Category: 4. The Installation (Nov 2013)

16
Sep

Introducing: playwright John Hamilton May

In the run up to ANOTHER DAY, we’ve been introducing the playwrights involved, and we are thrilled to welcome John Hamilton May back to the team.

John, we first met last year at Tiny Dog’s new writing festival, and it was a rather odd introduction as we recall…

I had written a monologue to be performed at Theatre Breaks JHMay Headshot Blackfriars Another Day(alongside fellow Another Day playwright Lucy Beacon’s fantastic piece, Rostov) and met Sooz and Patrick backstage. They approached me and asked if they could speak to the writer of my piece, as a last minute illness meant I had to perform the monologue myself. I told them it was me, and well – we’ve been talking ever since! They’re such a supportive and nurturing team, who care a lot about the work they produce. You could sense that from first meeting them.

You’re making us blush! The moment that you owned up to be the playwright as well as the star, we knew straight away that we wanted to work with you. So what have you been up to since then?
Since… well, it’s all been a bit mental since. I’ve been signed, been commissioned by BBC Radio 3, and had work performed at the Roundhouse, Ovalhouse and any other shaped house you like, Contact Manchester, West Yorkshire Playhouse and the Tron Theatre. I’ve also had my play Love in the Past Participle translated into Spanish, and hope to visit for the premiere (and a significant amount of churros) in March 2015.

And those who attended THE INSTALLATION, in November 2013 will have seen the play that you wrote for our site specific production at Hide Gallery; Seventeen Thousand, Five Hundred and Then Some. Now you’re back and writing another commissioned play for ANOTHER DAY!

I have something to admit though – I’m not a Southwark resident. I’ve never worked there or have family there. I’m not even going to pretend my bus goes through there because in fact I am an infiltrator. I live in the North, however, have made numerous rekkies to the area in an attempt to get a feel for its personality. I was immediately drawn to Chirst Church. Half a garage, half a house of God. I knew straight away that’s what I had to write a play about.

We’ve read your drafts, and it’s clear that you’ve taken the time to get to know the concerns of people in the area.

Whilst my knowledge of Blackfriars at the moment is limited to the great recommendations of others (e.g. the bars under the floral canopy of Isabella Street, or the Thai food stall outside The Windmill pub on The Cut), I’m looking forward to spending more time there during the run and speaking to residents and audience members.

So tell us a bit more about you as a playwright.

I’ve been writing, on and off, for seven years now. I haven’t always wanted to be a writer, and honestly, sometimes I question whether I want to be one now. Wouldn’t life be so much easier as an accountant? Or an estate agent perhaps? Something that didn’t include gutting out your soul onto a Macbook (because we’re too pretentious to use pen and paper) and bare it before critics. And by critics I mean my mother. Who “quite liked it just wishes you wouldn’t swear so much”.

Ha! Families are always the worst critics! But assuming that you don’t take up accountancy in the near future…?

I mainly write plays, but have a penchant for mogologues and poetic writing. I like to look at small, tiny heartbreaking situations and characters. The normal life. That’s what’s most interesting to me. I’m doing some work for the radio at the moment and also edging into spoken word too. The BBC commission, The Jumble Male, is my next big project, and is a ‘multidisciplinary piece’ that aims to ‘explore the current crisis in masculinity’. In reality, it’s me talking about being a 23-year old boy. Not a man, a boy.

And what is it that inspires you to open your Macbook and start typing?

I’m a magpie when it comes to writing. I pick bits up everywhere – from people on the street, the newspapers, accidentally from other writers sometimes… and keep them all on sticky notes on the computer. It takes a lot to get me to actually start writing (as Patrick and Sooz know now!) as my ‘proper job’ is pretty hectic too. Stuff normally comes out how I want it, just in need of some cinching and polishing, and this is where having Patrick as dramaturg has been particularly useful. I don’t have any writing rituals, although I can’t deal with mess when I’m working, and it helps to have a cup of tea to hand.

Any other tips?

I’ve trained both as part of my degree and on various playwriting groups (at the Soho most recently) and to be honest, the most prevelant piece of advice is JUST WRITE. Do not worry about quality or quantity or anything it all. “Don’t get it right, get it written” – James Thurber.

 

John Hamilton May has written ‘Beautiful, Beating’ as part of ANOTHER DAY.
Keep up to date with John’s work on Twitter: @jhm91
Or on his website: www.johnhamiltonmay.com

23
Nov

Shh! Exclusive online discount code!

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The programmes for The Installation are ready to go for tomorrow’s 4pm matinee performance! If you haven’t already booked your ticket, do it now and quote “SUNDAY” to claim an online-only discount.

FOAFTheInstallation.eventbrite.co.uk

22
Nov

The Installation – THIS weekend

After months of hard work, The Installation is now this weekend. If you have not yet booked your tickets, do so on our Eventbrite page: https://foaftheinstallation.eventbrite.co.uk

Availability is limited, so we strongly recommend that you book in advance.

The performance times are: Sunday 24th November, 4pm and 8pm and Monday 25th November, 7pm

Please arrive 30 minutes before the performance start time. The local watering hole is the Leather Exchange, directly opposite the gallery.

We would like to remind you that this is a site specific promenade production, so please wear comfortable footwear and keep baggage to a minimum. We will have a cloakroom for coats and bags, and each ticket holder will receive a complimentary glass of bubbly.

Hide Gallery map Installation

Hide Gallery exterior Installation
Hide Gallery Leathermarket, 22B Leathermarket Street, London SE1 3HP

23
Oct

‘The Installation’ November 24-25

The tickets are now on sale for The Installation. We have eight short plays lined up for you, each considering aspects of the Arts and how Art impacts our daily life. Reserve tickets in advance as availability is limited.

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November 24-25, Hide Gallery. A new writing event that breaks conventions and blurs the lines between Art forms. BUY TICKETS (and reserve a complimentary glass of bubbly)

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TRUTH OR SEDUCTION?
A man and a woman meet for the first time at an art gallery in front of an Old Master. The play explores the nature of their attraction to the painting and how this mirrors the nature of their attraction to each other.

Written by Mark Abbey
Mark has BA (hons) English Language and Literature. This has been a busy year for him as a playwright; his play Ice Cream was staged for three nights at the Theatre Breaks Festival, London (Tiny Dog Productions), and When it’s Gone it’s Gone was also shortlisted by Little Pieces of Gold for “Transitions”.

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Seventeen Thousand Five Hundred and Then Some
“February’s too busy mourning itself to mourn anybody else…’
A man with a memory stands opposite a blank canvas. She paints herself across it with Da Vinci-like dexterity to the point he just can’t ignore her anymore. ”

Written by John Hamilton May
John is an award-winning playwright originally from North Yorkshire. His work has been seen in venues across England, Scotland, in the United States and his 2013 Edinburgh Fesitval Fringe sell-out show, Love in the Past Participle is currently being prepared for performance in Spain. John is currently working on projects for the West Yorkshire Playhouse, the Bolton Octagon and was recently longlisted for the Verity Bargate Award. He is a Soho and Tricycle Young Writer.

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This is the Beginning of Everything
In which we examine art and truth in acting.

Written by Anna Forsyth
Anna has written and directed two four-starvshows at the Edinburgh Fringe. She has just completed her MA in Scriptwriting and has won two screenwriting awards in the United States.

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Here Comes a Lady
A cultivated young woman and a museum guard clash over the merits of a painting.

Written by Jeffrey Baker
Jeffrey lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. His plays have been produced at The Ontological-Hysteric Incubator (NY), The Francis Ford Coppola One Act Festival (LA) and the UCLA New Play Festival (LA). He is the recipient of a 2012 Florence Theil Herrscher Award in Theater Arts and the 2013 George Burns and Gracie Allen Fellowship in Comedy. His feature-length screenplay DR. ACKER’S ENGLISH ELIXIR is a finalist for the 2013 Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards.

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The Exhibition
The audience witnesses a brief, shocking exhibition between the “subject” and the “object” in art.

Written by Judah Skoff
Judah is a distinguished American playwright who won the National (U.S.) Playwriting Competition, the New Jersey Playwrights Contest, two New Jersey Governor’s Awards in the Arts, and many other awards. His plays have been performed in New York and around the United States at theatres and festivals including: the Abingdon Theatre, the Producer’s Club, the Hunziker Black Box Theatre, Joria Production, the Great Plains Theatre Conference, the Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, the State Theatre of New Jersey and elsewhere. The Jewish Week, the largest circulated Jewish-oriented newspaper in America named him one of their top 36 under 36 rising stars due to his playwriting. He was named a finalist in numerous competitions including the American Renegade Theatre’s National Playwriting Competition, the New Century Writer’s Awards, the New Orleans/Tennessee Williams literary one-act play contest, and the Hamilton Fringe Festival’s International Playwriting Competition. His writing is included in the Best Monologues From the Last Fronier Theatre Conference, published by Focus Publishing and available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and elsewhere. His writing has appeared in numerous publications including Red Ochre Lit and Red River Review. He was a member of the Horse Trade Theatre Group’s inaugural playwriting workshop, and a participating artist at Backyart, a multi-disciplinary artist’s showcase based in Brooklyn, New York. Judah graduated from Brown University with a degree in English.

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The Project
A professor has a Project for his students; how far are they willing to go to be an Artist?

Written by James Paul Avery
James began as an actor, and trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before turning his hand to writing. He has had his short plays performed in venues across London, and is currently working on a full length play to be completed in 2014.

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What Would Andrew Lincoln Do?
Tom, 27, works in finance. Straight acting. Into rugby, cinema trips and tae kwon do. WLTM: tall, handsome easy going guy for new adventures. LTR only.
Piper, 25, works in the arts. WLTM: creative types for fun and spontaneous trips. Enjoys theatre, baking and figure skating. Frightened of tuna but we can talk about that another time. Will consider STR but looking for marriage.
And fast.Tom, meet Piper.
Dating just got interesting.

Written by James Robert-Moore
James trained at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York campus. Theatre credits whilst training include; Hal in Proof, Oliver in Dinner At Eight, and Derek in Once A Catholic. Theatre includes; Who The James Is Jim Darke? at The Breakfast Club (site specific), and An Evening of Music and Lyrics by Annemarie Lewis Thomas at The Landor. Rehearsed readings include; Breakfast With Tiffany at Dance Attic. For TV and Film; Young Dracula and Nowhere Boy. James wrote the scripts and appeared as an acting coach for online children’s talent show The Call Back for iMedia. He is also the Stage Editor for So So Gay magazine, and a features writer for the MOBO Awards online. His first full play, a dark comedy entitled ‘It’s Been Nice Knowing You’ had a rehearsed reading at the Jermyn Street Theatre in February earlier this year. ‘What Would Andrew Lincoln Do?’ is his first short play.

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Two Out of Five
Edwin Hominy-Smythe, a frustrated and melodramatic young man, composes a testy online review of a popular bar that he has just visited. He relates his experience braving the loud music and the crowds in hopes of finding true love, and waxes poetic about his romantic fantasies and ancient heartbreaks. Will the ghost of relationships past derail his wooing of an unfriendly hipster? The answer is in the stars.

Written by Jonas Oppenheim
Jonas is a playwright and director whose plays include Hamlet Shut Up, Free $$$, Mr. Satan Goes to Wall Street, Earth Sucks, The Foul Stench of Death, and The Clown Family Murders. New York: PS122, Ontological/Hysteric, EST, La MaMa, and Ohio Theatre; Los Angeles: Sacred Fools, Theatre of NOTE, the Freud Theater, 24th St. Theater, Miles Playhouse, Highways, Luckman Arts Complex, and Art|Works; and at theaters, universities, backyards, basements, parks, and parking lots across America. His new comedy The Mother Ship will premiere at Sacred Fools Theater in 2014.
His work has received L.A. Weekly Awards for “Best Adaptation” (2010) and “Distinguished Achievement” (2006). He is the recipient of the 2003 Peterson Emerging Playwright Award and the 1998 John Golden Playwriting Prize.
He currently serves as co-artistic director of Sacred Fools Theater Company in Los Angeles, and is founder and artistic director of a guerrilla theater company, the Imagination Liberation Front. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and the L.A. Stage Alliance, an alumnus of Directors Lab West, and a teacher and guest artist with the 52nd Street and Virginia Avenue Projects.

21
Oct

Tickets on Sale

We are delighted to announce that tickets for The Installation are now on sale. Our Autumn Winter season is set to take place at Hide Gallery in London Bridge in what promises to be a thought provoking look at the Arts and ‘the Audience’. Our collaboration with Hide Gallery ensures that as well as supporting writers and performers, we will also be able to throw into relief the work of emerging London visual artists.

This new writing event will be a site-specific promenade performance, set within a gallery open view, so join us for eight short plays and a glass of bubbly on one of our three performance dates:

Sunday 24th November, 4pm and 8pm
Monday 25th November, 7pm

Tickets cost £15 and include a complimentary drink, so book now before you miss out: http://foaftheinstallation.eventbrite.co.uk/

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