Tag: drama

24
Sep

Another Day Audition Recalls

Today and tomorrow (24th / 25th September) we will be holding recalls and auditions for our upcoming production Another Day.

 

If you have booked an audition slot via Casting Call Pro, then we are looking forward to seeing you in the next couple of days.

As Another Day is a site specific production, we have the good fortune of being able to audition the cast in the venues that will form the backdrop of our performance.

 

When we held our auditions in July, we had some problems with internal emails via CCP, so we have planned ahead for anyone who has not received their email with the address….

 

Wednesday 24th September:

ANOTHER DAY blob10:00 – 12:00 at Mad Hatter Hotel

3-7 Stamford St
London SE1 9NY

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 12:00 – 17:00 at The Crown

108 Blackfriars Rd
London SE1 8HW

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Thursday 25th September:

10:00 – 17:00 at Mad Hatter Hotel

3-7 Stamford St
London SE1 9NY

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22
Sep

Introducing: playwright James Robert-Moore

As we continue to introduce the playwrights of ANOTHER DAY, we welcome AFOAF regular, James Robert-Moore.

James, did you always want to be a writer?HEADSHOT James Robert-Moore Blackfriars Another Day playwright

No! I’m relatively new. I’ve always wanted to be an actor. I went to a drama school (American Academy of Dramatic Arts) in New York for a year, and whilst I was out there I started blogging about my experiences. People seemed to really take to my ramblings about all things stateside, so when I returned home I decided to finally write the full-length play I’d had rattling around in my head for years. Now I’ve started writing, I just can’t stop! Acting is still my first love, although both creative outputs battle for top position quite frequently depending on my mood!

My training continues on every job I ever do.

You never stop learning. Ever.

Do you have any writing rituals? Or a favourite work space?

My bedroom. Lots and lots and lots of tea. And a really good book to read when my mind’s gone blank and it’s all getting a bit stressful. Resting, and taking yourself away from the piece is vital. A fresh set of eyes always brings a new twist or turn.

When you sit down to write, what is your process? Do you have a clear idea when you start off and simply fill in the blanks or do you simply start typing and see what comes out?

Oh my goodness, this is an impossible questions, and every single writer will tell you something different. I always have to have an idea, and usually an opening scene and an end. What happens in the middle is up to my fingers as I type. Sometimes though I have one strong idea, and by the time I’ve finished a piece has completely gone in a different direction. I love it when that happens.

So we first worked with you last year…
That’s right. I first worked with AFOAF back on The Installation. Patrick assitant-directed a show I was in up in Edinburgh last year, and one night over an over-priced beer I told him how I wanted to turn my hands to a bit of writing. He told me about your Art Gallery project and I got thinking of some ideas. A few months later, ‘What Would Andrew Lincoln Do?’ was born.

INSTALLATION James Robert MooreWhat Would Andrew Lincoln Do? actually opened THE INSTALLATION. What was your lasting impression of that experience?

It was so nice to have the support and encouragement of A Friend of A Friend, particularly as I was such a virgin in the writing stakes. Through a fun rehearsal period, the play really changed shape, and has fast become one of my most favourite shorts I’ve written.

What have you been up to since?

Since then, I’ve continued putting pen to paper, and have been working hard on my full length play ‘It’s Been Nice Knowing You’, which has received two workshops so far. I’m hoping to see it get a full scale production within the next year. I’ve also just started writing a very exciting new piece based on a best-selling book, which I can’t say too much about at the moment – yes, I hate it when people say that too!

You tease! We’ll just have to hold on and await the big reveal! What else have you got in the works?

My most recent project was taking all my clothes off in a production of Privates on Parade! I’m in a real writing frame of mind at the moment, and am currently working on three projects as well as Another Day. ‘It’s Been Nice Knowing You’, the new project I’m being coy about, and also a series of shorts all themed around dating – which I actually took inspiration from doing ‘What Would Andrew Lincoln Do?’ in The Installation project. I’ve had my fair share of terrible dates, and I know everybody else has too. So why not be entertained with some disastrous stories! Look out for the shorts around Valentine’s Day next year!

We’ve seen some sneak previews of your upcoming work – audiences are in for a treat! What is it that appeals to you about short plays?

I love writing plays the best. Usually full length, but it’s amazing what stories you can tell in short form too. Sometimes you don’t need to drag a tale out – short and punchy can get your message across even better.

So as you know, ANOTHER DAY is all about life in Blackfriars, do you have any SE1 anecdotes to share with us?

I bought my beloved bicycle ‘Ashley’ from a shop just between Elephant and Castle and Borough, so although I’m not a Southwark resident, the area does bring back fond memories!

More recently, I went to the Southwark Playhouse for the first time actually, to see Dogfight (by Danielle Tarento). I absolutely loved it, and the space was great. I love that you can turn anything into a theatrical space – there are no limits any more. We’re very lucky to live in such an exciting time, creatively.

Agreed. In fact, we feel that it’s a very exciting time for the Arts in Southwark in particular; it’s great that audiences are coming south of the river. So what other discoveres have you made?

Sometimes if I’m feeling adventurous then I walk all the way from Tooting to the River. It’s amazing the sights and sounds you come across on the way. It’s much better to see the beauty on top than be whizzed underneath it on the underground every day. It’s a little treat I highly recommend.

The little arches that run adjacent to The Cut are a gorgeous little find. Especially when all the flowers are out in bloom. It’s easy to forget you’re in London, and while away the afternoon with friends. Try the little sharing dishes in EV restaurant. They’re delicious.

You’ve admitted that you’re not a native to SE1, but you definitely seem to know your way around. What have you discovered about the area since starting work on ANOTHER DAY? Has your perception changed?

I didn’t really know anything about Blackfriars before I started working on the project but it’s amazing to discover how rich in detail one little area is. I love talking to and hearing about the people who have lived there all their lives. As a person who grew up elsewhere and then moved to London, I always forget that for some people London has always been home. The way the city has built up must be a very confusing, and exciting thing for the long-term residents to have witnessed. It’s easy to take London for granted, but for them it’s a way of life.

 

James Robert-Moore has written ‘Welcome to Blackfriars’ as part of ANOTHER DAY. He is also mentoring student playwright Claire Squire, and refining the story arc for ANOTHER DAY with dramaturg and director Patrick Maubert.


Keep up to date with James’ work on Twitter:
@Jamesy_Moo
Or on his website: www.jamesrobertmoore.co.uk

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

10
Sep

Auditions and Recalls for Another Day

On 24 and 25th September we will continue with the second round of auditions for Another Day. We saw some fantastic actors last month, but due to some difficulties with the Casting Call Pro messaging service, we weren’t able to see everytone that we wanted to. So now there is another opportunity for actors to attend our casting sessions.

 

You can apply and book your audition slot via the CCP listing: http://www.castingcallpro.com/uk/job_view.php?uid=234539

 

 
In the meantime, check out this video of some of the greatest actors’ auditions. We love this reminder that everyone starts somewhere. And for performers, that somewhere is usually in the audition room…

14
Jul

Introducing: playwright Lucy Beacon

As part of our BLACKFRIARS STORIES project, we’re working with a hot team of emerging playwrights who will be writing the short plays that will form our Autumn production ANOTHER DAY. We’re keen to introduce the playwrights to you, so we’re kicking off with the delightful Lucy Beacon.

So, Lucy, how did you end up becoming a part of ANOTHER DAY?

I wrote a short play called ‘Rostov’ which was chosen for last Lucy Beacon playwright headshotyear’s Theatre Breaks festival in Camden, and AFOAF was involved in that festival too. I’m interested in the use of pre-recorded spoken word in theatre, and Ice Cream (by Mark Abbey) used some in a particularly inventive way. I got chatting backstage to the director, Patrick, about the audio and how he’d used it to get round a difficult staging issue. He introduced me to the rest of AFOAF, and they were all so lovely that when an opportunity arose for me to work with them, I jumped at the chance!

What have you been up to since then?

Since the Theatre Breaks festival I’ve had a couple of short plays produced. The first was for Lost Theatre’s ‘Five Minute Festival’ in which I had a comedy called ‘The Pudding Club’. It was set in a maternity clinic and featured one man, two women and a whole lot of trouble! I was delighted when it won the judges’ vote for best piece of the evening. I also had a play, ‘Trap Doors’, on at the Bush Theatre’s ‘Ambush’ evening earlier this year. It was a real honour to have my play performed on that stage as it’s the theatre that inspired me to start writing drama.

You’re a busy bee! What is it that inspired you to write in the first place?

I always wanted to write but it took hitting 40 and a mini midlife-crisis to actually get me to sit down and do it. I love theatre and so writing drama was the natural choice for me. I’ve worked in the music industry most of my life and so that’s a passion for me too. Perhaps I could put both of those elements together and write a musical one day!

So what’s your process when you’re working on a new play?

As I’m quite busy, I find it useful to ‘write’ in my head before I put it down on paper. It’s a good way to work as I usually know at least sections of the play before I start. I try to write both the beginning and end of the play before I sit down to type – the middle sections usually happen at the computer. My favourite place to write is on the bus. I love listening to snippets of conversations as people step on and off public transport. There’s something about getting only part of a story that fires the imagination much more than hearing it all.

As you know, ANOTHER DAY is all about life in Blackfriars. We’d love to hear some of your own experiences….

Although I’m not a Southwark resident, I worked in the area briefly and my sister is still based here. I’ve spent a good deal of time in Southwark over the last twenty years and it has always felt like a creative area. As well as going to the more established creative hubs of theatres and galleries, I’ve stumbled across impromptu drama on the streets, and been to innovative music venues. It’s a great place.

I’ve always loved it down by the river in this part of London. The view both upstream and downstream is stunning – especially at night. I love people watchingand the riverside is a perfect place to take a seat and watch the world go by. I’ve really enjoyed researching the historical details of the area as part of Another Day – both the recent history and that of previous centuries.

 

Lucy has written ‘Ribbons’ as part of ANOTHER DAY.

You can follow Lucy on Twitter: @lucybeacon