is quite astounding. The mental and physical agility required to navigate the text of one of Shakespeare's most interesting comedies, and our intimate space at Leicester Square Theatre, is huge. No wonder I'm exhausted. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_1W6vYN9FzhitPxsU0KL1LE4Tbne7E4dGIisMTlwxFVmWylbeDqHagJj_9jws55TzpXJOfgzdS3Zct5qOPV5bWFonf3ebj6C6bsLrble7VrLJF7nPnJ9jpvmJRfMXAl2Fma-WyM9DvQ/s1600/5M6A6168.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_1W6vYN9FzhitPxsU0KL1LE4Tbne7E4dGIisMTlwxFVmWylbeDqHagJj_9jws55TzpXJOfgzdS3Zct5qOPV5bWFonf3ebj6C6bsLrble7VrLJF7nPnJ9jpvmJRfMXAl2Fma-WyM9DvQ/s320/5M6A6168.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emily Jane Kerr in <br />Grassroots' 2016 production of <i>Twelfth Night</i> as Maria</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">The timing in the physical and verbal comedy between myself (Maria), Benjamin Bonar (Sir Andrew Aguecheek) and John Pickard (Sir Toby Belch) needs to land every night and I think I underestimated the amount of focus that requires. It's been four years since I last performed in a full length comedy, and it's been a bit of a shock to the system! But thanks to the hard work, focus and support of our wonderful ensemble of actors (not to mention the comedy masterclasses I've been getting from Richard Soames of 'The Beta Males' 😉) I think I'm pulling it off. I'm just lucky I've got the support of my two troublesome boys (Ben and John) on stage every time, and support goes off stage too. I can feel the kindness and generosity as I walk into the dressing room at the end of each scene. Everyone listens to the audience reactions (be it laughter, gasps, whispers, or even 'uh oh' as we had from one woman the other night!), we want to share the show with the audience and we want to share in their joy. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">And what joy it has been! Honestly we've had incredible responses from audience members (none of whom were paid to be nice!) and you can read some of the responses on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Go and have a nose, you know you want to. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Chris Thomson said last blog: 'We made [the show] for you. All of you.' Chris is quite sensible (and has a great beard) so I'd trust him on that. We really did so it's amazing to see so many people sharing the laughter and joy with us each show in our lovely home at Leicester Square. So if you haven't seen the show yet, what are you waiting for? </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take my aged, nearly 30 year body and have a bath. </span></div>
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<i>Twelfth Night</i> plays at Leicester Square Theatre until 14th May.</div>
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Tickets from: <a href="http://www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/">www.leicestersquaretheatre.com</a></div>
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Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-12779763317703522422016-04-14T08:27:00.002+01:002016-04-14T08:27:32.407+01:00Not for me: Chris Thomson on Shakespeare, Wotsits & creating Twelfth Night<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT';">I’m
semi-excited.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdyvsLjYRqWpHcgLJnOP7H0SwVK1Z1GlOSd7jSD3AtNVeu1__ECWS7opQBLy0mljS4BIQj4shXQg0J-kPO7m1EG8n72QnSpa9ifKIMxl0ziqUMzmA6d9dnkFcEfyFlz8saM2OeVTGQXHc/s1600/5M6A4548.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdyvsLjYRqWpHcgLJnOP7H0SwVK1Z1GlOSd7jSD3AtNVeu1__ECWS7opQBLy0mljS4BIQj4shXQg0J-kPO7m1EG8n72QnSpa9ifKIMxl0ziqUMzmA6d9dnkFcEfyFlz8saM2OeVTGQXHc/s400/5M6A4548.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chris Thomson in rehearsals for <i>Twelfth Night</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">I’m sitting in a
temporary pre-fab English block that might conceivably be made out of quite thick
paper, there is no heating, and it’s January sometime in the late 90’s. We have
to endure a double period of English before lunch, sat in our hats and coats,
under the jurisdiction of Mr Harrison; a six and a half foot, lanky, sad-sack
of a man whom is visibly terrified of the modern teenager and always wears a
look on his face that is very similar, I would imagine, to that of a balding
and particularly melancholy basset hound. The present mood, in this room of
under-insulated 12 year olds, is that of ‘not-excited’. However, the rank of
the excitement is promoted to ‘semi’ (ooh-er) when Flop-Sweat Harrison hauls
the VCR and TV set into the room, rattling along on its crappy little trolley. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">We have been
studying the Scottish play. Lanky Harrison has been doing his best to get us to
engage and understand some of the text but he’s struggling. We have been
particularly focused on the scene involving the drunken gatekeeper, which is
supposed to be comic relief apparently, but I can’t see it at all, I don’t
understand it. In fact, I don’t really understand much of the play at all, we
have been looking at it for two months and I’m still not quite sure what the
whole plot is. I know there are witches though, Big-and-Long Harrison has tried
to push the witches; ‘Witches are cool right?’ In a presumably desperate
attempt to get us to engage with the play, he has found a video of it in the school
library and he’s whacked it on before slumping down behind his desk in a clammy
crumple. We sit through it, because anything is better than doing actual work.
We are all agreed that it seems terrible; the gatekeeper scene is still not
funny, probably because we still don’t understand what the hell is going on. It
finishes, Mr Tall-and-Moist heaves himself up from his chair ejects the
cassette.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">“So, what did we
think of that then?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">“Well Sir”,
Danny Wiggum, class anarchist, “I thought it was wank.” A giggle arises from
the small hoard of his mates through a heady haze of pre-pubescent sweat and
Lynx Africa. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">“And why is that
Danny?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">“It’s just not
for me, Sir.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">‘It’s not for
me.” Well, isn’t that the problem? 400 years since Shakespeare started writing,
with the intention of entertaining everyone, and here we are at a point where
the world has skewed the intention to the point where Shakespeare seems to be
perceived as for the academic, artsy and privileged audience. Looking back at
that classroom I can see it starts right there. I don’t know how it is
approached in school now, but if it hasn’t moved on then I’m sure the young
teens of today are on the back foot about the whole thing, just as I was. Now,
in fairness to Sop-Flop Harrison, that version of Macbeth was crap. I have seen
it since and it is still ‘wank’. But look at that gatekeeper scene now and I
can see it as no other thing than an absolute gift. A gift for me; the actor,
and for everyone else; the audience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard Soames as Feste in <i>Twelfth Night</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Grassroots open
with <i>Twelfth Night</i> today. It has been nothing but an absolute privilege to
watch and help our company build this show from the text up. I am slightly sad;
as many of the moments I have seen flourish over the past few weeks I probably
won’t be seeing again, as I will probably be neck <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT';">deep in card games and
Wotsits in the dressing room. I won’t get to see Toby drunkenly dancing along
to Feste’s love song again, or to watch Malvolio pondering wittily through his
letter, or to appreciate Olivia chasing Cesario around the room with abandon. I
shall have to enjoy them all in an audio manner. What I can promise you from
all of this is that Grassroots do not do theatre ‘for them’, which is certainly
what seems to happen more often than not, I have seen enough heavily
conceptualised Shakespeare to know. They take Shakespeare right back to its
roots, where the highest priority was the audience and to tell them a story.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emily Jane Kerr as Maria in <i>Twelfth Night</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Jim Conway brings you a pompous yet charming Malvolio. Darrel Davy has built you an
Antonio in the form of a tender gentle giant. Richard Soames’ Feste is a
wonderful pondering puppet master. Emily Kerr’s Maria is ballsy and endlessly
energetic. John Pickard brings to you a brilliantly bumbling and oblivious Sir
Toby Belch alongside Benjamin Bonar’s precision comic delivery of the tragic
underdog, Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Kit Lloyd has found a Sebastian that is curious
and impulsive with an infectious energy that is a joy to behold. Tamaryn
Payne’s Olivia is clever and refreshingly light and an excellent match for Ellie
Nunn’s fearless Viola. Duke Orsino appears in the smouldering form of Louis
Labovitch. I’m there as well, lolloping around, playing the Priest and the
Captain, both of which I’m told are passable incarnations at the very least. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT';">We made it for
you. All of you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT';"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Twelfth Night
runs at Leicester Square Theatre from the 5<sup>th</sup> April to the 14<sup>th</sup> May. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://leicestersquaretheatre.ticketsolve.com/shows/873547452/events?show_id=873547452"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">https://leicestersquaretheatre.ticketsolve.com/shows/873547452/events?show_id=873547452</span></a><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Come and see it.
It is really quite good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-84586038873943441972016-04-07T10:29:00.000+01:002016-04-07T10:29:39.913+01:00Benjamin Bonar on rehearsals, Grassroots style!<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>We are currently in our week of previews and as we look forwards to celebrating Shakespeare 400 from the heart of the West End, that you would like to have a last glimpse into the Grassroots rehearsal room! Take a peek.....</i></b></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">______________________________________________________________________________</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Friends, Romans, Countryman lend me your ears! Gather around, pull up a pew, take a load off, maybe grab yourself a beverage? Or a light Snack? Light some candles? Put Enya on. What I am trying to say is make yourself comfortable, it’s blog time.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirVhsdEeoBKWKyAV3uf-GXP3vXx9JRcQtOLTrJrtICeenDR8PvEFuIgLDtPBAAwoFNQJwOB-krghyphenhyphenuWV1DfoQzzUuoRyWpCZeZmU6xmRz8xqTOgNsCqxJA0iacINaY9Qmetxv2h71IA90/s1600/5M6A4219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirVhsdEeoBKWKyAV3uf-GXP3vXx9JRcQtOLTrJrtICeenDR8PvEFuIgLDtPBAAwoFNQJwOB-krghyphenhyphenuWV1DfoQzzUuoRyWpCZeZmU6xmRz8xqTOgNsCqxJA0iacINaY9Qmetxv2h71IA90/s320/5M6A4219.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benjamin Bonar in rehearsals for <i>Twelfth Night </i>as Sir Andrew Aguecheek</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="s1">I deliberated over whether quoting Mark Antony was appropriate considering we are currently working on Twelfth Night, but then I remembered we are Grassroots, and we do things a little differently.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Last night the springs in my mattress decided to buckle, essentially creating a vortex in the centre of the mattress that no matter how hard I tried to fight I could not escape that blackhole of uncomfortable-ness-ness. I have no idea why this happened? I was not, despite what my landlord may think, doing back flips or engaging in any other vigorous activity… Sigh… This resulted in me getting about 2 hours sleep, and considering I have recently had to give up caffeine I’m sure I don’t have to explain what it was like coming into rehearsals this morning. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">But I will anyway, it felt like this:</span></div>
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<span class="s2"><a href="https://youtu.be/TfY_X9raVXA">https://youtu.be/TfY_X9raVXA</a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">If you can’t be bothered to follow this link it’s basically of a deer screaming like a human. I suggest you watch it. It’s funny. </span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAuW0ZuIW-_DzBL5dyHil_QlY4lT3C-5NbGJoqfKROl5p8b7f_muyq6GPfksZn6CzfyQws1oNJHpPuElL_AAJiPHv5DpeMgU_58vA8aak76sO-oQpJWI-BCN5U_KSGNsjtO-I0TZkPtS8/s1600/5M6A4222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAuW0ZuIW-_DzBL5dyHil_QlY4lT3C-5NbGJoqfKROl5p8b7f_muyq6GPfksZn6CzfyQws1oNJHpPuElL_AAJiPHv5DpeMgU_58vA8aak76sO-oQpJWI-BCN5U_KSGNsjtO-I0TZkPtS8/s320/5M6A4222.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard Soames (Feste) in rehearsals for <i>Twelfth Night</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="s1">So by all accounts today should have been awful. But it wasn’t. In fact, I would go as far as to say that today I had a great day. From the moment I walked into the room and was greeted by my fellows I couldn’t help thinking how lucky I am. You see we actors are a funny bunch. We live to work. We are truly happy when we get to practice our craft, and make no mistake, it is a craft. We work </span></div>
<br />
<br />
tirelessly to make what we do look effortless. To make you smile, laugh or cry. To remind you what it is to be human. We are but your humble servants. All that we do, we do for you.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhCSGnz0-2q2JU-kGk9ei5i163FmsG1wN49rYRpayyWmFXKIMb1pN3IasiD1aY4VRVpTfF2hGG7p9oqjKOPYC5wTjxj5Mo4-_n7auH-dTfmZVLG2erzTI3h9AwYjCIxqu9XZOXAkBenk/s1600/5M6A4330.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhCSGnz0-2q2JU-kGk9ei5i163FmsG1wN49rYRpayyWmFXKIMb1pN3IasiD1aY4VRVpTfF2hGG7p9oqjKOPYC5wTjxj5Mo4-_n7auH-dTfmZVLG2erzTI3h9AwYjCIxqu9XZOXAkBenk/s320/5M6A4330.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tamaryn Payne (Lady Olivia) & Chris Thomson (Captain)<br />
in rehearsals for <i>Twelfth Night</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">I hope to see you all at Twelfth Night. I believe we are creating something magical. The cast and crew are some of the finest people I have had the pleasure of working with. I am inspired by their talent, their passion and their bravery. I am sure you will be too.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">And with that, blog time is over. It should be noted I am currently writing this whilst sitting on my new mattress. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">All’s well that ends well…</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Just to be absolutely clear we are doing <i>Twelfth Night</i>.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgztmHhG4YgmioHdTp8y5JB8Z5L8YM9h9WKd07E4NtNxtwVSAODIJ2fxycdKEHwFhk_X-3XbAxis7pjJDD0RHFjEffyIDyVPNarI05PzVZrpkzn4dbs10ME49-vAo2TT4IFXzHt36QX-CQ/s1600/5M6A4409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgztmHhG4YgmioHdTp8y5JB8Z5L8YM9h9WKd07E4NtNxtwVSAODIJ2fxycdKEHwFhk_X-3XbAxis7pjJDD0RHFjEffyIDyVPNarI05PzVZrpkzn4dbs10ME49-vAo2TT4IFXzHt36QX-CQ/s320/5M6A4409.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ellie Nunn (Viola) and Louis Labovitch (Duke Orsino)<br />
in rehearsals for <i>Twelfth Night</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<i><b><br /></b></i></div>
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<b><i>Twelfth Night</i> is at Leicester Square Theatre, celebrating Shakespeare 400 from the heart of the West End until Saturday 14th May.</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Tickets are available from <a href="http://www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/">www.leicestersquaretheatre.com</a></b></div>
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Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-86774469772777998822016-03-23T10:09:00.001+00:002016-03-23T10:09:38.400+00:00The Grassroots Way: Emily Jane Kerr on the first week of rehearsals<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I'm currently on my way to day 5 of rehearsals. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5kbHTKqpjPpjKkggK5MCzt81B8tNI9oozIR6kkEDwAXgpezsvnj5VAryX4V763aVr3zD18kWylEZTBZh1jY_yBW9R0atk3FMG6G2KP5Q-oGDew4O1Zq9DEWg2L0reYzIGB6l6jrjS9vk/s1600/Emily+new+headshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5kbHTKqpjPpjKkggK5MCzt81B8tNI9oozIR6kkEDwAXgpezsvnj5VAryX4V763aVr3zD18kWylEZTBZh1jY_yBW9R0atk3FMG6G2KP5Q-oGDew4O1Zq9DEWg2L0reYzIGB6l6jrjS9vk/s320/Emily+new+headshot.jpg" width="212" /></a><span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1">We've blocked the whole show. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">We managed to sing in 4 part harmony within 2 hours of meeting each other for the first time on the first day. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">We've got 5 more days- oh yes, a small point: 10 days rehearsal then we open <i>Twelfth Night</i> at the Leicester Square Theatre for a 6 week run.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Some might think it madness but I think the Grassroots way is an incredibly freeing way to work. For those that don't know, we have no director. For some actors that might be scary but I love it! Rather than one person's idea you end up with 10 other ideas that could be equally brilliant: what a gift! So many choices! </span></div>
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<span class="s1">We all have ownership over every single bit of the show and the life of the play carries on off stage. You can only scratch the surface in 10 days; you can dig for the story, block the show, create the arc: but actually the playing and discovery happens during the run. And that makes for a very exciting show. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiST2VrfmjkpxT4yIybUfE4FHBhuULVStYENnCIXXpRXwiauFAwk1xdt33U9nIcTcWsU9sA83ClkS9egVt1mPu6eIjZN_dJw8TZ0tecZKvRqja_V13kbgcAJhepB3KkFR4G08xCCcE5CdM/s1600/O2+photo+shoot1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiST2VrfmjkpxT4yIybUfE4FHBhuULVStYENnCIXXpRXwiauFAwk1xdt33U9nIcTcWsU9sA83ClkS9egVt1mPu6eIjZN_dJw8TZ0tecZKvRqja_V13kbgcAJhepB3KkFR4G08xCCcE5CdM/s320/O2+photo+shoot1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emily Jane Kerr and Grassroots Shakespeare <br />Producer Siobhán Daly extreme flyering for <i>Twelfth Night</i>, <br />52m above London!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="s1">Do I have concerns and worries? Of course I do. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /><span class="s1"></span></div>
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<span class="s1">But do I feel like I can bring them to the group? Absolutely. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilH86zKVikPPcGO7UAIoZSp_pmI5e2fdt3YhsccnnD19yG0SAx4imyYve_oJQYhrqeXVh7OD49Xd88p64yLKDX6xosUxbg1EMG6ChYiCbT18dtSq2cxq7cy2t5cmg7MlsKAkZxaM-MLZo/s1600/RDPhotography_92.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilH86zKVikPPcGO7UAIoZSp_pmI5e2fdt3YhsccnnD19yG0SAx4imyYve_oJQYhrqeXVh7OD49Xd88p64yLKDX6xosUxbg1EMG6ChYiCbT18dtSq2cxq7cy2t5cmg7MlsKAkZxaM-MLZo/s320/RDPhotography_92.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benjamin Bonar, Emily Jane Kerr and Kit Loyd<br />performing Shakespeare 52m above London for<br />Shakespeare 400.</td></tr>
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<i><b>Emily Jane Kerr</b> is an Associate Artist of Grassroots Shakespeare London and has performed in A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest and Othello with the company. In Twelfth Night, she will be playing Maria from 5th April - 14th May. On Saturday 26th March, she will be performing scenes from Shakespeare, Up at the O2, 52m above London, as part of the Shakespeare 400 celebrations.</i>Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-30555745228171320992016-02-27T13:21:00.000+00:002016-02-27T13:32:09.403+00:00Chris Thomson on auditioning and anxiety<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
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Chris Thomson recently joined Grassroots to play Captain, as well as double with Priest and Officer. Before he was cast, we knew that we were looking for a talented, strong actor who could create powerful and individual characterisations for the different roles, be able to play comedy and drama and know when the difference was called for, while also being a great ensemble member. We were slightly worried. Was it too tall an order? Could we find this person? Where could they be..? </div>
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Then we met Chris who gave one of our most memorable recalls and won us over totally. It was very insightful to read his side of the process and we asked him if we could share it with you. </div>
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Here it is!</div>
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Me: Got an audition Sunday.</div>
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Chatty: Cool. What for?</div>
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Me: Ah you know, this Shakespeare thing. It's a good job actually, potentially really exciting.</div>
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Me: Very, yeah.</div>
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Chatty Mac: Well, tell your face.</div>
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Me: It’s me. (I was wondering if after all these years you’d like to meet.)</div>
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(I’m hunched in a doorway, using it as a wind breaker and momentary protection from the piss storm lashing down on Shoreditch. No one pays me any mind. I am not a local, but with my face plumage and tartan shirt they have accepted me as one of their own. I am waiting for the worst of the torrent to pass and watching an old lady who looks a lot like Ronnie Corbett wrestle with a disobedient umbrella – she’s just gone arse over tit on the pavement as a swift gust has turned said umbrella inside out. The wind has tugged that thing back like a reluctant plastic foreskin, it has.)</div>
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Wife: Oh hi babe, how was it?</div>
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Me: Ugh, fucking awful. Completely fucked it.</div>
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Wife: Oh shit, really?</div>
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Me: Yeah really bad.</div>
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Wife: What happened?</div>
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Me: Nah, being a dick. Went brilliantly actually.</div>
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Wife: Hey, you’re a twat. I was really nervous for you, I know how much you want it.</div>
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Me: Were you?</div>
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Wife: Of course I was. You’re a twat.</div>
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Me: Yeah, sorry. I am. But no, it went really well. In fact I can’t remember an audition ever that has been that positive and that comfortable. They were lovely, as far as I can tell I did good acting. A few laughs, was in the room longer than I should have been… all good signs. Did my job well today I think.</div>
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Wife: Well that’s great.</div>
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Me: Yep. Anyway, on my way home now.</div>
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Wife: Cool. Bring me food.</div>
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Me: Yes darling. Love you.</div>
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Wife: You too, bye.</div>
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Lunchtime. Yes… got me some bloody leftovers in that Tupperware - in that tasty tup-tup. Chilli is always better the next day… bang that in the microwave there. 3 minutes to make a brew and have a quick Facebook scroll…</div>
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Oof, this coffee is nothing but functional, Kenco instant is the cheapest of choices! Now, let’s have a look at the old media feeds… Oh shit. They have announced some new cast. That’s me out of the picture then. Said they’d be letting people know soon (‘soon’… thanks, how specific and useful), but if they are announcing new cast I guess that means they made their offers yesterday. Two days of gut wrenching anxiety were totally worth it. Aaaah, that is WANK.</div>
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I’m so sure I did a great job though, there was hugging on the way out. Perhaps the e-mail got lost in your junk? Give that a check right away… Nope. Of course it’s not there. There is no e-mail.</div>
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I mean look at the guys they have cast, they’ve all done ‘stuff’: TV, West End, been nominated for awards and shit. They are all awesome. What was I thinking… thinking I had a chance… I don’t know…</div>
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Oh stop it. Just stop that shit. It’s just a job, walk away from it. You know you didn’t embarrass yourself, you just weren’t the right choice this time… Every. Damn. Time.</div>
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Friday night ends a long and disappointing week. I had received an e-mail a few days previously saying that decisions were still being made and people still being seen. Although this update was appreciated and preferential to being entirely in the dark, it still meant that I had spent the last three days in a purgatory of disquiet; suspended somewhere between an ill-advised sense of hope and preparation for impending rejection.</div>
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I’m sitting in a wine bar sharing a carafe of Rioja with an old friend (Chris? Has anyone told you that your life sometimes reads like that of a middle class banker-wanker?) when a new e-mail announces its arrival. “Sorry mate. I just need to take a look at this e-mail”.</div>
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Recall.</div>
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Great. But not entirely what I was hoping for. Gahd! Can they not just pack it in and give me the job? I mean, of course they can’t, they want the best guy for the job. And hey, it means you weren’t shit. You are still in contention. But a recall means stepping up your game. I decide I’m having this job, even if for no other reason than the fact that I have already invested too much panic and preparation to loose out now.</div>
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We get drunk and listen to Peter Gabriel on vinyl.</div>
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*Door creeps open* (Interrupting the nice 'pacing up and down the corridor and irregular respiration' session I had been indulging in.)</div>
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“Hi Chris, we are ready for you, if you'd like to come in.”</div>
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In I go. Hugs, smiles, an associate director in a luxurious burgundy cable-knit (I think I have a knit-wear fetish. Or maybe I'm 58. One of the two); welcoming. What's not to like? “So let me tell you where I'm at”, my opening statement, “I've dressed up nice,” (double denim, what a player) “and I managed to get through a whole day of work without messing them up... until about half an hour ago, when I managed to piss coffee all over my shirt.” Laughter. (OMG this guy is so honest and witty.) “Just thought I'd bring it up rather than you all sitting there for the next twenty minutes thinking 'has he come to see us wearing shit-dirty clothes? Disgusting bastard.’ So, there it is.” I felt it best to tackle 'stain-gate' head on, as the week before, when I was helping to run auditions (yeah, the ones from <a href="http://cgthomson.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/table.html" style="color: #747474; text-decoration: none;">Table</a>) I zoned out of one guys speech because he was wearing odd socks. I take a seat. “So, who would you like me to pretend to be first?”</div>
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Small talk commences. I think I'm being charming, I've left my verbal activities momentarily on auto pilot. My brain is doing its own thing: Flashback. I'd been trudging around a park for the 40 minutes immediately previous to this meeting, playing with line delivery and contemplating the embarrassment of a bum audition. The 'embarrassment and failure contemplation' is a subject of thought to which I am no stranger. However, today it is particularly potent as not only is it the first recall (as far as I can remember) that I have ever had, so the stakes are higher, I am also taking what I consider to be a risk. I have been called in to read for three parts (as opposed to the original 'one'), one of which is a sea captain. I have done a lot of work on the language and have opted to use what can be best described as a full on pirate voice (Flashback within a flashback...</div>
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Wife: It's really good, but what accent is that exactly?</div>
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Me: Think of it less as an accent and more like 'a voice'.) Will they think it a ridiculous choice, that I am an amateur and not taking it seriously? Or will it bring the house down? Well, risk is the way to go with this business. The fact is, I think it is a funny and clever choice, and fundamentally I believe in it. My main objective is to have conviction in the work I have done.</div>
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I come to the Captain scene. The face of the actress I am reading with registers surprise and confusion when she discovers that she is standing opposite a cheap Captain Barbosa tribute. It is not until half way through the first speech that the panel relinquish the ability to uphold their professional exteriors and to deny the rising laughter brawling in their chests. They open the latch and full on piss themselves. Being a terrible corpse, I loose it as well, and we all cackle through the rest of my ludicrous interpretation. Was this reaction a welcoming of new possibilities perpetuated by my off-kilter choice? Or was it so oblivious a performance that I had come off as ridiculously as Jedward might do if they were trying out for Miss Saigon, or if Donald Trump were running for President (a mad-cap hypothetical situation, I think you'll agree)? At the time, it felt like a good thing.</div>
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The common theme here is anxiety. I rode that fluctuating wave of nervousness for about 10 days. I have convinced myself over the years that nervousness and anxiety in relation to a job are non-useful emotions, and thusly have taught myself to suppress such feelings in order to a) make for a more comfortable audition, and b) combat against the inevitable blow when I don’t get the job. I am starting to realise that although this may make the audition less uncomfortable, it may also make it a boring audition, and a forgettable one as further consequence. I should know this already, I am still pretty sure that my successful drama school audition only happened because I’d just split up with my first proper girlfriend. I wasn’t pretending to be broken and vulnerable in my chosen speech, I was genuinely the stuttering, shaking wreck of a heartbroken adolescent. How method.</div>
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Remember that conversation with Chatty McWorkmate? When she said I should tell my face to be excited? A great example of me ‘managing expectation.’ Although I can’t help that I have resting bitch-face, which is often misread, on this occasion the expression probably fitted the emotion. But something changed with this job, and I allowed the weight of the opportunity to affect me at its will.</div>
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Every job I have ever managed to get has one thing in common. I have gone into that room of opportunity and decided, ‘I’m having this job.’ The very decision I made in the wine bar that evening. For that to happen you have no choice but to invest yourself entirely, and to make yourself emotionally available. If you are having trouble caring, then you probably shouldn’t be there; cut your losses and be an accountant. Those emotions and those stakes give you what is required to produce your best work.</div>
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I found myself questioning if this was really worth the amount of anxiety I was carrying. It so happens that, on this occasion, it was. And I did get the job. And I am ecstatic about it. Apparently I smashed it. Now I’m not saying that to brag (not entirely), but it highlights the point that it is always worth taking the risk and reading a part like grizzly fisherman. Whether it is the right direction or not, it won’t be forgotten.</div>
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Apply yourself; this is the word. It will be worth the anxiety. Eventually.</div>
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Pending ...</div>
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'Twelfth Night' runs from 5th April - 14th May 2016 @ The Leicester Square Theatre, London:</div>
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<a href="http://www.grassrootsshakespearelondon.com/shows.html" style="color: #747474; text-decoration: none;">http://www.grassrootsshakespearelondon.com/shows.html</a></div>
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Chris's original blog: http://cgthomson.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/pending.html</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeoa-EYKK58dcTftdY4puX2ewlDC8jy1xVAf5RH5T8e0Q632qULMsjT5wZ2pBLog3IU-p6rqnakP79osA69rO8JFJ-iw5OZin8mOM7r4StVgDI1vtqc5L_pv3Wlee2LziR4lAlDXBbbSI/s1600/Chris+Thomson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: 'gill sans mt', sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeoa-EYKK58dcTftdY4puX2ewlDC8jy1xVAf5RH5T8e0Q632qULMsjT5wZ2pBLog3IU-p6rqnakP79osA69rO8JFJ-iw5OZin8mOM7r4StVgDI1vtqc5L_pv3Wlee2LziR4lAlDXBbbSI/s320/Chris+Thomson.jpg" width="256" /></a><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">CHRIS THOMSON</span></b></div>
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<span class="size14 Raleway14" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: normal;">Chris is an actor, musician and writer.</span></div>
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<span class="size14 Raleway14" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: normal;">Since graduating from the Manchester School of Theatre (2010) his career has been varied; from musical (The Last Five Years) to educational theatre (Wasted, Walking Forward), from comedy (All Our Friends Are Dead, Norris and Parker) to children’s theatre (Stig of the Dump, Image).</span></div>
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<span class="size14 Raleway14" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: normal;">Last year he made his directorial and compositional debut on Peter Brook’s ‘The Man Who’ (CLF Art Café/Bussey Building), and is currently composing original music for comedy duo ‘Norris and Parker’.</span></div>
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<span class="size14 Raleway14" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: normal;">Twelfth Night marks Chris’ debut with Grassroots and on the West End, a situation about which he is very happy indeed. </span></div>
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Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-41421750597654357752014-04-10T12:46:00.002+01:002014-04-12T19:02:56.526+01:00James Alexandrou on why Shakespeare's not that hard<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Who wants to know why Shakespeare is hard? </div>
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It's because of a riot in a theatre a couple of hundred years ago. The same riot which directly influenced police in America to carry guns. It's true. Look it up (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astor_Place_Riot" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/<wbr></wbr>Astor_Place_Riot</a>)</div>
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But long story short, it used to be in America, as here, plays were the TV of the day, everyone would go and mix, have an argument about the local goings-on (a sort of <i>Question Time</i>) and then shut up and listen to the plays. In fact a lot of people could recite the plays - and when I say a lot of people I mean everyone from the poor and uneducated to the upper classes. Trust me blud. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>James Alexandrou in rehearsal with Annabel Bates (credit: Boris Mitkov)</i></td></tr>
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Along comes 2 actors, one British, one American and both very competitive. They have a public spat over who can perform Shakespeare the best ("I'm better than you", "No, I'm better then you", "I'll get my brother on you" and so on), which ends up with a massive riot during a performance by one the actors of Macbeth between their rival fans at a theatre in New York, which ended with the theatre burning down ('bringing the house down') and the Militia being called in and gunning down the crowd. Serious. This meant that new gun laws were brought in because the local police at the time didn't have death sticks yet, and almost as bad, it led to anyone of the lower social classes being banned from going to see Shakespeare at the theatre!</div>
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This meant for a large portion of the last 150 years, the poorer sections of society got to hear about Shakespeare but not to see it. It become more and more rarified and elitist and gained a reputation of being for the upper or at least the more educated class. Then along comes the heady and worthy productions of last century to pound into my little 14-year-old brain that Shakespeare is hard and I don't like it. </div>
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But here's the thing. Shakespeare was an actor as well as a writer. He obviously lived life, drank, partied and probably smoke weed as well as cocaine amongst other stuff. Don't believe me? <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/4760882/Did-Shakespeare-seek-inspiration-in-cocaine.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://www.telegraph.co.<wbr></wbr>uk/science/science-news/<wbr></wbr>4760882/Did-Shakespeare-seek-<wbr></wbr>inspiration-in-cocaine.html</a></div>
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He made plays to sell tickets and make some money and keep the crowds coming back. It just so happens the man seemed to know something universal about humans and snuck a whole chunk of truth into what must have been the HBO dramas of the day. He made them to hit the heart, not the head.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James Alexandrou as Iago (credit: Boris Mitkov)</td></tr>
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Grassroots Shakespeare London is a group of actors coming together with no director (another modern invention) and working together to tell the story of <i>Othello</i>. We work as close to Shakespeare's original methods as possible. They would have had a short rehearsal period, so we do too. With 2 weeks rehearsal you can forget any fantasies of an RSC level analysis of each line. You can forget deep research into how people of the day would have done this or that, or how, because a character repeats the word "Angry" 5 times in a passage, that Shakespeare was telling us to imbue some new meaning into each word. No, the man was probably pissed at the time anyway. </div>
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<i>Othello</i> is about people not being who they really are. The black man in a white man's world having to be something he is not to survive, the betrayed friend who still has to act as if every thing is fine - put like this its easier to understand. Shakespeare's not hard. It's just incredibly deep, and all that requires is a bit of courage.<br />
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We are a company of actors coming together to discover some truth between ourselves and working at a time when funding is non-existent, we are all working for next to no money, taking time out of our days off to come and promote the show, to tweet, to Facebook and to sell as many tickets as we can in the hope that we get to do this again one day - just like Shakespeare did (minus the social networking). </div>
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And just like Shakespeare we appeal to the heart not the head. Yes, our set is small but our heart is massive. Without exception, everyone member of my wonderful cast has made me cry. Without exception, they've made me laugh and without exception they have made me realise why I do this bloody job.</div>
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Get down and see why - Shakespeare's not that hard.</div>
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<i>Othello is at Leicester Square until 26th April 2014. Tickets from www.leicestersquaretheatre.com</i></div>
Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-78912623616943628502014-04-03T17:36:00.001+01:002014-04-03T17:37:06.984+01:00Dying on Stage: Annabel Bates on working with Grassroots<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Annabel Bates as Desdemona </td></tr>
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The first night was last night and as I sip my cup of coffee trying to come up with something of interest to write, all I can think about it how brilliant and brave the people I'm working with are.<br />
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All productions require teamwork, but in this production of <i>Othello</i>, it's on another level. We're all in it together, without a director, working our arses off, and when you work with actors like I've been blessed with, you're inspired to give more and more and more.<br />
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The real stars, however, are the production team. From Rhodora, slogging away, sourcing daggers and lanterns; to Rachael and Suzi, pulling all-nighters, clubbing together to sew on buttons and poppers; from Boris papping us so often I'm beginning to think I have a stalker; to Siobhan, tweeting about us so much, she's now got RSI.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Annabel Bates as Desdemona and Emily Jane Kerr as Emilia in rehearsals for <i>Othello</i></td></tr>
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Theatre should be an experience. It's live and there is no way of knowing what will happen on the night. We all have to make ourselves vulnerable, and we all have to do things we wouldn't normally do. People talk about coming to see a piece of theatre to taste the actors' blood, sweat and tears. Well, you actually can in our production of <i>Othello</i>, as the space is incredibly intimate, but when I [spoiler alert!] die at the end of the play, I have a long time lying on a bed, dead (trying not to sneeze), and as I lay there last night, listening to my fellow actors sweating, bleeding and crying, I realised that everyone involved with the creation of this production has 'died' once or twice in order to tell The Tragedy of Othello to our audience in the most engaging way.<br />
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It's not that we're always raging against the dying of the light. The comedians out there will know the best clowning comes after just 'dying' on stage too'<br />
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We're all scary, funny, ugly, beautiful individuals 'dying' on a daily basis in order to survive and that I think is one thing theatre should be a platform for.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Annabel Bates as Desdemona and James Alexandrou as Iago in rehearsals for <i>Othello</i></td></tr>
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For me, the best thing about theatre is that it's live. We can't control what happens, daggers may fly and we might die on stage, but theatre is like a football match. We've trained hard, we've got our positions and formations, we've got each other's backs, we're playing the game as best we can and we're a team.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Annabel Bates as Desdemona, Emily Jane Kerr as Emilia and Nari Blair-Mangat as Othello in rehearsals</td></tr>
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When you go to see a football match or a piece of theatre, you hope
you're not going to be let down by your team. You hope they score some
goals or take you on a journey. You hope they make you proud or tell a
story and give you a golden nugget of an experience to carry around with
you forever. It should be like meeting a exciting person you have a
real connection with.<br />
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I can't say yet that we've achieved that or not, but I know we're aiming to give you an experience to remember and I know we're willing to 'die' for it.<br />
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<i>Annabel Bates is playing Desdemona in Grassroots Shakespeare London's Othello at Leicester Square Theatre from 2nd - 26th April. Tickets available from <a href="http://www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/">www.leicestersquaretheatre.com</a></i>Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-10226454435937177162014-03-26T16:52:00.001+00:002014-03-26T16:52:44.195+00:00Swagger Sticks: Adam Blampied on rehearsing, military style!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hi folks. It's my turn to tangibly improve your lives with masculine yet tender words, so sit down, put your genitals in the crash position and stop talking for just a second, jeez, while I tell you about what we did yesterday.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jio5kjej97joZ3DKPzoWlp1IjSWYeBM9bP23_GTgrBF2WbgiPz4QIAL_mWd3-edDg9kZQaRG1kHqRMUEOqDzstOT2qBTBIVCCmxqPbUpuwJaJ6fzg-aZlBgo29mk6aKO6MjVq6JDiP4/s1600/1965587_719953234703597_1376150444_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jio5kjej97joZ3DKPzoWlp1IjSWYeBM9bP23_GTgrBF2WbgiPz4QIAL_mWd3-edDg9kZQaRG1kHqRMUEOqDzstOT2qBTBIVCCmxqPbUpuwJaJ6fzg-aZlBgo29mk6aKO6MjVq6JDiP4/s1600/1965587_719953234703597_1376150444_o.jpg" height="320" width="302" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adam Blampied as Roderigo (copyright GSL)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those of you who aren't going to hell when you die, i.e. people who read the Grassroots Blog, will already know that in order to streamline things (and trim down the amount of actor blood the cleaners are required to mop up at the end of a long day) we nominate a member of the cast to act as play-master. This entails leading warm-ups (difficult), introducing acting exercises (more difficult) and keeping everyone to schedule (hahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA) and yesterday the task was taken on by John Stanley.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it was wonderful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John, having spent a large part of his life in the military, ran a tight ship. “The time is 11.32,” he barked, a swagger stick appearing in his arm from literally nowhere, “we shall commence rehearsing act 5 scene 2 at 11.35!” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And we actually did. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He fielded note-giving sessions, barking the name of whoever had their hands up. “I'm going to have to hurry you,” he'd say if the note had started to ramble, “Right, you've got your point across. Now James! Go!”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the main upsides to working a play the Grassroots way is that everybody has a chance to have their opinions heard. This of the main downsides on the other hand is that everybody has a chance to have their opinions heard and, if not properly kept in check, note-giving can spiral out of control somewhat, four or five people debating the merits of their own personal taste for many, many minutes. This is all valuable work, no doubt, but can leave less time for getting stuff on its feet that might be allowed under a more dictatorial regime. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The perfect compromise? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John Stanley.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Extending the military theme of the day, John also led us in a tiny version of an Air Force boot camp, teaching us the correct posture, standing at ease and attention, marching etc, all the while delivered in the aggressive bellow of a drill sergeant. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John: What the f*** was that?! Where the f*** did you go to school?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me: A posh school, sir!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John: I CAN F***ING TELL. Squad, drop and give me 5!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, he played us a verbatim performance of an inspirational eve-of-battle speech, delivered by Lieutenant-Colonel Tim Collins to British troops about to be deployed in Iraq. After fighting to suppress giggles during the boot camp, this left respectful silence in its wake, driving home just what is expected of a soldier; to be ever-aware of honour, of family and, of course, of death.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Right, now the time is 3.48. 2 minutes and then we return to the floor! Understood?”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Sir, yes sir!”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't really have an overarching point about today's rehearsals, other than perhaps:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(1) what a company of actors sorely needs is a bit of military discipline and a large man ready to impose a timetable upon you with the blunt end of a swagger stick.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And (2) we're having a lot of fun rehearsing this play, and I think that will be in evidence when we perform it. I think this is going to be good, you guys. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You should come.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The show runs from 2nd - 26th April at Leicester Square Theatre. Tickets available from www.leicestersquaretheatre.com</i></span>Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-89799373208786550272014-03-24T13:10:00.003+00:002014-03-24T13:12:26.362+00:00Cadbury's buttons and the Venetian palazzo: James Law on GSL rehearsals<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbb6oixottTQJ2k3S_o8Eh0Z3IqsItTDAg99y9-11GLZmaj_l6tiS5JGGbdG906CGFuePVshcPmyC8uQeonMHKr9WL8Xr9TXtwBwyUqfR1B1SBxl_XiZyzLpa5gSOMw2WeS5yr-d7mYw0/s1600/1493446_719953224703598_663018229_o+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbb6oixottTQJ2k3S_o8Eh0Z3IqsItTDAg99y9-11GLZmaj_l6tiS5JGGbdG906CGFuePVshcPmyC8uQeonMHKr9WL8Xr9TXtwBwyUqfR1B1SBxl_XiZyzLpa5gSOMw2WeS5yr-d7mYw0/s1600/1493446_719953224703598_663018229_o+(1).jpg" height="320" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>James Law as the Duke of Venice (copyright: GSL)</i></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ah, blogs. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Always a nice idea I think - I quite enjoy
reading other people’s – until, that is, you’re asked to write one yourself and
literally can’t think of anything to say. Why don’t I write one in character I
thought? So here I am, cup of tea to the left, bag of Cadbury's Giant Buttons to
the right, The Great Escape on the telly. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe not the right surroundings for the
Duke of Venice but the budget doesn’t stretch to a palazzo yet…alright, let’s scrap
that idea.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s hard to believe that we only
officially started rehearsing a little over a week ago. The first official day
of rehearsal is intriguing for all sorts of reasons. From a human and acting perspective
it’s always fascinating. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most actors I know have a easy familiarity
about them – they’re often being put in challenging situations so it helps to
have that. When you actually land a part then that familiarity, by necessity,
has to evolve into a slightly deeper relationship with your fellow cast
members. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don’t mean to wax lyrical about the
acting process (or in the words of a fellow cast member, ”I don’t wanna get all
South Bank Show about it…”) but it’s hard to think of many other professions
where your fellow workers are expected to make themselves emotionally available
and vulnerable within minutes, hours or days of meeting each other. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everyone works at his or her own pace. It’s
clear on the first day that some people
are quite far advanced. Unfortunately,
I’m not in that group and go home and have a mini crisis. An inevitable part of
the process.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having just ended the week with a rough
stagger through of the whole play it might be useful to say something about the
rehearsal process so far. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m new to the Grassroots way of working.
In case you haven’t been reading these blogs (why not?!?) then the company
prides itself on a collaborative process that doesn’t involve a director. A
recipe for chaos in the rehearsal room one might think but funnily enough, not
so far. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People have been respectful, generous and
willing to listen to comments and take them on board. Well, it’s only week one,
I’m sure that’ll change…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part of the process involves electing a
daily ‘Master of the Play’ to give a rough agenda to the day’s proceedings. I
had this dubious pleasure on Thursday afternoon when we looked at Act Five. The
experience is as challenging as it is rewarding. And quite a smart move too.
It’s nice to feel that you may have a small say in the overall shape of the
play as well as contributing with your own part. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It also makes for quite an intense
experience as you can and indeed are expected to contribute frequently. Personally,
I’ve found it a good lesson in realizing that the less you worry about your own
personal contribution and the more you concentrate on the whole, the more
rewarding the experience can be. Easy for me to say as I have a relatively
small part but I’ve noticed that the actors with the larger roles are equally
generous with their time. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And how to deal with the inevitable rising
of tensions as opening night approaches? Well, next week we eagerly await the
introduction of ‘Manuka moments’. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Manuka moments? You, alone with a jar of
honey? Well, if that’s your thing… </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They actually involve giving every member
of the company in turn a chance to air their thoughts honestly, whether it be a
gripe with somebody or something. A good way to deal with potential flashpoints
as they arise. The next blog I’m sure is bound to contain something</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">about one of these moments…</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all, so far I think we’ve got to an
incredible place. The quality of some of the work so far has been great and
it’s wonderful to watch words and scenes you’ve heard and seen multiple times
suddenly spring into life due to one person’s suggestion. Sometimes it works and
sometimes it doesn’t but the direction of travel is definitely forward and I’m very
excited about next week.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-87377006000459200222014-03-21T12:21:00.001+00:002014-03-21T12:22:42.588+00:00Too many cooks spoil the broth? Helena Doughty on rehearsing, Grassroots style<h2 style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFG7ajd_biB3kn1d__SzgmMUJBTQw6tEVRTmM-BcRlovWnyZywnPHNpy_zXhMly34qnnCiy9sMGkMYlfKnBqytIRvhA63rqviIuFV6fWJYHe_6c4vzjh4YQbNK_mgYDAtONYi-lsgw9PE/s1600/1978537_719953101370277_993801804_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFG7ajd_biB3kn1d__SzgmMUJBTQw6tEVRTmM-BcRlovWnyZywnPHNpy_zXhMly34qnnCiy9sMGkMYlfKnBqytIRvhA63rqviIuFV6fWJYHe_6c4vzjh4YQbNK_mgYDAtONYi-lsgw9PE/s1600/1978537_719953101370277_993801804_o.jpg" height="302" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Helena Doughty as Bianca in <i>Othello </i>(copyright: GSL)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grassroots’s process requires input from all, a fair democracy in which everybody involved shapes the play, on set, period, costumes…well everything! There is no director; no one to say whether it is “right” or “wrong”, to keep us in check, to time keep. We are completely alone. This is incredibly daunting especially for an actor, like myself who craves the attention and assurance from a person of authority. They also say too many cooks spoil the broth, which I usually find to be true. So I was rightly nervous to start rehearsals with Grassroots but if you don’t challenge yourself when will you grow?!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before my first day to be honest I was trying not to worry about the chaos that was bound to ensue once we started working….Surely it will be manic….I won’t be able to get a word in…What if we offend each other with suggestions?....My mind raced as having been in similar “let’s all be equal and work together” situations before they all turned a little Lord of the Flies; dominant characters prevailing and the more reserved getting side-lined. I was intrigued to see how quickly we would revert to have one all presiding leader, because I was near sure of it.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG8T_I1U3Px3QEJUg72pL-HbFgLy_fmVSS2cC40OZZh5BfopEYT2HWMEHv9jX-_gwSZPyVpQA-XtN0TFQbDhHvrQWmnjIBTjutgqPLV8X1SQsY44Fu98qqC05Ia9PjbguRZxDcISs2_gI/s1600/grass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG8T_I1U3Px3QEJUg72pL-HbFgLy_fmVSS2cC40OZZh5BfopEYT2HWMEHv9jX-_gwSZPyVpQA-XtN0TFQbDhHvrQWmnjIBTjutgqPLV8X1SQsY44Fu98qqC05Ia9PjbguRZxDcISs2_gI/s1600/grass.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rehearsal fun! Helena (Bianca), Emily (Emilia), Nari (Othello) &<br />
John (Lodovico)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I wasn’t aware of when I was preconceiving ideas about how this strange process would work is that we would have what Grassroots call a “Playmaker”. This is a nominated person on the day, they have no control over what is decided but their main objective is to hear everybody and keep order. Kind of like a Speaker of the House in Parliament refereeing between parties/ideas just the difference is we probably achieve a lot more in a day. This allows us freedom to play and ponder because one person is dedicated to keeping to the schedule and the peace (not that we are particularly violent).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With this we can really have fun, it allows for a wide range of diverse and brilliant ideas as nothing is rejected. It is a warm, nurturing environment which lends itself to new & exciting takes on old, familiar text, I also love that we are developing the play just as they would have in Shakespeare time. I like that this is ours, we have full ownership and we are a Company in the truest sense of the word. I have thrown off my need for acceptance and praise, which is liberating and it definitely makes me think…What on earth was I worrying about in the first place?!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjq9Uff-n-LABys-aaIn21bI_j2iKoaJK5EoEgxb3Z5dDF6l18SxtQFBa50JKlRJ4xBRrt7P3pCcrOX97niRFN17SdhdDwH9b8VBsF_gaCTjXRwJ6aFhCANHf1IfQSXKiW2svhWazr54/s1600/gsl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjq9Uff-n-LABys-aaIn21bI_j2iKoaJK5EoEgxb3Z5dDF6l18SxtQFBa50JKlRJ4xBRrt7P3pCcrOX97niRFN17SdhdDwH9b8VBsF_gaCTjXRwJ6aFhCANHf1IfQSXKiW2svhWazr54/s1600/gsl.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Helena and Adam (Roderigo) </td></tr>
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Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-24630615705610855192014-03-11T15:16:00.002+00:002014-03-11T15:20:55.031+00:00Pink Highlighters and Coffee: Emily Jane Kerr on starting Othello rehearsals<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">As we approach the start of rehearsals for Othello, we thought we would catch up with the lovely <b>Emily Jane Kerr</b> who will be playing Emilia at the Leicester Square Theatre (2nd - 26th April 2014), on coffee, pink highlighters and working with 'Des'.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih9jv4ppI55cRfjSkF_hYrzWX6qqwhkjw3aEOUBJgbCm_y-1EBYGdhRvxdNouahCm7ytb-DahI_KZwSZr0_hedl4AmfC1IlZqvc7Eld7tuvrRPQj9pPyML4yjOMoqKaEADyO2EJmqvAdk/s1600/1966273_719953208036933_1066812446_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih9jv4ppI55cRfjSkF_hYrzWX6qqwhkjw3aEOUBJgbCm_y-1EBYGdhRvxdNouahCm7ytb-DahI_KZwSZr0_hedl4AmfC1IlZqvc7Eld7tuvrRPQj9pPyML4yjOMoqKaEADyO2EJmqvAdk/s1600/1966273_719953208036933_1066812446_o.jpg" height="288" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emily Jane Kerr as Emilia (copyright: GSL)</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">As I write this I am sat in the foyer of the National Theatre with my Othello script, note book, a pink highlighter and, most importantly, a cup of coffee. I don't think I could be any more of a cliché of an actor than I am currently, so this feels like the perfect time for the first Grassroots Othello blog.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Today has been very exciting: I had a catch up with Annabel (Desdemona - or Des as I think I shall be calling her). We spent a couple of hours chatting ideas, whether for the production as a whole or just character bits. There's nothing better than collaboration in my opinion and I can't wait to get together with the rest of the cast and start throwing brilliant and bizarre ideas into the ether. Both Annabel and I came with similar ideas, especially when it came to character relationships, so I think that's a great place to start.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">We did, however, both reveal that we feel like we just don't know Othello (the play) that well. We'd both read, and re-read, the play numerous times; both done research; both read essays: we still felt like we didn't know the play. I haven't been in that position for a very long time and it did scare me for a little bit. However after chatting about it this morning, I now think it's a brilliant position to be in. I have no preconceived idea about what the show will be like. I can enter into rehearsals with a clear mind and fresh ideas, and still have loads of exciting things to discover in rehearsals. I can't wait to learn from the other actors and create a raw and honest performance as a group. Bring on the rehearsal process!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just grab my beret and go back to being a cliché.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-73469523677039450632013-11-29T17:33:00.000+00:002013-11-30T12:31:23.564+00:00A Chat with Hollow Crown Fans & Grassroots Shakespeare London<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At Grassroots, we love our social media and one of our favourite (ok,
probably our favourite) Twitter accounts is the wonderful Hollow Crown Fans
(@hollowcrownfans). We follow their themed #ShakespeareSunday, where
fellow passionate Shakespeareans share their favourite quotes from the Great Bard
himself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following a great Twitter exchange about opera and Shakespeare,
Grassroots Shakespeare London’s Siobhan Daly sat down for a blog chat with HCF's Lis and Rose.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNB6kzSoRvQzrBVcn_fQ8S-OSt8abKTvim-Hv0sYgRnNJ4Kz858hrZu7j98WFQqBabiD9Ld8GI2S1cuyRESvHWT5eY3OpvvUoY-Nv4a1vTTqxkuTSUYjm_QV1lIEcZBEhQLy3jYo29hb0/s1600/tumblr_static_henryvposter300px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNB6kzSoRvQzrBVcn_fQ8S-OSt8abKTvim-Hv0sYgRnNJ4Kz858hrZu7j98WFQqBabiD9Ld8GI2S1cuyRESvHWT5eY3OpvvUoY-Nv4a1vTTqxkuTSUYjm_QV1lIEcZBEhQLy3jYo29hb0/s1600/tumblr_static_henryvposter300px.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u><span style="color: #222222; font-size: large;">On Original
Practices:</span></u></b><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></u></b></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HCF: What does 'Original Practices' mean for an actor? For
an audience?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRWJ_RQzweyZg70FI-prksAv3YzWW6BzuqHyru7ubxE9JIzLZlBLuxJ-174WJrLkmdQ5Djm_UsvGq0YOj3230J0pdGC35b5I-fUyIJWZ08mOP8IPfMNq2HP3SCPRnEzpeSDRP0mn8hbGU/s1600/920998_583931034972485_897714540_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRWJ_RQzweyZg70FI-prksAv3YzWW6BzuqHyru7ubxE9JIzLZlBLuxJ-174WJrLkmdQ5Djm_UsvGq0YOj3230J0pdGC35b5I-fUyIJWZ08mOP8IPfMNq2HP3SCPRnEzpeSDRP0mn8hbGU/s400/920998_583931034972485_897714540_o.jpg" width="266" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Matthew Cavendish as Moth and Robert Nairne</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">as Don Adriano in rehearsals for</span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Love's Labour's Lost</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;">SD:
Original Practices for us means getting as close as possible to how
Shakespeare’s actors would have worked and performed. I think that what most often surprises our audiences is that we have no director, but neither
did Shakespeare’s players. For </span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;">Elizabethan acting companies, there wasn’t a
wardrobe or props department like we know it today. They would have had a small
costume store most of which would be donated by patrons - however it would
almost exclusively be slight variations on modern fashions, basically
day-to-day dress. Having Grassroots source everything from what is in our
everyday lives is a modern version of that. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">In terms of rehearsals, Elizabethan actors didn’t rehearse at all like you
might think. They would probably walk through fights, entrances and exits, if
that, depending on the play. A readthrough in the pub with the writer is
probably the only time they would hear the whole thing before the actual
performance. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The actors would have to </span><span style="color: #222222;">form their own ideas of their characters before arriving at
rehearsals. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">They would also use cue scripts, which is where you own have your
own lines, and the cue words of the person before you.</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So this inspired
us. We started exploring rehearsing with shortened rehearsal periods, with our own props, costumes and developing our own characters because we wanted to see if
it brought something new and fresh to performances. We discovered that it is
exciting when you have a number of people giving creative input rather than just depending on a director’s approval, or relying on somebody else’s vision
or creativity, which is quite lazy really. We have found that for actors to be
engaged in this process, they will be real team players, willing to take risks
and step outside their comfort zones. They are intelligent, courageous and love engaging
with the text and with the relationships on stage.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyrZvXvOY5zKyjeFTGcaGCyAC84eahTrjKf-M1v6MmTgpVvpuuQcZd2jTVhtwD7q64rn8yLL72yx5OOqKHHuDN8p5PxBShbq_daArtF3uwG-rf9yfcB-VBfPo_VWXoClZhZed-olMfDHs/s1600/Wedding+Dream+172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyrZvXvOY5zKyjeFTGcaGCyAC84eahTrjKf-M1v6MmTgpVvpuuQcZd2jTVhtwD7q64rn8yLL72yx5OOqKHHuDN8p5PxBShbq_daArtF3uwG-rf9yfcB-VBfPo_VWXoClZhZed-olMfDHs/s320/Wedding+Dream+172.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">A Beautiful Bride: Adam Blampied as Helena and Christian Kinde as Demetrius</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Also, Shakespeare’s
actors were all male, so we decided to start casting gender blind. We have
amusingly been accused of casting ‘heteronormative’ which made us laugh,
because we actually cast the ensemble and then cast the roles. So it is talent
that matters, we’re not making statements about gender, which other companies
do excellently. We’re just looking at making the best production possible with
the ensemble that we have. This has led to a male Helena, played memorably by
Adam Blampied, or a female Philostrate/ Puck played by Emily Jane Kerr. Both
actors are excellent and created imaginative characters.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For audiences, we
hope that this brings a fun sense of irreverence, while bringing a textually
rigorous, well performed production.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How does OP focus on clarity of text versus a single
director's vision?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFZ2vbN58NgfzPlB_thIl03UvJyaBMkEuR_ay2rr-Ga6naPeF6EhFEsmQ9FJKDHxp3GQk1gzllw2pqRQWZWBZ_OXGIBVDsVI4nv6IOq6d9uYQlalfJq_hmCXe9t5as9EaI4R8pE3p_BA4/s1600/me&+stewie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFZ2vbN58NgfzPlB_thIl03UvJyaBMkEuR_ay2rr-Ga6naPeF6EhFEsmQ9FJKDHxp3GQk1gzllw2pqRQWZWBZ_OXGIBVDsVI4nv6IOq6d9uYQlalfJq_hmCXe9t5as9EaI4R8pE3p_BA4/s320/me&+stewie.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Siobhan Daly rehearsing for <i>The Tempest</i> with Stewart Heffernan</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What we are really
keen on is telling the story. I am sure that there are lots of wonderful productions
of Shakespeare happening all over the world all of the time, that are well
directed. I think for me, as an avid theatre goer, I’ve seen a lot of
productions where the play has had a vision imposed, whether it fits or not. I recently saw a Shakespeare production
which reminded me of this; the relationships and the story were very
unclear, and words were added in to fit the director’s vision. It was awkward,
clunky and my non-theatre going friend asked me if we could leave at the
interval. I felt so sad because the play is wonderful but I could see entirely
why she had failed to engage with this production. It had become introspective and
self-congratulatory, rather than engaging.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, there is a
freshness from hearing other creative people’s input, especially when they are
doing all they can to hit every plot point and make everything crystal clear; that is when the heart of the story is communicated and I think that is often lost. It is
why people say Shakespeare is boring, because undoubtedly they have seen
productions that made them feel like this, but if Shakespeare speaks about the human condition, which we know he does, then we have to ask ourselves why this
is happening.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've found that a particular advantage to working in this style is that you can do without big lavish sets or any other crutches that can sometimes be used to prop up a production. You
absolutely have to let the words do the talking, so you really need strong
actors who love working the text.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkahGlejuikM_BCyq7K2b990lPR0Q0UJ3dYwkz98sCaJqxDLFugbDXtx7tS4kv9XKMcrTiaRPlo_gLbQVHbGIns-emla75KhIUM1WR13qyiCGlMzfVrbglwBnrjvhWyTYEQH4xDnH7ac/s1600/don+pedro+dave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkahGlejuikM_BCyq7K2b990lPR0Q0UJ3dYwkz98sCaJqxDLFugbDXtx7tS4kv9XKMcrTiaRPlo_gLbQVHbGIns-emla75KhIUM1WR13qyiCGlMzfVrbglwBnrjvhWyTYEQH4xDnH7ac/s320/don+pedro+dave.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">David North as Don John in </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Much Ado About Nothing</i>, June 2012</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does a collective vision of a group of performers become a
singular vision in the eye of the audience?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"></span></b><br /></span>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></b></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It takes a lot of
work but yes it does. When the ensemble work together, they start to create a
singular vision. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">An example of this was in 2012, we ended up staging two
completely different production of <i>Much Ado About Nothing</i>. The first one was
held around the time of the Jubilee celebrations, and very organically, the
cast created a world inspired by VE Day, with soldiers returning from war. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCrRIVh8-8xy7T_zj2jbh4XjgOTFGoNEMuFZ396GwL9JoYtu5QIKtS0kdB8SG39EjEp9E0CxB2KhCtW1tBKJjYGm7gLMit8CWSnjusrmjcBcS1jk4n79p-G3qqzEP9WfrFBfMi27Uzois/s1600/boris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCrRIVh8-8xy7T_zj2jbh4XjgOTFGoNEMuFZ396GwL9JoYtu5QIKtS0kdB8SG39EjEp9E0CxB2KhCtW1tBKJjYGm7gLMit8CWSnjusrmjcBcS1jk4n79p-G3qqzEP9WfrFBfMi27Uzois/s320/boris.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Boris Mitkov as Don Pedro in <i>Much Ado About Nothing</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">August 2012</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"></span></b><br /></span>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"></span></b><br /></span>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second production we did was later in the summer with another cast, and they created something much more modern and militaristic, getting themselves two Off West End Award nominations along the way. I was involved with both productions and I made a point of deliberately not influencing the </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">second cast’s choices, so for me it was absolutely fascinating to see them work and come up with their own original ideas.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="color: #222222;">When Original Practices is done well, the audience shouldn't really be thinking about the method, but engaging with the play.</span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you embrace or avoid contradictions in collective
interpretation?</span></span></b></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQISP-wgjBzdXsPon7hXzb9K5-6kfMHpEFtDGgvKXC0v9a-BeN9RDQ53e47bIklWWT0VNPZHdPYU8oHTQ4EY7jLir9-APdwPzTav8Rf1uXvoBy1CJUfdopuI5sjccMaD9oSZlVe2GFhdM/s1600/lauren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQISP-wgjBzdXsPon7hXzb9K5-6kfMHpEFtDGgvKXC0v9a-BeN9RDQ53e47bIklWWT0VNPZHdPYU8oHTQ4EY7jLir9-APdwPzTav8Rf1uXvoBy1CJUfdopuI5sjccMaD9oSZlVe2GFhdM/s320/lauren.jpg" width="252" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Grassroots Dramaturg, Lauren Amy Pakes</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We try to avoid them because ultimately we want to tell
the story, so we do everything we can to keep that as simple and as
straightforward as possible<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do you democratically agree on how to edit or cut
scenes from a play? Do egos ever get in the way (e.g., “you’ve cut my part down
50%!”)?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have a
Dramaturg, Lauren Amy Parkes, so she does the major editing work these days,
and between her, Boris Mitkov (the Assistant Artistic Director) and myself, we
come to a happy agreement on the final script. </span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes, when we give the scripts to the actors,
they will ask to put bits back in. We don't object to doing this, as
long as they are intelligible
inserts that fit with our edit and it doesn't impact too much on the running time!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="color: #222222;">On
Shakespeare in new millennium and new audiences</span></u></b><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></u></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rupert Christiansen made a point that opera has seen
success in concert style performances versus fully staged productions. Some responses
to this is that type of production of Shakespeare’s work would be elitist. Is
that something you think wide audiences would want to see? What would be the
benefit or con of creating a concert style production? Can Shakespeare’s
work be appreciated fully without a reference point (such as staging)?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvKOOYoTAt4GIDRL5Vr9x1wuN1EdQyPxAP_CyaJrRi6dSnfV824YnYAoraXJ9vvbrek6gFNNTVx6Gzu5q72eUOSi2y1KbvQl0UObfjphL3-qjACjZ_0EMKH6lowcEshfg9HG7abNEuo4Y/s1600/Dream+008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvKOOYoTAt4GIDRL5Vr9x1wuN1EdQyPxAP_CyaJrRi6dSnfV824YnYAoraXJ9vvbrek6gFNNTVx6Gzu5q72eUOSi2y1KbvQl0UObfjphL3-qjACjZ_0EMKH6lowcEshfg9HG7abNEuo4Y/s320/Dream+008.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Daisy Ward as Hermia and Kane Surry as Lysander</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">in <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I enjoy opera very
much and see a lot of it, but I don’t think you can compare an opera concert
style performance to a play. I don’t think a concert style play reading is
something with wide appeal. This isn’t about having a large set, lighting or
costumes. It’s about seeing actors standing in a line, trying to dramatically
interact with someone who is standing at the other end of the line. I can’t see
how it could be engaging or interesting. How will you see the relationships
clearly? Or feel the drama? You might as well be listening to someone read the
phone book.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, this is
entirely different when you’re listening to a singer and a full, or even
reduced, orchestra, as the music often carries a lot of the emotion, and you’re
not relying on the same things actors are.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With Shakespeare’s work becoming more widely available in
text and performance online there have been debates on whether or not there
should be an authoritative presence for performers and amateurs to reference
to. Do you believe there should be authoritative standards for performers?
Should the academia establishment limit performance interpretation? (in terms
of being viewed as a valid interpretation, not in terms of policing).<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In terms of having
authoritative and trusted editions to turn to, yes, I do. I think that people
like Eric Rasmussen and Jonathan Bate produce beautiful, scholarly edits for
the RSC, and the Arden editions are invaluable when trying to edit a script.
There’s many a debate been had at Grassroots over different words listed in the
Arden! There is a wonderful essay by Jonathan on the RSC’s website about editing,
including a fascinating discussion on Hamlet’s ‘sallied, sullied or solid
flesh’ (he argues for the Folio’s ‘solid’) and it is an artform. I do think you
need scholars who are passionate enough to wade through years of study to help
practitioners, and at the same time, I think practitioners need to make their
own minds up too. The work of academics can help you to do that. I
personally love the work of James Shapiro. I think he is a brilliant academic
and writer who brings Shakespeare and his world to life in a way I have never
encountered before.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not quite sure
who would decide on valid interpretations. I think ultimately that will be down
to the audience. I would worry about an establishment deciding because I think
that could be limiting for artists and the beauty of Shakespeare is that people
engage with it so widely. I recently saw Wu Hsing-kuo, a Taiwanese actor who
produced a version of <i>Macbeth</i> called <i>Kingdom of Desire</i> using Peking Opera
techniques. He told us that doing this had gotten him labelled a revolutionary
agitator by the political establishment, for taking an iconic national artform and changing it
to perform Shakespeare. I am glad that he could use Shakespeare's story of Macbeth in his own way because it became a cultural milestone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is more important for Shakespeare to thrive with new
audiences? Entertain or enrich?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hopefully a bit of
both! 'New audiences' isn’t a synonym for 'stupid audiences', which I think can be implied by some people within the industry. You can entertain and enrich
at the same time. They’re not exclusive and one is not more highbrow than the
other. Shakespeare did both and I can’t see why well performed productions
today can’t do the same.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recent Shakespeare film/tv adaptations like <i>The Hollow
Crown</i>, Ralph Fiennes' <i>Coriolanus</i> - or going further back to Baz Luhrmann’s <i>Romeo
& Juliet </i>or Mel Gibson’s <i>Hamlet </i>use popular celebrity actors to bring
audiences to Shakespeare. Does this help or hurt theatrical Shakespeare
productions that don’t feature a big name celebrity (particularly with respect
to setting expectations)?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think the movies can
help with developing audience awareness, because it makes it possible for entirely
different demographics to have access to Shakespeare's stories. Some people have never been to the theatre and if the
first time they encounter Shakespeare is in a cinema thanks to Baz Luhrmann or Mel Gibson, I don’t mind, and
considering how commercially minded Shakespeare was, I don’t think he would
have minded either. </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If
these film goers who have never been to the theatre, do then go
and see a theatre production as a result, then this can only be positive.</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6dY37yc2o-b6daXjAoyc58Ye6Zlrh0fdqE3c7IhSav9FzOFFPGRUVBWDI_tYW30ST704ALIb1aIqtJn7lQX-9eFbeU_EsEHmfYdZ1dFH_5MmRffpS3ifwsxKfPp9Ghkr10UPO1euREck/s1600/James+-+Iago+Finished+Ad+70x105+300ppi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6dY37yc2o-b6daXjAoyc58Ye6Zlrh0fdqE3c7IhSav9FzOFFPGRUVBWDI_tYW30ST704ALIb1aIqtJn7lQX-9eFbeU_EsEHmfYdZ1dFH_5MmRffpS3ifwsxKfPp9Ghkr10UPO1euREck/s640/James+-+Iago+Finished+Ad+70x105+300ppi.jpg" width="425" /></span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Established film actors are often performing on stage. We currently have Jude Law playing Henry V in the West End and Tom Hiddleston about to play Coriolanus, or there's Orlando Bloom as Romeo on Broadway.</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Productions such as the current Globe rep season on Broadway of <i>Twelfth Night</i> and <i>Richard III </i>are anything to go by, audiences don't mind seeing excellent productions which don't feature A-List celebrity names. Actors that might be well-known here in the UK, are less renowned in the US, but the shows have had excellent press and are selling well.</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How large a role does social media play into promoting
your theatre company?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A large one! We have most of our followers on Facebook,
so we try to engage very regularly with our audiences on there, and we also add our
voice to Twitter. We like chatting with people. We are friendly and enjoy engaging people with Shakespeare's work. Social media isn't pretentious and neither are we. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our next show is Othello, and will be celebrating Shakespeare's 450th birthday from London's West End at the Leicester Square Theatre, from 2nd - 26th April 2014. When we announced this on social media, we had a fantastic response. We were so pleased as the whole team work really hard and with genuine passion to produce high quality, accessible productions of Shakespeare. The response you get on social media is also immediate. Rather than waiting until April, we've been able to talk to our audience now, and that is great.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>We hope you enjoyed our chat! Next time, we'll be chatting with the Hollow Crown Fans and finding out more about their fantastic Twitter account and their love for Shakespeare!</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>About Hollow Crown Fans</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Hollow</span><span style="color: #222222;"> <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Crown</span> <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Fans</span> started 30th of June 2012 at the
start of the BBC's broadcast of The <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Hollow</span> <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Crown</span>. The group was originally set up
to petition the BBC to publish a commemorative book of photographs of the
series. However, the effort quickly evolved from that original purpose to a
broader vision that celebrated The <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Hollow</span> <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Crown</span>, its cast and crew, and all of
Shakespeare's work as portrayed in text and performance. It evolved yet again
in October 2012 with the advent of the weekly #ShakespeareSunday Twitter event.
#ShakespeareSunday is an all-day Shakespeare flashmob of sorts where people
from all over the world tweet their favourite quotes from the Bard.
Participation in the event is steadily growing and currently ranges between
500-600 tweets from followers each Sunday.<br />
<br />
To encourage participation from followers we've held an original art
competition, judged by 2 cast members of The <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Hollow</span> <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Crown</span>, and a popular Cento Poetry writing
contest that was judged by The Shakespeare Institute. We have a great time
linking Shakespeare (in text or performance) to people's pre-existing
interests. For example, recently promoted that there are 4 prominent Hamlets
playing key roles in 'Skyfall' or 3 incredible Macbeth's in the X-Men
franchise. By these activities, we love connecting <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">fans</span> with performers with academia - it's a blend of
practices that we've yet to see on social media for Shakespeare.<br />
<br />
Essentially we believe that Shakespeare can be a part of pop culture and should
be accessible to everyone - be they enthusiasts, performers, academics or
novices. On a more personal level, we are run by two admins, one from the
UK (who was an extra in Henry V!) and one from the US. Both share a life-long
love of Shakespeare, history, theatre and film and bring that energy to the
3000+ followers on Twitter every day. Our motto: Come for The <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Hollow</span> <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Crown</span>,
Stay for the Shakespeare!</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Lis & Rose</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">@HollowCrownFans</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-81570572735307835102013-06-19T14:04:00.002+01:002013-06-20T13:12:50.992+01:00Siobhan's Guest Blog for West End Frame!Our Artistic Director & Exec Producer, Siobhan Daly, was recently thrilled to be asked to be the first ever guest blogger for the theatre site, West End Frame!<br />
<br />
Here it is just for you!<br />
<br />
http://www.westendframe.com/2013/06/GuestBlog-SummerOfLove.html<br />
<br />
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Guest Blog: A Summer of Love with Grassroots Shakespeare London
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Siobhan Daly</i></td></tr>
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I recently read that although Shakespeare spent most of his life
working, acting and writing in London, we really only associate him with
Stratford-upon-Avon, a place where he spent relatively little time.
Perhaps it’s fitting then, that as a Londoner, I established Grassroots
Shakespeare London in my home town and capital city with a fun and
vibrant ensemble of top young classical actors to bring his works to
life in a fresh and exciting new way.<br />
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I’ve always been compelled by the beauty of his language and the emotion
of his plays. I remember being at school and studying Oberon’s speech
from <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>, “I know a bank where the wild thyme
grows….”, and being completely stunned by the depth of the imagery, how
instantly you could picture exactly what he was describing, the sights,
the smells, the atmosphere.<br />
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This wonder never left me, but as I grew up, I was confused to realise
that many people didn’t share my enthusiasm. As I asked why, I found
that it wasn’t that they didn’t like Shakespeare, but that they felt it
was somehow for other people, those with university degrees perhaps, or a
special innate knowledge into the mysterious workings of The Bard; a
bit like an elite club for people who spoke in booming, deep voices and
about things like ‘iambic pentametres’, as though it was a secret
password into attending the theatre, which of course, it isn’t at all.
You don’t need any of these things. Yes of course, they can deepen your
knowledge and help the actors, but most of all, and most importantly,
Shakespeare was written to be performed and enjoyed. He wanted people to
engage with the stories, to laugh, to cry, to leave the theatre
thinking about what they’d just seen, to share in the experience.<br />
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To try and get back to basics, Grassroots is an Original Practices
company. This means that as much as possible, we try to follow the
rehearsal and production methods of Shakespeare and his actors, so we
work without a director as they would have. We cast gender-blind and
collaborate to devise a show that is full of imagination and excitement
rather than fitting into a director’s concept of what the show should
be. This creates a production that is accessible and intelligible; we
have twelve imaginations instead of one.<br />
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And it seems that people like it. We performed our first show in August
2011 and by 2012, we had launched the More London Free Festival during
The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, headed up to the Royal
Shakespeare Company (RSC) to perform <i>Much Ado About Nothing</i> as part of
the World Shakespeare Festival, got nominated for two Off West End
Awards for Best Ensemble and Best Production, and produced a Five Star,
sell-out Christmas rep season where we were having to turn people away
as we just couldn’t fit them in.<br />
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This year we’re performing a six week Summer of Love rep at the Old Red
Lion Theatre in Islington of the heart-breaking classic <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>
and the romantic comedy, <i>Love’s Labour’s Lost</i> with one talented cast.
This is a brilliant opportunity for Shakespeare on the London Fringe as
most runs are only four weeks, so we’re hoping to bring these great
works to as many people as possible.<br />
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I’m also passionate about identifying and nurturing the top young
classical actors and giving them an opportunity to showcase their
outstanding talents. Our Assistant Artistic Director is Boris Mitkov, a
22 year old Arts Ed graduate who is also a writer, professional
photographer and director. He has already had a play translated,
supported by the British Council, and it is currently playing in rep in
Sofia. He has also taken his own plays up to the Edinburgh Fringe
Festival where they have received five star reviews. Boris is playing
Romeo and Costard in our current season and has been leading the
rehearsal process for both shows. He’s a great all-round talent
including on our multimedia, script editing, lighting shows or building
set! Or there’s Matthew Cavendish, a recent graduate from LAMDA who was a
finalist in the prestigious Stephen Sondheim Student Performer of the
Year competition and who is playing Lord Capulet/ Apothecary and Moth/
Mercade this summer; or Christien Bart-Gittens, a 20 year old who I
auditioned last year and have subsequently seen go from strength to
strength. He has just finished his Foundation Year at East 15 and is
auditioning for drama school. The future of theatre is very bright with
actors like these.<br />
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Apart from their great talent and your ability to see them now before
they’re off to Hollywood, is the fact that they can truly communicate
the story. Part of setting up Grassroots was to help break down any
elitist barriers to appreciating Shakespeare’s work but also to present
intelligent, textually rigorous productions. We’ve all seen boring
productions of Shakespeare where the actors have just learned their
lines and not really understood a thing they’re saying. Good actors
don’t let this happen. They want to communicate with you and they do.
It’s a whole different experience.<br />
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We try and keep our shows as affordable as possible and we’ve kept our
prices this year to the same as they were in 2012. We’re also hoping to
keep running a free summer show at Victoria Embankment Gardens under
Grassroots Offshoots, an ensemble of actors who are at Foundation degree
or drama school audition stage. This year, Christien Bart-Gittens is
leading a production of <i>As You Like It </i>for us in early August. We love
nothing more than people stopping by to enjoy the show and then
surprising themselves when they realise it’s Shakespeare!<br />
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</div>
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Grassroots is fun, exciting, experimental, ground-breaking, passionate
and bursting full of talent. I hope you can join us for our Summer of
Love.</div>
<br />
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<i>Siobhan Daly</i></div>
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<i><a href="mailto:contact@westendframe.com">contact@westendframe.com</a></i></div>
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Siobhan Daly is the Artistic Director and Executive Producer of
Grassroots Shakespeare London. She is a RADA graduate and SOLT/ TMA
Stage One West End Producer where she worked on the 2012 Olivier Award
winning ‘Goodnight Mr Tom’ (tour and West End), ‘The 39 Steps’ (tour and
West End) and ‘The Ladykillers’ (Tour and West End). She is the
Associate Producer for Theatre Royal Haymarket Productions which is
currently co-producing Lee Evans and Sheila Hancock in ‘Barking in
Essex’.<br />
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Grassroots Shakespeare London will be performing <i>Romeo and Juliet</i> and
<i>Love’s Labour’s Lost</i> in repertory as part of a Summer of Love at the Old
Red Lion Theatre, Islington.<br />
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Tuesday 18th June – Saturday 27th July 2013 at 7.30pm. Matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm.</div>
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Tickets: £15/ £12 conc. (booking fee applies to online and phone bookings)</div>
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<a href="http://www.grassrootsshakespearelondon.com/" target="_blank">www.grassrootsshakespearelondon.com</a></div>
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Booking line: 0844 412 4307</div>
Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-57851546756190854002013-06-12T17:58:00.002+01:002013-06-12T17:59:39.255+01:00Introducing our first guest blogger....Joe Staton!<div style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 4.0pt 0cm;">
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Budding young actor Joe Staton impressed us here at Grassroots Towers when he emailed us to say he'd heard about us through a teacher and was coming all the way from Spain just to see our Christmas performances! We were delighted to meet such a passionate and committed student, so when he asked to interview us, we said yes. Joe wrote up his experiences for his school magazine and we're delighted to share his impressions with you.</div>
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Please give a warm Grassroots welcome to our first guest blogger, Joe Staton!</div>
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<b><u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">Arranging the interview<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Facebook is truly a wonderful tool for
every actor. Why? Because in this industry, contacts is everything. And what
better way to build your contacts than by simply adding them onto Facebook? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">During my many visits to London, I was
adamant that I wanted to see a Shakespeare play performed. My A Level Drama and
Theatre Studies teacher told me of Grassroots Shakespeare London, a group
of actors who had begun in London by performing Shakespeare in public areas.
Needless to say, my interest was sparked and I immediately sought them out on
Facebook and booked a ticket to see, to my utter delight, their performance of
<i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> and <i>The Tempest</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">By this time, I hadn't learnt the
importance of Facebook. Fate must have intervened as I commented on one of
their photos and almost immediately received a reply! After summoning up some
much-needed courage, I was then able to arrange an
interview with actress and founder of the Grassroots Shakespeare London, Siobhan Daly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">So on the night of the show, I headed down
to the theatre and was delighted by the
completely unique and wonderful performances of two of Shakespeare’s most
wonderful comedies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">A quick review of the shows<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">This is the first time I have ever seen a
Shakespeare on the stage. I can honestly say, I wasn’t disappointed!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">One of the
greatest things about the Bard’s works is the fact that there are very little
stage directions. Why? Because that opens up opportunities for a wide range of
interpretations! In the case of Grassroots, I was intrigued to learn that the
group does not contain a director, instead working as a team to create their
performances. That also means that when one goes to see Shakespeare on stage,
no one can truly guess what to expect. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The show was entertaining and if anyone
was worried that they would not understand that big, complex and elevated
diction that Shakespeare annoyingly utilized in his writing, they soon forgot
these fears. The group worked tirelessly, each one emitting sparks of explosive
energy that grasped the audience throughout both pieces. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9T7ndG-0DNxavbXfcOI1GG6DQcKs6A_2yh2N-g33LPdraPWs-x7Qclw0afHygcU6_t-7acrIzcb0eORr9Nj8b5T85lfzL3prtdXa1tjYLf0T0FruQTkdv9n0x3OO9dbpRLaXlL8_ULis/s1600/190142_502852166413706_802837910_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9T7ndG-0DNxavbXfcOI1GG6DQcKs6A_2yh2N-g33LPdraPWs-x7Qclw0afHygcU6_t-7acrIzcb0eORr9Nj8b5T85lfzL3prtdXa1tjYLf0T0FruQTkdv9n0x3OO9dbpRLaXlL8_ULis/s320/190142_502852166413706_802837910_n.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Max Wilson as Caliban in <i>The Tempest</i></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">The time it would take
to describe in detail how awesome each actor in their characters were would
require at least another fifty pages, therefore I am unfortunately forced to be
brief. Siobhan Daly was astounding in her role as Titania/Hippolyta in <i>A Midsummer Nights Dream</i> and Sebastian<i> </i>in <i>The Tempest</i>, highlighting her
unbeatable talent! Max Wilson performed a brilliant portrayal of Caliban in <i>The Tempest</i>, adopting a Gollum like posture and a croaky voice. Emily Jane Kerr was possibly the funniest Puck
I have ever seen, completely blowing Stanley Tucci from Michael Hoffman’s film
version of the show, completely out of the water! Her energy and commitment to
the role was exactly 100% and her costume was sublime. I think my special
mention however will have to go to Adam Blampied who, living up to the context
of the Renaissance period in which women were forbidden to act on the stage,
humourously portrayed the gorgeous Helena in <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> and
during his portrayal of Ariel in <i>The Tempest</i>, decided to adopt an extremely
masculine voice and dress up as Batman (as I said, you never know what to
expect at the theatre!).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh87IukdddoJTVTrX8bea6fMXfJkR8ffNwrY2GA01OLiqrkiFQDKTN0LmPmvuKgJAtw-1Vmx0bLl33zEqgQdNIA8YbS6SfVg17kENs_ia1O1ylTwE45Nm2OyW8vnTUuldLI4ZtvG0bXRWM/s1600/17748_502850246413898_1495574075_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh87IukdddoJTVTrX8bea6fMXfJkR8ffNwrY2GA01OLiqrkiFQDKTN0LmPmvuKgJAtw-1Vmx0bLl33zEqgQdNIA8YbS6SfVg17kENs_ia1O1ylTwE45Nm2OyW8vnTUuldLI4ZtvG0bXRWM/s320/17748_502850246413898_1495574075_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Siobhan Daly as Titania in <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">All in all, a most enjoyable first experience of
a live Shakespeare performance! </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The group has now begun rehearsal for a
production of <i>Romeo and Juliet</i> and<i> Love’s Labour’s Lost</i>. Book your ticket now
and don’t miss them!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">Interview with Grassroots Actors Siobhan
Daly (Titania/Hippolyta and Sebastian) and Matthew Walker (Nick Bottom and
Prospero) <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The meeting took place after the actors had
changed and the audience departed. Meeting up at the theatre itself, they were able to provide me with some of their
own back stories, a history of Grassroots, and the challenge of performing
Shakespeare.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN66wU0Ojdf6ESzcM0CQ6HjdcezKP9jW1yFgE_wdofXnF6jT6nvcVT6I7R3lTYZNokAAjD8GojFy80xshqTYZz8m2VKJ_yXsk-xV7dSs_bheF0k3xT5udwIYIcqGuZGO4OaGyo-L0ORU4/s1600/73997_502850119747244_1289935531_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN66wU0Ojdf6ESzcM0CQ6HjdcezKP9jW1yFgE_wdofXnF6jT6nvcVT6I7R3lTYZNokAAjD8GojFy80xshqTYZz8m2VKJ_yXsk-xV7dSs_bheF0k3xT5udwIYIcqGuZGO4OaGyo-L0ORU4/s320/73997_502850119747244_1289935531_n.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matthew Walker as Bottom and Siobhan Daly as Titania in <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i></td></tr>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">So I guess
my first question would be, where did you guys start out?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Matthew: Well, my mother was concerned that I
was shy as a child so she sent me to drama lessons outside school and from
about 11 onwards, that was it! I just loved it! So I very fortunately landed a
few roles in TV between the age of 16 and 20, and then work kind off tried up
so I went to drama school from the age of 22 to 25 and I've now been out for
about three years. I've done a lot more theatre work since.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Siobhan: How did I start out? I
probably started out at primary school when I wanted to star in nativity plays!
I was one of those kids who enjoyed singing and dancing! I used to put on
performances for the local kids and get them all involved, which is funny
because it’s what I do now! So I kept acting, I studied at RADA, then I set up
Grassroots and it’s been going for about 18 months now!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Do you
prefer theatre?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Matthew: A healthy mix, I think. When you’re
doing one you want to do the other!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Siobhan: I think I prefer stage. I think Matt
said the really good answer! But I like stage more because it’s more immediate
and every night’s different! Also, T.V and film can be quite hard because
you've got to hit a mark and look a certain way. I like the freedom of the
stage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">I never
know what to expect when I see a play and what you guys did was definitely
unexpected! What inspired the idea behind Ariel dressing up as Batman?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Siobhan: The actor himself came up with it. We
don’t have a director and one of the things I love about it is that it gives
the actors the room for creativity and freedom to come up with these ideas!
Because otherwise you’re working under somebody else’s concept. I'm not trying
to put directors out of work, but the freedom and creativity encourages actors
and gives them the license to be themselves and play a little. I always say to
people that it’s like being a kid again! You've got a dressing up box and Adam
said, “Can I be Batman?” and everyone agreed!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">So
Grassroots started up as street performances?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Siobhan: Yeah! When we first started up our
first performance was <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> in Hyde Park. Our idea
was to make Shakespeare accessible so we decided to do it on the band stand and
people would walk past and think “What’s going on?” and then stop, engage and
then realize we’re doing Shakespeare and think “Oh my God! This is so funny!
And it’s Shakespeare?!” So I see us as a sort of access point. I used to work in
opera and I think it’s like that: if you get people to see the easier things
first then they’re more willing to engage in the harder bits! This is our way
of helping people enjoy live theatre!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">What advice
would you give to anyone who struggles to understand and enjoy Shakespeare?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Matthew: It’s daunting because it’s foreign to
some people and people think they won’t understand it. They are exactly the
sorts of people who we want to come and see Grassroots because they think they
will struggle; they don’t think Batman will be in it. A lot of the themes
Shakespeare talks about - love, honour, dishonour- they’re all relevant in
modern times. It’s just about breaking people’s stereotypes towards it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Siobhan: I totally agree with Matt! Shakespeare
wrote about the human story, the human experience! As Matt says, the themes are
universal. It doesn't really matter that it’s written in old English because
people still fall in love, they’re still ambitious, still murderous, still
vengeful. I think a lot of the time it’s in the playing of Shakespeare. When
you get actors who know what they’re saying, who understand what they’re
saying, then you can actually understand what’s happening on stage and you can
relate it to your own experiences. One of the things we always say at
Grassroots is that often people feel they have to speak like Lawrence Olivier
with a big actor’s voice-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Matt: Which I do!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Siobhan: I was thinking when Matt was doing his
Bottom as Pyramus, people often feel that’s how Shakespeare should be played
all the time but really you should understand what your saying as if it was
modern English as Shakespeare himself wrote in a language that was common to
the people and his plays were for the people. I think that Shakespeare was a
man that wrote about things close to his life and wanted people to understand
that!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKBEyP9Hg1en6_6hVrFWQCdOcM1lE2B8DligoLaBS7mcBlqYIgUrBD5F5LHthQNnySUYTsWfSSQ8liqQ36NUem0zpAoJUq4tNO9LqBxDra_XhQbdtdBN9ErzWgvjEaijyXpj86Udse72c/s1600/522759_502852129747043_1279078995_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKBEyP9Hg1en6_6hVrFWQCdOcM1lE2B8DligoLaBS7mcBlqYIgUrBD5F5LHthQNnySUYTsWfSSQ8liqQ36NUem0zpAoJUq4tNO9LqBxDra_XhQbdtdBN9ErzWgvjEaijyXpj86Udse72c/s320/522759_502852129747043_1279078995_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matthew Walker as Prospero in <i>The Tempest</i></td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Matt: I think people have this impression of him
as well. He was actually just a man, a highly intelligent man. He was actually
arrested outside the Globe for assault! I love that! He was just an ordinary
bloke. There is a reason why his plays lasted for 500 years; the language is
beautiful and so well written. There’s a reason why they will stand the test of
time. I’m sure that in a hundred years it will still be performed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Do you find
it challenging publicising Shakespeare to the masses?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Siobhan: Yes and no. I think that now because we
engage a lot in social media and by using that we can appeal to young people
who use Facebook or Twitter. So that’s one of the ways we can engage with
people. Of course there is also the highly theatre going crowd who bring their
friends as well. But one of the most difficult things is, where does one spend
their money? If you go to the West End, it can cost you up to 90 pounds per
ticket! Plus you have to get the train in which can cost you 30 pounds, and you
also want to eat as well, one can easily spend 150 pounds on a day out! So I
think that by offering tickets for 10 pounds, with the promise of highly
experienced and trained actors with great talent- it is a West End worthy
performance for 10 pounds! Which is fantastic! We also do free shows during the
summer. Like all theatre companies, we need to keep our funding and pay our
actors. There are always things to be paid for down to Triple A batteries! You
wouldn’t believe some of the things needed to make a production happen! We also
don’t use a very complicated set which is very much the Grassroots ethic- it’s
not needed! Without a director’s concept and a set designer’s vision, with only
the actor’s devising you don’t need much to tell the story! You only need the
actors!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Matt: The nice thing with devising is that it’s
not planned, it just grows! Someone brings in a hat, another brings in a pair
of boots and we just decide how it will go!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Well, thank
you so much for your time. I loved the show and I love what you’re doing! I
will most definitely make an effort to come back!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgurLMSPxB5KdapwHWyiv39fJttG8H5QmwpbiDYHASnRG2Nv4EMHPOuQJHm4KR0sahX6hY566PL6kqn7JKWZUampj9o1UPVfD9PREgrBm0KdQbjRrfP2yO03Ylx9P3hBhWR2xeqXzWuPK4/s1600/joe+staton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgurLMSPxB5KdapwHWyiv39fJttG8H5QmwpbiDYHASnRG2Nv4EMHPOuQJHm4KR0sahX6hY566PL6kqn7JKWZUampj9o1UPVfD9PREgrBm0KdQbjRrfP2yO03Ylx9P3hBhWR2xeqXzWuPK4/s320/joe+staton.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joe Staton - young actor and Grassroots' first guest blogger!</td></tr>
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Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-88667242794570340292012-12-21T18:22:00.002+00:002012-12-21T18:30:05.054+00:00Fun in the Forest!<div style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We're into<span style="font-size: small;"> our second w<span style="font-size: small;">eek of per<span style="font-size: small;">formances, and so <span style="font-size: small;">far we've had <span style="font-size: small;">one FIVE star review <span style="font-size: small;">and <span style="font-size: small;">four FOUR star reviews! We're so excited a<span style="font-size: small;">nd it's great to see<span style="font-size: small;"> audiences loving the shows! We decided to catch up with E<span style="font-size: small;">MILY JANE KERR to <span style="font-size: small;">hear her thoughts on how things have been going!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">------------------------------------ </span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHU6qUBPQOJeM5tIJSZm5E54N6V3xzGeZrLykxY3YUBgL11xR9M1FVdzIYudPotw9jW8aO7phF0G6uMFTz29N3bDgBWH7z1KnUTpeygHLt1KqwkqA_GP6tL2FP_QfrqgMRz4cy00lVzs/s1600/Puck+Dream+173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHU6qUBPQOJeM5tIJSZm5E54N6V3xzGeZrLykxY3YUBgL11xR9M1FVdzIYudPotw9jW8aO7phF0G6uMFTz29N3bDgBWH7z1KnUTpeygHLt1KqwkqA_GP6tL2FP_QfrqgMRz4cy00lVzs/s320/Puck+Dream+173.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Emily Jane Kerr as Puck in <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<div style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So
we're coming to the end of week two of performances. What a whirl wind.
Many performances have been sold out, and it's been amazing.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">What's
even more amazing is that people are enjoying it, and talking about it.
People are spreading the word about Grassroots Shakespeare London, which is just
incredible. In the first week a young chap was over from Spain and he
was recommended to watch us by his drama teacher. Yes, we reach Spain
ladies and gentlemen!</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Noteworthy; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">One
of my favourite shows so far was to a group of 60 teenagers. I was so
worried we would not be able to hold their attention, but it's been the
best response so far. And the Q&A was just hilarious. Most of the
questions being about why Adam was wearing a dress? And why? No, really,
why??? </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Ejwnn3HMxmuN1690kRDoAt93u1in7DRUZuXWhzEw42h5wbCesVCLGBFtD9ZDCsICJ8yOLWRL6DUInaLf-xaEYJCBBh7T77PE1YOw8G1Ov2ubJOoPDfLMWBLHQx14Z4FKD0uioaH1-b0/s1600/Dream+005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Ejwnn3HMxmuN1690kRDoAt93u1in7DRUZuXWhzEw42h5wbCesVCLGBFtD9ZDCsICJ8yOLWRL6DUInaLf-xaEYJCBBh7T77PE1YOw8G1Ov2ubJOoPDfLMWBLHQx14Z4FKD0uioaH1-b0/s320/Dream+005.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Emily Jane Kerr as Puck and Max Wilson as Oberon in <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The
reviews have been interesting. Some glowing and glorious, others
unsure. It's very clear people either go with, or don't understand (and
refuse to understand) 'original practises'. I've had a very personal
response to the things that have been written, and I feel very
protective over our work. It's been a challenge to work out what
feedback is helpful and what is not, and that's been a learning curve,
especially without a director to agree or disagree.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Noteworthy; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Something
that has been fed back a lot is that we have a good ensemble, that we
work well together, and we look like we're having fun. Whether or not
you are part of an ensemble, I honestly believe if you enjoy each
others' company off stage, it shows on stage. I think that is one of the
most important things about being in a company. It's definitely one of
the special things about Grassroots. I feel we are growing together,
which means we're able to react and play, in different ways every night. </span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Noteworthy; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Noteworthy; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And that makes for a very special performance. </span></span></span></div>
Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-2812142369814438652012-11-25T22:57:00.001+00:002012-11-26T01:17:49.635+00:00Week Two: Puckish Insights from Emily Jane Kerr<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hello and welcome back to the Grassroots blog! We've finished our second week of rehearsals and what a great week we've had! We asked ensemble member <b>Emily Jane Kerr</b> to let you into her thoughts on what's been happening!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcCiuRIaipaBAO-zeFVh6geTGMX0b4FO5QSQYJWEEG_KbBbeQeFRlO1QWZBLa_bpWuyQLOnqZcU1gEA5OLoos7tbGd5tncJ6149ma_Lmms-ZTNU64DejzbSYNg97fcCOtvo7VMhy8ljFI/s1600/Rehearsals+104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcCiuRIaipaBAO-zeFVh6geTGMX0b4FO5QSQYJWEEG_KbBbeQeFRlO1QWZBLa_bpWuyQLOnqZcU1gEA5OLoos7tbGd5tncJ6149ma_Lmms-ZTNU64DejzbSYNg97fcCOtvo7VMhy8ljFI/s320/Rehearsals+104.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Emily Jane Kerr in rehearsals for <i>The Tempest</i> as Stephano</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My body is aching. My mind is full. And those lines still won’t quite stay in my head. It is most definitely week two of rehearsals. Still in that honeymoon period that will disappear come Wednesday morning when we return for week three. That dreaded week three lull. But enough about that.<br /><br /><i>Dream</i> is looking marvellous. This week has been joy after joy as everyone’s characters in the <i>Dream</i> have very nearly come to full blown three-dimensional life. Bottom, Quince and the Mechanicals are spectacularly bad actors. (The characters I mean. The chaps playing the mechanicals are fabulous. And rather funny). The lovers are truthful, passionate and hilarious in equal measure. Titania and Oberon are gloriously magical. But Puck? That’s not for me to say. I most definitely struggle with Puck. But she’s coming. How do I get that sense of magical mischievousness combined with the possibility of great evil? It’s a challenge. I’m definitely not there yet but hopefully I will be by the performances. I just hope my costume arrives on time.<br /><br />One thing that has occurred to me is how lucky I am to be surrounded by such wonderful actors, who not only are talented, but also are intelligent, imaginative and have points of view. It is glorious to spend time with these people and to see everyone else’s enjoyment in Shakespeare’s language. It’s also a joy to see each character and person blossom. Well done Grassroots for getting a fab<br />group together!<br /><br />I keep having a, what I like to call, ‘fan moment’ about Shakespeare, about one particular piece of text. It genuinely makes me tingle every single time I say his words.<br /><br />‘If we shadows have offended<br />Think but this and all is mended,<br />That you have but slumbered here<br />While these visions did appear…’<br /><br />The beauty of Shakespeare’s language really gets into my heart and soul at that point in the play and I think it’s a perfect end to the show. Also, it says a great deal about theatre. I really hope it makes you tingle too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Grassroots Shakespeare London's Christmas rep season of<i> The Tempest </i>and <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> runs at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre from 11th December 2012 - 5th January 2013.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Tickets are available from <a href="http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/" target="_blank">www.ticketweb.co.uk </a>or <a href="http://www.lastminute.com/">www.lastminute.com</a>, who have a £10 offer on until the end of November.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">For more details - <a href="http://www.grassrootsshakespearelondon.com/" target="_blank">www.grassrootsshakespearelondon.com </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Emily Jane Kerr</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Stephano (The Tempest) & Puck (A Midsummer Night's Dream) </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="size12 Verdana12" style="color: black;">Emily
Jane Kerr is an actress from Hertfordshire. She graduated from Central
School of Speech and Drama in 2010. Since graduating she has been
performing on stage and screen, and has recently turned her hand to
writing (Shakepeare for Breakfast 2012 – C Theatre). Emily has performed
in many and varied venues, including Shakespeare’s Globe, Hampstead
Theatre and The Arts Theatre. Recent credits include Nurse in </span><span class="size12 Verdana12" style="color: black;"><i>Shakespeare for Breakfast 2012</i></span><span class="size12 Verdana12" style="color: black;"> (C Theatre), Julia in </span><span class="size12 Verdana12" style="color: black;"><i>Waiting for Space</i></span><span class="size12 Verdana12" style="color: black;"> (Trafalgar Studios) and </span><span class="size12 Verdana12" style="color: black;"><i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i></span><span class="size12 Verdana12" style="color: black;"> (Young
Shakespeare Company). Grassroots is a fabulous company and Emily is
excited to be working with wonderful individuals who love Shakespeare as
much as her!</span></span>Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307875733255305236.post-51473112375386558502012-11-19T21:19:00.001+00:002012-11-19T21:41:04.759+00:00Week One: A View from Kane Surry<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hello and welcome to the first blog post from Grassroots Shakespeare London's rehearsals for their exciting Christmas rep season at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre. We got the down low from our super ensemble member <b>Kane Surry </b>on his thoughts after week one in the rehearsal room!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Kane in rehearsals as Antonio<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span>for Grassroots Shakespeare </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">London's production of <i>The Tempest </i></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">When I think of the word 'devising', I always think back to my days in
GCSE Drama where I used to spend countless hours with my classmates
trying to make 'edgy' theatre. What this meant is that we struggled
through apathy and passive aggression to make plays set on plastic
chairs, talking about issues like drugs and domestic violence (issues we
knew little about) accompanied by deep and hard hitting music like
Massive Attack's Teardrop or Imogen Heap's Hide and Seek. In other
words, I used to cringe, so I was nervous on day one to start this
process with Grassroots.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />But first week in and these fears are dispelled; every actor
that walked through the door of The Lion and Unicorn Theatre arrived
with a smile, the drive to work, most lines learnt and a cup of coffee.
It really was a comforting sight.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">From there we talked through
ideas to raise the company's already exciting profile and we all chipped
in with ideas and respectfully listened. I remember sitting there, even
in that first hour, thinking that I was with people who were open-minded and
hungry for the company to succeed. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">But then came the real test,
the part of the day we'd all been dreading, the part that displayed how
much work we had done, the part that tested our lines and demonstrated
whether we had what it took to transform into Shakespeare's characters:
it was the first stagger-through of <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i>! I won't
lie, I was terrified.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">What happened? Well, to start, there was no
judgement on work or characters but only a joy in seeing the seeds of
how the play may work. And of course it fell flat on its face a few
times and lines went all over the place, I think I walked in to the
wrong scene more than once, but what was great is that we got up without
ego or fear and we just tried out what we wanted to. </span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeF1gySHm_1q7I4MB38etnsk0i6Y6j9R4QDRfAM729SxxnWE7c-TZvWt1ztYsQC74FktLjgfILx1plJXcCHD_HD90HClHKZ2_vBqGEkVqtcTLoEfZqGtYZ_kb34mqsQtVCA3xpN_W1qGE/s1600/Rehearsals+143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeF1gySHm_1q7I4MB38etnsk0i6Y6j9R4QDRfAM729SxxnWE7c-TZvWt1ztYsQC74FktLjgfILx1plJXcCHD_HD90HClHKZ2_vBqGEkVqtcTLoEfZqGtYZ_kb34mqsQtVCA3xpN_W1qGE/s1600/Rehearsals+143.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Kane as Antonio with Siobhan Daly as Sebastian<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span>in <span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">rehearsals for T<span style="font-size: xx-small;">he <i>Te<span style="font-size: xx-small;">mpest</span></i></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">From there
came discussion, what we liked and what we didn't. Without a director,
it's easy to fall into a trap of talking in circles for hours with no
resolve but we knew our time constraints early on and we work fast and
collectively to make each scene work. And all this goes for <i>The Tempest</i>
too; seeing what people have to offer, I'm not worried.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>The Tempest</i>,
heavier than <i>Dream</i>, has already started to become more fluid and I
really think this is down to the cast feeling more confident with their
characters. For me personally, I've found it so helpful to always have
people to call on when I'm struggling on what to do with text or
understanding the meaning of this complicated language and verse.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It's
been a great first week, full or laughter and ideas and in these
forthcoming weeks, we are focusing taking this fun and energy and making
sure that the we offer Shakespeare at its best, accessible to its
audience.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">One final thing before is sign off is that my abs have
never hurt more as the Mighty Boris keeps us in shape and warmed up to
start our days.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Bring on another week!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIEO6Do5FtvmZr_HQAHo02C6ukgluxkw-AGzyBfnKmegHIU2AtvghZ3D8nvvyXdl7iYvXtvyCVbPxZ8AgvSWbKE-pZnrdS0DuhpQrVA1WjQgOwR7TxS0aRROwaa2DHjXJZnfX2MpY9IE/s1600/Rehearsals+031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIEO6Do5FtvmZr_HQAHo02C6ukgluxkw-AGzyBfnKmegHIU2AtvghZ3D8nvvyXdl7iYvXtvyCVbPxZ8AgvSWbKE-pZnrdS0DuhpQrVA1WjQgOwR7TxS0aRROwaa2DHjXJZnfX2MpY9IE/s1600/Rehearsals+031.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Kane in rehearsals for <i>The Tempest</i> as Antonio</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Kane Surry</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Lysander (A Midsummer Night's Dream)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Antonio (The Tempest)</b></span><br />
<div style="font-size: 1px; line-height: 1px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="size14 Verdana14" style="color: black;"><b>Kane Surry</b></span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 1px; line-height: 1px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="size14 Verdana14" style="color: black;"><b>Lysander (A Midsummer Night's Dream)</b></span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 1px; line-height: 1px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="size14 Verdana14" style="color: black;"><b>Antonio (The Tempest)</b></span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 1px; line-height: 1px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="size10 Helvetica10" style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="size14 Helvetica14" style="color: black;">Kane has just graduated from the BA Acting course at Central School of Speech and Drama where he played Hupfer in </span><span class="size14 Helvetica14" style="color: black;"><i>On The Razzle</i></span><span class="size14 Helvetica14" style="color: black;">, Lee in </span><span class="size14 Helvetica14" style="color: black;"><i>Motortown</i></span><span class="size14 Helvetica14" style="color: black;"> and Bobbie Torbet in </span><span class="size14 Helvetica14" style="color: black;"><i>Scenes From The Big Picture</i></span><span class="size14 Helvetica14" style="color: black;">. He is delighted to be tackling Shakespeare as his first professional play.</span></span><br />
<div style="font-size: 1px; line-height: 1px;">
<span class="size14 Verdana14" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Kane Surry</b></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 1px; line-height: 1px;">
<span class="size14 Verdana14" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Lysander (A Midsummer Night's Dream)</b></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 1px; line-height: 1px;">
<span class="size14 Verdana14" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Antonio (The Tempest)</b></span><span class="size14 Helvetica14" style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> has just graduated from the BA Acting course at Central School of Speech and Drama where he played Hupfer in </span><span class="size14 Helvetica14" style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><i>On The Razzle</i></span><span class="size14 Helvetica14" style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">, Lee in </span><span class="size14 Helvetica14" style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><i>Motortown</i></span><span class="size14 Helvetica14" style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> and Bobbie Torbet in </span><span class="size14 Helvetica14" style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><i>Scenes From The Big Picture</i></span>. He is delighted to be tackling Shakespeare as his first professional play.</div>
<span class="size14 Helvetica14" style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"></span>Grassroots Shakespeare Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06368923963850949974noreply@blogger.com0