First dress rehearsal for ‘Roaring Trade’ last night and it was as sharp, sexy, bitter and funny as we’d hoped. Opens Saturday.
More production images by Graeme Braidwood here
‘Roaring Trade’ had its last two rehearsals before going into production week this weekend: an extremely sharp, funny, bitter and fast paced script written by Steve Thompson about traders and their world just before the credit crunch hit. A morality tale for our times but sadly one whose message didn’t get out in time.
As the blurb says - come and see some bankers suffer. Starts 19th September till the 26th.
Pictures by Graeme Braidwood
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.
Our industrious Marketing Manager Sarah McCaffrey pulled a few strings and persuaded the design company ‘Clever Cherry’ (www.clevercherry.com) to give us access to their very swanky offices in the Jewellery Quarter for a photography shoot for ‘Roaring Trade’.
These are my favourite images from the afternoon. Thanks to Clever Cherry and Sarah (who provided the champagne!).
Photography by Graeme Braidwood
A few weeks into rehearsals and all is going swimmingly well. Usually on the acting end of the stick, I am really enjoying being part of the production side. I approached Moss Bros in Birmingham to see if we could recruit some local support and they very kindly offered to provide us with some suits for the cast. So the boys had a morning out on Saturday and got measured up for some quality work clothes fit for top notch businessmen. Please see ‘Suits you sir’ – the article below.
And as rehearsals get under way, the cast are asking more and more questions - digging deeper into the subtext and themes. In doing this, they have found it to be a play with many layers and even though they are just scratching the surface of the investment banking world, they are finding themselves challenged by the fast pace of both the movement and dialogue - not an easy job whilst still on script.
Because of the complex nature of the dialogue (investment banking jargon) I decided I would try to contact Steve Thompson the playwright to see if we could get some questions answered. He was extremely approachable, and had agreed to come to the Crescent to speak to the cast about the play and talk to us in detail about the play. Unfortunately we found this very difficult to arrange successfully over the busy summer holiday period though we are hoping he will attend the show with the added bonus that we may be privileged with his presence at our after dark talk on Fri 25th September. This is a great opportunity for the audience to ask the Director, cast and hopefully the writer questions about the show - so book your tickets soon to avoid disappointment.
We are shooting the publicity shots tonight on location (well - as close to location as possible) and with Chara Jackson fronting the shot - it should be a great success.
On another note - though we have had some contribution from Moss Bros, we need some assistance with some other designer outfits where possible as there are quite a few costume changes throughout the show. So if you are a beautifully pristinely clad gentleman or lady, and can loan or donate some very modern shirts, suits, shoes and coats fit for top exec investment bankers- Please contact me on leasa252@yahoo.co.uk. I am also looking for a ladies designer handbag and 3 briefcases. Alternatively, you can drop them into the Crescent theatre and leave them with our costume department. Thanks in advance for your support.
Moss Bros in New Street have kindly agreed to loan the production of ROARING TRADE that is now in rehearsal 3 suits for the actors playing Donny (Matt Dudley), Spoony (Eden Voss) and PJ (James Allan). 
Just over an hour, last Saturday morning, was spent making sure that they were correctly fitted and looking sharp and I’d like to thank Moss Bros for their kind offer and help and Leasa Clarke for arranging it.
Rehearsals have started slightly later than planned but we are now fully immersing ourselves in the financial, extraordinary and brutal world of London stock traders pre the current Credit Crunch. So many questions to answer …
What do these people actually do? Does it benefit society in any way? What kind of character is able to thrive in such a high pressure environment? What is the fall out from pursuing the accumulation of wealth for your bank and yourself? How big actually are the bonuses (wouldn’t we love to know?) and how do you find out if you have got less than the guy or girl next to you?
Sadly we aren’t allowed to see a trading floor at first hand. If there is anyone who has first hand knowledge of what it’s like to work as a trader and help us with our exploration we’d love to speak to them at one of our rehearsals. Please contact graeme@graemebraidwood.com
More details of rehearsals soon.
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