Information on Andrea
Wednesday
Nov152006

Cabaret Decadanse

I spent a few moments today hunting down the French Canadian adult puppet company Soma, whose Cabaret Decadanse is currently touring France and Spain.  I've approached them to see if they ever collaborate with other companies/director/devisers on projects, probably because I've fallen in love with "Conrad the Transvestite" in their current show.  Although the little sack with dancing duck feet and the two fluffy umbrella-weilding opera sopranos chorusing: "He drives a carmen ghia!  He wears pants of leather! In all weather ! He must be gay!" were fairly entrancing too.  Soma seem to draw on everything from the laundry to Bunraku, creating a world that ranges from the simple sock to complex almost life-sized puppets who dance, lip-sync and grope their way around the stage.  In the extract I saw, Conrad momentarily made use of the legs of one of the on-stage acting team as if they were his own, before grabbing and singing to one of his puppet masters.  Great stuff.  Check out the current tour, funky photots and video clips on: www.PassaSHOK.com. or go to Soma's own website - Googling Soma Puppets Quebec will do the trick.

Saturday
Nov042006

History Boys

Celebrated my first official day of freedom (Wednesday didn't count as I was teaching in Derry all day) heading down to Belfast to see the matinee of THE HISTORY BOYS. There was a great sense of occasion, the matinee was stuffed with people who don't normally go to matinees, people who had driven great distances, people who aren't normally out of their pyjamas at such an early hour of the afternoon, and people who had recently been reported dead - we were all there. And we loved being there. And we loved noticing each other. And we wanted to love the play. And, ultimately, we were disappointed. The sense of occasion was remarkable, the performances charming, the set and lighting and backprojection all very good, and the writing was... clever, heightened, witty, entertaining...but DIDN'T FORWARD THE THEME WITH SIGNIFICANT ACTION. In fact it danced all around the theme but didn't quite grasp the nettle. THE HISTORY BOYS is a lovely play, but I'm not sure that it knows what it's about.

I never want to be one of those theatre types who can't praise someone else's success. "It is not enough to merely succeed, others must fail". No. But it felt to me as though Alan Bennett had almost too much talent, and it got in the way of the play having a sense of direction.

Still one of those plays one is glad to have seen, to be able to chew over and think about in times to come.

Saturday
Oct282006

Create Terra Nova

Today I am posting the registration papers for Terra Nova Productions, my new theatre company, to the companies register in Northern Ireland. There are currently three directors, one company member, and myself as Artistic Director.

If you would like information on the process, or samples of the documents we developed (Memorandum, Article, Vision & Values, Company Structure), please post a comment.

Sunday
Sep242006

Start of a New Life

Countdown to Tuesday afternoon, 31st October.

I'm about to start a new life, leaving my permanent job at the Riverside Theatre and setting up as a free-lance.

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