I’m very lucky to be able to record all the Crescent shows in rehearsal and production but it presents a slight problem when it’s your own show that needs pictures. Problem solved though when Kerry Murdock kindly stepped into the breach on Sunday and took some great photos.
It actually coincided with the first rehearsal when the actors put their books down - always a tricky one when one is very concious of suddenly having two hands to act with and a director that wants you to remember all your lines. In fact there are 4 very tricky scenes where the 4 traders talk to disembodied voices at the end of a ‘Squawkbox’ in 4 seperate conversations. It’s especially hard because your cue for a line probably has nothing to do with the line you have to deliver. (See the photo below where Matt is desperately wracking is brain for his line)
Anyway, despite the predictable prompts on Sunday Roaring Trade is shaping up very well and I, for one, am looking forward immensely to seeing the whole thing run for the first time in a few rehearsals time.
More photos on the ROARING TRADE Facebook event page.
After months of planning, drawing, discussing, measuring, cutting and hammering, the big day has arrived when the set for The Crescent’s production of The Vortex starts to take shape on stage.
Pictured are Keith Harris and Judy O’Dowd who – along with a team of helpers – have put in many hours of work to get us to this stage smoothly and with the minimum of hassle. They’re seen here erecting the central wall of the set which will fly in and out to help create three different settings for each of the play’s three acts.
If you want to see the full effect you’ll have to come see the play which opens on Saturday, 5 September!
The very first play produced by The Municipal Players in 1924 was ‘Spreading the News’ by Lady Gregory. We’re marking the group’s 85th anniversary (they later renamed as The Crescent Theatre) by producing the 1924 play The Vortex and today (Tuesday, 18 August) we continued spreading the news of our production by erecting a large advertising banner on the outside of the theatre.
There are some other events to mark the anniversary too (including productions of The Proposal and Juno and the Paycock) – see the main website for full details.
Students and teachers who may be thinking of coming to see our production of Noel Coward’s The Vortex can find a really useful information sheet on Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre’s web site: http://www.royalexchangetheatre.org.uk/downloads/education/VORTEX%20Resource%20Extra.pdf
You may also like to know that following the Friday evening performance there will be an after dark discussion with members of the cast and crew. If, however, you’d like to meet members of the team on another evening this can be arranged; please contact our box office on 0121 643 5858 with your request.
Some rehearsal shots of The Vortex taken last night. Pictures by Graeme Braidwood
The build of the set for The Vortex is now well and truly underway at The Crescent Theatre.
A band of willing helpers got stuck in for another session this evening (Monday, 10 August) and good progress was made. There’s still a very long way to go, and much help is needed over the coming evenings and weekends. However, by opening night we’re on track to have a stunning set.
In Act II of The Vortex, Nicky tells Helen: “I’m gay and witty and handsome.” Of course, gay here is used in its original sense meaning carefree or merry, the sense in which gay means homosexual is much more modern. However, along with the cast, I’ve had to ask the question is Nicky gay in the modern meaning of the word? Is this a very subtle sub text in the play, is this something that Mr Coward could hint at but dared not make too obvious in the prevailing 1924 climate of hostility and illegality? The evidence seems to suggest it is; the author was, after all, gay and authors tend to write about their own experiences or issues that concern them directly.
There is more evidence of Nicky’s homosexuality in the text. In Act III Nicky says, “I’ve grown up all wrong.” And in Act II Bunty, Nicky’s fiancé, tells him, “You’re not in love with me, really – you couldn’t be.” All very subtle and open to interpretation. But then, in Act III, when Nicky confronts his mother we learn that he feels she has subjugated his father and we have the classic, if now largely discredited, equation of dominant mother + weak father = gay son.
Nicky’s sexual orientation has recently been explored on the professional stage in the Manchester Royal Exchange’s production starring Will Young. Of this production, Nicholas de Jongh of The Evening Standard writes: “It has taken more than 80 years and the performance of Will Young, the gay pop idol who has never acted on stage before, to bring out the full truth about Nicky Lancaster, Noël Coward’s angry young man in The Vortex … The actors who have played Nicky, from Noël Coward himself in 1924 to Dirk Bogarde and Rupert Everett, have disguised or glossed over this crucial gayness. Not so Will Young.”
And what’s the relevance of this today? Well, as I sat down to write these words news was breaking of an attack on a centre for young gay people in Tel Aviv. This is a centre that offers help and advice to young people coming to terms with their sexuality in a safe environment, free of judgement. Well that’s the idea, clearly it is no longer the case. A desperately sad act of terrorism that only serves to remind us that there are thousands of Nicky’s all over the world in 2009 still struggling with their identity in hostile circumstances.
When I was asked to direct ‘Roaring Trade’ - a play about traders in the financial sector - my first thought was that perhaps it would be seen as a period piece; albeit a very recent one. Just a few months ago the banking system was, we were told, in real danger of collapsing and needed billions of tax payers money to prop it up. But we were also told that banks had learned their lessons and that the bonus culture - blamed partly for our current financial climate - was a thing of the past.
Tonight, though, Newsnight’s lead story and today’s Guardian headline makes it quite clear: bonuses are back.
Steve Thompson’s terrific play is not just about a reckless system that went unchecked in the recent past. It is also, unbelievably, our present too.
The knowledge of how to dress for a black tie affair may not be essential for a director of a Noel Coward play but it’s reassuring nonetheless to know you’re in good hands. Top marks, Robert!
Director Robert Ball, actor Scott Westwod and Marketing Manager Sarah McCaffrey converged on the piano at Bar Epernay in the Mailbox for some advance PR shots for Vortex. Many thanks to Bar Epernay for letting us use their premises.
Photography by Graeme Braidwood
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