Crescent Theatre Blog

‘Dad’s Army marches onto the Crescent Theatres main stage tomorrow (11th December) for a week. Relive the classic scripts of Perry and Croft and the shenanigans of Mainwaring, Wilson, Jones et al.

Next up in the Crescent Theatre studio is a new adaptation (by director Andrew Cowie) of Schiller’s classic text, ‘Mary Stuart’. This is my favourite image from the first dress rehearsal but it was only taken because I wanted a full length shot of Elizabeth’s (actress Naomi Gilbert) frock for the costume designer. Lucky. Click on the picture to be taken to more production picture

Naomi Gilbert takes one of the major roles among a strong cast in ‘Mary Stuart’ that opens on the 6th November. Andrew Cowie directs his own translation of the Schiller play and which is shaping up to be one of the highlights of the season.

In my last blog everything about Mary Stuart was still theoretical; I was editing the script, thinking about the staging and the characters were just voices in my head. Now the script is printed and bound, the set design has been approved at pre-production and the cast have been rehearsing for the last three weeks.

My feeling from the start, based on my own shameful ignorance of Tudor history, was that an hour and a half of 16th century politics would be a stretch for an audience if they didn’t recognise the contemporary parallels. But now the characters are inhabited by real, live actors the politics have become secondary to their personal stories.

Consequently I now feel I can chuck out some of my more egregious directorly interventions (but not the orange boilersuit – that stays!) and concentrate on telling the story. I spend rehearsals telling the actors to try everything in rehearsal and then get rid of what they don’t need and I’m in the process of taking my own advice.

Andrew Cowie (director)

‘Company’ is already packing in the musical theatre fans in the Crescent studio and rightly so. Tickets are limited to around 100 per performance so ensure that you book early. Runs till 25th September.

Ibsens ‘A Dolls House’ opens in the Main House tonight and runs for a week. Book your tickets for a fantastic production of one of THE great, classic theatrical texts.

One of the best things about directing a play is researching who wrote the play and why, especially if it’s a period piece like Mary Stuart. Mary Stuart, better known as Mary Queen of Scots in this country, was descended from the first Tudor king, Henry VII, and Schiller’s play revolves around hers and Elizabeth I’s competing claims to the English throne. Considering they occupied such a short period in history the Tudors still exert a surprising hold on the popular imagination and last weekend I found myself reading Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and watching David Starkey’s TV documentary Elizabeth so I’m not short of research material.

Schiller was an 18th century German republican so he had his own take on the 16th century English monarchy. It’s no coincidence that the French Revolution ended in 1799 the year before Mary Stuart opened in Germany; for Schiller, the story of Mary and Elizabeth is a parable about the corrupting influence of power which he witnessed in the French Reign Of Terror and to do justice to his original intentions I want our 2010 production to look for equivalent contemporary political parallels.

So with the production still three months away I’m juggling three separate timelines in my head; the 16th century English monarchy, 18th century European republicanism and 21st century abuses of power. I think some kind of a show is starting to emerge out of all that but in the end the cast will determine most of what the audience sees so the next milestone will be the auditions.

It’s not all about plays, plays, musicals and plays (and the Wassail) at the Crescent. There’s also a thriving social side to the theatre including the Half Moon Comedy Club (run by member and comedian Craig Deeley) and the upcoming Unplugged musical night. Both of these events take place in the Crescent bar and are always great nights. I went along last night to enjoy the comedic talent and especially Barabara Nice (pictured).

Mary Stuart, otherwise known as Mary Queen Of Scots, is detained without trial on suspicion of plotting to depose Queen Elizabeth I. As pressure builds on Elizabeth to authorise her execution, the supporters of both queens will stop at nothing to achieve their ends.

I am delighted to confirm that I have been invited to direct a new translation of Friedrich Schiller’s fascinating political thriller, Mary Stuart. The parallels with current politics are uncanny; internment without trial, religious fanaticism, a divided Europe and a Government struggling to establish a legal basis to act against a terrorist threat.

The performance dates are 6 – 13 November 2010 and it will be in The Ron Barber Studio. I’ll hold auditions in August but in the meantime you can download the script here

You can also download some background notes on the play here.

Andrew Cowie (director)