Muskets for the Three Musketeers

Any staging of The Three Musketeers is going to need swords and, of course, muskets.

Kevin Copping (Aramis) modelling one of the muskets

Fortunately there are people involved in this production who were able to source both. Ian Belcher, who plays Athos, is involved in LARPing (Live Action Role Play) which he described as like cross country pantomime. During a LARP participants dress up and physically act out their characters actions using props were appropriate. In this case Ian's beautiful Renaissance era muskets are very appropriate.

The detail on one of the muskets

Even though the muskets are only models they still have to be kept safely under lock and key while at the theatre. Alex McCubbin who has various roles on stage is also official armourer for the production. This means he has to make sure that as soon as the muskets come off stage they are whisked away and locked back in their box.

Dani Davies from Reading Between the Lines theatre group has been working on the production choreographing the fight scenes. She has lent her swords to the production and made sure that all the actors now how to perform a stage fight so it looks exciting but is not dangerous.

You can enjoy all the action and adventure in The Three Musketeers safe in the knowledge that you won't be threatened by a musket or hit by a stray sword.

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 roughly weekly so you won’t be swamped with emails. 

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

Killer Joe auditions Sunday 25th 5.30pm or Wednesday 28th 7.30pm Progress Theatre

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

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!

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 roughly weekly so you won’t be swamped with emails. 

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

Noises Off - life imitating art imitating life

Alex McCubbin is playing Lloyd Dallas, the director of the play-within-the-play in Noises Off. He  claims that he only agreed to be assistant director for Love's Labour's Lost...And Won last summer as a way of building up useful knowledge to help him audition for and play this character. He was diplomatically silent as to how much material he gathered. He did say he can sympathise with Lloyd's frustration when actors blame their mistakes on other people. Equally as an experienced stage manager and actor he can see what a monster Lloyd is putting his personal agenda ahead of the production (not that anything like that ever happens at Progress of course!)

Noises Off is a very fast farce with lots of doors opening and closing and people coming in and out in quick secession. Watching part of rehearsal I was amazed at how the actors could remember where they were supposed to be and what they were supposed to be doing. Alex said that it reminded him of his time on a performing arts course when he had to learn dance moves.

Noises off starts on Thursday and tickets are selling fast on popular nights. Don't forget we now have our own on-line booking system with a lower booking fee so it is worth booking in advance to make sure of seeing this very funny show, Click here to book.

 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 roughly weekly so you won’t be swamped with emails. 

Noises off by Michael Frayn, 7.45 Thursday 20th November – Saturday 29th November 2014, matinees on the Saturday afternoons 2.30, Progress Theatre

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 TheatreProgress Theatre

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

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

Noises off - constructing the set

Noises Off is a difficult play for small non-professional theatres to put on. There are three acts, the first one showing the stage set of the play within the play. The second act shows the backstage view of the same play and then back to the on-stage view in the final act. In the West End this is achieved by having a large revolving stage that can be quickly turned round during an interval. This is not an option in the more limited space available to Progress.

Aidan Moran and Martin Noble started designing the set about three years ago. They began with sketches on paper and then once the basics had been worked out Martin used modelling software to perfect the design and all the measurements. He even drew in sightlines from different parts of the auditorium to ensure that no-one in the audience misses any vital action.

The set is based on a metal structure for strength. It is built in modules that the stage management team can individually turn or flip to achieve the scene changes.

Other small theatres have shown an interest in how Progress is building the set for this popular play. Unfortunately we can't sell on the set because it has all been built in situ and won't fit through the doors.

There has been a huge amount of pre-planning and liaison with the other productions during this season. The staircases and platform were built before the start of the season and used for Darwin and Fitzroy. During WriteFest the constructed parts of the set were hidden behind a curtain at the back of the stage.

The Youth Theatre have the slot after Noises Off and were asked if they would select a play that could make use of the set. Director Ben jumped at the chance to stage Mojo, a play he had wanted to do for some time that needs different levels and staircases - perfect! Finally The Three Musketeers will use the staircases but the rest of the set will need to be dismantled to leave plenty of room for all those sword fights.

 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 roughly weekly so you won’t be swamped with emails. 

Noises off by Michael Frayn, 7.45 Thursday 20th November – Saturday 29th November 2014, Progress Theatre

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, Progress Theatre

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

An abundance of scripts - 9th Annual Writefest

Our 9th annual Writefest starts tonight (15th October) and runs until Saturday 18th you can now buy tickets on-line using our new booking system here.

As you can imagine with seven separate plays on one night there is a lot for the backstage team to keep track of and they have to be very organised.  In this photo stage manager Emma is making a list of all the bits and pieces that have to be in a cardboard box on stage for The Deep Blue. Razor blades and pills were top of the list of essentials.

On the list of props to be set for The Flood is 'Liz Carroll'. Liz recently broke her ankle but in the true spirit of theatre "the show must go on". In The Flood she plays a hairdressing client so once the play starts she doesn't have to move about. She is now wheeled into position by the stage management team as part of the set up of the play. 

As all plays in Writefest are new unpublished works they are liable to change between being submitted and the first night. Some of these changes come from the writers and some are suggested by the directors and actors as they see what works and what doesn't during rehearsals. This is a common process and is why published scripts usually credit the director and cast of the first run. Of course at some point the changes have to stop and everyone needs to be working from the same script. Lighting designer Richard got some blank looks from the cast of Yawn when he read out what he thought were the cue lines for lighting changes, apparently they had been cut in a later version. After some quick checking and reprinting we are now confident that everyone has the same version of the scripts and everyone knows exactly what they are doing.

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 roughly weekly so you won’t be swamped with emails. 


Auditions for Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton, 7.30 Wednesday 22nd October 2014 or  2.30 Sunday 26th October 2014, Progress Theatre

Noises off by Michael Frayn, 7.45 Thursday 20th November – Saturday 29th November 2014, Progress Theatre

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