Tuesday 28 June 2011

Under Milk Wood

Steven Brodie has been involved with Progress Youth Theatre for the last 8 years and he is still only 17. In Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas he plays Captain Cat, a blind ex-sailor who is on stage throughout the whole performance. He tries to keep his eyes slightly out of focus and is careful not to follow the action on stage as well as not wriggling too much on the hard wooden chair.

Steven explained that the play tells the story of the lives of the people of Llareggub partly through their dreams and partly through real events. Apart from Steven most of the cast play multiple characters and he was hugely impressed by the idea of a one woman production he has heard about.

I wondered what production Steven had most enjoyed taking part in while at Progress. He mentioned several, for different reasons that cover the whole range of motivations for being involved in theatre: Cold Comfort Farm because everyone in the cast became very close; Macbeth because it is his favourite play and Blood Wedding because it was the first play not written for children he was involved in. My favourite was  Don Juan Comes Back From The War which he said he liked "because it was such a beautiful play", He's right it was and if Under Milk Wood is of the same standard it will be well worth watching.


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Progress Youth Theatre Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas 5th - 9th July 2011
(please note dates as were wrong in previous posts)

Open air production The Tempest by William Shakespeare 23rd - 30th July 2011

See Progress Theatre website for details of all our productions and auditions.

Friday 17 June 2011

Progress on the Whiteknights studio trail

This weekend, 18th and 19th June 2011, Progress Theatre will be one of the venues on the Whiteknights Studio Trail. This exciting annual event is an opportunity to visit artists based in the university area in their studios or other venues. You can see examples of their work and talk to the artist.

Progress will be showing work by artist Carole Stephens. Carole is mainly inspired by flowers and gardens and creates beautiful bright pictures using water colours and pen and ink. She went to art college in 1964 and has been teaching and working as an artist ever since. As well as flowers she likes painting toys and is happy to take commissions to paint a favourite toy (or your garden.)


The exhibition at Progress is open 11am - 6pm on Saturday and Sunday and Carole will be there to answer any questions about her work or just to chat to visitors. Tea and coffee will be available and the bar will be open during licencing hours. Importantly for those visiting several venues on the trail there will be somewhere to sit down and toilet facilities. Progress member Alice Mulford is exhibiting her work at MERL as part of the trail. Full details of the trail, including a map showing all the venues can be found here.


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. 

Progress Youth Theatre Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas 4th - 11 July 2011

Open air production The Tempest by William Shakespeare 23rd - 30th July 2011

See Progress Theatre website for details of all our productions and auditions.

Sunday 12 June 2011

Proof auditions

A quick blog post today to let you know that auditions for the first show of next season  Proof  by David Auburn are today Sunday 12th June 2.30pm and Tuesday 14th June 7.30pm at Progress Theatre. There are parts for four people, men and women ranging in age from early 20s to 50s.

Shinfield Players have recently finished a run of this play so if you saw it there and fancy having a go at one of the parts then this is your chance. If you missed the Shinfield production then come and see ours in September.

Director Aidan Moran recently reached the age at which life begins and went on a helicopter flight to celebrate. He is clearly a man of adventure and up for a challenge so it should be a fun production to be involved in. Full details about the play are on the Progress website. 
 


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. 

Progress Youth Theatre Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas 4th - 11 July 2011

Open air production The Tempest by William Shakespeare 23rd - 30th July 2011

See Progress Theatre website for details of all our productions and auditions.