The Nomads Theatre
homewhats on?nomesyoung nomadsbooking informationhistorycontact

Whats On Production House (Play in a Week) (2003)
8th August


News & Reviews
Social Evenings @ 8pm every Tuesday

Nomes Summer workshop - book now!

Visit To Chichester Festival Theatre

What tipples your fancy?

Prompt Corner

News & Reviews
Username:
Password:











House (Play in a Week) (2003)

Click to see a larger picture of House (Play in a Week)
Production Type
Freewheeler Nomads Production

Production Location
Main Theatre

Production Photographs

Turnout: 85%

User Rating: (5/5 with 1 votes)

Flier Summary:
What goes on in a house when there are no human beings around? What has gone on over the life of the house? Will it be ...

Spooky? confrontational? funny? romantic? poignant? dramatic?

The stories of everyday household objects will be told in words, music, song and movement by Nomads and Nomad members of The Freewheelers, Harbour Day Centre, The Grange Centre and Seeability.


Production Dates & Prices:
(Please note Booking Information)

 Date
Time
Price
 
 Saturday 6th September 2003
8:00pm
£3.00 - £6.00


Cast: (in programme order)
Veasna Tim ... Diary
James Grosvenor Chilton ... Old Man
Amanda Armishaw ... Old Woman
Anthony O'Sullivan ... Young Man
Katy Montgomery ... Young Woman
Anthony Ogle ... Armour
Bill Pearson ... Cuthbert
Mandy Pankhurst ... Ghost
Vince Lloyd ... Matches
Anna Vere ... Wine Glass
Roger Brandon-Jones ... Salt
Mariska Chudyke ... Pepper
Viv Colvill ... Curtain 1
Brandon McGuire ... Curtain 2
Andrew Cogan ... Table
Wendy Hempkin ... Chair
Andrew Marber ... Gnome
Angela Kelly ... Washing Line
Karen Monger ... Hosepipe
Elizabeth Cross ... Shears
Peter Neil Messer ... Mower
Jason Russell ... Wheelbarrow
Rachel Jennifer Mold ... Bomb
Sheila Street ... Stethoscope
Sam Keelan ... Screwdriver
Debbie Squirrel ... Medal
Brian Wilson ... Army Uniform
Angela Cooke ... Torch
Becky Johnston ... Kite
Anne Docwra ... Books
Peter Stowell ... Pianist
Angela Cutagar ... Doll
Zoe Triantafillou ... Gramophone
Debbie Danaher ... TV
Mandy Pankhurst ... Video cam
Sonas Musana ... MP3 Player
Amanda Armishaw ... Letter 2

Crew: (in programme order)
Peter Forbes ... Author



Official Review:
HOUSE Play in a Week
A play devised, scripted, rehearsed and mounted in a week. That's how the PIAW projects started five years ago, when Bill Pearson conceived the idea of putting on a production with a mixture of disabled and able-bodied actors. Since then the number of groups wishing to take part has grown, and now it is simply not feasible to do everything in the six days we have to work in. So a start is made a few weeks before The Week with a brainstorming session held by everyone involved to establish the theme and some details of the show. The cast can then be established and a script prepared, which means that on the first morning of The Week all those on and backstage know exactly what they will have to do before the performance on the Saturday.

Six days. That's all that was needed to create the world, so it should surely be enough to put on a show. But it isn't even quite that long. The actors can work only from 10.30 am to 3.30 pm, with a break for lunch. They have to learn their lines and rehearse them in what amounts to five half-days before the Saturdav dress and show. They have to work on the complicated movement on stage of a large cast, many of whom are in wheelchairs, and they have to learn several specially written songs.

While the cast and director are working on the stage there are people making scenery and organising costumes, painting and setting up sound and lighting. The actors go off at 3.30, but the backstage crew are often in the theatre from early morning to midnight.

Every year the shows get more ambitious, and this year the production values were higher than ever, which meant that the cast were asked to deal with more effects and more complex movement. It is a tribute to the disabled actors that they took this in their stride and helped to create what was a seamless production.

We were blessed by the number of Nomads who cleared their weeks to come in day by day and help on stage and off. Some of them acted as drivers, some were guides for the visually impaired actors and some laid on the refreshments for the cast. Roger Brandon-Jones came down from Nothampton for the week and enjoyed it so much he's going to come down and stage The Cherry Orchard. Logistics were awesome. There were 15 drivers, some of them driving mini buses with tail lifts for wheelchairs, and the traffic in our car park was frantic at times.

There were 41 people on stage, and a total of more than 70 involved altogether. These are the kind of numbers that are needed to mount a pantomime - and all for only one performance!

The script was put together by Roger. Brandon McGuire and Peter Forbes, and the show was directed brilliantly by Brandon, working on a PIAW for the first time. The music was written by Richard Fentiman, whose band accompanied the show, Helen Louise Hughes from the Grange Centre was the choreographer and the superb costumes were master-minded by Sylvia McKinley. All week John Tweedale sat in on rehearsals preparing his script for the audio description he gave during the show. Sound was provided by Tim Williams and Charles Hope and Nick Johnston ran the lighting. David Armitage stage-managed and Lisa Arnold provided the many props. And central to it all, making sure everything ran like a Swiss watch, was producer Bill Pearson.

We believe that this is a unique enterprise which epitomises our commitment to running a community-based theatre with access for all.


Related News:
Oct 2003 HOUSE review
Aug 2003 HOUSE: Play in a week
Aug 2003 HOUSE: A great start for Play in A Week


User Reviews:

No Online Reviews Found


Errors and omissions on this page may be reported by pressing the button below where they will be examined and, if accepted, included in a future update.

Update





©2000-2003 Mantissa Computing Ltd - Terms of Use