Going Postal – talking to an old hand

At sixteen James Mould may be one of the youngest in the Going Postal cast but he has several Progress family shows under his belt. 

His debut was in the title role in James and the Giant Peach in 2005 – also directed by Chris Moran who is directing Going Postal. He was in Alice in Storyland in 2006 and played a Jackal in the 2007 production of The Jungle Book. He says The Jungle Book was his favourite as he enjoys playing bad guys. I can vouch for his affinity for villains having seen him bring the house down as the Sheriff of Nottingham in a primary school production of Robin Hood. In Going Postal he plays Stanley an apprentice postman. Not a bad guy but an obsessive pin collector who “has moments.” According to Wikipedia he was bought up by peas!


After James and the Giant Peach James had to wait two years before there was a place available in one of the Progress youth groups (get your unborn children on the waiting list...). He is now a member of floodlights, who put on the recent production of Don Juan Comes Back From The War.

James is planning to go to drama school and pursue a career in acting – so come and see Going Postal and say you saw James Mould before he was famous.

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett adapted by Stephen Briggs 
28 January - 6 February 2010 with matinees on 30 January & 6 February 

See www.progresstheatre.co.uk for details of all our productions and auditions.

A very Happy Christmas to all our readers – the next new post will be early in the New Year.

If you are interested in what goes on at Progress Theatre then sign up to this blog. Enter your email in the box under ‘about us’ and click on subscribe. New postings are made weekly so you won’t be swamped with emails.

Don Juan Comes Back From the War

The latest Progress Production - Don Juan Comes Back From The War by Odon von Horvath - is the subject of a behind the scenes documentary. TVU students Heather Griffiths, Catherine Mason and Marta Janota are making the film as part of their advanced diploma in graphics and digital arts.

The finished documentary will be between thirty and forty minutes long but they have filmed hours of preparations and rehearsals. During the set building and painting they took photos every 25 seconds to create a time lapse sequence. The documentary will also include interviews with some of the cast and directors. As well as presenting the finished film for their diploma the students will give a copy to Progress - and keep a look out on YouTube!

Other members of their course have been making props for the production, most notably a snowman that is broken down during the performance and then put back together each night. This is not the first collaboration between TVU and Progress. Last summer students were involved in designing posters, costumes and choreography for the Youth Theatre production of Twelfth Night.

Don Juan Comes Back From the War has eleven female cast members playing thirty-five roles and one male. We had a sneak preview of part of the play during a rehearsal and it looked intriguing. Even without knowing what was happening it felt full of tension and drama as well as some humour. It only runs for three nights so don’t miss your chance to see it.

Juan Comes Back From The War by Odon von Horvath. Tuesday 15th to Thursday 17th December 2009 at 7:45pm. Tickets are available from the Hexagon 0118 9606060 or on-line at www.readingarts.com

If you are interested in what goes on at Progress Theatre then sign up to this blog. Enter your email in the box under ‘about us’ and click on subscribe. New postings are made weekly so you won’t be swamped with emails.

Coming up ….

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett adapted by Stephen Briggs 
28 January - 6 February 2010 with matinees on 30 January & 6 February 

See www.progresstheatre.co.uk for more details of all our productions and auditions.

Going Postal with Gaffer Tape

Progress Blog was shocked to walk into the theatre foyer last Sunday morning and find Going Postal Artistic Director Aidan Moran winding gaffer tape round Carole Brown’s chest. There was an innocent explanation - this is the ingenious way they are constructing the costume for Carole’s part in Going Postal as Anghammarad an 18000 year old Golem.

Rik Eke was also busy in the foyer making casts for the THUD! pieces Aidan has made from air drying clay. THUD! is a chess-like game played with trolls and dwarfs. It features in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels as a way of communicating and devising political strategies. This is one of the details that the team are adding to this production of Going Postal that will delight Terry Pratchett fans. Some characters that feature in the novels but are not in the play have been introduced to crowd scenes, for example C.M.O.T. Dibbler and Otto Chriek, the Vampire photographer.

Progress Blog has never read a Terry Pratchett novel (cue horrified gasps!) so I was a bit concerned that this production might not be for me. Aidan reassured me that the play is accessible to Pratchett virgins. The extra details will add depth for fans but won’t detract from the plot.  

The set has been designed to allow quick fluid changes and includes three revolves as well as scrolling windows and tapestries. The technical team have already been planning for three months and are designing it so that it can be built in modules. 

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett Adapted by Stephen Briggs runs from 28 January - 6 February 2010 with matinees on 30 January & 6 February 2010.  

Tickets are available from the Hexagon 0118 9606060.

If you are interested in what goes on at Progress Theatre then sign up to this blog. Enter your email in the box under ‘about us’ and click on subscribe. New postings are made weekly so you won’t be swamped with emails.
Coming up ….

Auditions for A couple of poor English-speaking Poles by Dorota Maslowska. Tuesday 8th December 2009 7.30 at Progress Theatre.

Auditions for Alan Ayckbourn’s Intimate Exchanges Sunday 6 December 2009, 1.30pm to 4pm and Wednesday, 9 December 2009, 7.30pm to 10pm at Progress Theatre.

Next Production is Don Juan Comes Back From The War by Odon von Horvath.Tuesday 15th to Thursday 17th December 2009 at 7:45pm.

See www.progresstheatre.co.uk for more details of all our productions and auditions.