Lights out: Ellen Kent Company’s La Boheme at the Grand Opera House on Friday falls victim to Coronavirus social contact measures
THE Grand Opera House, York, is suspending all shows with immediate effect in light of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Coronavirus statement to “avoid unnecessary social contact”.
Mark Cornell, group chief executive officer of the Ambassador Theatre Group, the theatre’s owners, has issued a group-wide statement. “In response to the Prime Minister’s statement this evening, advising the UK public to avoid unnecessary social contact, including in theatres, we regret to inform you that shows in all Ambassador Theatre Group UK venues are temporarily suspended with immediate effect,” he said.
“We understand that this decision comes as a disappointment, and a massive inconvenience for those of you already on the way to a venue this evening, but ultimately we all want the same thing: the health and safety of our communities, and we believe this is the correct decision to make.”
Mr Cornell’s statement continued: “Given the current ambiguity and lack of clarity as to how long our theatres may be closed for, we hope to provide you with an update within the next 48 hours regarding the exchange of tickets. We will be consulting with industry bodies including the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre and the government over the immediate future.
“For now, we would like to thank you for your understanding and patience,
and to recognise the incredible efforts and support of producers, artists,
partners and customers over this difficult period.”
The Grand Opera House has no show tonight, but Round The Horne is in the diary for Wednesday; Psychic Sally, 10 Years And Counting for Thursday; Ellen Kent Company’s La Boheme for Friday and Madama Butterfly for Saturday, and the musical Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story for March 24 to 28.
Meanwhile, Tom Bird, executive director of York Theatre Royal, was holding a meeting this evening. A statement will follow.
Still on…then off: Jimmy Dalgleish as Tom, left, Olivia Caley as Hattie and Jack Hambleton asTom in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Tom’s Midnight Garden. Picture: Matthew Kitchen
Tonight’s 7.30pm performance of Tom’s Midnight Garden at the John Cooper Studio, Theatre @41 Monkate, York IS going ahead, but Pick Me Up Theatre artistic director Robert Readman will call off this week’s run after that.
His Twitter statement at 6.38pm this evening read: “In light of the Government’s latest measures, we will be closing Tom’s Midnight Garden after tonight’s show. Do come if you have tix for another day and we will accommodate as many as possible. We are also sad to announce the postponement of Sondheim 90 and The Pirates Of Penzance. “
Sondheim 90: A Birthday Concert, in celebration of Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday was to have taken place on Sunday; Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates Of Penzance from April 17 to 25, both at 41 Monkgate.
The poster for Sheridan Smith’s return to playing Cilla Black, this time on tour in Cilla The Musical
SHERIDAN Smith will revisit
her portrayal of Cilla Black in Cilla The Musical at Leeds Grand Theatre from
November 9 to 21.
She first played the late Liverpool
pop star and television presenter in Jeff Pope’s award-winning ITV mini-series
Cilla in 2015.
The part was written for Smith originally for a stage show but was then transferred to television, whereupon her performance won her a 2015 National TV Award and TV Choice Award and she was nominated for a BAFTA and EMMY Award too.
Now, expecting a baby in May, 38-year-old Smith has agreed to step inside the role of Cilla once more in impresario Bill Kenwright’s stage production, penned again by Pope.
Sheridan Smith in the role of Cilla Black for ITV’s 2015 mini-series Cilla
Her past theatre credits include her first Olivier Award nomination for Little Shop Of Horrors at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London, and her first Olivier Award and WhatsOnStage Award for playing Elle Woods in Legally Blonde The Musical.
Smith, from Epworth, near Doncaster, then won an Olivier Award and an Evening Standard Theatre Award for her role as Doris in Flare Path. Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler at The Old Vic brought her another WhatsOnStage Best Actress Award and she enjoyed a celebrated run in the West End as Fanny Bryce in Funny Girl in 2018.
Cilla The Musical’s heart-warming musical adaptation of Pope’s television series first toured in 2017, when nominated for Best New Musical in the WhatsOnStage Awards.
Kara Lily Hayworth played Cilla after
ten rounds of auditions and a final four sing-off at The Cavern in Liverpool
for the tour that visited the Grand Opera House, York, in January 2018.
Kara Lily Hayworth played Cilla in the tour of Cilla The Musical that visited the Grand Opera House, York, in January 2018
Directed by Kenwright and Bob Tomson,
Pope’s story “follows the extraordinary life of an ordinary teenage girl from
Liverpool, Priscilla White, and her rocky, yet incredible, rise to fame”.
By the age of 25, she was recognised as
international singing star Cilla Black. By 30, she had become Britain’s
favourite television entertainer, leading to such series as Blind Date and Surprise Surprise.
The musical score features such Cilla landmarks as Anyone Who Had A Heart, Alfie and Something Tells Me.
Tickets are on sale on 0844 848 2700
or at leedsgrandtheatre.com.
Did you know?
JEFF Pope wrote the screenplays for Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman; Essex Boys; Philomenaand Stan & Ollie. His television work includes the BAFTA-winning ITV drama Mrs Biggs and Cilla, both starring Sheridan Smith.
Tom Tom club: Olivia Caley’s Hattie with the two Toms, Jimmy Dalgleish, left, and Jack Hambleton, in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Tom’s Midnight Garden. Pictures: Matthew Kitchen
REVIEW: Tom’s Midnight Garden, Pick Me Up Theatre, John Cooper Studio, Theatre @41 Monkgate, York, until Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568; at pickmeuptheatre.com or in person from York Gin, 12, Pavement, and York Theatre Royal box office
IT is grimly impossible not to see everything anew
in the context of the crippling Coronavirus.
Within moments of Tom’s Midnight Garden opening,
the word “quarantine” is mentioned, and audience members turn to each other – keeping
a certain distance, of course – in recognition of its heightened resonance.
Adapted for the stage by David Wood, the doyen of
such transitions from print to boards, Philippa Pearce’s beloved novel is a
testament to the power of imagination, perhaps the most precious gift of all in
childhood, but one that dims through experience as we age.
Right now, we might all wish that the clock could
strike 13 and take us to somewhere magical, as it does in Tom’s Midnight
Garden, although George Orwell’s opening line to 1984, where the clocks en
masse were doing exactly that, is contrastingly heavy with sinister
forewarnings.
Pick Me Up director-designer Robert Readman sets up
the black-box John Cooper Studio in a traverse configuration, the audience to
either side of a stage book-ended by a door and lonely Tom’s bedroom away from
home at one end and a door and bored brother Peter’s bedroom back home at the
other, where he is quarantined with measles.
The setting is the dull 1950s, when Tom (a role
shared by Pick Me Up debutant Jimmy Dalgleish, in action on press night, and
Jack Hambleton) is staying with his kindly Aunt Gwen (Maggie Smales) and
pipe-smoking, Daily Mail-reading Uncle Alan (Andrew Isherwood).
At Tom’s end too is the aforementioned grandfather clock,
with its figure of an angel and an inscription, Time No Longer, taken from the
Book of Revelation, Chapter 10, Verse 6, and still today the subject of much
conjecture as to its possible meaning.
Even within Tom’s Midnight Garden, it draws a
scoffing comment, but if instead it can been seen as advocating that the
limitations, the boundaries, of time be removed, rather than as the end of
time, then it becomes the doorway to limitless imagination.
Ed Atkin as Peter, left, Jimmy Dalgleish as Tom, Olivia Caley as Hatty, Jack Hambleton as Tom and Beryl Nairn as Aunt Grace in Tom’s Midnight Garden
On the John Cooper Studio’s mezzanine level are not
only the bedrooms but also passageways to either side (not ideal, alas, as
anyone moving above you on your side is out of sight, and Readman might need to
re-block those moments to facilitate seeing them better).
Musical director Tim Selman, meanwhile, is
positioned in clear view at his piano beside Atkin’s Peter. Behind him are
cellist Lucy McLuckie and violinist Robert Bates, and together they perform a second
string to Atkin’s bow: his newly composed score that accompanies scenes played
out in the midnight garden of the title.
Occasionally on first night, the beautiful music impacted
on the clarity of the dialogue but the sound balance can be remedied.
A chorus gathers, chiming the mantra “Time no longer”,
as if bringing the clock to speaking life. Each day, that clock is wound up fastidiously
by the mysterious Mrs Bartholomew (Beryl Nairn), so stern of face she unnerves Tom’s
aunt and uncle.
When it strikes 11, 12, 13, pyjama-clad,
inquisitive Tom leaves his bed, makes his way downstairs, across the hall and
out of the door into a magical garden, initially depicted as a bright light. A
garden that only he can enter. A Victorian garden, where he encounters Victorian
orphan Hattie (Olivia Caley), the joyless Aunt Grace (Beryl Nairn, part two),
Bible-reading gardener Abel (Isherwood, part two) and assorted playful Victorian
children.
The garden scenes are played out on the empty
expanse between the two doors. No flowers, no secret passageways, everything
left to our imagination, save for chairs and gathered, elasticated black and
white ribbon strands at all four corners through which cast members pass, not exactly
with the greatest of ease.
Decide for yourself what they symbolise; maybe the
erosion of time; maybe the imagination at work; maybe time travel; maybe they just
look aesthetically pretty, matching the black and white of Readman’s overall design.
Here, across the time divide, Tom and Hattie can see each other when others cannot see him, and time passes at a different rate for each of them. This is a place of mystery and magic, but something darker if Abel’s biblical bent is to be believed, as if Tom were as meddlesome as Shakespeare’s Puck or J M Barrie’s Peter Pan.
Although imaginative, neither Readman’s direction,
nor design, are as magical as his best work. Wood’s script, however, captures fully
Pearce’s possibilities of make-believe, drawing you deep into Tom and Hattie’s
world, where sweetness and sadness elide, brought to life so evocatively by the
outstanding Caley, Dalgleish, Atkin, Smales and Nairn and Isherwood at the
double.
From Strictly to Strictly Ballroom: Kevin Clifton in his dream role as Scott Hastings. Picture: Dave Hogan
KEVIN Clifton will still be in Strictly after all this year…and next
year too.
Not the 2020 series of Strictly Come Dancing, but the 2020/2021 UK and
Ireland tour of Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom The Musical, directed by
Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood, no less.
“Kevin from Grimsby”, 37, will play his dream role of Scott Hastings, with
Yorkshire dates in York, Hull, Sheffield and Bradford, after the 2018 Strictly
champion announced his exit last week from BBC One’s ballroom dance show,
ending seven seasons in annual pursuit
of the glitter ball trophy.
“I really can’t wait to don the golden jacket ,” says Kevin Clifton
Clifton is making a
full-time move into the world of musical theatre, kicking off with the musical
version of the 1992 Australian film that so inspired him in childhood days in
Grimsby.
“I’m
beyond excited to be finally fulfilling a lifelong ambition to play Scott
Hastings in Strictly Ballroom The Musical,” he says. “When I was ten
years old, I first watched the movie that would become my favourite film of all
time. This is my dream role.
“Plus, I
get to work with Craig Revel Horwood again. I really can’t wait to don
the golden jacket and waltz all over the UK from September this year in what’s
set to be an incredible show.”
Craig Revel Horwood: directing Kevin Clifton in Strictly Ballroom. Picture: Ray Burmiston
On tour
from September 26 to June 26 2021, Strictly Ballroom will visit the Grand Opera
House, York, from November 23 to 28, as well as Hull New Theatre, October 12 to
17; Sheffield Lyceum Theatre, April 12 to 17 2021, and Alhambra Theatre,
Bradford, May 31 to June 5 2021.
Clifton joined Strictly Come Dancing in 2013,
performing in the final five times, missing out only in 2017 and 2019, and was
crowned Strictly champion in 2018 with celebrity partner Stacey Dooley, the BBC
documentary filmmaker, presenter and journalist.
A former youth world number one and four-time British Latin Champion, Clifton has won international open titles all over the world. After making his West End musical theatre debut in 2010 in Dirty Dancing, he starred as Robbie Hart in The Wedding Singer at Wembley Troubadour Park Theatre and as rock demigod Stacie Jaxx in the satirical Eighties’ poodle-rock musical Rock Of Ages in the West End, a role that also brought him to Leeds Grand Theatre last August.
Kevin Clifton as Stacee Jaxx in Rock Of Ages at Leeds Grand Theatre in 2019
Clifton last performed at the Grand
Opera House, York, in the ballroom dance show Burn The Floor last May.
Strictly Ballroom The Musical tells the story of Scott Hastings, a talented, arrogant and rebellious young Aussie ballroom dancer. When his radical dance moves lead to him falling out of favour with the Australian Dance Federation, he finds himself dancing with Fran, a beginner with no moves at all.
Inspired
by one another, this unlikely pair gathers the courage to defy both convention
and family and discover that, to be winners, the steps don’t need to be
strictly ballroom.
Sam Lips as Scott Hastings and Gemma Sutton as Fran in the British premiere of Strictly Ballroom The Musical at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, in 2016/2017. Picture: Alastair Muir
Featuring a book by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce, the show features a cast of 20 and combines such familiar numbers as Love Is In The Air, Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps and Time After Time with songs by Sia, David Foster and Eddie Perfect.
Strictly Ballroom began as an uplifting, courageous stage play that Luhrmann devised with a group of classmates at Sydney’s National Institute of Dramatic Art in Australia in 1984. Eight years later, he made his screen directorial debut with Strictly Ballroom as the first instalment in his Red Curtain Trilogy.
The film won three 1993 BAFTA awards and received a 1994 Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture. Strictly Ballroom The Musical had its world premiere at the Sydney Lyric Theatre in 2014, and the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, staged the first British production in December 2016 to January 2017.
Joanne Clifton, Kevin’s sister, as Janet Weiss in The Rocky Horror Show at the Grand Opera House, York, last June
Kevin is not the only member of the Clifton dancing family of Grimsby to have graduated from Strictly champion into musicals. Sister Joanne, 36, appeared at the Grand Opera House, York, as demure flapper girl Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie in February 2017; combustible Pittsburgh welder and dancer Alex Owens in Flashdance in November that year and prim and proper but very corruptible Janet Weiss in The Rocky Horror Show in June 2019.
York tickets are on sale on 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york; Hull, 01482 300306 or hulltheatres.co.uk. Sheffield and Bradford tickets will be available soon.
Yotam Ottollenghi: letting the flavour flood out in his new book and York talk
CHEF, restaurateur and food writer Yotam
Ottolenghi will reflect on A Life In Flavour and provide cooking inspiration at
York Theatre Royal on September 17.
Ottolenghi, who is of Italian-Jewish
and German-Jewish descent, will discuss the tastes, ingredients and flavours
that excite him and how he has created a career from cooking.
In the 7.30pm event, coinciding with
the publication of his latest cookbook, Ottolenghi Flavour, he will “offer
unique insights into how flavour is dialled up and why it works, from basic
pairings fundamental to taste, to cooking methods that elevate ingredients to
great heights”.
Under discussion too will be his life
and career, from how his upbringing – he was born to a chemistry professor and high-school principal in West
Jerusalem – has
influenced his food, to opening six delis and restaurants in London.
Yotam Ottolenghi: “flavour-forward, vegetable-based recipes” in his September 3 book
Ottolenghi, 51, is chef-patron of the
Ottolenghi delis, NOPI and ROVI restaurants. He writes a weekly column in the
Guardian’s Feast magazine and a monthly column in The New Yorker and has
published the cookbooks Plenty and Plenty More, his collection of vegetarian
recipes; Ottolenghi: The Cookbook and Jerusalem, co-authored with Sami Tamimi; NOPI:
The Cookbook with Ramael Scully; Sweet, his baking and desserts collection with
Helen Goh, and Ottolenghi Simple, his 2018 award winner book with Tara Wigley
and Esme Howarth.
Ottolenghi’s appearance at York Theatre
Royal will come a fortnight after Penguin Books publish his new cookbook of “flavour-forward,
vegetable-based recipes”, Ottolenghi Flavour, wherein he and co-writer Ixta Belfrage break down the three factors
that create flavour.
Please note, there is the chance to buy a copy with your ticket (£15 and upwards) for this Penguin Live evening. Ottolenghi will conduct a book-signing session after the talk. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Ayama Miyata as Aiko and Minju Kang as Okichi in Northern Ballet’s Geisha. Picture: Guy Farrow
GEISHA, the first of two world premieres to mark Northern Ballet’s 50th anniversary, opens tonight at Leeds Grand Theatre.
Telling the
emotional story of two young women whose lives are torn apart in the midst of a
collision between East and West, the ballet is choreographed and directed by
Kenneth Tindall, creator of the Leeds company’s 2017 hit, Casanova, and short
works such as The Shape Of Sound.
Running
in Leeds from this weekend until March 21 before a national tour that sets off
at Sheffield Lyceum Theatre from March 24 to 28, Geisha is an
original ballet inspired by true events.
Okichi
and Aiko are two young geisha with an unshakeable bond who find themselves
on different paths when their world is irrevocably changed after the first
arrival of the Americans in Japan. While Aiko finds happiness in her new life,
Okichi’s life is devastated and she returns as a ghostly apparition to wreak
her revenge.
Geisha is
performed to an original score by Alexandra Harwood, played live by
Northern Ballet Sinfonia. Sets and costumes are designed by Christopher Oram, who
designed Casanova too, with lighting by Alastair West. The scenario has been
written by Kenneth Tindall in collaboration with TV and film
writer Gwyneth Hughes; historical consultant Lesley Downer completes
the creative team.
Leeds tickets are
on sale on 0844 848 2700 or at leedsgrandtheatre.com; Sheffield, 0114 249
6000 or sheffieldtheatres.co.uk. Age guidance: 12 plus.
Choreographer and director Kenneth Tindall in rehearsal for Northern Ballet’s Geisha. Picture: Emily Nuttall
Here,
Kenneth Tindall, Northern Ballet dancer from 2003 to 2015, choreographer in residence and
director of Geisha, answers questions on his new production.
What led you to choose Geisha for
your second full-length ballet, Kenneth?
“When [artistic director] David
Nixon invited me to create a new full-length ballet for Northern Ballet’s 50th
anniversary year, we had a lot of discussion about what the title should be.
“Of course you have to consider
how the tour will work and the necessity for it to be successful at the box
office, but we were also mindful of it being the 50th anniversary and choosing
a title that could tie in with that.
“In Northern Ballet’s history, the
company has staged two versions of Madame Butterfly, including one
choreographed by David himself, which I’ve always been inspired by, but I
didn’t want to recreate a ballet that he’d done so well and built a loyal
audience for.
“Instead, we came up with the idea
for an original ballet about geisha based on true events. I lived and worked in
Japan for a year and it’s a culture that I’ve always been fascinated with. The
mystery behind the world of geisha is a fantastic prospect for a creative and
really sparks the imagination.”
When did you first become
interested in the culture of geisha?
“My interest in geisha was first
piqued many years ago when I read [Arthur Golden’s] Memoirs Of A Geisha. That
was my first introduction to geisha and I quickly realised that there was so
much more to it.
Ayama Miyata and Minju Kang in Geisha. Picture: Guy Farrow
“I found it to be a beautiful
first source that captured my imagination and led me into much deeper research.
I remember reading the book in the bath and just being fascinated by the way it
was written: the colours, the landscape, the feeling, the weather, and just the
honour in it all.
“It’s like a whole other world, so
opposite to us in most ways that it’s almost hard for a western mind to get
around.”
Why choose an original story for
Geisha rather than an existing one?
“One of the things that I’m most
proud of about Northern Ballet is that they continue to try to do new stories.
Not tried and tested scenarios, but completely original and wholly new stories
that the audience don’t know.
“I think that it’s incredibly
brave of Northern Ballet because it’s a really difficult thing to market. I
believe that through the years of doing original ballets like this and
producing such great work, the company attracts people to the theatre and
hopefully a new audience to the art form as well.”
What were your first steps in the
creation of Geisha?
“The first thing I did was
establish who was going to create the story with me. Every time I step into a
new project, I’m also looking to push my creative process in at least one new
direction, so that I can learn something and develop my own skills and ideas
for future projects.
Northern Ballet in rehearsal in Leeds for Geisha
“On Casanova I worked with Ian
Kelly to create the scenario and I loved that process. I thought it was really
interesting to have a novelist and playwright involved and it led to quite a
complex story.
“This time I decided I wanted a TV
and film writer to help me edit the scenario and form the character arcs, but
we also really needed a specialist in the subject to help us fully respect the
culture.
“That led me to Gwyneth Hughes to
actually write the scenario with, and Lesley Downer to oversee the process and
make sure we were on the right track.”
How did you form the scenario for
Geisha?
“Gwyneth Hughes and I came
together and threw a hundred ideas into the air to see where they would land.
We began to disregard ideas we thought wouldn’t make a ballet or that we felt
weren’t interesting enough or were too westernised.
Then Gwyneth asked me if I knew
the story of Okichi, which I didn’t. I don’t believe the story of Okichi is
very well known in the west but, in her hometown of Shimoda, there’s a statue
of her.
“I think it’s incredible that this
woman, who had a sort of fall from grace and was perceived totally differently
in the 19th century, now has a statue where people come to pray.
“You never know what the legacy
will be of the choices you make. What makes Okichi’s story more interesting for
me is that the legend is so vague, there are many versions of it, which leaves
it open.
Minju Kang in Geisha. Picture:Guy Farrow
“This meant we had a structure for
the story and then our imagination could run wild. That’s what excited me about
Okichi’s story and one of the reasons we chose it. It then also allowed us to
incorporate another aspect of Japanese culture with the Obon Festival of the
dead.
The Obon Festival is visually
stunning and quite overwhelming in some ways. If you take a moment to stop and
think about life and death, the idea that you could meet the people that are no
longer in your life, the thought is so powerful.
“It just seemed such a natural fit
to include the Obon Festival. Over this three-day period, we are able to
resolve the conflict that happened in the real world in the first act and then
be able to sustain the point of view of Okichi in the second act through her
spirit.”
What are the key themes of Geisha?
Above all, Geisha is about two
young women who happen to be geisha, and the sisterhood they share. We see the
lives of these two women turned upside down with the arrival of the Americans,
which was really a turning point in the history of Japan.
“The geisha world as a backdrop is
stunning and visual, and something that works really well in theatre, but the
interest is actually in who the characters are beyond that.
“The ballet includes themes of
life and death, love, loss, redemption and revenge, which are universal themes
that any culture can understand.”
Minju Kang in rehearsal for Geisha. Picture: Emily Nuttall
What are the challenges of
creating a ballet with an original scenario versus one based on an existing
story?
“It has pros and cons. If you
choose a story like Romeo & Juliet, you’ve got fantastic theatre.
Everything is there for you. The duets, the death, the drama, the excitement,
the love, the connection, the families – it’s Shakespeare, it is incredible.
“There’s the reason it’s survived
for so long and there are so many reinterpretations of it, because at its
foundation, it’s a masterclass of storytelling.
“Having said that, I feel that as
a young choreographer it’s my job not to keep going back to these existing
texts or resources and think about new stories instead. The pressure is coming
up with a story that’s good enough. You’re effectively starting from the
beginning, but it means you get to tailor-make work for ballet.”
What has it been like working with your creative team?
“I feel that honest collaboration is a key component to
whether something will succeed or not. I like to have an idea but stay
open-minded, so that it could go in a new direction.
“I chose my creative team for their incredible skills and I
wanted them invested in the project and for them to challenge me. As I
mentioned earlier, I chose Gwyneth Hughes to write the scenario with and Lesley
Downer as our historical consultant.
“It’s fantastic to work with Christopher Oram on the designs
again as we have a relationship from Casanova, and now we get to start again on
a higher level and push this project even further.
Minju Kang during rehearsals for Geisha. Picture:Emily Nuttall
“It’s the same with our lighting designer Alastair West.
We’ve worked together so often now that for Geisha we started lighting
conversations very early and began visualising what could be possible.
“Our composer, Alexandra Harwood, has gone above and beyond.
I’ve spent so many hours at her house going through ideas and she’s re-written
many scenes; she has such a passion and energy for the project.”
What does it mean to you to create a new ballet for
Northern Ballet’s 50th anniversary year?
“My first performance with Northern Ballet was when I was
eight years old. I was at Central School of Ballet and was picked out of the
school to perform in Romeo & Juliet and A Christmas Carol. “When I later
got a job at the company, it was a dream come true. I worked up to première dancer
and honestly never thought past that. Now it’s the 50th anniversary and I’m
choreographing the first première of the year, it’s a little overwhelming.
“When I was asked to do Casanova, I was just so delighted to
be given the opportunity but now I’m making a second full-length [ballet], I
appreciate what an absolute privilege it is. When I look at where the company
is now and the dancers we have, it’s so humbling to think I’m being given the
opportunity to work on this level.
“I’m just keeping my fingers crossed and praying ‘long may
it continue’ because there are a lot of stories I want to tell, and I just hope
that people will allow me to tell them.”
How do you feel that your relationship with the company
has evolved now that you have created multiple works for Northern Ballet?
“I’ve been choreographing work for Northern Ballet for
almost a decade now and each time my relationship with the company just goes
further. It’s like the dancers have learnt my language and are so well versed
in it that everything is so much quicker and that it allows us time to go
deeper into the process and try new things.
“I like to think that I’ve got a shed full of tools that are
sharpened in the finest manner, with all my special handholds on them and I
know exactly how to use them. So now, with that in mind, where do we go? And
that’s both the terrifying and exhilarating part of it.”
Minju Kang in Geisha. Picture: Guy Farrow
Q and A with Northern Ballet first soloist Minju Kang,
from Seoul, South Korea, who has created the lead role of Okichi in Geisha.
What research have you done to prepare for this role,
Minju?
“I did a lot of research online and was able to find
information about the true story of Okichi. I looked at pictures of Shimoda,
where she’s from, and saw the statue they have of her there.
“I also searched for information and images about geisha in
general and their history. I watched the movie of Memoirs Of A Geisha and
though the story in our ballet is very different, it was very interesting to
see a visual representation of geisha on screen.”
How does Japanese culture compare to South Korean
culture? Are there things you can relate to? “We’re neighbouring countries
and while there are things that are similar, much is so different. I feel close
to it because I am from an Asian culture, but as part of creating Geisha I’ve
learned so much that I didn’t know that is different in Japan, like there is a
certain way to bow and to kneel.
“For me, though, when I play a character, I completely
forget about my nationality, my age and everything else and focus on my
character’s journey.”
Does South Korea have anything like geisha?
“In South Korea we have kisaeng, which are very similar, so
I already had an idea of what being a geisha was about. Kisaeng are basically
entertainers trained in the arts and they dance and play instruments like
geisha do.”
Minju Kang applying make-up for Guy Farrow’s photo-session for Northern Ballet’s Geisha
This is the first time you’ve had a role created on you.
How has that experience been?
“At first it was overwhelming because you want to be good
and it’s a big responsibility. It became really special, though, because I have
been able to put something personal into the role.
“Working with Kenneth Tindall and the ballet staff has been
real teamwork and we really trust each other, so it was easy for me to open up
and not be afraid to give what I have. It’s been such a joy.”
Do you have a favourite scene in Geisha, or a favourite
piece of choreography?
“I enjoyed creating the scene with Townsend Harris –
although it isn’t a happy scene for my character! When we first began creating
it, Kenny [Kenneth Tindall] showed us the movement he wanted, and we tried to
copy it and build up from there.
“But it was so important to tell the story clearly we talked
about it at length in the studio and focused on the small things. It was less
about the movement, and more about a little look, or how I sit down, or the way
he grabs me. I had no idea how much of a difference these little things make.
When the scene was finished there was a real sense of achievement.”
How would you describe the really emotional journey your character has to go on?
“Okichi is a very supportive person. She feels she’s
achieved what she wanted to achieve and now has a sister in Aiko who she fully
supports. Because she’s been through it all herself, she can guide her better
and is very protective in some ways.
Minju Kang at Northern Ballet’s Geisha photo shoot. Picture: Justin Slee
“She’s there for everyone but then, when she needs help
after the Americans arrive, she feels that they are not there for her in return
and she can’t share all she wants to share because she feels ashamed.
“She ends up in a very dark and lonely place. In the second
act when she comes back as a ghost, she doesn’t even understand at first that
she’s dead, she thinks it’s a nightmare.
“Imagine seeing your own dead body – she feels sick at first
but then that turns into anger because she can’t reach the people she loves any
more.
“Her anger is focused on the Americans and when she takes
her revenge, she doesn’t even think about it. It’s only afterwards she realises
the hurt she has done to Aiko, the person she loves the most.”
Is it hard for you to portray that range of emotions within
a two-hour show?
“Yes definitely! The end of the first act is especially
intense. It’s strange how emotion can affect your body, you feel really heavy.
It doesn’t necessarily affect me off stage; I go home, I’m fine, I’m happy, but
in that moment on stage, I’m so committed to that journey that Okichi is going
through and I feel all the emotions.
Riku Ito and Minju Kang in Northern Ballet’s Geisha. Picture: Guy Farrow
Do you enjoy the acting side of your job?
“I do really enjoy it because you get to create another
version of yourself that you never knew existed and share that with the
audience. The fact that you can find something inside of you to create that
character, it’s just like magic.”
Do you like your costumes? Are they easy to dance in?
“They’re amazing. I have about five kimono and they’re all
so beautiful, the colours and designs, but also how they’re made and so
comfortable to dance in. I could wear them every day!
“It’s an amazing visual when you see the whole cast in their
costumes, and the geisha have beautiful fans which have been sourced from Japan
by [leading soloist] Ayami Miyata’s aunt.”
What is your process to prepare for a performance?
“I’m sure every dancer would say that they don’t want to be
rushed. I give myself plenty of time, about two to three hours to get ready. I
make sure I’ve gone out before to get some food, but I don’t like to eat a full
meal before a show.
“I do get nervous and I use mindfulness to help with that. I
talk to myself a lot in my head and get very quiet to save energy, stay calm
and get focused on the performance. I even talk to myself when I’m on stage,
encouraging and reassuring myself, and when something has gone well, I can’t
hide it on my face.”
Minju Kang and Riku Ito in rehearsal for Geisha. Picture: Emily Nuttall
How important is live music to your performance?
“Music is so important for me, it’s half of the performance.
Having a live orchestra is a collaboration and you can feel the connection
between the dancers, the conductor and the orchestra, you can feel the support.
You’re dancing with them.
“It’s like you’re on this journey together and it’s so
special. It’s very different to performing to recorded music. Recorded music is
around you but with live music, the music gets inside you.”
How does it feel to be part of Northern Ballet’s 50th
anniversary year?
“There are people who have been in the company longer, so,
for me, it’s an honour to be part of it. When I learn about the history, I feel
really proud of what this company has achieved and where they are now.
“You can feel the work people have put in to take this
company to where we are and that’s really touching.”
Minju Kang’s back story
Minju, from Seoul, South Korea, trained at Seoul Arts High
School, Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts and the Hamburg Ballet
School.
She performed with Bundesjugendballett for two years before
joining Northern Ballet in 2016. Her roles with the Leeds company have included
Victoria in Victoria, Cinderella in Cinderella, Marilla in The Little Mermaid
and Mina in Dracula.
Watch this space: British European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake to speak at York Theatre Royal in the week of his book launch
BRITISH astronaut Tim Peake will re-live his six-month mission to the International Space Station in his Limitless show at York Theatre Royal on October 11.
Touching down at 7.30pm, Major Peake will
reveal what life in space is really like: the sights, the smells, the fear, the
exhilaration and the deep and abiding wonder of the view from space.
In addition, he will reflect on the surprising
journey that took him there as he tells the story of his path to becoming the
first Briton in space for nearly 20 years – and the first ever to complete a space-walk
– in 2015.
Those tales will cover his time training
in the British Army and as an Apache helicopter pilot and flight instructor
deployed to Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan.
Major Peake also will discuss how it felt to be selected for the European Space Agency from more than 8,000 candidates and the six years of training that followed; learning Russian on the icy plains of Siberia, and coping with darkness and claustrophobia in the caves of Sardinia and under the oceans of the United States.
In this intimate and inspirational conversation, the York audience will hear exclusive stories from Major Peake’s time in space on the International Space Station as he shares his passion for space and science, and the evening will conclude with the chance to ask questions in a Q&A session.
Major Tim Peake on a visit to the UK Schools Space Conference at the University of York in November 2016
The Limitless: In Conversation with Astronaut
Tim Peake event takes its title from his upcoming autobiography, Limitless, to
be published by Century on October 15.
Every ticket for this Penguin Live show – one of only five on the autumn tour – includes a signed copy of the former barman’s £20 memoir; box office, 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Major Peake is due to address children from
more than 100 schools in a flying visit to the UK Schools Space Conference on
Friday, March 20 at the University of York’s department of physics, where children
will present work linking the space industry and education.
Major Peake will share his experiences
in space, most notably the Principia mission that involved a spacewalk to
repair the International Space Station’s power supply with NASA astronaut Tim Kopra;
driving across a simulated Mars terrain from space; helping to dock two
spacecraft and orbiting Earth almost 3,000 times.
Major Peake attended the schools space conference at the university previously in November 2016 and gave a public lecture there on the highs and lows of life aboard the International Space Station in September 2017.
The Soyuz TMA-19M descent module, the capsule that transported Major Peake safely back to Earth, went on display at the National Railway Museum, York, in January 2018, complemented by a space-age virtual reality experience narrated by the astronaut himself.
“The health and safety of the team and our audiences always comes first,” says Badapple Theatre Company artistic director Kate Bramley
BADAPPLE Theatre Company are postponing their spring premiere of Elephant Rock amid the creeping spread of Coronavirus.
The “decline in audience confidence for travelling to events following confirmation of Covid-19 as a global pandemic” has prompted Kate Bramley’s company, from Green Hammerton, York, to call off the April 16 to May 31 tour, now re-arranged for the autumn.
Badapple Theatre Company in 2016 production The Last Station Keeper. Picture: Karl Andre
“These are unprecedented times and while the current advice is for
events to continue as normal, we are conscious this could change at any point,”
says Kate.
“The financial risk of the project for us and our partner venues
has become prohibitive. Postponing now, before our actors are in rehearsal, is
much less stressful for them as they can plan more effectively around their own
families.”
Kate continues: “Of course, the health and safety of the team and
our audiences always comes first, so we understand people’s reluctance to book
tickets for shows scheduled in April. We have already managed to rearrange most
of the tour performances for September and October 2020, so we look forward to
seeing our audiences later in the year.”
Badapple Theatre Company’s Theatre On Your Doorstep logo
Purveyors of “theatre on your doorstep”, Badapple were to have
toured Elephant Rock to 30 venues to mark their 21st anniversary with
founder and artistic director Bramley’s 21st original script for the
North Yorkshire company.
Badapple’s previous shows have toured to predominantly rural areas,
all written and directed by Bramley, who was born in Yorkshire, grew up in
Cornwall and worked as associate director for Hull Truck Theatre before
embarking on her own theatre business.
Danny Mellor and Anastasia Benham in Badapple Theatre’s 2019 Christmas show, The Snow Dancer. Picture: Karl Andre
Not only has Bramley sustained a long career as a playwright and a
director, but she also has built a company that employs three permanent members
of staff and countless actors, musicians and technicians every year.
In a sector that relies heavily on external funding from Arts Council England, Heritage Lottery UK and charities, more than 50 per cent of Badapple’s tours are self-funded, meaning box-office sales speak for themselves. The company had been offered project support of up to £15,000 towards the spring tour.
Harri Marshall and Jake Williams: the partnership behind the next stage of Technical Difficulties
YORK theatre director Harri Marshall and
associate artist Jake Williams are to hold a group interview session on March
21 for their new work, Technical Difficulties.
The open meeting will be held at Theatre @41
Monkgate, York, from 10.30am to 1pm to add research to their verbatim piece on
relationships and technology and how this has evolved over the years.
“We’re inviting the Yorkshire community to share their experiences about relationships when we host interviews that day,” says Harri, a deaf director, who directed York Settlement Community Players’ production of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Red Shoes last October.
“By gaining new stories and opinions, we’ll be able to enhance and enrich the script by adding voices from different communities and create a play that’s ultimately for everyone. If you’d like to be involved in the group session, please follow our social media links (see below).”
Harri continues: “After the new interviews have been added to the script, we’ll cast the six roles with local actors, rehearse and go on to perform the piece, not only in a Yorkshire preview, but we’ll also take it to the 2021 Edinburgh Fringe.
“We feel this project is really exciting as it’s not only made for
an audience but by the audience too.”
Defining Trechnical Difficulties, Harri says: “It’s a verbatim
play about the search for human connection in an increasingly digitised world,
where we unpick what it means to fall in and out of love as well as all the
technical difficulties about relationships.
“I first created the play two years ago at the Oxford Playhouse
with the Young Playmakers, led by Renata Allen. Like much of my work, it relies
heavily on collaboration with the performers and the participants, who have
given their voices to this script.
“Staying true to their original words by using verbatim
techniques, we bring to life their experiences of relationships through
ensemble work, movement and an immersive audience experience – such as rhetoric
and shared stories – unlocking the dramatic potential of documentary theatre.”
The documentary form of theatre has always inspired Harri’s work,
both as a director and writer. “I feel that verbatim theatre is an art form
that doesn’t dictate what the audience should think,” she says.
“Rather, it works with them through shared experience to create a
piece of work that discusses and debates an experience or topic that’s shaped
by the writer, then shared through the medium of theatre. To me, theatre is
about shared story-telling that brings us together, which ultimately is what
verbatim aims to do.”
Harri continues: “The piece creates a sense of belonging between
the actors and the audience, as relationships, while very personal and unique
to each individual, can be relatable and offer insight on the full spectrum of
relationships. This shared experience makes the production real in a way that
no other genre of theatre can replicate, creating a rich tapestry of shared
experiences and genuine voices that unite the audience and allow them to see
reflections of themselves within the characters on the stage.
“It’s the idea of reflection that the audience will take away with
them, allowing a better understanding of how we form our relationships, be that
sexual or platonic. In our current society, with all its political upheaval and
anger, it’s more important than ever to understand how we communicate to each
other, which is why this play is important to share with the city of York.”
The artwork for Technical Difficulties
The creative duo behind Technical Difficulties:
Harri Marshall is a deaf
director, working in York. Since 2016, she has directed seven productions, in
venues such as the Theatre Royal, Winchester, Canal Café Theatre, London, and John
Cooper Studio, Theatre @41 Monkgate, York. in York, where she directed ‘The Red
Shoes’ for the York Settlement Community Players.
Jake Williams has joined
Harri, as an associate artist, on her journey to continue to turn Technical
Difficulties into a fully fledged piece of work. As a founding member of Out Of
Bounds Theatre, he has produced and performed theatre and street arts since
2017. At the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe, he produced and performed in 44 Inch Chest at
theSpace on North Bridge.
How you can be involved in the next stage of Technical
Difficulties:
For more details and updates, or if you have any questions, go to:
SLUG and Caterpillar are starving and the only leaf left in the garden is just out of reach.
So begins Slime, Sam Caseley’s squelchy, squishy, surreal, slimy play for two to five-year-old children at the De Grey Ballroom, York Theatre Royal, on April 15 at 10.30am, 1pm and 3.30pm.
Directed by Ruby Thompson, The Herd Theatre’s show is a playful interactive adventure where young theatregoers and their families can expect to “get stuck in with slime” as they help Slug and Caterpillar to work together to form an unlikely friendship, despite their differences.
Just out of reach: the only leaf left in the garden for Slug and Caterpillar
Slug thinks they should work together,
but Caterpillar has other ideas, saying slugs are gross, covered in gooey slime
and have terrible taste in music.
The Hull company’s fully immersive and accessible experience will transform the De Grey Ballroom into a “Slime-tastic undergrowth for all”, with British Sign Language integrated throughout.
“This isn’t a traditional play performed in a
traditional theatre,” says Ruby, the director. “We’re delighted to host a
unique theatrical experience for the very young. During the show, children and
their grown-ups can be as loud as they want: giggle, dance, wriggle and talk.
We can’t wait to welcome York audiences into the undergrowth, created by designer
Rūta Irbīte.”
“Slugs are gross, covered in gooey slime and have terrible taste in music,” says Caterpillar in The Herd Theatre’s Slime
Playwright and composer Sam adds: “Slugs are amazing and their slime is like no other material on Earth, but they get such a bad rep. So, we’ve made a show that confronts this prejudice, and in doing so explores how we judge others before we know them. And you get to invade the stage and play with Slime at the end.”
Defining their brand of theatre, The HerdTheatre say they “make innovative shows about the world young people live in today”. At the heart of everything is collaboration as they play, chat, imagine, share, and create with groups of children.
Slime has only has 12 words in the show, and every word is spoken and signed by the characters in British Sign Language. Furthermore, every performance of Slime is relaxed. “The audience area is well lit. It’s OK to come, go and make noise if you need to,” say The Herd, whose 45-minute play is followed at each performance by 15 minutes of Slime play.
Tickets for the three performances with British Sign Language and Relaxed Performance access cost £8 on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
