Tuesday 30 June 2009

Three weeks till the First showcase

I did post this many moons ago, but there have been several requests for a repost. So here is confirmation. On Monday July 20th we have:

Colin Dicker by Dylan Davies
Walking on Water by Kara May
Love Me Backwards by Peter Briffa

and on Sunday November 1st we have:

Role Play by Katy Darby
Two Hands Higher Than A Duck by Hannah Kelly
Greaves and Gribson by Tim Gambrell
Come As U R by Eddie Coleman

It's at The Kings Head, Upper Street, Islington N1. 7.30 start, finish by 9.30.

Thursday 25 June 2009

Tango in the Dark & Bone White

As the nights draw in, Monday 29th June brings us a double bill of one act plays by a brand new - to us, anyway, writer - David Carr. I mentored them, and think them rather good. Very dark, but funny. They've both got a cast of two, and both last about half an hour.

Here's a picture of another David Carr. With a bit of luck we won't be going beyond ten as we have the past two Mondays. Unless the discussion gets out of hand. You never know. Controversies are everywhere, lately.
So be there.

Thursday 18 June 2009

Scorching

This week we shall be entertained by a ninety minute stage play, Scorching, from one of our wisest and most distinguished authors, Peter McKelvey. What's it about? Find out at Monday at the Horse and Groom.

Thursday 11 June 2009

Fab Life in the Big City

Monday brings us a double bill. First up, is Fab Life in the Big City, by Sam South. Last term we did her "House on the Hill" a double bill of sitcom episodes, you no doubt recall. This time around we have a stage play. For those who have the printed programme, you have have noted that it was originally down as "Unknown Entity". That's because it didn't have a title then, because it hadn't even been written. It was indeed an unknown entity. But she's been hard at work since then, and I've read it. I even mentored it.

I think it is, at very least, interesting. And funny. And clever.

Afterwards, there's a P-P first: a 10-15 minute animated TV cop thing for children called Carlo and the Fed by Mark and Steve Crumpler. Mark himself knows whereof he speaks. He is, as Jimmy McNulty would say, a police.

By day he's out there walking the mean streets saving little old ladies from ne-er-do-wells. By night, he puts away his truncheon, and picks up his quill.

Monday. Be there.

Tuesday 9 June 2009

Nicole Forbes

Actress, sometime showcase producer and schoolma'am Nicole is going on a sponsored run at the end of June, in The Race for Life, raising money for Cancer Research UK. It's a charity close to Nicole's heart, as she's running in memory of Kirsten, her step-mother who fought cancer for over ten years but sadly died in September 2007.

Return of the Maids

Back in March I blogged about Clair Spence, starring in a production of The MAIDS by Jean Genet at the Etcetera Theatre in Camden. Well it's transferred to the Greenwich Playhouse opening TONIGHT!!! 9th June until 5th July.

The last time THE MAIDS performed in Greenwich was 35 years ago (at Greenwich Theatre in 1974) with Glenda Jackson, Susannah York, and Vivien Merchant. It was later filmed with the same cast. Can lightning strike twice?

To mark this wonderful occasion the fabulous peeps at Nomads of Bazar would like to offer Player-Playwright members a special offer:

Buy One-Get One Half Price on full price ticket (£12) for the first 6 performances of THE MAIDS by Jean Genet at Greenwich Playhouse between Tuesday 9th June - Sunday 14th June (Tue-Sat 8pm, Sun 4pm). Please call the Greenwich Playhouse box office on 020 8858 9256 and quote PLAYER-PLAYWRIGHTS SPECIAL OFFER. This is subject to booking and availability.

The details are:

The Maids by Jean Genet
Directed by Gael Colin
Starring Emilija Ellen, Irena Grgona & Claire Spence
Greenwich Playhouse
Greenwich Station Forecourt, 189 Greenwich High Road, London SE10 8JA
9th June - 5th July 2009
Tues-Sat @ 8pm | Sun @ 4pm
Tickets: £12; £10 (Conc.)

Box office 020 8858 9256 | boxoffice@galleontheatre.co.uk
Greenwich Playhouse website: www.galleontheatre.co.uk
Nomads of Bazar website: www.nomadsofbazar.com

In the secrecy of Madame’s boudoir, surrounded by a sweet scent of gladioli and mimosa, two sisters viciously plot revenge against their employer...

Loosely based on the infamous Papin sisters, who brutally murdered their employer and her daughter, Nomads of Bazar’s take on The Maids is staged as a truly modern tale of the beautiful and the damned.

Fusing pop culture and our obsession with the media in the 21st century, The Maids challenges the boundaries between love, sexuality and criminal intent.

The Maids stars Emilija Ellen (Blind Fate) as Solange, the eldest sister and driving force in the plot to kill Madame. The bolshie and extravagant employer, Madame is played by Claire Spence (Primeval, Doctors). Completing the line up is Irena Grgona (Bad Cake) who plays younger sister Claire; sensitive, slightly unhinged and easily led by Solange…or so it seems. Directing the cast is Gael Colin (Dangerous Corner, Much Ado About Nothing).

Emilija Ellen comments, “Madame always means well and truly believes that her maids worship the ground she walks on. However, her love for Monsieur consumes her, leaving her completely unaware of the murderous plot the sisters are hatching.”

Claire Spence adds, “It’s been a wonderful challenge to play the role of the feisty Madame and bring Genet’s script to life for a new and contemporary audience. This is a play that will set your imagination on fire and leave you begging for more!”

Nomads of Bazar’s The Maids is a production that will assault all your senses! Fast paced and as time pressured as the world we live in today, it questions, unsettles and moves. Bittersweet and haunting, it stays with the audience long after the play has finished…

Thursday 4 June 2009

Bad Language

Monday, 8th June, brings us Bad Language, by Michael Ayers. What's it about? Who's it by? No idea. All I know is that it is an eighty minute stage play, and it's rumoured to be rather good.

It's also got nothing to do with this Michael Ayers, caught talking about John Locke and George Berkeley, with eastend boy, TV egghead, and ex-SDP MP Bryan Magee.



No swearing there, either. They don't make tv like that any more.

Tuesday 2 June 2009

Big Brother is Back!


More twists than The Wire, more racism than The Black and White Minstrel Show, the Show of all Shows is back. Thirteen weeks, it hasn't even started, and we've started.

Goodbye - The Reviews

The news is that Johnny and Clive's show Goodbye- The Afterlife of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore has had its run extended by a further four weeks. Every Tuesday, including tonight, at the LEICESTER SQUARE THEATRE, 6 LEICESTER PLACE WC2H 7BX Box Office: 0844 487 2475.

"Fresh twist in a fast moving and
fast talking hour..says much about their relationship without resorting to mere biography" (Gerald Berkowitz "The Stage")

"the gags come fast & furious in Jonathan Hansler & Clive Greenwood's hilarious and often moving piece" (West End Extra)

"Hansler's Peter Cook is spot-on" (Camden New Journal)

"I was craving for more - encore!" (Islington Tribune)

" A belly laugh from beginning to end..inspired work...highly recommended" (Morning Star)

"charming and funny...great pace and energy, Cook & Moore relationship portrayed with flair and originality" (Soho Theatre)

"Well performed, fascinating insight into Peter Cook & Dudley Moore's troubled relationship. A must-see for any fan of Cook's work (The Fix Magazine)

"well written - shows an in-depth knowledge of the subject...a comparable tribute to Cook & Moore" (Samuel French Ltd)

Anything that gets a good write-up from the Morning Star can't be bad.