Animal Farm Musical Director

Animal Farm is a joint production with Progress Youth Theatre and the principle has been carried through to the backstage roles. The musical director is Amelia, who has been a member of the Youth Theatre since she was seven. Her most recent roles were in Roses of Eyam and Murmuring Judges. Although she was only intending to be backstage for this production she has found herself taking on some on-stage roles as people have had to withdraw for various reasons. She is now playing Moses the Raven, a pigeon, Mrs Pilkington and potentially a goat. As she says if she has to be at rehearsals anyway she might as well go the whole hog (pun intended) and be in it is well.

Amelia (right) with assistant stage manager Josie, also a youth theatre member

The first question I asked Amelia was what does a musical director actually do. The rights to the play come with music for all the songs and Amelia arranged some of them to suit the range of voices in the cast. She has then been responsible for teaching the songs at rehearsals and leading vocal warm-ups. She is well qualified for the role as she is studying music A level, plays the violin, sings in the Taplow Youth choir and leads a choir at school. 

Animal Farm starts on Monday 23rd March and runs until Saturday.

Calling all male actors There is still an opportunity to take part in The Merry Wives of Windsor, this year's outdoor production in Caversham court gardens. The performance dates are 15th - 25th July. It should be great fun, please contact the director on merrywives@progresstheatre.co.uk 

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Extra Auditions for The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare, Monday 23rd March venue to be confirmed -  men still needed contact the director on merrywives@progresstheatre.co.uk for more details

Animal Farm by Peter Hall, adapted from the novel by George Orwell, 7.45 Monday 23rd March - Saturday 28th March 2015 

Talking Heads by Alan Bennett, 7.45 Monday 20th April - Saturday 25th April 2015

Killer Joe by Tracey Letts, 7.45 Monday 18th May - Saturday 23rd May 2015

The Weir by Conor McPherson, 7.45 Monday 15th June - Saturday20th June 2015   

The Merry Wives of Windsor 7.45 Wednesday 15th - Saturday 25th July, Caversham Court Gardens.

Mojo


Most theatre groups have more female than male actors and are constantly looking for plays that offer good parts for women. I was intrigued therefore that Progress Youth Theatre have chosen to produce Mojo - a play with six males and no females at all.

photo by Richard Brown

 I asked youth theatre leader and director Ben Sandiford about the choice of play. He said that it is something he has wanted to stage for twenty years but had always hesitated because of the lack of female roles. This year because of the short gap between Noises Off and the Youth Theatre production they needed to find a play that could use the two level stage already constructed. Mojo needs an upstairs and downstairs area and so it seemed time was finally right.

photo by Richard Brown

Sometimes the Youth Theatre increase the number of roles for girls by changing the sex of a character, for example they have performed female versions of Julius Caesar and Lord of the Flies and even had a female count Dracula. Ben was clear that this was not an option with Mojo as the relationships between the characters and their masculinity is an important element of the play.

The gender balance has been restored off-stage as long-term Youth Theatre member Poppy Price has taken on the role of assistant director. Poppy said that she did question the choice of an all male play but feels that there doesn't necessarily need to be a balance in each production as long as there are good opportunities for both sexes across the season. The most recent production, Roses of Eyam had many more girls than boys in it.

The cast are just pleased that for once they can take over the larger dressing room normally used by the girls!

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Progress Youth Theatre, Mojo by Jez Butterworth, 7.45 Monday 8th December – Saturday 13th December 2014

The Three Musketeers by Ken Ludwig from the novel by Alexandre Dumas 7.45 Thursday 15th January – Saturday 24th January 2015, matinees on the Saturday afternoons 2.30, Progress Theatre

Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton, 7.45pm Monday 23rd February – Saturday 28th February 2015 at Progress Theatre

The Roses of Eyam backstage

During the dress rehearsal for Roses of Eyam I went backstage to talk to some of the young actors. I found Poppy going over her lines in the dressing room while waiting to go on stage.

The busy cluttered dressing room will be familiar to any reader who has performed at Progress (or any other theatre I'm sure). While there will be a tidy up session before the performance, with nineteen actors sharing the limited backstage space a certain amount of  chaos is inevitable. Performers have to be very disciplined about hanging up costumes and putting vital props somewhere safe. This can be difficult with quick changes and there will probably be several moments of panic during any show while an actor frantically searches for a missing shoe or cloak (and I'm not just talking about youth theatre productions!)

When putting on a show with anyone under sixteen there are legal restrictions on the number of rehearsals and performances. This meant that the Sunday had to be kept as a rest day before the first performance on Monday so there were two dress rehearsals planned for the Saturday.

During the first rehearsal the director noticed that the bottom of the large trunk recycled from God of Carnage still needed painting (it is going from cream to black). While there were willing hands to do the painting it was quickly realised that there wouldn't be time for it to dry before the second rehearsal. Luckily there are no laws about the number of hours adults spend at the theatre so no problem with them staying late to paint after the second rehearsal.

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Progress Youth Theatre The Roses of Eyam by Don Taylor Monday 14th July - Saturday 19th July.

Reading Open Air Love's Labour's Lost... And Won by William Shakespeare Wednesday 16th July – Saturday 26th July 2014 at Caversham Court Gardens

Auditions for Noises Off by Michael Frayn Sunday 27th July 2.30pm or Monday 28th July 7.30pm 

Full details about out theatre and all our activities can be found on our website.

Portable Theatre

Progress Youth Theatre's next production is not at our own theatre but in the main hall at Bulmershe school on Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd April. It is exciting performing in different venues and it gives us the opportunity to reach out to new audiences.

It does mean though that all the props and set has to be transported to Woodley. Director Ali Carrol was making good use of her car on Sunday afternoon.

Murmuring Judges is a fast moving play with seven actors playing 32 characters. That means 32 costumes also have to be transported to the school.

To keep down the costs of hiring a venue the technical set up and rehearsal will happen on the same day as the final dress rehearsal.

The hall at Bulmershe school is used as their main dining room so between performances everything will have to be stored in a small curtained area.

Ali told me that she is never doing another off-site production but I'm sure as the applause is running round the hall after a successful show she will change her mind.



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Auditions for God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, Sunday 30th March 2014 2.30pm or Thursday 3rd April 2014 at 7pm, Progress Theatre

Progress Youth Theatre, Murmuring Judges by David Hare Tuesday 1st April – Wednesday 2nd April 2014, at Bulmershe School, Chequers Way, Woodley, RG5 3EL

Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde, Thursday 24th April – Saturday 3rd May 2014

Not About Heroes by Stephen MacDonald, Monday 26th May – Saturday 31st May 2014

God of Carnage by Yazmina Reza, adapted by Christoper Hampton  Monday 23rd June – Saturday 28th June 2014

Full details about out theatre and all our activities can be found on our website.

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.

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

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

The Love Of The Nightingale

Before dropping in on a rehearsal I didn't know much about The Love of the Nightingale except that it is based on a Greek legend and is written by Timberlake Wertenbaker who wrote Our Country's Good.


I discovered that the play tells the story of Philomela who following, a violent assault, uses life size dolls to act out what happened to her. This explained the slightly scary rag doll sitting in an empty chair in the auditorium. In the story Philomela spends many years making the dolls but the props team have had only a few weeks to make their own versions.

The production is being staged in traditional Greek costume so the costumes will be relatively easy to make. Although the way producer Liz Carroll was explaining the 'simple' way the the cast will have to drape and tie their robes I hope they haven't got too many quick changes.

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Auditions for New Directors' Double Bill Wednesday 5th December, 7.30pm or Sunday 9th December 2pm, Progress Theatre

Progress Youth Theatre presents For the Love of a Nightingale by Timberlake Wertenbaker 10th -15th December 2012, Progress Theatre

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

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

What's wrong with Angry?

Progress Youth Theatre are well into rehearsals for their next production What's wrong with Angry? I sat in on part of one of them. This is a hard hitting play about a gay school boy in the early 1990s, a time when it was still illegal for 16 year old homosexuals to have sex. What struck me about the play was the believability of the teenage interactions. The desperation to be part of the group; to find someone, anyone, for that all important final slow dance; the boys who think you'll be happy to  go with them because 'you're not exactly an oil painting'.

An action scene from 'What's wrong with Angry'

The cast were managing in this rehearsal without one of the main characters. They had to make do with either someone standing in for him and reading his lines or talking to the space where he should be while the director read in the lines. In fact the director himself was standing in for Ali Carroll who couldn't make this rehearsal. They did however have their stage-manager, Fiona McNeil, who was watching the action and working out what props and furniture need to be bought on and off, and more importantly, who is going to do it.
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Coming up -

What’s Wrong With Angry? By Patrick Wilde, 2nd - 7th July 2012, Progress Theatre

Henry IV Part One by William Shakespeare, 12th - 21st July 2012, Caversham Court Gardens

Lord of the Flies

Progress Youth Theatre are producing an innovative take on Lord of the Flies adapted by Nigel Williams from the William Golding novel. They are playing it with an all female cast. The play has been done before with girls playing boys but has never been done with all the genders switched. They had to get permission from the rights holders which took a while but was eventually granted.

Some of the cast rehearsing last Sunday

This production has given me a chance to clear some clutter from my house. A call went out for any donations of old school shirts and it was stressed that they should be ones not needed any more as they would not be returned. I managed to find about ten hanging in my children's cupboards that no longer fit them. For those of you who don't know, the play is set on a dessert island and follows a group of children who survive a plane crash and then have to live without adult supervision. There are about 15 girls in the cast and all need at least two, possibly three shirts each so that they can start of reasonably smart when they first arrive on the island and then get progressively dirtier as the play progresses. Producer Liz Carrol collected the shirts, rubbed them in dirt and then hung them on her washing line. What on earth did the neighbours think?


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Coming up -

Auditions for Reading Open Air 2012 Henry IV Part 1 Wednesday 7th March 7.30pm or Wednesday 14th March 7.30pm or Sunday 18th March 12pm at Progress Theatre

Auditions for Mine by Polly Teale, Sunday 11th March 2.30 or Tuesday 13th March 7.30pm at Progress Theatre

Progress Youth Theatre Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Monday 19th March to Saturday 24th March Progress Theatre

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

Half Masks and Dead Sailors

The theatre today was in the happy state of chaos that is a technical rehearsal, the lighting needs to be sorted, costumes perfected, contact numbers collected and the theatre tidied on top of rehearsing the play.

When I was at the Under Milk Wood rehearsal last week they were busy making masks so I was interested in see the finished articles. The masks are used by the actors playing dead sailors. The original idea was to use make-up but it soon became apparent that this wouldn't be practical because many of the actors are playing multiple parts and have to make quick changes.

The base of the masks are the cheap white plastic ones you can buy in costume shops. These were then cut in half and covered in papier maché. The plan was to paint them but in the end they looked good without - like rotting skin!

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Progress Youth Theatre Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas 5th - 9th July 2011


Auditions for Black Bird by David Harrower Sunday 17th July at 6pm and Tuesday 19th July at 7.30pm at Progress Theatre

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

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

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.

Recycling and Chaperones

At Progress we like to reuse material whenever possible. It saves time and money as well as being better for the environment. If you saw The Ash Girl earlier this year you'll remember the splendid fireplace. If you come to Cold Comfort Farm you'll see it being reused as part of the set. It will be looking slightly more dirty and battered as part of the Starkadder's kitchen.

The word chaperone calls up images of Victorian maiden aunts sitting in on dates to ensure nothing untoward is going on. In the theatre it is used to mean someone who looks after the interests of any children or young people in a show. In the professional world they have been used for some time in theatres and on film sets to make sure that their charges have rest breaks, access to education and are not asked to do anything dangerous.

For the last few years it has been a legal requirement for amateur theatres to have a chaperone backstage during every performance including under 17 year olds. Chaperones have to be police checked and registered with their local authority. It is not an onerous job and mainly involves sitting in the dressing rooms, saying shush! a lot and waiting until all their charges have been picked up at the end of the night. Having said that without people willing to give up their time to do this young people would not have the opportunity to perform on stage. Many amateur theatres have decided that it is too much bother and don't cast anyone under 17. Luckily we do bother at Progress so you'll be able to see the Progress Youth Theatre performing Cold Comfort Farm starting tonight 4th April and running until Saturday 9th.

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Coming up...

Progress Youth Theatre Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons adapted by Paul Doust, 4th - 9th April 2011

All My Sons by Arthur Miller 5th - 14th May 2011

Enjoy by Alan Bennett 6th - 11th June 2011

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

Cold Comfort Farm

The next production is Cold Comfort Farm adapted by Paul Doust from Stella Gibbons' classic comic novel. Gibbons wrote the novel in 1932, when she was only 22, as a satire of the dramatic, romantic, rural based novels popular at the time.

When I went up to the theatre to see how things were progressing they were rehearsing the ball scene. I walked in to hear the director Ben Sandiford advising his cast to "Spend time with your poles". This is not as strange as it sounds! In order to give the feel of a huge ball they are doubling the number of party goers by giving each human guest a puppet partner - basically a pole with a jacket. At the rehearsal I watched they hadn't yet got the poles but were improvising with coat hangers. Ben was reassuring them that it would be easier when they had the poles as long as they got used to handling them by spending time with them.

To see the finished performance come along to Progress Theatre between the 4th and 9th April.

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Coming up...

Progress Youth Theatre Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons adapted by Paul Doust, 4th - 9th- April 2011

All My Sons by Arthur Miller 5th - 14th May 2011

Enjoy by Alan Bennett 6th - 11th June 2011

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

Physical Theatre and Blood Wedding

Chris Farman has been leading a series of workshops for young people at the theatre combining physical theatre with British Sign Language (BSL). Chris is studying  for a degree in Theatre Arts, Education and Deaf Studies at Reading University. He is also a trainee BSL interpreter. He is interested in language and communication, particularly visual communication so BSL as a visual language is perfect for him.  

The workshops have been running for six weeks with seven young people, some from Progress Youth Theatre and some from outside. It has been an intensive six weeks as they have been learning some BSL and physical theatre skills as well as preparing for a performance to be shown with Blood Wedding.

Blood Wedding by Federico García Lorca, a tragedy about love and death is being performed by Progress Youth Theatre on 19th - 21st July 7.45  at Wycliffe Baptist Church, Kings Road (near Cemetery junction). The physical theatre group will be performing their piece immediately before. It will reflect the themes of the Blood Wedding without retelling the same story.

Chris has thrown himself into life at Progress, he worked on the set for Intimate Exchanges and did sound and make-up for Pillowman. Next season he is designing the costumes for Ajax as well as performing in and choreographing the physical theatre aspects of Metamorphosis...and still finding the time for his degree phew!

Chris is also going to be running a new Progress Youth Theatre group next season based on physical theatre. Those of us who can no longer be described as youths haven't been forgotten and there are plans to run some adult workshops as well.

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Coming up...
 
Blood Wedding by Federico Garcia Lorca 19, 20, 21 July 2010 7.45pm, Wycliffe Baptist Church

Breathing Corpses by Laura Wade 6th - 11th September 2010

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

Is this it?

Is this it? is the title of the Parcans' contribution to Progress Youth Theatre week. The Parcans are 11 - 13 year olds who meet on a Saturday morning at the theatre. They have been working since Christmas on  improvising scenes in these sessions. They were given a subject or situation to work on in groups and come up with a scene. For example 'celebrities' led to scenes about Zac Ephron and Amy Winehouse. Eventually the scenes came together under a theme of "life and death; heaven and hell". The scenes are linked together by the use of a lift. We are moved from scene to scene via the lift with some set in the lift itself.  

The Strobes group are still hard at work on their Youth Theatre week production and as my Parcans interviewee didn't want her picture on the blog I've included a photo of a clay bear used in the animation sequences in  Beary Tales and Bored Office Drones. 

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Coming up...

Youth Theatre week - Parcans (11 - 13 year olds) 14th and 15th June "Is This It?"
Strobes (13 - 15 year olds) 18th and 19th June Beary Tales and Bored Office Drones.

Death and The Maiden by Ariel Dorfman 5 - 10 July 2010

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

 

Beary Tales and Bored Office Drones.

There are still a few days left to catch The Pillowman. It has been getting rave reviews and runs until Saturday 30^th May -  don’t miss it! 

June 14th to 19th is Youth Theatre week at Progress Theatre. There are two groups performing, Parcans (11 – 13 year olds) and Strobes (13 – 15). Last Sunday I dropped in on a rehearsal of Beary Tales and Office Drones the Strobes production running 18^th and 19^th June. They’d been working hard since 10 am and when I arrived were having a well earned lunch break.

Beary Tales and Office Drones is an update of a folk tale, East o the Sun, West o the Moon, based in an office. The office setting was a practical inspiration – co-leader Ali Carroll had some old office equipment that would make good props. The modernization of the original tale has included removing the part of the story where the girl who makes the best job of washing the prince’s shirt gets to marry him! 

As well as acting,the cast have been divided into teams to work on all the other things that have to happen for a production to be a success. The students have been responsible for areas like props, marketing, costumes, lighting and sound design, video recording and editing and script writing. Co-leader Alice Mulford, who set up the teams, said that getting involved in all aspects of the production has “created a sense of ownership. Some have struggled with taking the initiative but others have taken the opportunity and run with it.”

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Coming up...

The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh runs until 29th May 2010

Youth Theatre week - Parcans (11 - 13 year olds) 14th and 15th June "Is This It?"
Strobes (13 - 15 year olds) 18th and 19th June Beary Tales and Bored Office Drones.

Death and The Maiden by Ariel Dorfman 5 - 10 July 2010

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

The Importance of Props

Progress Youth Theatre is performing The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde and Travesties by Tom Stoppard between 22nd and 27th March. The plays are on different nights during the week with a double bill on the Saturday. The Floodlights and Blinders are the theatre's older youth groups, 16 - 18 year olds, and recent productions have included Macbeth and Don Juan comes back from the war.

Progress blog crept into the back of the theatre during a rehearsal last week to be confronted by the smell of toast and a tempting plate of muffins. Settling down to watch part of a rehearsal of The Importance of Being Earnest it became clear these were part of the props. Rehearsals have got to the stage where the actors know what they are meant to be doing and saying and are now trying to do it while drinking a cup of tea and eating a piece of cake. In the scene we watched this is further complicated as the two girls - Imogen and Emily who play Cecily and Gwendolen - also have fans.

 These have to be opened and closed at appropriate moments and it is an acquired skill that modern woman don't have much opportunity to practise. At the end of the scene director Ali tentatively suggested that it would look better if they could use the fans in their left hands! Being true professionals they agreed to take the fans home for some intensive training.

Imogen and Emily also play versions of the characters Cecily and Gwendolen in Travesties. The plot revolves around memories of a production of The Importance of Being Earnest so the plays work well together as a double bill.

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Coming up ….

The Importance Of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde Mon 22nd & Weds 24th March 7.45 pm, Saturday 27th 5.30 and Travesties by Tom Stoppard Tues 23rd, Fri 26th March & Saturday 27th 7.45 pm 

Auditions for Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman. At Progress Theatre, Sunday 28th March 2.30 and Wednesday 31 March 7.30

Casting for a mystery cycle play Monday 5th April 7.30 Progress Theatre. To be performed 18th April contact Chris Bertrand at candjbertrand@uwclub.net for more details.

Intimate Exchanges by Alan Ayckbourn 14 - 24 April 2010

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

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.