The New Factory of the Eccentric Actor are making a film… Sounds very grand, but to be clear this is not a multi-camera high budget short. It is certainly short, a 12 minute work called ‘Lenin’s Lunch’ which unsurprisingly is about Lenin trying to eat his lunch, but the filming itself is to be deliberately lo-fi. This is a collaboration … Read More
Pendle Witch
I was asked to stage a short scene from an obscure 17th century play – The Witches of Lancashire by Thomas Heywood & Richard Brome – for inclusion in a BBC 4 documentary called Pendle Witch being produced by Wingspan Productions. Simple one might think… However the scene included the transformation of two greyhounds into a woman and a small … Read More
The Fever – Brighton – Review
“Bold and inspired production of an astonishing play” The writer of this play, Wallace Shawn, first performed it himself in an apartment near 7th Avenue in New York City in 1990. He deliberately wrote it to be gender-neutral and able to be performed by actors of almost any age to small groups at a time. Saltpeter’s director Gary Merry has … Read More
The end of The Fever
Another staging of The Fever is done and dusted. Sunday night in Brighton proved to be very successful, with a good crowd in, and some very positive feedback. The success of the evening, almost entirely due to the performers, reaffirms my belief that The Fever should be performed more, and there will be more on the way. The photo above … Read More
The Fever – online interview
Here’s the text of an online question and answer interview my co-producer/performer Vera Chok and I undertook for Fringe Review. What’s the title of your show? – The Fever by Wallace Shawn Where is it playing, on what dates, and at what times? It’s a one-off at The Brighton Media Centre Gallery – Venue 73 May 22nd, 7.30pm What is … Read More
The Fever – Stir crazy
Feeling decidedly stir crazy. Some of the cast of The Fever are out of the country, and some off working on other projects, hence we won’t be rehearsing again until next week. So I just have the script to read, and re-read, and the opportunity to indulge in the slightly annoying habit (it would seem annoying to you if you … Read More
The Fever – Rehearsals begin
I am naturally disinclined to explain what I think a play is about. As I have stated elsewhere I am quite likely to answer any enquiry about the nature of a play with the answer “come and see it, and find out”. However I have to admit that a little context, a hint about the kind of work an audience … Read More
Political Theatre
A friend asked me recently apropos nothing at all “what ever happened to political theatre?” Setting aside the obvious, that all theatre is political in some sense, I think they were alluding to what they perceived as a dearth of theatre about/espousing political ideology. NB this blog entry has inexplicably disappeared. You’ll just have to imagine what I might have … Read More
If you didn’t catch The Fever…
If you didn’t catch The Fever at the People Show Studios in December, you can at the Brighton Festival Fringe. saltpeter presents Wallace Shawn’s Obie Award winning The Fever A one-off site specific ensemble piece Venue: Brighton Media Centre Gallery Date: Sunday, 22 May 2011 Staging The Fever is an ongoing project for saltpeter. We believe that The Fever is … Read More
Music/Collaborations/Wish Lists
I was musing on the possibility of staging a version of ‘Synecdoche, New York’ (not that I’d ever get the rights, but let’s put it on a wish list). A play within a play, within a play, within a play, within a play… in a massive warehouse space (on the list). I just happened at the time to be listening … Read More
The Fever – Brighton Festival Fringe
For the record, it is not easy to find a venue for even a one-off performance, a week before registration closes for the Brighton Festival Fringe… Having very successfully staged The Fever at the People Show Studios late last year, and with a shared belief that you can never have too many performances of it, Vera Chok of saltpeter and … Read More
I don’t like readings…
Friday saw the reading of Mark Sand’s new play ‘Cracked’ take place in the studio of the Soho Theatre which I had the pleasure of directing. The cast gave excellent performances, particularly considering the short amount of time we had to work on the script, and the feedback on both the reading and the play itself was very good. Mark … Read More