Whats On Production Secrets (2003)
8th September


From the Editor's Desk

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Secrets (2003)

Directed By
Jane Martin

Producer
Lisa Arnold
Production Type
Nomads Production

Production Location
Main Theatre


Genre: Drama Turnout: 77% Length: 45mins

User Rating: (3.7/5 with 4 votes)

Flier Summary:

Part of a Double Bill. This will follow Stephen Fry's Latin.

Chris and Will are successful writers, rivals and lovers but neither is entirely who he seems to be. This new play traces their relationship through secrets and lies to its dramatic conclusion.


Description:

Notes from the Director - how it all came about

When I first expressed my interest in directing a production for the studio Latin was immediately suggested as a possible choice. I accepted this suggestion readily, knowing very little of its content but being certain that, written as it was by Stephen Fry, I would love it. I did and do even more now having worked so closely with the text over the rehearsal period. I hope that you too will delight in the richness of its language and outrageously bizarre behaviour of its characters. Soon after agreeing to direct Latin, it was pointed out that the play only lasts

about an hour and so, in a rash moment of self-confidence, I asked if I could write something to perform after the interval. I have had the idea for linking Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare together in a romantic way for some years and thought this was the opportunity to do so. Choosing a modern setting had advantages and disadvantages. Obviously it made language and cultural references easy, but there were problems.

Marlowe was a radical figure in his time. He was a notorious homosexual in an age where, although sexual activities with boys were accepted as a social pastime (Dominic Clarke would have been in his element!) long-term, adult same-sex partnerships were frowned upon. Also, having studied for to join the clergy, he was an atheist - not as bad as being a Catholic or a Puritan in the Elizabethan era but nevertheless not a safe theological standpoint. Times have changed and these aspects of his character no longer have much dramatic impact. I chose, therefore to focus primarily on his role as government agent. Marlowe was involved in gathering and passing information that smoothed the way for the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. He was eventually murdered by 'friends' who also worked for the government. Though the case was dismissed as self-defence, there has been continued speculation that his death was a political assassination. The parallels were strong enough to lead me to adopt one of the conspiracy theories that abounded after the death of Princess Diana and to lead Chris Marlon to his death in this way.

William Shakespeare was not known to be homosexual but did write 126 sonnets to an unknown male. There are mixed views as to whether this young man was a lover or merely a friend. To my mind the contents of these sonnets transcends the level of floweriness that was common between men at the time. They talk of love, jealousy, infidelity, beauty and pining. At the time of Marlowe's death, Shakespeare was yet to make any great impact on the London stage and, of course, he had his estranged wife and children in Stratford. The stage was set for two men living double lives to be thrown together as fellow writers and lovers - Secrets was born.

All the biographical details are authentic to the best of my knowledge, though gleaned from the writings of others whose research I trust to be sound. I thank them all for saving me a lot of hard work! I thoroughly enjoyed writing Secrets and have learnt an enormous amount about stagecraft from the experience of both writing and directing. Thank you to the cast and crew for all their incredible dedication and hard work and thank you for your support in coming along to watch - I hope you enjoy our double bill.

Jane Martin, May 2003

Extracts from Stephen Fry's programme note
from a 1989 production of Latin

Now Latin has come back to haunt me. It is very difficult for a chap trying to make his way in the world, earn the respect of his peers, the affection of his friends and the hard cash of his paying customers suddenly to be confronted by the deeds of his wild youth. It is almost like meeting yourself as you once were. I am making the play sound like the most precocious juvenilia there ever was: In fact I wrote Latin when I was twenty-two and, you may think, in a position to know better.

Strangely enough, the subject matter of the piece was the least of my concerns. I had long ago decided that it would be interesting to start a play in which the audience were addressed as if they were fictional characters and then, suddenly, with no more than a lighting change, to have the `third wall' of theatrical distance erected in front of them - to change them from participants to spectators in a flash. In choosing the subject of an English prep school, I followed the simple maxim of algebraic problem-solvers and novelists everywhere: `Write down what you know.' Prep schools I knew...

...the writing of Latin was ... an experiment in the techniques of theatre and comedy, combined with a not entirely disgraceful undergraduate desire to shock. Death, homosexuality, incest, sadism and Thatcherism had all been proudly paraded on stage for years and the senses of the theatre-going public were quite anaesthetised to any of the horrors that those topics could engender: Pederasty on the other hand could still, I hoped, set a few ganglions quivering....I had the most terrific fun writing the play and acting in it in Cambridge and Edinburgh: I wish you a quarter of as much pleasure in watching it. Valete.



Production Dates & Prices:
(Please note Booking Information)

 Date
Time
Price
 
 Tuesday 20th May 2003
8:00pm
£6.50
 Wednesday 21st May 2003
8:00pm
£6.50
 Thursday 22nd May 2003
8:00pm
£6.50
 Friday 23rd May 2003
8:00pm
£6.50
 Saturday 24th May 2003
8:00pm
£6.50


Cast: (in programme order)
Tim Spencer ... Chris Marion
Martin Tidy ... Will Shapesby

Crew: (in programme order)
Jane Martin ... Author
Jane Martin ... Director
Julian Pindar ... Front of House Manager
Susan Pindar ... Front of House
Adrian Bathurst ... Front of House Manager
Tracy Davis ... Front of House
Judy Tweedale ... Front of House
Patricia Yehia ... Front of House Manager
Martin Lawrance ... Front of House
Clive Mott ... Front of House Manager
Jackie Mott ... Front of House
Peter McKinley ... Front of House Manager
Sylvia McKinley ... Front of House
Tracy Davis ... Front of House
Tom Thomas ... Set Construction
David Payne ... Set Construction
Stuart Bangs ... Set Construction
Anna Murray ... Set Painting
Gordon Hilliker ... Set Painting
Tracy Davis ... Set Painting
Zoe Triantafillou ... Stage Manager
David Armitage ... Stage Crew
Zoe Triantafillou ... Stage Crew
Helen Longes ... Prompt
David Armitage ... Sound Operator
Tony Hansford ... Sound Operator
David Armitage ... Lighting Operator
Zoe Triantafillou ... Lighting Operator
Laurence Armitage ... Lighting Operator
Jane Martin ... Costume Design
Phillip Griffith ... Poster Design
Juliette Rainbird ... Box Office

Act1:
Scene 1 Late Spring 1997
Scene 2 Early Summer 1997
Scene 3 Late August 1997


Official Review:
Secrets the review
Inspired by two well-known historical figures, William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, Secrets portrayed the straining relationship of two contemporary lovers, will and Chris, as each, in turn. reveals secrets to the other. Like Marlowe, the modern Chris is acting as a government spy. Inadvertently he learns of a conspiracy to murder a well-known public figure and plans to flee, with Will, for his own life. This is Chris's final secret and before he can escape he is himself, like Marlowe, murdered.

In her first venture into playwriting, Jane Martin is to be congratulated for her imaginative script and considered directing. The piece proceeds at a lively pace and successfully manages to maintain the tension throughout. The dialogue for the most part works well and was well handled by Tim Spencer (Chris) and Martin Tidy (Will), who both turned in nicely judged performances. The periodic appearances of two nameless figures (ultimately responsible for Chris's demise) to suggest a darker theme at play was a nice touch, as were the spoken poetic links between scenes. There were, perhaps, one or two secrets too many for the audience to digest and the overall effect of this was to create a sustained atmosphere of angst as successive secrets piled into one another. Will's revelation that he has children from a previous relationship was met with a response from Chris that lacked genuine surprise and was all too readily brushed aside. This was a pity as it provided a real opportunity to build some depth into the relationship and add colour to the characters. Other minor criticisms would point out that shutting down a laptop computer is not achieved by clamping it shut and that the clothes iron looked as alien in the hands of Will as it would have in those of his sixteenth century namesake.

Overall, Secrets was engaging and entertaining. Jane Martin deserves much credit for her work and we should all hope that she will continue to produce work of such a high standard.


Related News:
May 2003 Secrets and Latin, a MUST SEE!
Apr 2003 This years double bill: Secrets


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