After Magritte and The Bald Prima Donna

When I gatecrashed a rehearsal for the youth theatre's latest production the technical crew were busy trying to balance a bowl of fruit and a lamp shade suspended above the stage. Martin Noble had just finished setting up a pulley system so that the fruit bowl can be raised and lowered from backstage. I guess this is the sort of thing you find yourself doing when staging two absurdist plays.

The other surreal element to appear was an ironing board that needs reinforcing  as one of the actors has to lie on it while being massaged. Another character has to jump on it too, although there was some discussion as to whether this scene would pass the pre-production safety checks.

I also had a sneak preview of the costumes as John showed off the magnificent waders he wears in his role as Harris in After Magritte.

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Progress Youth Theatre, An Absurdist Double Bill Monday 9th – Saturday 14th December 2013, 7.45pm, Progress Theatre

Jazz at Progress: Hugh Turner Quintet featuring Brandon Allen, Friday 20th December 2013, 7.30pm

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken, adapted by Russ Tunney Thursday 16th January - Saturday 25th January 2014

Details of all our productions and auditions can be found on our website.

Progress Youth Theatre and Absurdist Blogging

Progress Youth Theatre are presenting a double bill of Absurdist drama from 9th to 14th December. The evening features After Magritte by Tom Stoppard and The Bald Prima Donna by Eugène Ionesco.

In homage to the Absurdist style I thought I would make this week's blog nothing to do with their production. To be honest I went along to the regular Monday evening youth theatre session assuming I would be able to catch a rehearsal when there wasn't, and always ready to inform you about different aspects of Progress Theatre, I decided to write about the session I watched instead.

The session was run by Ben Sandiford, Youth Theatre leader and professional actor and director. He started off with warm up and breathing exercises. He then talked about an exercise he was going to teach them. He warned them that it was very powerful and they should never do it more than once a day. It can release adrenalin and serotonin and may make you feel invincible.

They were intrigued and so was I. What they had to do was go through seven different arm positions and in each one clench their fists forty-nine times. A few phones came out to calculate that is 343 fist clenches. Ben warned them that by the end it would be very painful. Writing this down it sounds like some bizarre form of child torture but I assure you they were free to stop at any time (although none of them did). 

Checking  arms at the end of the fist clenching exercise

At the end they all seemed exhilarated and they then went on to do some powerful exercises where they had to form shapes with other people and think about what Ben called the 'physical centre'. Ben explained that this work is about building up the actor's awareness and control on stage and is a grounding for mask work that he will be doing later with group.

I was very impressed with the maturity and commitment of the group. 

In the next blog I will bring you an update on the Absurdist Double Bill - unless I decide to write about goldfish or fried eggs....

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Jazz at Progress Theatre: Steve Waterman Quartet, Friday 22nd November 2013, 7.30pm

Progress Youth Theatre, An Absurdist Double Bill Monday 9th – Saturday 14th December 2013, 7.45pm, Progress Theatre

Jazz at Progress: Hugh Turner Quintet featuring Brandon Allen, Friday 20th December 2013, 7.30pm

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken, adapted by Russ Tunney Thursday 16th January - Saturday 25th January 2014
 

Details of all our productions and auditions can be found on our website.

Moonlight an Magnolias and an extra production

The theatre was pretty quiet for the Sunday before the start of a run. Normally there would be a final dress rehearsal but the cast and crew of Moonlight and Magnolias have been given the day off. The only people there were stage manager Fiona McNeil and director Liz Carrol putting finishing touches to the set.

Liz assured me that cancelling the final dress rehearsal wasn't over confidence. The cast were definitely ready as they had a press night last Thursday that was at full performance standards. Her only concern had been if any of the technical team needed more time but they all said they were good to go so everyone was given the day off.

The did tell me some exciting news though, co-director Matt Stevens had a production of his own. His wife Nikki gave birth to their first child, Polly, on Friday at the Royal Berks. Matt had popped into the theatre briefly on Sunday but assured me he was on his way straight back to the hospital! He told me that Polly weighed 7lb 14oz and, of course, is lovely.

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Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson Monday 11th – Saturday 16th November 2013, Progress Theatre

Progress Youth Theatre, An Absurdist Double Bill Monday 9th – Saturday 14th December 2013, Progress Theatre

Details of all our productions and auditions can be found on our website.

Moonlight, Magnolias and Peanuts

The audition notices for Moonlight and Magnolias included the comment that being in the play would not be suitable for actors suffering from peanut allergies. Peanuts feature heavily in the script - the actors eat them, use them as weapons and generally leave them scattered around the stage.

The other food the actors get to eat a lot of during the show is bananas. Old banana skins are also scattered around the stage.

Director Liz Carroll looks on while actor Alison Hill displays their collection of aged banana skins



Some of the food mentioned in the script doesn't have to be eaten on stage so can be made to last longer. Cream cheese bagels have been made by varnishing real bagels and filling them with white plaster.

 

 

Liz said that she has a problem-solving cast and crew, when you come to watch the play see if you can spot the problem they successfully solved using fox's glacier mints.

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Auditions for Trainspotting by Harry Gibson, adapted from the book by Irvine Welsh, Wednesday 6th November at 7.30pm or Sunday 10th November 2013 at 2.30pm, Progress Theatre

Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson Monday 11th – Saturday 16th November 2013, Progress Theatre

 

Progress Youth Theatre, An Absurdist Double Bill Monday 9th – Saturday 14th December 2013, Progress Theatre 

 

Details of all our productions and auditions can be found on our website.

The 8th Annual WriteFest starts this Wednesday and runs until Saturday, although tickets for Friday and Saturday are already sold out.

This is tech weekend when all the lighting, sound and stage management is put into place. With eight different plays to sort out this makes for a long weekend. It started on Friday night with one of the plays, three on Saturday and four on Sunday followed by a full dress rehearsal of the whole production.

For the technical crew there has been quite a lot of waiting around. Each play is allocated a two hour slot for their tech to give time for any problems to be ironed out but of course if things run smoothly and are not too complex they might finish in less than half that time. On the plus side it means the technical team have time to make tea, get something to eat or chat to passing bloggers.

All the plays have to share the same lighting set so to a certain extent directors  have to use a generic positioning of lights but there is enough capacity to include the odd special effect for an individual play. With a very simple set lighting can be a good way to create an atmosphere of time and place.

The other thing that has to be sorted out at the tech rehearsal is moving smoothly from one play to the next. When I was there they were looking at The Invisible Guest and director Stuart Merrall was explaining that the play starts with a pile of pink card (cherry blossoms) in a pile and lightly scattered at the front of the stage. Needless to say the blossom doesn't stay in a neat pile so at the end of the play stage managers Emma Walsh and Rebecca Gibbs have to come on a sweep them all off-stage.

The set for The Invisible Guest, the director was deciding which balloon to go with

Compere for the evening is Jon Speed, who is directing Our Father and was last seen as Captain Carrot, the 6'2" dwarf in The Fifth Elephant. It will be Jon's job to keep the audience informed and entertained during the scene changes. Let's hope for his sake it doesn't take too long to sweep up those blossoms.

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The 8th Annual WriteFest Thursday 17th - Saturday 19th October 2013, Progress Theatre

Auditions for Bold Girls,  Sunday 20th October at 7pm or Tuesday 22nd October at 7.30pm, Progress Theatre. There is also a pre-audition accent workshop Monday 14th October at Park United Reformed Church

Auditions for Trainspotting by Harry Gibson, adapted from the book by Irvine Welsh, Wednesday 6th November at 7.30pm or Sunday 10th November 2013 at 2.30pm, Progress Theatre

Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson Monday 11th – Saturday 16th November 2013, Progress Theatre

 

Details of all our productions and auditions can be found on our website.

WriteFest and the improved auditorium

Preparations for the 8th annual WriteFest are well underway so I arranged to meet with producer Matt Drury to discuss this year's production. One of the roles that Matt and co-producer Emily Goode  take on is acting as key holders. They people in who need to rehearse and stay on the premises to lock up at the end, so he had plenty of time to chat to me while Three Small Words were rehearsing.

There were about 65 plays submitted to WriteFest this year and this was whittled down to eight by the producers and Play Production Committee (an elected group of Progress members who organise the season of plays). The plays are chosen with the authors name removed and it is not revealed until all the plays for the evening have been picked. Submissions are open to anyone in he UK and Ireland. The geographical limit was introduced a couple of years ago after the call for plays ended up on an American website leading to more entries than we could cope with.

I wanted to sit in for a bit of the Three Small Words rehearsal partly to have a peek at the refurbished auditorium and partly because I'd been told it contained face licking. I didn't get to see any face licking but I did get to try out the new, more evenly spaced seats.

WriteFest co-producer Matt trying out the reinstalled seats.

An important part of the Writefest evening is the compere who introduces each play and entertains the audience during changes between plays. The producers are still looking for a confident person to full this role. It doesn't necessarily need to be someone who can deliver gags but they should be engaging and able to give a polished performance. If you think you fit the bill and would like to have a go then contact Matt and Emily on writefest@progresstheatre.co.uk.

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Auditions for The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Tuesday 24th September 2013 at 7.30pm or Sunday 29th September 2013 at 10am, Progress Theatre

Jazz at Progress, Neal Meets Steele, Friday 27th September 2013 7.30, Progress Theatre

The 8th Annual WriteFest Thursday 17th - Saturday 19th October 2013, Progress Theatre

Auditions for Bold Girls,  Sunday 20th October at 7pm or Tuesday 22nd October at 7.30pm, Progress Theatre. There is also a pre-audition accent workshop Monday 14th October at Park United Reformed Church

 

Details of all our productions and auditions can be found on our website.

Making the most of the summer

There may not have been any plays on at Progress theatre since mid July but things certainly haven't been quiet. We have taken advantage of the natural gap in the programme to carry out some maintenance work. The main work being carried out is some remedial work in the auditorium, this involved the complete removal of all the seats so that the underlying structure could be replaced. A recent building survey reported that while our audiences were perfectly safe we were advised not to let people dance in the aisles!

The auditorium stripped bare

The old seats are going to be put back in but the rows will be more evenly spaced so that there will be no very cramped rows (but of course also no very wide rows). The aisle up the middle will also be straightened to make better use of the space.

Emma Walsh took over the role of theatre premises manager in July so has had to hit the ground running managing this major job. She was already on the committee so knew what she was letting herself in for. While the work in the auditorium is being carried out by professional contractors willing Progress member were called in to spruce up the foyer. It will not be dramatically different but should look clean and fresh for the start of the season. In her new role Emma is planning to draw up a programme of maintenance work for the whole year so that members can see in advance what is planned and what they might be interested in getting involved with.

Foyer decorating team taking a well earned break

Of course the million dollar question was is it all going to be ready in time? Emma said that there had been a delay in the schedule (isn't there always?) about getting the building regulations signed off. Things are now going well  and although we had to move a members social evening the handover date of 25th September means we will be ready for our first public event, Jazz at Progress on 27th.

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.

Auditions for The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Tuesday 24th September 2013 at 7.30pm or Sunday 29th September 2013 at 10am, Progress Theatre

Jazz at Progress, Neal Meets Steele, Friday 27th September 2013 7.30, Progress Theatre

The 8th Annual WriteFest Thursday 17th - Saturday 19th October 2013, Progress Theatre

Details of all our productions and auditions can be found on our website.

The face behind outdoor Shakespeare in Reading

Peter Cockman joined Progress Theatre in 1974 but even before then he was involved with Berkshire Shakespeare Players, an amateur company that put on an annual Shakespeare productions in the abbey ruins. His claim to fame is he played along side Kate Winslet's father in Measure for Measure.

Peter wearing his crew t-shirt at the recent Progress AGM

Peter joined Progress when he was headhunted to play Hamm in Endgame after the actor originally cast "couldn't hack it" and pulled out after only two weeks of rehearsals. Peter was cast after being auditioned over the phone and clearly was more than able to hack it.

Peter was in the RAF until 1968 and acted and directed all round the world. He spent three years in Malta and belonged to the prestigious Malta Amateur Dramatic Club (MADC). He directed and appeared in several Shakespeare plays with MADC including playing Malvolio in Twelfth Night. MADC are still going strong and their latest production is Much ado About Nothing (outdoors of course).

After the Berkshire Shakespeare Players stopped putting on productions at the abbey ruins a professional production company called MDM took on the space. (Peter claims it stands for Make don't Measure after the production of King Lear when they miscalculated the height of some levels on the stage which meant the actors needed to have very long legs or be good at jumping.) Reading Borough Council only allowed MDM to use the ruins on condition that they involved Progress Theatre in the productions. The first show was Henry V and Peter's involvement was selling coke and crisps - all the bar ran to in those days. Things have moved on since then and if you come to this year's production you'll be able to buy cocktails!

Over the next few years Progress put on the plays while MDM organised everything around it including sets and costumes. Peter's involvement grew and he had parts in Macbeth and King Lear and co-directed Much Ado About Nothing . The crunch came in 1999 when MDM decided to pull out and Progress had to make a decision whether to run the whole event ourselves. Peter had long discussions with Jon Churchill, who is also still very much involved in Progress and they decided to go ahead. It was a huge risk and Peter now says they probably wouldn't have done it if they'd realised quite what a big job they were taking on.

The rest is history and over the years Progress produced many successful and profitable productions in the beautiful Abbey Ruins until they were finally declared unsafe and closed off in 2008. After a two year break Progress returned to open air Shakespeare with The Tempest at Caversham Court in 2011. This was by necessity much lower key than the abbey ruin's Shakespeares, the audience bringing their own chairs or sitting on the grass rather than installed banks of seating. Peter says that he was initially against this as it seemed like a step backwards but now thinks it has worked. The event is much easier to organise and there is less financial risk.

Caversham Court Gardens before Macbeth dress rehearsal, backdrop to my interview

Peter's role is executive producer which he describes as doing everything no-one else wants to do like hiring toilets, ordering the staging and being available during the day to take deliveries. I should mention that Peter is also the treasurer for Progress Theatre although after many years in the role he is now training up a replacement. I asked if he was also planning to retire from the open air Shakespeare. "I'll see how I feel at Christmas" was his reply.... 

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Macbeth Thursday 18th to Saturday 27th July 2013 at 7.45pm, Caversham Court Gardens

Informal read through of Writefest plays,  Sunday 4th August 7.30pm. Progress Theatre

Writefest auditions, Wednesday 28th August 7.30pm, Progress Theatre

The 8th Annual WriteFest Thursday 17th - Saturday 19th October 2013, Progress Theatre

A Shakespeare double bill

The Progress Youth Theatre are presenting a double bill of Shakespeare plays - Romeo and Juliet and Love's Labours Lost. Both have been abridged so don't worry you won't be at the theatre past midnight!

I was distracted from starting to write this blog by wondering about apostrophes, should it be 'Love's Labours Lost' or 'Love's Labour's Lost'? If you care about such things I did find an interesting thread discussing it here.

Romeo and Juliet is being performed in a contemporary setting with the two gangs portrayed as Muslims and Christians. Some of Shakespeare's language has been kept but some has been updated to fit the setting.

 

Fidelity, who plays the Princess, modelling her horse's head
 

Love's Labour's Lost has been set in Victorian times so will have a very different feel. The props used are stylised and use paper and letters as a motif (letters are important in the plot). When they offered to show me the horse's head I imagined something dripping with blood, Godfather style. It turned out to be a very sweet hobby horse decorated with letters.

There is some doubling up required with some actors playing more than one part. This necessity has been turned into an opportunity to showcase the skill and versatility of our young actors. Look out for some amazing transformations between sophisticated courtiers and country bumpkins.

If we have whet your appetite for Shakespeare then don't forget our annual outdoor production in Caversham Court this year is Macbeth and starts on 18th July. The weather is looking good so get your tickets soon.


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Progress Youth Theatre presents Romeo and Juliet and Love's Labours Lost Monday 8th to Saturday 14th July, Progress Theatre

This year's outdoor Shakespeare Macbeth Thursday 18th to Saturday 27th July 2013 at 7.45pm, Caversham Court Gardens

Blithe Spirit Costumes

As well as co-directing the production Heather Noble has also been responsible for the costumes for Blithe Spirit. Having recently given up a dress making course as she was too busy she wasn't quite sure how she ended up making replica 1930s dresses....



Photo by Aidan Moran

Heather found  the black evening dress worn by Chris Moran (Ruth) in this picture in a vintage shop while on holiday in Herefordshire. She thinks it is actually a 1980s dress but fits the 1930s look. The red evening dress worn by Amy Leversidge (Mrs Bradman) came from the Progress wardrobe.







photo by Aidan Moran

Heather also found the outfit for Elvira, played by Nicola Howe, in the wardrobe. It perfectly matched her idea of what she wanted and she couldn't believe it was just hanging there.

She suspects the reason it is so perfect is that it was made for the last production of Blithe Spirit put on at Progress nearly twenty years ago.









Heather showed me one of the 1930s dresses she made using a pattern she found on the internet. Chris Moran who plays Ruth is a quilting teacher and they traded skills - one of her pupils helped Heather with the complex parts of the dress making and Chris did some quilting for her.

Another of Chris's pupils is helping out every night with the complex 1930s hairstyles. Lots of grips. rollers and hairspray required.

You can hire costumes from the Progress Theatre wardrobe for your own productions or parties contact cmoran@ntlworld.com . You'll have to wait until Blithe Spirit has finished before you can hire any of the ones featured in this post though ...

Blithe Spirit starts tonight (Monday 17th June 2013) and runs until Saturday 22nd June. You should be able to get tickets on the door for the first few nights but from Thursday you are advised to book.

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Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward Monday 17th June - Saturday 22nd June 2013 7.45 Progress Theatre

Auditions for Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson Sunday June 23rd 2:30 or Tuesday June 25th 7:30, Progress Theatre

Progress Youth Theatre presents Romeo and Juliet Monday 8th to Saturday 14th July, Progress Theatre

This year's outdoor Shakespeare Macbeth Thursday 18th to Saturday 27th July 2013 at 7.45pm, Caversham Court Gardens

Renovating for Blithe Spirit

Blithe Spirit is set in the 1930s which gives plenty of opportunity for some fabulous period furniture and props The crew and wider theatre membership have been scouring charity shops and E-bay.

 



This sofa and matching chair had to be collected from London and were in very bad condition but are being given lots of TLC and will look perfect by the time the show starts.

I love this silver tea set. Found in a charity shop and polished up to look as good as new.

Perhaps the most impressive prop is the gramophone player. This is a reproduction made in India and it does play 78s but for the production has been adapted so that it can be used to play music on an i-pod through a tiny speaker that is then amplified by the tube. It can even be made to spin remotely by the 'ghost', and of course there is a genuine 78 record to complete the picture.

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.

Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward Monday 17th June - Saturday 22nd June 2013 7.45 Progress Theatre

Auditions for Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson Sunday June 23rd 2:30 or Tuesday June 25th 7:30, Progress Theatre

This year's outdoor Shakespeare Macbeth Thursday 18th to Saturday 27th July 2013 at 7.45pm, Caversham Court Gardens

Colder than Here - food and drink

There is a lot of eating going on during Colder than Here. In places the script specifies a particular brand so the production crew have had to buy Fry's Chocolate Cream bars and Marks and Spencer's own brand Jaffa Cakes.

In other places stage manager Helen Wright has gone for more homemade options. Plain couscous made with vegetable stock is the impromptu lunch that has the character exclaiming "God, my boyfriend's a good cook". Although actor Ester Walters who plays Harriet did say it tasted better than the cheap Asda curried rice Helen tried first.

Both red and white wine are called for in the script. Budget and the need for sober actors means we don't use the real thing and Helen had fun in her kitchen concocting plausible alternatives. Diluted chamomile tea proved a good match for white wine (visually anyway). Red wine was more difficult and needed blackcurrant tea and red and blue food colouring to get the required depth of colour.

Helen used a glass of real red wine for comparison purposes and don't worry, it didn't go to waste.

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Colder Than Here by Laura Wade 20th - 25th May 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward Monday 17th June - Saturday 22nd June 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

This year's outdoor Shakespeare Macbeth Thursday 18th to Saturday 27th July 2013 at 7.45pm, Caversham Court Gardens

All change - Colder Than Here take over theatre

It is always sad when a production ends, particularly one as big and colourful as Little Shop of  Horrors. The theatre seems very empty and cold once all the set has been dismantled, the props removed and the walls painted black again. There is no time for looking back though. The cast and crew of a show come in to clear up or 'get out' on the Sunday morning after the last night (sometimes coming straight from the after show party!) and by 2pm the next production can start rehearsing on the stage and building their own set.



Mike Brand marking out the Colder Than Here set in what was, 24 hours earlier, Mushnik's flower shop

One of the props that the Colder Than Here team were able to move to the theatre from the director's living room, where it's been stored for the last few weeks, was the coffin. It is a genuine cardboard coffin ordered from a green funeral company. It arrived through the post flatpacked and with a notice on the outside saying 'Urgent coffin for a funeral enclosed please handle with care'.

The coffin plays a key part in the action of the play and the cast had a chance to get used to it on Sunday. As you can see they managed to find humour in the situation and that is true of the play too, although it covers serious subject matter there are some lighter moments too.

Samantha Bessant tries out the coffin

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Colder Than Here by Laura Wade 20th - 25th May 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward Monday 17th June - Saturday 22nd June 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

This years outdoor Shakespeare Macbeth Thursday 18th to Saturday 27th July 2013 at 7.45pm, Caversham Court Gardens

 

In the box office for Little Shop of Horrors

photo by Richard Brown

I played a small part in the first night of Little Shop of Horrors - I was on box office. There was a great atmosphere of excitement and anticipation both from the audience and all the people involved in the production.

Advance tickets for our productions are sold via the Reading Arts box-office (ring them on 0118 9606060 or see here  if you want to get a ticket - there are still a few left for Monday to Thursday). About 4pm on the day of the show they stop selling them and details of the tickets sold are automatically transferred to our box office system allowing us to print off tickets for people to collect or to sell any remaining ones

Working on the box-office is fun as you get a chance to have a quick chat with people, both old friends and strangers. Mostly the job is straightforward but sometimes people want to swap a seat to sit with a friend; or a cast member might pop in to see if they can reserve a seat for a friend a who's forgotten to book. When the show is sold out people may bring back spare tickets for us to sell so if you haven't got a ticket it is always worth coming along to see if there are any returns even on a sold out night. We open at 7.15 and it is obviously worth getting there as early as possible if you want to get a return, the bar will be open then so even if you can't get a ticket you can get a drink!

To whet your appetite here is a short clip of Geoff Dallimore and some members of the cast performing Git it (feed me).

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.

Little Shop of Horrors, music by Alan Menken, libretto by Howard Ashman,Thursday 18th to Saturday 27th April 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

Colder Than Here by Laura Wade 20th - 25th May 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward Monday 17th June - Saturday 22nd June 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

Little Shop of Horrors

Setting the scene

The rehearsal I went to was described to me as "doing random messy bits of the play" how could I resist! When I arrived they were practising the curtain call - obviously the most important element of any production. Choreographer Emma Sterry was running this part of the rehearsal and told the cast to treat it like a dance in its own right. Emma is a regular on the Progress stage herself , you may remember her as Celia in Calendar Girls. She trained in musical theatre, which included dance, so she is well qualified to teach dance steps to the Little Shop of Horrors cast. She spent many happy hours dancing in her kitchen to work out the moves and says the cast have been very quick to pick them up.

Director Geoff Dallimore has taken a hands on approach to the music  in the show. He will be playing the keyboards every night along with a small band of session musicians (they are session musicians because he couldn't find anyone who could do every night so apart from him the band will be different every night.)

Geoff at his keyboard. In the background you can see some tentacles!

The budget for Little Shop of Horrors will include an unusual expense. The band will be playing in the workshop space back stage that at the best of times is full of tools and old bits of scenery. At the moment is it even more crowded because our props store at Calcot suffered a flood so all the props from the last show are still stored in the theatre workshop. Geoff's solution is to hire a container and chuck everything in there until the end of the show.

Tickets for Little Shop of Horrors are selling fast - both S\aturdays are sold out - so book your tickets soon if you want to see this show.

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.

Little Shop of Horrors, music by Alan Menken, libretto by Howard Ashman,Thursday 18th to Saturday 27th April 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

Colder Than Here by Laura Wade 20th - 25th May 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward Monday 17th June - Saturday 22nd June 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

 

Meet the Chair

For my latest post in the series looking at the people who run Progress Theatre I went to the top and spoke to Dan Clarke, Chair of the management committee.

Dan was a relative newcomer to the theatre when he was elected to Chair. He joined the theatre in 2009 after driving his friends mad with endlessly going on about how much he missed not being involved in theatre since leaving university. He took their advice to "Do something about it or shut up" did some research on local theatres and chose Progress. Soon after joining he got several small parts in Terry Pratchett's Going Postal and says that being part of a large cast was a good introduction to the theatre and all the important behind the scenes people. His big breakthrough was taking on one of the roles in the two hander Intimate Exchanges by Alan Ayckbourn.

Dan studied film and drama at Reading university but dropped out after two years because he was at that age where "he thought he knew more than the people teaching him". He then started working for a betting shop and worked his way up into management before being made redundant. It was around this time that he joined the Progress management committee, initially as theatre manager. He also did the classic working in a coffee shop while trying to get into professional acting and did some profit share and short films. He is now working in an administration role for the NHS which leaves him time in the evenings and weekends to get involved in creative (and management) projects at Progress.

Dan (left) in Rumours
[Photo Richard Brown]

So what does being Chair involve? According to the official documents the chair should have a position on every committee and be involved in every show. Sounds like a full time job... Dan sees the role as keeping things running smoothly, you need to know what is going on in all aspects of the theatre but have to help other people fulfil their roles not try and do it all yourself. The theatre is full of people who are passionate about Progress and have strong views about how things should be done so the chair, as the place where the buck stops, has to have a thick skin to take the inevitable complaints and differences of opinion. Dan also thinks the chair should encourage debate in committee meetings and not always impose their own views.

The major achievement during Dan’s two years in office has been working out a programme of building improvements to the theatre which will enable us to remain on our current site for the foreseeable future. He has also managed the implementation of a new box-office system due to go live next season. There have been other smaller changes such as replacing the old lights, removing the trees in the car park and introducing the double bill for new directors as a regular slot in the season. Dan now feels it is time to move on so will be stepping down at the next AGM although he hopes to remain on the committee in another role to provide continuity and take responsibility for the projects he started.

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Little Shop of Horrors, music by Alan Menken, libretto by Howard Ashman,Thursday 18th to Saturday 27th April 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

Colder Than Here by Laura Wade 20th - 25th May 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward Monday 17th June - Saturday 22nd June 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

The School of Night Practising with Knives

"Don't bally about with those" was director Ben Sandiford's sensible advice when bringing out a batch of knives during a rehearsal of  The School of Night. The scene I was watching involved one of the characters being stabbed in the eye. This needs to look realistic enough to make the audience squirm while not posing any risk to the actor.

Ben demonstrates how to stab someone in the eye.

The play is written in the 1990s but set in 1592 in an Elizabethan England where everyone seems to be a spy and no-one is quite sure who is reporting what to the authorities - even husband and wife. It features some historical figures like Christopher Marlowe, Walter Ralegh and the Wallsinghams. The School of Night of the title was a real society of the time that indulged in dangerous discussions like atheism and removing the monarchy. The play has two good parts for women and has given Fidelity (below) her first part in a Progress production since joining the Youth Theatre last year.

"How sharp is this?"

 

The production is not being performed at Progress Theatre but at the Wycliffe Church at Cemetery Junction. This is an interesting opportunity to make use of a different space and potentially attract some new audience members but working at an outside venue brings it own challenges. Having to fit in with another organisation's time table is one of them and the technical rehearsal will have to be a week before the first performance - before director  and crew would ideally be ready.

 

As I left Ben's advice to his cast about to run a scene was "throw some spaghetti at the wall". I don't know what it means but reminded me it was time for tea.



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Auditions for Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward Thursday 14th March at 7.30 or Saturday 16th March 4pm, Progress Theatre
 

Progress Youth Theatre presents The School of Night by Peter Whelan. Monday 18^th and Tuesday 19^th March 2013 at 7:45pm, Wycliffe Baptist Church, 233 Kings Rd Reading RG1 4LS

Double Bill, The Long Road by Shelagh Stephenson and WASP by Steve Martin, Monday 18th to Saturday 23rd March 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

Little Shop of Horrors, music by Alan Menken, libretto by Howard Ashman,Thursday 18th to Saturday 27th April 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

A Double Bill

The next show at Progress is two for the price of one. Two one act plays WASP by Steve Martin (yes that Steve Martin) and The Long Road by Shelagh Stephenson.

The two plays are very different and have very different settings but need to share the same basic set. The Long Road is set in modern Britain in a family home and a prison cell while WASP is set in a 1950s American home. One half of the shared set is a basic kitchen based around a stainless steal sink that was a bargain purchase from E-bay for £5.

 While the kitchen set will be the same for both plays it will be the detailed set dressing that will signpost for the audience '50s America' or 'modern Britain'.

I did ask if the sink unit was plumbed in but Keven Copping who is directing WASP said that he had learnt on a set building course that things build for the theatre only needed to be good enough for the stage not good enough for home. (So no!)

Kevin was assistant director for Henry IV part one in Caversham Court Gardens last summer. He has also  directed Cinderella at Shehnai in Reading and the Mikardo at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton when he was a student there. This is his first small scale play and he has found it a very different experience. With large cast plays you often don't mange the logistics of getting the full cast together until very late on.  With only six actors it is much easier. The biggest challenge he is facing with this play is sourcing a 1950s style bicycle.

 

 

Kevin contemplating how to change  a prison cell into a subarban bedroom
 

 

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Last auditions for Macbeth, the Summer Shakespeare production, all parts except for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, Sunday 10th March 2.30pm, Progress Theatre

Auditions for Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward Thursday 14th March at 7.30 or Saturday 16th March 4pm, Progress theatre
 

Progress Youth Theatre presents The School of Night by Peter Whelan. Monday 18^th and Tuesday 19^th March 2013 at 7:45pm, Wycliffe Baptist Church, 233 Kings Rd Reading RG1 4LS

Double Bill, The Long Road by Shelagh Stephenson and WASP by Steve Martin, Monday 18th to Saturday 23rd March 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

 

Little Shop of Horrors, music by Alan Menken, libretto by Howard Ashman,Thursday 18th to Saturday 27th April 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre



 

Designing the set for Rumours

The set for Rumours has been designed by an aspiring professional. Laura Barns is studying set design at Guildford School of Acting and is putting her skills to practical use. Laura joined Progress because she was interested in stage management but almost immediately found herself playing a lead role in Neverwhere. She also took on some stage management roles most notably for last summer's outdoor production of Henry IV Part One. If you remember the particularly un-summery weather you can imagine this was quite a challenge.



Laura overseeing the set build for Rumours


She also discovered an interest in set building and design so when she started her degree in Professional Production Skills she chose stage management and set design as her specialist areas. After a couple of weeks she realised that professional stage managers don't get as much opportunity to make an artistic contribution as they do in the amateur theatre and that she missed this so decided to concentrate on set design.

A set must be functional, for instance it must have doors where the director needs them and steps and platforms as required, but it is also an important element in the feel of a production. The set is the first thing an audience sees and so has to set the right tone. Rumours is set in the home of a prominent Government minister so something smart and stylish was  called for.

 

After some initial drawings Laura made a model of her design to show the director and cast and give the set build team an idea of what they were aiming for.



One thing she has learnt from this production is that it is much easier to draw curves then it is to construct them! Laura feels that at this stage in her career it is important to be 'hands on' as a designer and be part of the set building team so that she can understand how her designs will work in practice.

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.

Auditions for Macbeth, the Summer Shakespeare production, Lord and Lady Macbeth only, Friday February 8th, 7pm Progress Theatre. Auditions for all other parts Sunday 3rd and 10th March 2.30pm.

Auditions for Colder than Here by Laura Wade, Sunday 10th February 2pm, Wednesday 13th 7.30 pm, Progress Theatre

Rumours by Neil Simon, Monday18th to Saturday 23rd February 2013, Progress Theatre

Progress Youth Theatre presents The School of Night by Peter Whelan, Monday 18^th and Tuesday 19^th March 2013, 7:45pm at Wycliffe Baptist Church, 233 Kings Road RG1 4LS.

Meet the Membership Rep

For the latest in my series of posts about the people on the committee who manage the theatre as volunteers I spoke to Sayani Sur, known to everyone as Shi.

Her role on the committee is membership representative so I began by asking her to explain what that means. The membership rep acts as the means of communications between the committee, the trustees and the wider membership. This communication works both ways so Shi makes sure that committee minutes are sent out to members who want them and that anything that comes up at meetings that she thinks members may have particular views on is raised with the membership. Going the other way Shi is the first port of call for members who want to raise a particular issue with committee. This might range from questions about booking seats for shows to requests to get involved in fundraising and even raising concerns about the cost of painting a new container.

Shi was involved in theatre when she was at school but later drifted away to concentrate on her career. When she decided she needed some drama back in her life she threw herself into Progress activities. She has been involved in almost every show since she joined the theatre a bout eighteen months ago. She can usually be found wielding a paint brush or screw driver during set build weekends, she directed a play in WriteFest this year, played a beast in Neverwhere and is currently on stage as a dwarf with gender issues in The Fifth Elephant.

Shi backstage during The Fifth Elephant

When she realised the theatre was run by a management committee she decided she would like to get more involved and have some influence on the way the theatre was run. The position of member representative happened to be available and she took it over on a temporary basis before being formally elected at last year’s Annual General Meeting.

During the day Shi is a commercial media lawyer and is responsible for negotiating and managing contracts. She is a trained lawyer, a background that has occasionally proved useful when the committee needs someone to run an experienced eye over a legal document.

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.

The Fifth Elephant by Stephen Briggs based on the book by Terry Pratchett 17th - 26th January 2013, Progress Theatre

Auditions for Colder than Here by Laura Wade, Sunday 10th February 2pm, Wednesday 13th 7.30 pm, Progress Theatre

Auditions for Macbeth, the Summer Shakespeare production, Lord and Lady Macbeth only, Friday February 8th, 7pm Progress Theatre. Auditions for all other parts Sunday 3rd and 10th March 2.30pm.

Rumours by Neil Simon, Monday18th to Saturday 23rd February 2013, Progress Theatre

The Fifth Elephant

Our first show of the new year, The Fifth Elephant, starts on Thursday 17th January and runs until Saturday 26th January, with matinees on the Saturday afternoons. It is already over 75% sold so if you want to come it would be a good idea to book soon. There are plenty of tickets on Tuesday 22nd as this was booked out for a charity gala evening that unfortunately has fallen through so the tickets are back on general sale.

I went along to a rehearsal on Tuesday night and had my first peek at the set, props and costumes. The set is a good example of the compromise and flexibility needed in a busy theatre. The youth group production,  The Love of the Nightgale didn't finish until the 17th December and with Christmas in between that didn't leave enough time to dismantle and build a new set from scratch. Nightingale director Ali Carrol wanted an amphitheatre and Fifth Elephant director Chris Moran wanted a raised platform with raised platform with steps either side. What they agreed on was steps stretching across the width of the stage which gave the impression of an amphitheatre and (with a few secret additions) gives Chris the ability to do everything she needs.

This play based on a Terry Pratchett Discworld novel has inspired the props makers in what can only be a labour of love. The props store back stage includes a rather gruesome severed arm

and a specially designed box of matches.

The dwarfs helmets have  their namespainted on in the Dwarvish language. My favourite prop was a Lonely Planet guide book to Uberwald, including full 'blurb' on he back - a level of detail that will never be seen by the audience but adds that extra layer of authenticity.

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.

The Fifth Elephant by Stephen Briggs based on the book by Terry Pratchett 17th - 26th January 2013, Progress Theatre

Auditions for Colder than Here by Laura Wade 3rd 10th and 13th February 2013, Progress Theatre (time to be confirmed)

Auditions for Lord and Lady Macbeth only for the Summer Shakespeare February 8th 7pm Progress Theatre. Auditions for other parts will be on 3rd and 10th March more details to follow.

Rumours by Neil Simon  Monday18th to Saturday 23rd February 2013, Progress Theatre