Act/React: The King of Spork

Crap, crap, crap. I don’t feel bad telling you, gentle Upstart Blog reader, that I’m a little behind on the old writing doohickey. To the point that I might be reworking what actually gets put on stage next Monday. That’s all getting worked out.

After Friday’s post, I did plan out the structure of the show again and it feels much more interesting now. In fact, it’s structured much more like an essay, which was one idea I had to interrogate this material. You see, in approaching a political piece of action, news, whatever, you’re always told to make the political personal, which is why lovely Obama went trick-or-treating with his daughters on Friday to celebrate Hallowe’en, and why terrifying-prospect-in-chief McCain bit the head off a bat. It’s about making the political personal. These people are real people, but they are also political demagogues who can speak as inspiringly as Christ, guide a nation of 60 million people into brighter, less-choppy waters, and also know the legal status of every single Kenyan auntie.

I have a twelve-point plan for this show now, and – much like Russell T Davies says in his great book The Writer’s Tale – it’s sometimes easier to write when you know where you’re going to end up.

I’ve also written the first song almost completely now. It is… quite tangential. In fact, I reckon about 90% off-topic. More tomorrow.

Act/React: Battalions Of Sorrows

Goodness, these Act/React things are coming thick and fast, aren’t they? I can barely keep up, and I’m in charge of the third one.

Hello. My name is Tom Wateracre, and I’m doing “The King Of Spain” on November 10th. I mainly work with my company Pegabovine.

I’m now going to add a cut, because I feel this is going to be somewhat verbose. Click through!

Call for submissions

Upstart Theatre (“An unfairly talented ensemble” EdinburghGuide.com) are currently seeking new plays for development in 2009. Upstart exists to develop and produce new theatre that is daring, politically aware, and above all entertaining. We plan to produce a number of public rehearsed readings in London in 2009 with a view to possible productions in 2010 and beyond.

If you share our vision and would like us to read your play, post it to Upstart Theatre, 37 Gartmoor Gardens, London SW19 6NX by Friday 28th November, or email us with any questions at info@upstart-theatre.co.uk. All submissions should include an SAE if you would like your script returned.

More information about Upstart, our previous work and our future plans is available at our website, www.upstart-theatre.co.uk.

Tom Mansfield and Steven Lally
Artistic Directors, Upstart Theatre

Upstart Vblog – STAMPED 27th OCTOBER

STAMPED feedback

Act/React is all about creating raw and challenging new work, and I’m sure everyone who crowded into Theatre503 to see Stamped 27th October last night would agree that Lydia Ziemke and her cast certainly did that. Just through talking with people in the bar afterwards I’ve encountered a vast range of reaction – from people who loved every minute of it to people who didn’t really follow it to people who actually walked out – but no-one who thought it was “quite good” or “interesting” or, God forbid, “nice”. So I’m creating this post with a view to inviting people to comment, either below or at our Facebook group here. We’d love to hear your thoughts!

A view from the afternoon…

I’m sitting in the foyer at Theatre503, tapping away at this laptop mainly because there’s something I’ve learnt about being an artistic director on the day one of your company’s shows opens which you’ve not directed yourself – there’s actually very little to do a lot of the time. At the moment the cast are all off on a lunch break, Lydia and Phil are working on sound cues and doing the odd bit of photocopying, and I’ve been wandering round shooting little bits of video for a little viral thing that’ll find its way onto the blog. Everyone seems very happy to be in the theatre – the rehearsals have taken place at all kinds of places from Susanna’s flat to the Siobhan Davies Studios and as so often with this kind of work, most of the actors are holding down day jobs at the same time, but now the journey is finally drawing to a close everyone has a new lease of life. Unlike last time’s Act/React I’ve really not seen very much of the rehearsals so I’m very excited about seeing the show in its full glory at the dress rehearsal in about an hour. It’s funny – this project has involved a very steep learning curve for me in that it’s very tempting to ring the director up every five minutes and ask how everything’s going. I’ve just about managed it!

Although I might just pop my head round the door now….

David Luff leaves the Upstart Board

David Luff has resigned as a director of Upstart Theatre Limited. While David will remain in close touch with Upstart’s work, he felt his work as a producer did not allow him to give the time and energy he had hoped to be able to give the company. We’re really grateful to David for all his hard work and support over the last year, and we wish him well for all his future projects.

Some nice things about Upstart #1

From Dawn King, writer of Water Sculptures, Zoo and Chickpea Sickday Picasso Sabotage. Thanks Dawn!

Without Upstart Theatre, my plays Chickpea Sickday Picasso Sabotage and ZOO - both too short to be “full length” and therefore of no interest to most producing companies – would still be languishing on my hard drive. Water Sculptures, originally a radio play, only became a stage play because of Upstart’s interest. Would another company have been brave or mad enough to see the possibilities in an obscure radio play involving a giant flood and penis sculptures? I’m not sure.

Seeing my plays rehearsed and produced by Upstart over the past three years has allowed me to explore my own writing, and had immense value to me as an artist. Through these productions I’ve forged new relationships with Theatre503, with director Jessica Beck and with legions of talented actors. Because of Upstart, audiences and industry folk alike who might otherwise never have heard of me have seen my work and know my name.

Last but not least, I’ve been lucky enough to find, in Tom, a director and dramaturg that I trust. A very rare thing indeed, I think.

Act/React Stamped

Had my 2nd rehearsal last night for Stamped, for some it was their 3rd and for others their 1st… It was Jess, Zan, Tara & Myself and we learnt a song in harmony to be performed a capella Puppini Sisters-stylee. Then I found some Communist songs in a box in my flat, and we sang one of those. And despite my terrible rusty piano playing, I managed to work out an alto line! Lydia also came up with a rough structure for the evening, and tonight we will work on the letters, to refine which material will finally get included…

Job well done!

Well folks, we did it!

Last night, ‘The Focus Group’, convened at Theatre503 to research the commercial (or advertisement) viewing preferences of the participants who were participating in the research group known as ‘The Focus Group’!!

And so, our fab audience entered the surreal world of market research with GFI (Making Tomorrow Better by making Tomorrow Today) and bless their socks, they totally got down and dirty with the probing questions and incomprehensible instructions of GFI facilitator Sue and her long suffering sidekick/squeeze Tim, aided and abetted by prozac-happy Ann and Kat of the ever-changing job description.

GFI had recruited a motley crew of ‘professional’ (Sue’s quotation marks, not mine!) actors who presented a variety of 1950’s and 21st century commercials (or advertisements – Sue’s influence again!) to the focus group participants who voted with their POK’s (TradeMark) for their favourite commercials.

The audience successfully completed their focus group tasks (as Sue said, they ‘were there to do a job of work’) and left happy and full of cake; while the cast left happy, and in my case, covered in cake!  (Small cake-explosion incident during the dress-rehearsal!)

A big thank you to the audience for embracing the madness so whole-heartedly! – we had a lot of laughs making ‘The Focus Group’ and always hoped you would leave suitably entertained.

So to paraphrase Ann and Kat ‘This is your gift, to us, created by you, given to us for you, a gift, thank you.’  Aah, who said marketing was nonsense?

P.S. Just seen Tom’s post for an example of marketing that crosses the boundary between nonsense and just plain wrong!