Following a rather lovely Edinburgh run, both Tartuffe and The Trial are getting life extensions beyond the festival.
On the 1st and 2nd of October, Tartuffe will play at the York Theatre Royal in the 800 seater main house - quite a different venue from the Squat or The Red Room. Have redone the script to accomodate and am looking forward to reworking the show, it looks like its going to be a lot of fun and a bigger more ridiculous version than the intimate productions.
On the 6th to the 9th, The Trial is being performed up in York in a secret location though I think all the shows are now sold out.
Both shows are being performed as part of the YTR Takeover festival where the theatre is being run by under 26 year olds, quite an exciting prospect and am thrilled to be part of it. Lets hope it inspires similar projects for future years and in other venues across the country.
Beyond October, I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to say yet but expect both Tartuffe and The Trial to be in London for a few weeks come November!
Wednesday 16 September 2009
Tuesday 8 September 2009
Edinburgh over and out
Edinburgh finished a week ago today and am only just recovering. We worked out that we were pretty much working 9-5 but at the wrong end of the day.
It was a very good run with both Tartuffe and The Trial selling out every night and receiving some pretty lovely reviews. Here are some of the best:
For Tartuffe -
http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/blog/8582/The_Tartuffe.html
http://www.whatsonstage.com/blogs/edinburgh2009/?p=1118
http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/article/19642-the-tartuffe/
http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/otherresources/fringe/fringe09-87.htm#T
For The Trial -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/aug/10/the-trial-fringe-review
http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/article/19890-the-trial/
http://ed.thestage.co.uk/reviews/630
http://www.broadwaybaby.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=46:current-edinburgh-festival&id=4745:the-trial&Itemid=66
Highlight of the fringe was undoubtedly the moment in Tartuffe when the cast slowly cottoned on to the fact that fantasy author, Neil Gaiman had just been pulled up to be one of the audience played parts. I don't think there are many actors who can say they've acted with Neil Gaiman nor playwrights/directors who have had him play a role. A very surreal moment!
Off the back of Edinburgh we have a few exciting things lined up. None of which are confirmed enough for me to post as yet but I will do soon!
Now it's a case of setting ourselves up ready for life post-fringe. Belt Up (Me, Alex, Dom and Jethro) have now moved into our new house in York and we're planning the next year or so, hopefully a busy one with lots of jobs!
Our next gig is at the York Theatre Royal. Tartuffe's being scaled up considerably from the 50 seater squat to the 800 seat proscenium arch stage for the 1st and 2nd of October. Very excited about that, am working on tweeking the script at the moment so expect a very different production though of course in the same spirit.
Trial is being performed from the 6th to the 9th in an undisclosed space in York, again expect the same spirit but a different show from the Edinburgh run. Tickets can be bought from www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
That's all for now. Will be sure to post soon once rehearsals for the YTR run have begun!
It was a very good run with both Tartuffe and The Trial selling out every night and receiving some pretty lovely reviews. Here are some of the best:
For Tartuffe -
http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/blog/8582/The_Tartuffe.html
http://www.whatsonstage.com/blogs/edinburgh2009/?p=1118
http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/article/19642-the-tartuffe/
http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/otherresources/fringe/fringe09-87.htm#T
For The Trial -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/aug/10/the-trial-fringe-review
http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/article/19890-the-trial/
http://ed.thestage.co.uk/reviews/630
http://www.broadwaybaby.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=46:current-edinburgh-festival&id=4745:the-trial&Itemid=66
Highlight of the fringe was undoubtedly the moment in Tartuffe when the cast slowly cottoned on to the fact that fantasy author, Neil Gaiman had just been pulled up to be one of the audience played parts. I don't think there are many actors who can say they've acted with Neil Gaiman nor playwrights/directors who have had him play a role. A very surreal moment!
Off the back of Edinburgh we have a few exciting things lined up. None of which are confirmed enough for me to post as yet but I will do soon!
Now it's a case of setting ourselves up ready for life post-fringe. Belt Up (Me, Alex, Dom and Jethro) have now moved into our new house in York and we're planning the next year or so, hopefully a busy one with lots of jobs!
Our next gig is at the York Theatre Royal. Tartuffe's being scaled up considerably from the 50 seater squat to the 800 seat proscenium arch stage for the 1st and 2nd of October. Very excited about that, am working on tweeking the script at the moment so expect a very different production though of course in the same spirit.
Trial is being performed from the 6th to the 9th in an undisclosed space in York, again expect the same spirit but a different show from the Edinburgh run. Tickets can be bought from www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
That's all for now. Will be sure to post soon once rehearsals for the YTR run have begun!
Monday 10 August 2009
5 days in
So, today is our fifth performance and it's quite lovely to say that again we are sold out. In fact we are entirely sold out for tomorrow as well with tickets for the rest of the run disappearing fast.
The shows are going very well with great responses from the audience - had a bit of a crazy Valere yesterday who was called 'Rategg' or something.
Reviews are starting to come in, all largely positive and we're now starting to get some attention from the national media now - look out for the Tartuffe troupe on the BBC culture show!
The Squat nights are going nicely as well, most of which are selling out and people are starting to buzz a bit about the bar. Hopefully we'll get a good crowd in on Wednesday when it is taken over by Orgon's Troupe for the Tartuffe Cabaret.
Also, look out for some pictures popping up on flickr and places, when we're out flyering in costume it feels like we're followed by the paparazzi!
The shows are going very well with great responses from the audience - had a bit of a crazy Valere yesterday who was called 'Rategg' or something.
Reviews are starting to come in, all largely positive and we're now starting to get some attention from the national media now - look out for the Tartuffe troupe on the BBC culture show!
The Squat nights are going nicely as well, most of which are selling out and people are starting to buzz a bit about the bar. Hopefully we'll get a good crowd in on Wednesday when it is taken over by Orgon's Troupe for the Tartuffe Cabaret.
Also, look out for some pictures popping up on flickr and places, when we're out flyering in costume it feels like we're followed by the paparazzi!
Thursday 6 August 2009
One day down
Yesterday was our opening night for the Squat (Belt Up's Edinburgh venue this year hosting Tartuffe, Trial and the Squat nights)
Tartuffe and Trial went fantastically - both shows selling out on their first day which was utterly unexpected. Tartuffe also had 8 reviewers in to add to the pressure. Both went well though - Tartuffe had a good Valere in the shape of a guy called Rodney (perfect funny name) and all the audience were well up for the group hug at the end.
The first 'Squat night' was equally successful, the bar was buzzing and we had a lot of people whacking on the blindfolds for a 'Dreamscape'. Was very hot in there, despite it being well past midnight.
Absolutely shattered after but now well awake for day number two!
Tartuffe and Trial went fantastically - both shows selling out on their first day which was utterly unexpected. Tartuffe also had 8 reviewers in to add to the pressure. Both went well though - Tartuffe had a good Valere in the shape of a guy called Rodney (perfect funny name) and all the audience were well up for the group hug at the end.
The first 'Squat night' was equally successful, the bar was buzzing and we had a lot of people whacking on the blindfolds for a 'Dreamscape'. Was very hot in there, despite it being well past midnight.
Absolutely shattered after but now well awake for day number two!
Monday 20 July 2009
The First Post (Vol II)
I haven't posted on here for a while but have found myself with some time in which to do so. Luckily I have thought of a more focussed purpose for this blog which will keep me busy with it over the next few months.
With Belt Up Theatre, we rarely get the opportunity to give the audience a degree of praise. In normal theatre, where they are largely passive, this isn't always necessary. Yet with theatre where they are expected to be interacted with, participate and be largely active, it is a shame that we can't always thank them for adding to our shows.
In light of this, I'd like this blog to be a sort of thankful commentary on my favourite audience experiences as well as a commentary on some of the more risky and dangerous moments from our shows.
All our shows contain an element of improvisation and reliance on things utterly out of our control so here I hope to keep a document of the highlights that arise from this.
With Belt Up Theatre, we rarely get the opportunity to give the audience a degree of praise. In normal theatre, where they are largely passive, this isn't always necessary. Yet with theatre where they are expected to be interacted with, participate and be largely active, it is a shame that we can't always thank them for adding to our shows.
In light of this, I'd like this blog to be a sort of thankful commentary on my favourite audience experiences as well as a commentary on some of the more risky and dangerous moments from our shows.
All our shows contain an element of improvisation and reliance on things utterly out of our control so here I hope to keep a document of the highlights that arise from this.
Our Edinburgh programme begins on the 5th of August so from there I'll keep this blog updated on some of the highlights.
If you're up in Edinburgh this summer, Belt Up have got three shows going - The Tartuffe (8.55 C-Soco 5th-31st Aug), The Trial (11.30 C Soco 5th-31st Aug), Leasspell (EIF, 18th-19th Aug) as well as numerous secret projects and events.
Monday 18 May 2009
Some blogs to check out
Thought I'd draw your attention to some blogs of some performers that I've come across. They seem pretty interesting and you should check them out...
http://www.orgonpoquelin.blogspot.com/
http://www.jacqueslemime.blogspot.com/
www.renard-letartuffe2009.blogspot.com
Keep an eye on them...
Sunday 17 May 2009
Edinburgh 2009 continued...
Just a little update as to the status of Belt Up's 'The Tartuffe' and 'The Trial' this coming festival...
Tartuffe and the Trial now have full casts and venue and time slots. Both of these shows will be performed in Belt Up's 'The Squat' in C soco. The space is going to be in a burned out, warehouse type building, hopefully all safe but everything is fire damaged so it has a really beautiful aesthetic going on.
The Tartuffe will be performed at 20.50 everyday from the 5 - 31st August. The Trial is being adapted from the Kafka by Dominic J Allen and is being performed the same days as Tart at 23.30 so look out for both of them!
Those of you who saw Tartuffe last year, expect more of the same but bigger, better and funnier! Trial is going to be a nightmarish experience so watch out for that one.
It's all getting very exciting now, rehearsals are underway and tickets go on sale from June so buy quickly!
Tartuffe and the Trial now have full casts and venue and time slots. Both of these shows will be performed in Belt Up's 'The Squat' in C soco. The space is going to be in a burned out, warehouse type building, hopefully all safe but everything is fire damaged so it has a really beautiful aesthetic going on.
The Tartuffe will be performed at 20.50 everyday from the 5 - 31st August. The Trial is being adapted from the Kafka by Dominic J Allen and is being performed the same days as Tart at 23.30 so look out for both of them!
Those of you who saw Tartuffe last year, expect more of the same but bigger, better and funnier! Trial is going to be a nightmarish experience so watch out for that one.
It's all getting very exciting now, rehearsals are underway and tickets go on sale from June so buy quickly!
Wednesday 6 May 2009
Edinburgh Festival 2009
Preparations are now underway for Belt Up's work at the festival this year. Here are the plans so far....
On the 18th and 19th of August we will be part of the Edinburgh International Festival as part of our award from last year. At the moment we're working towards a short devised piece called 'Léasspell' which is Anglo-Saxon for fable - it's going to take an archetype from literature and follow it through English culture from Anglo-Saxon to modern day, via Chaucer, Shakespeare etc. It's going to be performed as part of the EIF's 'Behind the Scenes' programme in the form of a work in progress workshop. Very much in embryonic stages but a nice chance to experiment.
Across the majority of the festival we will be playing with another experimental show based on the myth of Persephone. This is attached to the Forest Fringe and will run durationally across the month. It's not going to be a conventional theatre piece at all and the 'audience' may find themselves stumbling upon snippets of scenes without them realising. There wont be any set times or tickets and every day will be completely different so it's looking to be quite a borad piece to experiment with. Keep your eyes peeled!
Finally with Belt Up we are doing two shows in C-Soco. The first being my adaptation of 'The Tartuffe' and the second being Dom's adaptation of Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'. Last year we had our own venue, a dilapidated burlesque lounge called 'The Red Room' but this year we're going to the other end of the spectrum with a burnt out attic. The shows are going to be very much audience led so don't expect a comfortable ride!
I'm also writing an adaptation of 'Doctor Faustus' but I still haven't checked my inbox for details on this!
That's all for now! More info coming soon...
On the 18th and 19th of August we will be part of the Edinburgh International Festival as part of our award from last year. At the moment we're working towards a short devised piece called 'Léasspell' which is Anglo-Saxon for fable - it's going to take an archetype from literature and follow it through English culture from Anglo-Saxon to modern day, via Chaucer, Shakespeare etc. It's going to be performed as part of the EIF's 'Behind the Scenes' programme in the form of a work in progress workshop. Very much in embryonic stages but a nice chance to experiment.
Across the majority of the festival we will be playing with another experimental show based on the myth of Persephone. This is attached to the Forest Fringe and will run durationally across the month. It's not going to be a conventional theatre piece at all and the 'audience' may find themselves stumbling upon snippets of scenes without them realising. There wont be any set times or tickets and every day will be completely different so it's looking to be quite a borad piece to experiment with. Keep your eyes peeled!
Finally with Belt Up we are doing two shows in C-Soco. The first being my adaptation of 'The Tartuffe' and the second being Dom's adaptation of Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'. Last year we had our own venue, a dilapidated burlesque lounge called 'The Red Room' but this year we're going to the other end of the spectrum with a burnt out attic. The shows are going to be very much audience led so don't expect a comfortable ride!
I'm also writing an adaptation of 'Doctor Faustus' but I still haven't checked my inbox for details on this!
That's all for now! More info coming soon...
Writing
This here is the second post of this here, my blog
The reason why this blog has come into existence is mainly due to me losing steam whilst writing. As I'm neglecting this writing to write this post at the moment, I thought it only fair to say a little bit about what I'm working on currently...
Firstly, I've been playing around with what is essentially my first wholly original play, 'Ark'. It's going well and is on the fourth draft, I'm probably going to do another one before sending it out to the world and his wife in the hopes that someone is interested in producing it. It's a post-apocalyptic play set in a bunker but that's all I can really say as the main driving force is the stuff you do or don't know so I wouldn't want to spoil anything - this is of course hoping that somewhere wants to put it on and there be something to not be spoiled. I've sent it to a few friends and relatives and the feedback's been quite good - my Nana noted two pages where the 'f-word' was overly used but apart from that they seemed to like it.
Simultaneously I've been working on an adaptation of 'Doctor Faustus' to be performed at the Edinburgh Fringe at some point in some venue I'm not sure of, I don't know when or where it will be but I'm assured it will happen and be directed by Kate Shenton - I'll post full details when I root them out of my overly filled email inbox. It's going well and becoming a meta-theatrical burlesque show run by the seven sins all talking in a hybrid language of modern English and 'thieve's cant' which has been quite fun to play with - let's me say horrendously offensive things that only a few people will decipher. It needs a bit more work though and is one of the things I'm neglecting most by writing this post.
Finally, I'm working on the third version of my adaptation of Moliere's, Le Tartuffe. The first version was produced at the York Universtiy Drama Barn in 2007. The second was highly remixed and plunged into an immersive, audience responsive style for Belt Up's 'The Red Room' at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe. This version is feeding off of last year's version but changing the setting to an abandoned, burnt out attic - it will work from the same meta-theatrical world as the 2008 version (at some point I'll explain Tartuffe and Belt Up's style but it's getting late now) but I'm expecting a lot of the text will be completely revised. This version's very much in its infancy though so I'll no doubt be posting more on it later.
So, basically they are the three things I'm working on currently and should probably get back to...
The reason why this blog has come into existence is mainly due to me losing steam whilst writing. As I'm neglecting this writing to write this post at the moment, I thought it only fair to say a little bit about what I'm working on currently...
Firstly, I've been playing around with what is essentially my first wholly original play, 'Ark'. It's going well and is on the fourth draft, I'm probably going to do another one before sending it out to the world and his wife in the hopes that someone is interested in producing it. It's a post-apocalyptic play set in a bunker but that's all I can really say as the main driving force is the stuff you do or don't know so I wouldn't want to spoil anything - this is of course hoping that somewhere wants to put it on and there be something to not be spoiled. I've sent it to a few friends and relatives and the feedback's been quite good - my Nana noted two pages where the 'f-word' was overly used but apart from that they seemed to like it.
Simultaneously I've been working on an adaptation of 'Doctor Faustus' to be performed at the Edinburgh Fringe at some point in some venue I'm not sure of, I don't know when or where it will be but I'm assured it will happen and be directed by Kate Shenton - I'll post full details when I root them out of my overly filled email inbox. It's going well and becoming a meta-theatrical burlesque show run by the seven sins all talking in a hybrid language of modern English and 'thieve's cant' which has been quite fun to play with - let's me say horrendously offensive things that only a few people will decipher. It needs a bit more work though and is one of the things I'm neglecting most by writing this post.
Finally, I'm working on the third version of my adaptation of Moliere's, Le Tartuffe. The first version was produced at the York Universtiy Drama Barn in 2007. The second was highly remixed and plunged into an immersive, audience responsive style for Belt Up's 'The Red Room' at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe. This version is feeding off of last year's version but changing the setting to an abandoned, burnt out attic - it will work from the same meta-theatrical world as the 2008 version (at some point I'll explain Tartuffe and Belt Up's style but it's getting late now) but I'm expecting a lot of the text will be completely revised. This version's very much in its infancy though so I'll no doubt be posting more on it later.
So, basically they are the three things I'm working on currently and should probably get back to...
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