Going Postal in Pictures

Going Postal starts this  Thursday (28th Jan). Over 75% of the seats are already sold so book soon if you want to be sure of seeing it.

 

Mandy King, who plays Greenyham, often takes photos of Progress shows and this one is no exception. This week we've taken advantage of Mandy's photographic skills to give you a taste of the show.

Igor, played by Matt Dury is part of a clan of servants - all called Igor. They have many skills, including surgery.

As well as being heavily involved in set building and other technical aspects of the show Rik Eke plays Gilt, a corporate bad guy.

The final photo shows Lord Vetinari and Moist played by Dan Powell and Owen Goode.

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 The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh, Sunday 7 February 2010  and Wednesday 10 February 2010 at Progress Theatre.

A couple of poor English-speaking Poles by Dorota Maslowska 1 - 6 March 2010. 
 
See www.progresstheatre.co.uk for more details of all our productions and auditions.

Going Postal Takes Shape

The Going Postal crew are catching up with the time lost due to the bad weather (see Going Postal in the snow). According to the rehearsal schedule this weekend should have been technical rehearsals, setting up all the lighting and sound effects and scene changes. However the set is not yet complete so the crew have been working hard to finish off ready for the technical rehearsal now rescheduled for next weekend.

The set design that we saw on screen in December (see Going Postal with Gaffer Tape) is now taking shape on the stage. I was also shown an exciting addition but I have been sworn to secrecy so as not to spoil the surprise at the start of the play.

One big task going on while I was at the theatre was the construction of a massive pile of undelivered letters. The base is about 1.5 m high and covered in chicken wire. Three members of the technical team were sticking and stapling old envelopes to the frame. To give you some idea of the attention to detail on this production hours of painstaking work have been lavished on this letter pile but it will only be seen for a few seconds on the stage.

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 ….
The next production after Going Postal is A couple of poor English-speaking Poles
by Dorota Maslowska 1 - 6 March 2010
.
See www.progresstheatre.co.uk for more details of all our productions and auditions.

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.

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.