The heat of activity at the theatre is rising ahead of this weekend’s LTG (Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain) Conference. Badges are being made up, delegate packs are being stuffed, displays are being refreshed and the exterior of our wonderful ‘little’ theatre even received a lick of paint yesterday.
Come Friday evening some 140 delegates from across the UK will start arriving in Birmingham for a weekend packed with theatre related excitement. In addition to the formal elements of the conference (including the LTG’s AGM) delegates will be watching TERRORISM on the Friday night and THE BUS on Saturday evening.
They’ll also be attending four lively workshops exploring the creative process of taking a play ‘From Page to Stage’. This will culminate with a presentation on Sunday morning of practical – yet fun – examples based on what delegates have learned. Our speakers, who will look at directing, design and acting, are all joining us from the RSC and are bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience with them to share.
Crescent members may attend the workshops for FREE and you’ll be receiving an e-mail with details of how to sign up and join in the fun. I hope to see you there. And, don’t forget we need lots of volunteers to help make the conference run smoothly, so put your name down to help without delay.
After an exhausting technical week during which my hand was rarely free of a paintbrush and the cast and crew worked tirelessly through several rehearsals, THE BUS finally opened on Saturday and we got to see what the audience would make of it.
It’s fair to say that the play itself has divided opinion, although everyone appeared stimulated by it, intrigued, and the discussion about it continued well into the early hours of Sunday. Exactly what I hoped for!
Here are a few snippets of feedback received:
“There are some really good performances … notably from Paula Wall and Ben Rigby in the central roles of Erika and Hermann. The staging … is also well attuned to the play’s abstraction.”
“I enjoyed THE BUS on lots of levels … I thought the cast was amazing, some really fantastic performances.”
“Well done, I thought you made the massive ideas really accessible … particularly enjoyed the ‘trees’ design wise too … good going designer!”
“Thank you for a thought provoking evening last night. Can’t pretend to say I truly understood it but was dead impressed at some of the performances … loved the setting, so great to see the stage opened up like that … bravo for being different.”
THE BUS runs till Saturday.
THE BUS has just completed its first dress rehearsal, and here’s a sneak preview of how it will look. There is still some work to do on set, lighting etc., but all will ready for the big opening night on Saturday. Hope to see you there!
Hard working Arts Manager, Robert Ball, today took a break from set painting to participate in the final round of this week’s BBC Radio WM Workplace Challenge – and won! Despite a rocky final round in which Robert dropped points for the first time, The Crescent beat off Big Cat Communications to take the title of weekly winner. Robert didn’t score enough points, though, to make it to the top of the leader board.
Robert Ball, Arts Manager, has now extended his lead to three points on BBC Radio WM’s Workplace Challenge (daily on the Les Ross Show at 1445 and 1515 GMT). But, with two rounds to go everything could still change.
The music department at Birmingham’s Crescent Theatre is coming up trumps for our forthcoming production of THE BUS. Based on the motif of violin music mentioned in the play, a selection of songs have been recorded that will be played throughout each performance; what they are and how they fit with the action of the play you’ll have to find out for yourself by coming along between 14 and 21 March.
Then, next weekend, under the musical direction of Gary Spruce, a choir will be recording a piece of music for use in the final scene of the play. The choir has been rehearsing hard ahead of the recording and the music they produce will be truly wonderful. Below is a shot of the choir in action last night (Sunday, 1 March).
Rehearsals for THE BUS progress well. We’ve been running the play for the past week or so and really getting a feel of how the story twists and turns more than the postal bus between Lugano and Tirano (a journey I made 10 years ago and which still lives on in my nightmares to this day!).
There’s one more week in the rehearsal room before we hit the main stage at The Crescent for our tech week and dress rehearsals. Then the big opening night on Saturday, 14th March.
I’m happy to report that the production is shaping up just as I hoped it would: it’s a great play, full of surprises. I hope you’ll see it and agree.
More than 50 people gathered in The Crescent’s bar on Saturday night to celebrate St Valentine’s Day by listening to a vibrant selection of music, songs and readings all on the theme of love and exploring the emotion’s many facets.
It was a great event and love really was in the air that night. Apologies for the poor photo, but if gives you a good idea of the event.
As I write, a second full house of school children are enjoying ‘Of Mice and Men’ in the Ron Barber Studio here at The Crescent Theatre. This is our second experience of trying out schools’ matinees this season and as with ‘Journey’s End’ in November, the day has proved extremely popular.
It’s often not easy for people to give up a day of their valuable holiday allowance to come in and perform for school parties, but when they do they have a great time. On behalf of all at the theatre I’d like to extend thanks to everyone who has come in today to act, stage manage, run sound or lighting, sell coffee and prepare lunch for the team.
OK, so that’s obviously a sensational headline, but I bet it got your attention. And, sometimes, rehearsing a play does feel just a little like belonging to a secret society – albeit one working to produce something positive, illuminating and even entertaining. We meet at night, often in a room under ground and without windows, to recite our text and plan the next move. Then on an agreed date, with watches synchronised, we burst forth upon the public to make our point.
There are three such groups at work right now on the plays that form our mini-season exploring all aspects of terrorism on both the personal and political levels. The Bus, Terrorism and Talking to Terrorists are all cast and in rehearsal with the first (The Bus) due to open on Saturday, 14 March (see web site for full details).
Each of the plays is very distinctive and takes a different approach to the others; Terrorism is a comedy – honest! This makes three visits to The Crescent essential if you are to make the most of this unique opportunity to see how theatre is addressing one of the key concerns for mankind in the early years of the twenty-first century. And, that’s exactly why we’re presenting this mini-season; theatre has always played a role in helping people to understand their lives, throw light on recent events and even to prompt people into thinking about how the world could be a better place for everyone. As a community-based organisation, The Crescent is ideally placed to present these important plays and stimulate debate.
I do hope you’ll agree that this is an important initiative and that you’ll support us over the coming weeks by coming to see these plays and joining us at some of the associated events that are being planned. And, of course, keep an eye on this blog for regular updates from the cells!
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