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.

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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

 

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.

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

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.



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 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
 

 

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.

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.