Philippa Kaur

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    The Etties Shortlists: Best Musical

    The Everything Theatre Fringe Theatre Awards, or Etties for short, are simply our fun round up of the past year. Previously, come the end of the year we’ve asked our reviewers to pick some highlights which we would publish as a round up of the best of the year. But in 2022 we decided we should do things a little differently. And that is the Etties.

    Obviously we don’t have a team of assessors to go and watch every show, so we aren’t going to pretend these are anything more than a fun way to highlight some of the shows our team have loved in the past year. The shortlists have been put together by looking back at our 4- and 5-star reviews, and then discussing within the team which feel are the very best of the bunch. It’s not the most scientific approach but what awards ever are?

    We aim to publish all our shortlists during the w/c 2 January, and then we’ll be announcing the winners on Wednesday 18 January.

    Anyone Can Whistle

    Southwark Playhouse – April 2022

    it is two hours of complete escapism and fun. Never have I seen such a bonkers show, and one where although not everything was understandable, I couldn’t help but smile!
    Lucy Vail

    Zorro The Musical

    Photo credit @ Pamela Raith Photography

    Charing Cross Theatre – April 2022

    This tongue-in-cheek production has old jokes and a predictable storyline, which are all good things… a funny, toe-tapping and joyful couple of hours. Great fun.
    Irene Lloyd

    Lift

    Photo credit @ Mark Senior

    Southwark Playhouse – May 2022

    From the moment the first number is sung by the ensemble the vocal quality takes your breath away. Musically, every single performer is outstanding and the orchestra, positioned above the tech desk barely above the heads of the audience, complements that excellence. 
    Sara West

    Diva: Live From Hell!

    Photo Credit @ Harry Elletson

    Turbine Theatre – August 2022

    It’s a brilliantly funny, camp, dark story that demonstrates the acting, singing, tap dancing and all-round brilliance of Luke Bayer and the whole creative team
    Lucy Boardman

    A Gig For Ghosts

    Soho Theatre – October 2022

    The music is simply but skilfully presented. It never oversteps its boundary into feeling like we are watching a full-on-musical, but is carefully woven into the organic experience of the ‘gig’.
    Dean Wood

    La Maupin

    Lion and Unicorn Theatre – November 2022

    If only all musicals were this totally bonkers, maybe I would reconsider my belief that they should be banished from existence.
    Rob Warren

    The winner will be announced Wednesday 18 January More

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    Interview: Childminding with The Manny

    Sam McArdle is The Manny

    Sam McArdle is an Irish actor whose one man black comedy The Manny plays at the King’s Head Theatre in January 2023. We caught up with him to have a chat about developing and funding the show, as well as his own experiences working as a male nanny.

    Well, the title of the play probably gives a bit of a hint, but first tell us about the premise of The Manny.

    The Manny is loosely based on when I was working as a male nanny for rich single mums in West London in my 20s. I always feel the need (and rightly so!) to stress that the character is quite different to me. He’s quite a morally grey figure, who uses this flexible, well paid job to his advantage by living a ‘Peter Pan-esque’ life of casual dating, probably because he’s a little lost in his place in life. Although he comes across as quite confident, he also represents the anxiety that can come from society’s pressure to have achieved all of your ‘objectives’ by a certain age, and so he is settling for this life where he doesn’t feel anything. He meets an actress called Molly, who also seems lost, but in a different way. She came out of the top drama school in London with all of the agents coming for her, but after a few years she seems to have been cast aside by the industry, and it looks like she won’t achieve her dreams. She is also settling, in a different way, by being in a relationship with a ‘safe bet’. He works in tech, makes a good salary, but he doesn’t really ‘see’ her. Not in the way The Manny does. She’s drawn to his appetite for life and brazenness, and he’s never met someone before who is following their passion, no matter how much it hurts them. Finally, we have Michael. He’s a seven-year-old, pain in the arse, right-wing child with slightly Machiavellian tendencies, who is the product of a cold, loveless marriage. He’s settling for turning into every example of an entitled smarmy public school boy that we see today. But he himself is drawn to The Manny, as he has no role model in his life. So this brash, crude male nanny’s realistic outlook on life may act as an unlikely role model to the boy. In summary, it’s about how all three of these characters need each other and are changed by each other throughout the show.

    You have drawn on your own experience working as a manny in London; can we expect a Hollywood-style ‘any resemblance’ disclaimer?

    Everyone signed NDA’s so I’m safe! No I’m kidding… The character is very different to me. I wanted to explore those themes of societal pressure, loneliness in your 30s, and unrequited dreams, but I wanted to do that through the lens of The Manny. I also wanted to write about a character who goes on a journey throughout the show and is changed. So I wanted him to start in a certain place of thinking, and because of what happens throughout the show and the characters that he encounters, he ends up in a very different place to how we see him at the start.

    I worked with a variety of families; some were lovely to work with and I still keep in touch with! Others were different, but all the characters are based on real life people, apart from Molly. I did meet a child with slightly psychotic tendencies that Michael is based on!

    It’s been a long process to bring The Manny to the stage, from writing it in lockdown to hugely successful scratch nights in London. How have you found your script and performance developed?

    I started writing this show in early 2020, but as I had quit acting at that time it was still only in rough form. When COVID hit, I actually stopped writing it all together for a couple of months. It wasn’t until that summer when a Michael Jordan documentary called The Last Dance came out. It blew my mind how focused he was, and it made sense. I had been quite driven in my 20s (not that I’m comparing myself to MJ!) but I had lost that spark, through being ground down by the industry. There were a number of things that helped me get me back on track, and that documentary was one of them. I became much more disciplined with my routine, sleep and diet, and it all helped to constantly refine and refine the script. I would gather feedback from people whose opinions I trusted, and then in the summer of 2021 the director Melanie Fullbrook came on board. We’ve been close friends since we were in drama school, and she knows me better than anyone, so when I had the final script, she was able to shape and create my performance. This version of the show is very similar to the one we did last year. It’s taken a bit of time for us to find the right venue to bring the production to the next level, so it’s a great pleasure to be working with the King’s Head Theatre. They’ve been fantastic, especially Valentina Londono who’s been fantastic with marketing and selling the show.

    There was some crowdfunding to help produce this run. Tell us a little about that and the challenges involved in putting on a show like this?

    It’s been a huge learning curve producing this show myself, and raising funds is the most important thing – making sure everyone gets paid, and that we cover ourselves. We ran an IndieGoGo campaign in November, and that’s been instrumental in securing our funding. I also wrote to various trusts and boards, as well as doing the ACE application (50 pages of agony), and were rejected on them. I think crowdfunding is the best option for fringe shows. But still, we are doing this on quite a tight budget. There’s a huge financial risk with putting on any theatre, as we know, but we do need more help from the government. COVID, Brexit, various Tory governments are crippling the arts, and it’s difficult to get going in today’s climate. I don’t mean to be despondent, but I think Arts Council funding being cut for the major theatres, as we have seen, has a huge knock-on effect.

    How did you get involved with The King’s Head to bring this play to their stage?

    I wrote to Mark Ravenhill last year, who was very complimentary about the play, which was really lovely to hear, as I was a huge fan of Shopping and F*cking. From there, we met with Sofi Berenger, lead producer at the venue, and they offered us a great slot to kick off 2023!

    What are your ambitions for The Manny, and do you have any other projects coming up to tell us about?

    The Manny has a two-season TV show arc, which I would love to develop. I’ve got the TV pilot written, which we are currently pitching to networks, and some are coming to see the show. This is the first thing I’ve ever written, and I’m loving knowing nothing about it, but being on a journey of learning (as wanky as that sounds). So I want to get better at writing these characters for TV where I can properly flesh out their backstories and character arcs. My favourite character is probably Molly (at this point in time), and there’s a lot under the surface that we only catch a glimpse of in the 60 min show.

    Finally, are there any lessons or skills you learnt while dealing with other people’s children that you have been able to apply in the theatre? Do you find it easier to wrangle directors and producers or, dare we suggest, actors?

    I think the key to working well with anyone, from kids to adult creatives, is listening. Everybody comes to a discussion/meeting/argument with a list of pain points and objectives they want to get across. Most people just want to be heard and listened to. If you can put yourselves in their shoes, you’re normally able to meet in the middle and both of you come out of the meeting or argument feeling heard and willing to work together.

    But also, much like it’s sometimes easier to let a bratty child win the Mario Kart game, sometimes it’s easier to pick your battles and save your energy. I try and stay away from energy vampires, and if it’s not worth the fight, just smile and be polite. That was an unintentional rhyme! Ha!

    Our huge thanks to Sam for taking time out from preparing the show to chat with us. You can find him on Twitter and on Instagram.

    The Manny plays at The King’s Head Theatre from January 10-14. Further information and booking details can be found here. More

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    Interview: Off Main Stage bring Christmas cheer

    Polly Waldron and Cameron Corcoran on Christmas Tales

    OffFest Nominated Off Main Stage (read our 4 star review of their most recent production Wolf here), are all set to bring some Christmas cheer to White Bear Theatre this December with three seasonal stories: Freaks, Bike and Scrooge. Ahead of the show, Cameron Corcoran and Polly Waldron discuss why they decided to make not one but three Christmas plays.

    What can we expect from Christmas Tales then?

    Well there are three plays. They’re about Christmas. Freaks is about two sisters clearing their dead aunt’s house over Christmas. Bike is about a step-mum buying her step-daughter an extravagant gift, and Scrooge is about – can you guess? I guess Scrooge is different because it’s a modern one-man version, where Scrooge is a lawyer with grand ambitions.

    Is there an over-arching theme within the three plays?

    I think we wanted something to show the audience that was cheerful for a change; we have a track-record for putting on plays that have a very dark tone. This was a chance to bring the lightness in and maintain what works for us: the absurdity of being. The over-arching theme, then: togetherness.

    So why Christmas?

    I mean it’s the most beautifully absurd thing, isn’t it? It’s like being British we hold back our emotions and our generosity and then we just unleash it over the Christmas period. It’s the best reminder that we’re human beings. It’s fun. Our plays are fun. Maybe if it was Christmas every day like Slade wishes we’d always be kind…

    Cameron Corcoran and Emily Wallace rehearsing Bike

    Tell us about the writing process you go through?

    We’re both big believers in having a script in the room, but that it’s not sacred: it’s limited to one person’s imagination and when you’re in a room there’s multiple imaginations to feed off. We can’t let the script get in the way of creativity, but of course we are faithful to the story being told, but sometimes rehearsals create a magic out of nothing and we always know that the script will develop for the better over the process – this is the sixth project we’ve done together and it’s worked for us so far…

    Annoying each other yet?

    Always.

    How are rehearsals going?

    Strangely. We are doing three plays, Polly is in Freaks, I’m in Bike and Tom Newton is in Scrooge. Due to schedules, we often have to rehearse the plays in separate locations, so we haven’t always been able to be present for each teams’ work in process. When we are though it’s reassuring to see that the work looks great and is actually really funny… and heartfelt… and relevant to the times we’re living in.

    Why should we come and see the play?

    Great question! They are human stories that we can all relate to. They’re exciting, provocative at times, sometimes uncomfortable, but deeply into the spirit of Christmas… and they’re all very funny. It’ll get you into the Christmas mood… and they serve a good pint downstairs.

    Our thanks to Cameron and Polly. You can visit Off Main Stage’s website here and follow them on Twitter here.

    Christmas Tales plays at the White Bear Theatre on 19 and 20 December. Further information and bookings can be found here. More

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    Interview: Turning Those Dreams Into Reality

    Make It Beautiful Theatre Company on their improv show, The Dream Machine

    Lovely to meet you, why don’t you introduce yourselves and tell us a little about Make It Beautiful Theatre Company.

    Hey there. We are Make It Beautiful Theatre Company. We’re a London-based theatre collective, made up predominantly of Drama Centre graduates. We have a passion for dark comedy and improvisation. Our 5 star show The CO-OP recently performed at the Park Theatre, as well as our new show Sniff performing at Theatre503. We have also performed at the Norwich Theatre and the Black Box Studio in Slovenia. But the play we are bringing you this Chtistmas is The Dream Machine. 

    That show, The Dream Machine, will be at Golden Goose in December. We assume this isn’t a stage adaptation of the 1991 film of the same name? What is it all about instead?

    Unfortunately this is not a stage adaptation of the 1991 film – not that we even know what that is. Instead, it’s the Dream Machine. This is a long-form improvised show, based entirely from audience suggestions. Each show we ask an audience member to recount a weird dream they had and, from that, we create an entirely improvised full-length performance. We build a world full of crazy, funny characters and heartwarming stories based entirely from a stranger’s dream. We have performed the show for around two years – staging it at the White Bear Theatre, Space Theatre, Trestle Arts Base, the Cockpit and the OSO Arts Centre. Its next venture is the Golden Goose Theatre. 

    You say the show is made using improv and Russian-theatre techniques; we know about improv, but what’s the Russian-theatre technique then? What is the Russian connection within the company then?

    Whilst at Drama Centre we were lucky enough to travel and study at the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute in Moscow – this was where we got a lot of our Russian theatre inspiration from. This can come in the form of magical realism; something natural suddenly becoming something much more magical in a matter of moments. This is the Dream Machine in a nutshell. In 2019, we were invited for a residency at the Southern France Au Brana Theatre, with the aim of making a new show. Instead, we ended up delving into long-form improvised magical realism for 2 weeks. It was a hypnotic experience. Nevertheless, we ended that residency without a play. What we did have, however, was a new devising technique: the Dream Machine. This soon became our new improv show. 

    Isn’t improv just an excuse not to prepare an actual show, you know, roll up on the night and just make it up on the spot?

    Haha I think we wish this was the case. Oh the beauty of having lines to fall back on, pre-hearsed fight scenes and songs to bust out. Instead, we all have to trust in each other that we – as a group and without any conferring – are going to somehow make a sensical piece of theatre out of the ridiculous dream we have just heard. That is, I suppose, where the comedy comes from. We didn’t consider ourselves real improvisers for a very long time, but over the last few years we have a new found respect for them. 

    You’ve put this show on before, how weird are the suggestions thrown at you, any you care or dare to share? Do you ever get any suggestions you just have to pass over as too ridiculous?

    There’s never been a situation where we have had to deny someone’s dream. We can’t really imagine this ever happening. But there have been many gloriously odd ones. We have taken cats to space, birthed chickens, gone into the depths of the Earth to meet with a worm council – you name it, we’ve probably done it. In every dream there is a story, even if it seems impossible to find at first. We know that, eventually, if we continue to go down the path of ridiculousness, we will land on it. 

    And if you had to share your own dreams for the show, what oddities would that throw up?

    Honestly, our dreams always end up being far less weird than the audience’s. We will use our own for inspiration during rehearsals but they never have the same randomness or surprise as they do when we’re doing a real show. The bigger the group of people, the more odd dreams to choose from. 

    The show’s on just before Christmas, does that mean you will be throwing in a little seasonal theme here and there?

    Oh yes of course! The christmas spirit will be sure to have a firm place in the show. There will be Christmas bells and chocolates, all with powers to change the course of the show. Mark our words, you will feel the snow practically falling upon your head. The Dream Machine will be christmassy! No doubt about it. 

    What’s harder for you, putting on the improv of Dream Machine or staging a scripted production?

    If you’re talking about before the show, then the Dream Machine is definitely harder. The nerves you feel before a performance is unlike anything scripted. We literally have no idea what’s going to happen. But once it’s started and we’re moving slowly down the path of ridiculousness, then it’s usually freer and funner than a scripted production. 

    We’ve been full of praise for your previous works (Co-op and Sniff), are we going to see a new scripted production from you next year? What else have you got planned for 2023 so far then?

    Both Sniff and the CO-OP are our babies and we had a great time performing and making those. 2023 brings more excitement. We will be performing Sniff at the Jack Studio in early February – a dark comedy about drugs and addiction, set in a pub toilet. What’s not to like? And we will also be working on our new production. This play will be about a haunted pub. We developed it at the Norwich Theatre earlier this year and now plan to finish and perform it in 2023. Keep your eyes peeled for that! 

    And as it’s a Christmas show, if anyone is thinking of bringing along a gift for you, what would you all like?

    Just a pint. Please, for the love of god, if you feel like getting any of us anything, make it a pint at the end of the show. We’d love that. 

    Thanks to the team at Make It Beautiful Theatre for taking time out of rehearsals to chat to us. You can catch The Dream Machine at the Golden Goose Theatre between 19 – 21 December. Further information and bookings here. More

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    Interview: Let’s Go Once More Unto The Breach

    James Cooney on performing in Henry V at Shakespeare’s Globe

    Shakespeare’s Henry V is the play launching the winter season in the fabulously candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe. It’s the first time this work has been put on there, so we were excited to get a chance to talk to actor James Cooney, who will be playing Thomas of Lancaster along with other roles in the production.

    Wow, James! This is exciting stuff. Henry V is a real powerhouse of a play to be staged in such an intimate venue. And it’s being directed by Holly Race Roughan from Headlong. How do you feel about being a part of it all?

    It was a no brainer for me when I was asked to be a part of this production. All of Shakespeare’s plays have an uncanny ability to speak to our time. Henry V however might be one of the most soul-shakingly (I might have made this phrase up!) relevant plays for an English audience in 2022/23. You can’t help but ask what it means to be English when you read it and how this play resonates for us now.

    Can you tell us about the different characters you will be playing? Which is your favourite?

    I play Thomas, brother to King Henry V; Orleans, a friend and lover to Prince Louis of France; and Gower, a captain in the English army. The beauty of playing multiple roles is they all have their own quirks that I enjoy exploring. But Thomas is the most interesting to me from a psychological perspective. It’s interesting to consider what it is like to be so close to the throne but knowing you will probably never become king. The complexity of family dynamics is something we have explored in detail in our production .

    The Globe is renowned for their ensemble productions. What’s it like working with this particular company?

    Ensemble is definitely the word! Holly has set up a space where collaboration is encouraged and it is supported by all the staff at the Globe. Entering a rehearsal space can be a daunting prospect whatever your experience level. But from day one the Globe welcomed us all with open arms. Most theatres do a meet and greet on day one, but this was the first time I had experienced EVERYONE in the building coming together to introduce themselves. It makes such a difference to start off on an equal footing and feeling like I belonged in the room.

    You really will be acting in very close proximity to the audience in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse: are you ready for going to full scale battle in a Jacobean theatre?

    Thankfully, Shakespeare recognised the power of the imagination! Devoid of CGI Shakespeare calls upon the audience to “work your thoughts” and imagine the war happening on stage. It’s what theatre does better than other media – asking the audience to create the story with the people on stage. In the Playhouse you really can see every single audience member’s face and that complicity of imagination and play between the audience and the actors can be electrifying!

    You’ve had some experience of drama that makes contemporary political commentary, having been in The 47th at the Old Vic, last year – a play about Donald Trump.  How do you think this production reflects on today’s Britain?

    I am a massive football fan and with the World Cup starting I am waiting to hear some of those famous Henry V speeches used in a motivational video before England play an important game! I think this play is a part of the fabric of England whether you like it or not! It asks so many questions about nationalism, patriotism, Englishness, Britishness, the relationship between those in power to those subject to power. The list goes on. Whether we accept or reject the ideas Shakespeare presents is up to the individual, but there’s no doubting its relevancy in a country which finds itself questioning its identity.

    What do you think the audiences are going to take away from this Henry V?

    I am always wary of telling an audience what they SHOULD take away. We are sharing a story and not a lecture. However, as a company I think there was a recognition that we had to re-interrogate Henry V in 2022. Is Henry an English hero? Or was he a “foolish youth” as mentioned by his own father and the French nobility? Was Agincourt some divine miracle? Or did the English get lucky in the face of overwhelming odds? And how does all of this relate to an English identity in 2022? I guess what I am trying to say is I hope audience leave with more questions. And that most importantly it was two hours well spent!

    We’d like to thank James very much for taking the time to chat with us, and wish him well for the coming season.  Henry V plays at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse from Thursday 10 November to Saturday 4 February. Get your tickets now because, to quote the Bard himself:

    “… gentlemen in England now-a-bedShall think themselves accurs’d they were not here”

    Henry V is a Shakespeare’s Globe and Headlong Production with Leeds Playhouse and Royal & Derngate Northampton. It is on now in the indoor, candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse through to 4 February. Tickets and information available here. More

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    Interview: The many languages of Europe

    Francesco Baj & Flavio Marigliani on Teatro Multilingue and Goodbye Papà

    Teatro Multilingue are a new European based theatre company presenting plays in multiple languages. We caught their last play, Mrs Green, when it stopped off at Camden Fringe in August, whilst their latest work, Goodbye Papà will be making a visit to Bristol’s Alma Theatre (8 Dec) before reaching London and The Hope Theatre (11 & 12 Dec). We think they are doing some fascinating work and bringing us a taste of continental Europe, so were thrilled to chat with co-founders Francesco Baj and Flavio Marigliani about all things Teatro Multilingue and Goodbye Papà.

    Before we dive into asking you about Goodbye Papà, first tell us a little about Teatro Multilingue and your presentation of shows in several languages?

    Teatro Multilingue is a Pan-European project born in 2020 out of the idea of combining several languages within the same story; organically, in a way that makes sense. You watch one play and you “hear” it in more than one way. Why? First, our world is increasingly multilingual but our stages aren’t; and second, if we look at recent years, we find that a lot of the struggle inside and outside Europe is presented as a clash of cultures whereas if you just take one step and go beyond the opposition “mine”/“yours” or, in language, between “native” and “foreign”, lots of barriers simply collapse and new worlds of understanding open up right away. This is what we aim to explore, and that’s why our theatre has no subtitles. Thanks to a carefully devised multilingual script, we believe that theatre is a powerful enough medium to make that connection happen, to have audiences go beyond the barrier of language and, therefore, meaning. In a way, it’s nothing new: multilingual scripts were part of the commedia dell’arte and have sometimes been used in cinema and plays; what we do is, however, a little different: we don’t take language, whatever language, for granted and build layers of story telling and meaning based on this.

    Goodbye Papà plays at The Alma Theatre in Bristol and then The Hope Theatre in December, what can audiences expect?

    A full immersion into our work! We invite them all to come and be surprised at how easy it is to follow the story even though you don’t speak all the languages! Compared to Mrs Green, our first UK product which focused on the implications of Brexit, Goodbye Papà works on a more intimate and personal note. It all starts with a rather bizarre family story and grows into a quest for meaning through language and music. It is, we guess, the work which best represents the philosophy behind our multilingual project. It’s a monologue in English, Italian and Modern Greek, and the people that have seen it when it played in Rome and in Kingston upon Thames have told us of how easy it is to just embrace the story and “forget” the language the actor is using. Goodbye Papà may work on the personal level but it’s nonetheless an all-encompassing journey, real and imaginary, through borders, cultures and languages.

    What’s the writing process within Teatro Multilingue? Does a show get written in one language and then translated for another…? We assume, but please do correct us if we are wrong, that this lends itself to a collaborative approach?

    FRANCESCO: It is a collaborative approach, but no, there’s no translation involved. Once we have an idea, we either already have in mind which languages we’re going to use, or these get sorted out shortly afterwards, so that by the time I actually sit down and start working on the first draft, the script is in those languages. The balance between them is so important (for the story and for the audience) that it wouldn’t work in translation. And that’s why, when we start rehearsing, some things inevitably end up not working or needing readjusting as the actors “speak” because that’s when you really “hear” the languages at work. I don’t mean readjusting as in grammatically correct or incorrect – this depends on the story – but in how naturally the balance flows throughout the script. Also, I tend to write multilingually but I’m no expert in all of them, so a little helps is always needed!

    Goodbye Papà is in English, Italian and Modern Greek – do you speak all three? 😉 Are there extra challenges as an actor when acting or reacting to multiple languages?

    FLAVIO: Being born in Italy, I guess I can say that I speak Italian 😉 I’ve studied and worked with English, and as for Greek, I studied Ancient Greek in school so Modern Greek has been a fun and interesting challenge for me! I know the language, though, and actually Francesco and I met while we were both in Athens! Personal note aside, yes, using several languages may be a challenge particularly within the structure of a monologue where it’s all on you on stage, but I think of it more as a chance. As an actor, it has allowed me to focus on what real theatrical communication is and how far that can go beyond speech itself. The gestures, emotions and body language that accompany a word very often carry more meaning than the meaning of the word itself, and this helps to blend and unite what you’re saying in whatever language that is. An actor’s body, and voice, also change according to the language and this is important to notice and embrace as it broadens the spectrum of your expressive possibilities: there isn’t only one way to say one thing.

    How do you find the casting process? Do you look specifically for multilingual speakers or do you work with a cast to learn the lines in a language they don’t know?

    It depends, to be honest; each project is different. If we need a “native” speaker, we look for one; otherwise we much prefer to go for the actor and what they can bring to the story with their own personal background. Sometimes, it’s just a question of how they “sound.” Apart from the balance of languages, one piece of feedback we often get is how beautiful it is to hear a particular accent or intonation and how that alone gives more meaning to the story being told. And this can be “native” or “foreign”, we don’t really pay too much attention on that, unless the story demands it. We don’t aim at purity, rather at clarity and how organically each sound blends into the story. As for the actors being multilingual, you know, the secret is not so much in how many languages they can speak, as in how in sync with the multilingual project they are or can grow to be. Exactly what Flavio was saying about being an actor in a multilingual project.

    Just before Goodbye Papà plays theatres in the UK, you have a new short film called Making My Day coming out. What can you tell us about that and where can people see it?

    Making My Day is a short film we’re co-producing and it’s part of the Film/On Demand sector of Teatro Multilingue. When we started back in 2020 in Rome theatres were all closed so we created the trilogy #Europe21, a hybrid of theatre and cinema. We found the medium of film so interesting that we decided to explore it even further. The creative process is a bit different, as in films you have to have subtitles so the work we do with languages is a bit less rigid than when we’re live on stage. The spirit, however, is exactly the same. Making My Day is also an example of commissioned work, i.e. the writer of the screenplay asked us if we wanted to turn it into a film and rework it multilingually. And that’s how it all started. Making My Day will be available online as of 27 November – if anyone’s interested they can get the details at our website.

    Normally, we’d like to ask what you have coming up next but here, you are taking Goodbye Papà to Italy and Greece, tell us about that and anything else you have planned for 2023?

    Yes, Goodbye Papà will go (back) to Italy and will also travel to Greece, and we couldn’t be happier about all this. We are also working on a new batch of short films, on another commissioned project (this time from the Balkans!); we have a few exciting ideas planned for Madrid, and then our brand new full multilingual show: La Reine de marbre, a modern revisitation of the commedia dell’arte with a strong social and political message. It’ll debut in Rome in March and will then start travelling around Europe. This will also be the first show in which we don’t tell the audience which languages are spoken in the play. It’ll really be: come and be surprised by the multilingue effect!

    Finally, as a bit of a fun question, if you count up, how many languages do you think are spoken within the Teatro Multilingue Company?

    Hmh… we’ve never really counted them! So far we’ve worked with five: Italian, English, French, Spanish and Greek. But the list is expanding. One of our actresses, originally from Colombia, is also mastering Quechua which, sooner or later, we will have to include in one of our plays! 🙂

    Go raibh maith agat (that’s thank you in Irish!) to Francesco and Flavio for taking the time to talk with us. You can visit Teatro Multilingue’s website here and follow them on Twitter here.

    Goodbye Papà plays Alma Tavern & Theatre in Bristol on December 8 and then plays The Hope Theatre on December 11 and 12. More

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    Interview: Shining A Light(house) on Wickies

    Graeme Dalling on Wickies: The Vanishing Men of Eilean Mor

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    We all love a good ghost story, and better yet, one that has a foot firmly in true life events. Which is just what Wickies: The Vanishing Men of Eilean Mor promises us. It’s based on the the disappearance of three lighthouse keepers stationed on a deserted island in the Outer Hebrides in 1900. No trace of any of the men was ever found, which has lead to a century of speculation and folklore.

    And now the story is coming to Park Theatre this December. Billed as a haunting ghost story, which does suggest which way writer Paul Morrissey is taking his twist on the tale. Wanting to know more, we grabbed some time with one of its stars, Graeme Dalling, who we will soon be seeing as one of the lighthouse keepers, Donald MacArthur.

    What can you tell us about Wickies then?

    The play explores one of Scotland’s most enduring mysteries… what on earth happened to three men stationed on a lighthouse in the Outer Hebrides who seem to vanish without a trace?? I think that’s all I’ll say. The less you know the better!

    The play is based on true events, were you aware of the story before you auditioned?

    Yes, absolutely, and its weirdly so present in the public psyche. So many books, songs and films have been inspired by these events. It’s captured people’s imaginations for over 120 years!

    Have you done much background research into the story and your character? Or is it best not to delve too deep into such things in case it clouds how your director wants you to present the character?

    I like to do a bit of reading, yes. I gathered quite a few books on lighthouses and lighthouse keepers to get into the world of the play. I also tried to get out to a lighthouse, but they are very hard to get to! I try and not get too bogged down in research and instead spend a lot of time with the script. All the answers tend to be in there!

    How much of the play is based on what’s really known about the men and the events surrounding their disappearance, and how much is based on the folklore that has evolved over the years?

    I would say it’s a bit of both. There are lots of written documentation from the time from the inquest and initial interviews into the disappearance, so quite a bit of the script is word for word what those people actually said. And obviously we will never know truly what happened on that lighthouse in December 1900, so Paul Morrissey does draw on folklore and superstition and ghost stories to fill in the gaps!

    You’re playing Donald MacArthur, what do we need to know about him then?

    That a lighthouse is the perfect place for him. He’s a stoic, brooding, quiet man who just wants to put his head down and do the work. Initially the isolation and loneliness fit him perfectly but ultimately becomes his undoing. There is an unpredictability to him, a lot of repressed rage and pent-up aggression which one character seems to unlock, unluckily for him….!  

    And we need to ask, will you be growing (or gluing on) a nice big bushy beard for the play because surely all lighthouse keepers should have wonderfully unkempt beards? And a pipe permanently in the corner of your mouth maybe?

    It’s all about moustaches in 1900! And I’m steadily cultivating a beautiful one.

    Is there a different approach when playing a true-life character, do you feel a need to be honest to whatever you may know about them?

    I haven’t thought too much about it to be honest, it’s so long ago, and not a lot is known about these men. Like I said before, when a script is this good, everything you need is there on the page.

    The show opens 30 November, so still a couple of weeks away, but have you had the opportunity to see the set yet – how are you bringing the feel of a remote lighthouse on a deserted Outer Hebrides Island to Finsbury Park?

    We’ve seen the model box and the set looks incredible, Zoe Hurwitz has really captured the essence of being in a lighthouse, it’s almost like we’ll be performing in the round, which kind of makes sense! There’s going to be a lot done with sound and lighting and costume which will hopefully make the audience feel like they are on the lighthouse with us!

    Why do you feel ghost stories seem to be part of Christmas theatre tradition then? And is there much difference to acting in a ghost story like this as opposed to more normal dramas? Do you have to bring a different attitude to the rehearsal room to get into the right mood?

    It’s about the night’s drawing in, the cold and the dark and us all gathering in together to tell stories of the past, which inevitably become ghost stories. I think A Christmas Carol has a lot to do with it also. It’s a time for reflection and looking back at the past and perhaps trying to make sense of things that don’t make sense! And we’ve just tried to keep the truth of each moment and scene. We can’t over play the scariness of moments because it then becomes too knowing. The characters don’t know they are in a ghost story, so you have to play it straight!

    And now you’ve some time to delve into the story and your character, have you developed any of your own theories as to what happened to the three men? Or are we to believe they just vanished into the thin air on that cold night?

    My mind keeps changing. My logical side of my brain accepts the most obvious answer, which is that they all got taken out by a storm, but my imagination wants it to be something else. Ask me again at the end of the run!

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    Our thanks to Graeme for his time out from rehearsals to chat with us.

    Wickies: The Vanishing Men of Eilean Mor plays at Park Theatre 30 November – 31 December. Further information and bookings can be found here. More

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    Interview: The Card-Bard Returneth

    Sam Wilde on bringing The Fir Tree to Shakespeare’s Globe

    Sam Wilde is an amazing designer, renowned for creating incredible, imaginative theatre designs and puppets out of simple bits of cardboard. From achieving a global internet sensation with his puppet show of Jon Klassen’s Hat Back books in lockdown, to a run of sellout live shows making the same stories bigger and better, he has been involved in some very exciting projects in the last couple of years. This winter he’s elevating his work still further, now gracing the boards of Shakespeare’s Globe in their festive family fairy tale The Fir Tree.  We asked The Card-Bard about what he’ll be unboxing for us this Christmas in the glorious wooden O.

    Sam, it really has been a great few years for you (give or take a global pandemic): your online productions of the Hat Back books went viral, then the live show was a complete sell out at the Little Angel Theatre. What does it feel like to now have your cardboard craft starring at the world famous Shakespeare’s Globe?

    It certainly looks impressive when you give me an introduction like that! If you ask my daughter what I do for a living though she’ll tell you that her daddy “plays with cardboard”: that feels a little closer to the truth to me!

    But I have certainly been very lucky, and there are a lot of fantastic collaborators who are as responsible for that as I am, fantastic creatives like Ian Nicholson (who directed The Hat Trilogy) and Jim Whitcher (who did the music) just to start with. I always say that there are no talented people in theatre, just talented teams, and I’ve been very fortunate with the teams I’ve been in! The Fir Tree is another great example of that, it’s a world-beating group of creatives that I’m just happy to be in the same room as!

    None of that prepares you, though, for when you somehow find yourself in a position where you are suggesting to the Globe’s Artistic Director Michelle Terry (!!!) that you want to cut up some delivery boxes and put them on the Christmas stage of what is undoubtedly the world’s most important theatre! If the idea of that doesn’t terrify you then I want a little of what you have!

    This version of The Fir Tree is an adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen classic, by the incredible Hannah Khalil, writer in residence at the Globe. How has it been working with her and all those Shakespearean types? Is it very highbrow?

    Hannah is great! I’ve been lucky enough to work with her on a couple of projects (and even luckier to have a couple more hopefully in the works) and I’d be hard pressed to think of a better, more generous collaborator. The scariest thing about working with Hannah is how astute and intuitive her daughter is! She’ll come into rehearsals or a dress rehearsal sometimes and that’s when I really get nervous, she’ll instantly see into the core of whatever the piece is! It’s uncanny!

    As for highbrow, I don’t really know about that, it’s certainly a piece with artistic integrity, but it doesn’t lack for warmth or joy either. I remember my first meeting with Michelle (Terry) where she said she wanted to make a show that felt like a hug: that really stuck with me (especially as it was a time where good hugs were in short supply). This year it feels slightly different, still a hug, but with more… truth… and hope… and kindness in it. It’s an incredible team at the Globe and the creative team on the production is an absolute dream. I can’t imagine this show could be made in a different theatre, without the staff of the Globe, without Props or Wardrobe or Production Management, without Hannah or Michelle. Each and every one of them are incredibly rich in those noblest of qualities, of truth, of hope and above all of kindness.

    I’m a very lucky designer to get to work alongside them!

    What kind of things have you created for the production? And are they all made of vellum and parchment, it being an Elizabethan-style theatre?

    Ha, I’m afraid not, I have just come off doing the puppetry design for The Book Thief Musical with The Octagon in Bolton, and that was much more of a parchment-focused job!

    With The Fir Tree though the story and the theatre might be old, but what Hannah and Michelle have done with it couldn’t be further from the past! It’s a very modern story that is really relevant and apt for our times!

    In terms of the design, I’ve tried to focus on how sustainably it can be made, but also as a real celebration of wood! Whether that be the forest of trees that were used to make the Globe itself or the actual potted fir trees that are ever present in the show. There are also a lot of lovely costumes and puppets, many of them I made myself, but it’s been a real team effort (shout out to the wonderful Emma Hughes at the Globe!). There’s a whole range of cardboard makes; large bird wings, rabbit ears, birds, vans, Beatrice and Benedict the mice, Ophelia the cat and Iago the rat…  and Death who makes a small appearance! All taking place under a starry cardboard sky and advertised with a poster which is developed from hand cut cardboard shapes!

    It must be a fairly risky business using cardboard props in an outdoor theatre. Is there waterproofing involved?

    Cardboard is a lot hardier than folk give it credit for! That being said, water is obviously a bit of an issue, so we do take steps in preparation.

    The main focus for me, and the entire reason I like to work with cardboard, is that it’s all destined for the recycling bin in the end. Some people get upset when I tell them that, but I really revel in it, so many puppets or set or materials are made for a specific show, and when that show is over, they’re never used again, but as they’re made of foam or plastic they just sit on a shelf, unused, forever. Yes, cardboard puppets have an expiration date, but so do I, and that is a wonderful, wonderful thing!

    But to answer your question, yes, there is waterproofing (and fireproofing) involved, which makes the material less recyclable in the end, so what we actually do is make the puppet from cardboard and then put another layer of cardboard on top, it’s this that is treated, which can then be removed when the time comes.

    Tell us a bit more about how you’ve worked sustainability and recycling into the production.

    Sustainability and recycling have been at the real core of this shows design, when you see it and what Hannah Khalil has written you can see that it really had to be that way. But even if it wasn’t a central theme it’s how all theatre should be made: it’s how everything should be made going forward. The Globe and the team there really get that and everything it means for a production.

    The simplest way to look at it is that every single thing in this show is considered: do we already have that? is that something that the Globe already has in storage?  And if not, do they have something similar or something we can make work (which is yes for most of the set, props, costume in the show)? If we need to get something new, why? And can we borrow it from somewhere? Can we source it locally second hand? How are we going to get it? Will we reuse it? Can we recycle it? What happens to it after the show? Is it really necessary to tell the story?

    It’s a lengthy process, but in the end we have made a show that has a really minimal environmental impact, that is a celebration of what sustainable theatre can be, and of all the other shows that came before us and allowed us to use a chair or a chest or the fabric to make a dress or whatever. It’s probably what I’m most proud of in this production.

    That, and cardboard: an awful lot of boxes get another life on the stage!

    One of the signature things about your work in the past is that the audience has been encouraged to join in and get creative themselves, even – if not especially! – with your online show. Will there be opportunities for that at the Globe? What activities might we expect?

    I am so happy you’ve said this! More than cardboard or sustainability or anything else that has changed in my work in the last few years, it’s this that I feel has defined my attitude and work as an artist! It’s absolutely at the core of what I want to do, opening the world of design and construction, of craft and of making, to the public.

    And yes, there is plenty to get involved with in this show. The Globe themselves are running puppetry-making and crafting workshops that I’ve had a hand in developing, and there will be plenty of other things that you can access digitally and make at home. I’d love to bring particular attention to The Sparrows; we’d would love it if you can access the online video (featuring me!) that shows you how to make the sparrow puppets and bring them along to the show. They are all made of cardboard and everyday household materials, and we need your help to fill the forest with as many more creatures than humans as we can muster, so if you don’t fancy a sparrow then why not make a pair of rabbit ears, or deer antlers or a squirrel tail or whatever you fancy! It’s your creativity that will make this show great!

    Many thanks to Sam for finding time to chat with us about this exciting project. Here’s hoping for not too much snow this season!

    The Fir Tree is a family show and runs from 15-31 December at Shakespeare’s Globe You can book tickets or learn how to make your own woodland creatures to bring to the show at the Globe website here. More