The Bonn Playershamburg Playersbats, Antwerp
On the Saturday morning of our visit to Stockholm, Tom Howland, Chairmanof the Stockholm Players and well-known wearer of Viking horns and Nigel Harvey of workshop and stage fame, (woof, woof), took us on a tour of the Dieselwerkstad, the venue for FEATS 2008 (9 – 12 May 2008). The complex,which is about 15 – 20 minutes on foot from the centre of the city and with good bus and train connections,is a former industrial site. We were all very impressed with the facilities. These include several bars and a restaurant in the building, a multi-media centre, a library, a small theatrefor the Fringe, the larger one for the main festival. All the hanging bars are electrically controlled and the theatre boasts remote-controlled lighting equipment. There is also a costume department, so if you have a last-minute panic with a costume, there is the possibility of solving the problem. If, in spite of all this, things get completely out of hand, you can literally climb the walls as the complex boasts a climbing centre with different levels of difficulty!
Just outside the cultural complex, there is a shopping centre as well as several restaurants. With luck, the weather will be clement and we would then be able to take advantage of a small stage area outside for parts of the fringe.
Stockholm is a lovely city and getting around is quite easy. Transfer from the airport at Arnanda is by high-speed train into the centre of the city. There are lots of possibilities for extra-theatrical activities, with Skansen, the oldest open-air museum in the world and the Vasa museum home to the XVIIth century warship which sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 but was refloated in 1961 in an exceptional state of conservation. Then there is the National Gallery which, apart from fine paintings, also has a good lunch table, so I am told. Or you could take off on a boat round the islands and perhaps up to the royal palace at Drottningholm with the oldest theatre in Europe still with its original stage equipment. Some of you may have seen the Bergman Magic Flute which was filmed here. More of what to do and where to go in the next edition.
The Organising Committee of FEATS 2008, which will be under the patronage of the British Ambassador, Andrew Marshall, has invited the following groups to perform:
The Bonn PlayersHamburg PlayersBATS, Antwerp
ITG, BrusselsFEST, FrankfurtBSS, Brussels
AATG, The HagueNEAT, StuttgartDe Waanzin,Ghent
Entity Players, StuttgartTIE, BrusselsSemi-Circle, Basle
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FEATS winners will be eligible for invitation to take part in the 2008 NDFA British “All Winners” Festival (BAWF) which will take place at The Gaiety Theatre, Douglas, Isle of Manfrom Saturday 19th toFriday 25th July 2008with Colin Dolley GODA as adjudicator. Sir Derek Jacobi will present the Awards at a special gala evening on Friday 25 July.
I notice from your newsletters – yes, I do hear from quite a few of you nowadays, though it still would be helpful to receive from all of you (editor[at]FEATS.eu) – that several groups are holding ‘in-house’ play-writing competitions. Here are a couple which are open to all:
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The NDFA is once more holding a One Act Playwriting Competitionto promote new writing for the theatre. The GEORGE TAYLOR MEMORIAL AWARD dedicated to the memory of the founder of AMATEURSTAGE,was initiated in 1979,. It is held for one year and the Winner receives a certificate,a cash prize of £50 which is funded jointly by AMATEURSTAGE and NDFA. The Award is open to any piece of original theatre accepted by and performed at any NDFA festival between 1 July and 30 June. The play, not the production, must be recommended by the Festival Organiser. It must have received fewer than five public performances and be unpublished at the time of entry; should it be accepted for publication prior to the announcement of the Awards, it will be automatically disqualified. All entrants will receive a short written assessment of their script. The Judges have the right to withhold the Awards.
For further information consult the NDFA website
An Almost Perfect Murder, which was written by Wendy Foerster of ACTS and performed by the same group at FEATS 2007 has been entered for the 2007/2008 NDFA Playwriting Competition. Results in May 2008. Good luck, Wendy!
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DAW’S 2008 ONE ACT PLAYWRITING COMPETITION aims to encourage the writing of plays for amateur theatre in English and Welsh. In addition to cash awards, prize-winning plays will be considered for publication. Previous prize-winners have been published and performed as a result of promotion through DAW’s New Writing Scheme. THE COMPETITION IS OPEN TO EVERYONE. 198 entries were received for the 2007 competition; not only from Wales, Scotland, Ireland and England, but also fromFrance,New Zealand,Australia,the USAandCanada.
PLAYING TIME: 20-50 MINS
MINIMUM CAST OF TWOThe closing date for entries is January 31st 2008
An Adjudicating Panel appointed by the Drama Association of Wales will read and consider the plays entered into the Competition and will award the following prizes:
- Best Play for a Youth Cast (16-25 years) - £200
- Best Play in the Open Category - £200
- Best Play in the Welsh Language - £200
- plus commemorative Prize-winners Medals
- Plays will be considered for publication by DAW Publications.
For application forms, please contact Teresa at the Drama Association of Wales (DAW) on Cardiff +44 (0) 29 2045 2200 or email Teresa at: aled.daw[at]virgin.net
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I askedTeresa Hennessy of the Drama Association of Wales to write an article on the Fringe. As she was rushing off to various other events immediately after FEATS 2007 she was not able to send me the following straight away. Anyway, thank you, Teresa, you did us proud and we hope to see you and the DAW team in Stockholm.
VARIETY AND TALENT AT THE FRINGE
Starting at 2.00pm Saturday, Sunday and Monday afternoons, we FEATS fanatics were treated to a wealth of talent in the uppermost turrets of the Royal Theatre where groups who were (mostly) not taking part in the main festival had an opportunity to show off their wares in the studio theatre Het Paradijs (the Paradise). I thought I was making my way to paradise on my first outing to the studio as I stupidly ignored the lift and walked up the five floors. I didn’t do that again I can tell you!
The simply divine Lesley Robertson with her dry wit and expert delivery hosted all three days and we waited eagerly for the Saturday afternoon’s productions to begin. No sooner had Lesley shot the starting pistol, the In Players of Amsterdam gave us George Bernard Shaw’s ‘How He Lied to her Husband’ directed by Johan Muller. A vibrant production of this one act play with incredible energy from a small cast that gave a perfect start to the Fringe. One of Shaw’s favourite targets being the centre of the tale - marital relations, and the husband’s surprising reaction when he finds out about his wife’s infidelity with a much younger man. A complicated piece came next from the AATG ‘Self-Accusation’ by Peter Handke and directed by John Kearney in which two actors worked together with lines that would be an absolute nightmare to learn I’m sure, but the accomplished actors gave such a performance that their synchronicity gave a smooth and polished production to not the easiest piece. Well, when you take the taboos and phobias of humankind in the mid-20th century Europe what do you expect; very intense, very complex, but I’ve got to say perfectly executed.
It was lovely to see the Hamburg Players up next, as the last FEATS festival DAW attended was hosted by Hamburg Players at the Altona Theatre. Valerie Doyle, a talented actress performed a monologue written by one of the group’s members Elena Kaufman. A woman confesses to her therapist why after an abnormal intake of water she feels like a walking fish tank! Sitting on a yellow sofa in the middle of the acting area, Valerie performed ‘Water Re-Tension’ extremely well, a perfect piece for an audition; new, interesting and showed many facets and talents of the actress performing the piece. Valerie performed once again in the next piece but was accompanied by three other actors at microphones with their reading of ‘Lady of Larkspur’ by Tennessee Williams. Set in a run-down boarding house in the French Quarter of New Orleans, two wistful characters meet. Again this quartet gave an animated performance which certainly enthralled me as a Tennessee Williams fan but I have to hold my hand up and admit I had never seen a production of this one act play.
At this point ACTS Stuttgart was to have performed ‘Phoney Girls’ by Stuart Marlow but due to circumstances beyond their control, they were unable to bring their production to Paradise…but would you Adam and Eve it, instead, we had the adjudication from ‘The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society’s Production of Macbeth’ performed by none other than Peter Comley; host; member of AATG; and all round good egg - what a sight for sore eyes our Peter was! In a rather fetching (if I may say) silver number with accompanying Esther Williams crash helmet (I mean this in the most complimentary sense), I have never seen an actor look so good in a frock with matching beard. Great end to the first day.
Sunday began with the Hamburg Players’ rehearsed reading of ‘Mother Figure’ by Alan Ayckbourn. An every day tale of what happens to a mother when left on her own with her young children that little bit too long. In come the neighbours who are then caught up in her bizarre world of baby talk. This was a well-performed reading by four actors plus the Scooby doo cuddly toy who wasn’t going to be left out and who also took a bow. Or should I say bow-wow! Linda Lane from AATG came next with an enthralling compilation entitled ‘Mna na hEireann (Women of Ireland) which took us from the poem ‘She is a rich and rare land’ by Thomas Davis to ‘Song for Ireland’ by Phil and June Colclough; visiting characters from Irish fiction and history, including an ould Tinker Woman, Kate Finnucane and a little three year old child. Linda shaped and choreographed these pieces beautifully and moved effortlessly through all different genres; song, poetry, dance and drama. Another new piece of work followed performed by IDEA, Dordrcht. ‘Emporium 2’ by Bob Tucker was set in a store and sold us the idea of what happens when the cash register at an unnamed emporium is stolen and the investigating police officer becomes infatuated with the Manageress’ daughter. Chaos reigned but at least the mystery of the candles was solved! After the interval, AATG directed by Richard O’Halloran gave us ‘Ohio Impromptu’ by Samuel Beckett. A still and enigmatic piece written in 1980 which recollects Paris in the thirties when Beckett collaborated with James Joyce. “ A multi-layered narrative evoking many dimensions of their relationship”. Riveting.
Next came Antonia Mochan from ECC Brussels performing Alan Bennett’s ‘Bed Amongst the Lentils’. A charming performance by an actress who captivated us from the word go. The vicar’s wife who fights against the restrictions ‘imposed’ on her by the rural parish in which she lives. An intimate performance in an intimate setting in which we were invited into ‘Susan’s’ world.
Monday got off to a flying start with Elena Kauffman in Shena Wilson’s ‘Pitch’. This one act concerns Emily Gould who leaves the safety of her writing desk to pick up a production schedule at the local theatre which happens to be producing her play. Suffering from stage fright, she finds herself on stage in front of the producers desperately trying a solo pitch to save her play. Tihana Ostojic from AATG performed ‘Just Good Friends’ by Jeffrey Archer, which surprised us all with a twist in the tale. She took us through the character’s thoughts and feelings brought on by the elation of being with her ‘new man’. Next up, a good friend of DAW, Nigel Harvey, gave us his drama workshop with interesting thoughts and ideas on his work as director with both amateur and professional theatre companies; informative and with a minimum of audience participation (thank goodness), Nigel gave us all an insight into the preparation, structure and time management involved in the work of a busy Director.
Of course the Fringe would not be complete without Martin Kirk’s ‘Review of the Festival’ and armed with eye patches, swords, and knotted handkerchiefs the audience enjoyed swash buckling as never seen before. This motley crew satirised the entire weekend and many “ho ho ho’s” were uttered and bottles of rum must have been consumed before such an accomplished production. Well done all, and I’ll tell you one thing, Johnny Depp had better look out…the members of the FEATS Fringe company are sailing right behind! Congratulations to all concerned on such a successful and entertaining Fringe Festival 2007.
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Any information for inclusion in Amateur Stage will be gratefully received. The Assistant Editor, Mark Thorburn is very keen to publicise drama festivals and things theatrical. His e-mail address is mark[at]charlesvance.co.uk and the general e-mail address is magazine[at]charlesvance.co.uk
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The technical package will be going out to the groups in the New Year. Participants are requested to respect all deadlines. Time will be short this coming year as the Whit weekend is very early. Information on hotels will also be given in the New Year. A word to the wise, there is apparently a big medical conference in the city over the same weekend and late hotel bookings might be difficult. So I suggest you decide early if you are coming to Stockholm…
THEATRE DATES FOR 2007-2008
WHENWHOWHATWHERECONTACT
November
6 – 10GEDS, GenevaBlithe SpiritThéâtre de Terre Sainte, Coppet
7 – 17Hamburg PlayersSnake in the GrassTheater an der Marschnerstrasse
8,9,10, 16 & 17Village Players, LausanneJane EyreLa Salle de Châtonnèyre, Corseaux.
13 – 17The Bonn PlayersCurtain CallsWohnstift Augustinum /: 0228 956 23.98
15 – 19NWTC, LuxembourgTissueThéâtre du Centaure, Luxembourgtissue[at]sarumlux.net /(0352)35 87 78,.
22 – 25BLOC, BrusselsThe MikadoAuderghem Centre Culturel /+32 495 386177
30 - 1 Dec.TagoraWitness for the Prosecution
2008
January
11, 12, 13BATS, AntwerpLittle Red Riding HoodArenburg Schouwburgmr-d[at]skynet.be /+32 494/102 611
February
12 – 16Brussels Shakespeare Soc.Richard IIIEspace Scarabaeus Theatre
May
9 – 12FEATS 2008Dieselwerkstadt, Stockholm
June
13 – 15Brussels Shakespeare Soc.The TempestCorroy-le-Château
PLEASE SEND ANY INFORMATION FOR INCLUSION IN THE NEWSLETTER OR ON THE FEATS WEBSITE TO: Editor[at]FEATS.euor Webmaster[at]FEATS.eu
OR BY ORDINARY MAIL TO:Sue Seth, Ancien Presbytère, F – 32350 St Arailles