Little Gem - Coming Soon!

Three generations of women and one year of comedy, courage and romance, combine in the Edinburgh Fringe award-winning play 'Little Gem' - next up at the Apollo Theatre in Newport.  
Amber has bad indigestion and the Sambucas aren’t getting rid of it.  Lorraine attacks a customer at work and her boss wants her to see a psychiatrist.  Kay’s got an itch that Gem can’t scratch (but maybe Kermit can).  Paul is just using Amber until he can get to Australia.  The Hairy Man fancies Lorraine but fails to rise to the occasion.  And Gem doesn’t like the neighbours coming in to ‘mind’ him.  And if all that wasn’t bad enough, Little Gem makes his presence felt and life is never the same again.

The cast  includes the Apollo's theatre director and lifelong member, Amy Burns.

Maggie Cardew, director, who is also the Apollo's artistic director this season, said: "I have five very special people in this play: the three generations of women, along with two ‘living props’. Doing this play has put me on a great adventure, and if we get this  right the audience will come along with us too, and join a roller coaster ride that will make them laugh, squirm and cry in rapid succession through the whole evening!"

Little Gem, written by Elaine Murphy, is on at the Apollo on May 20 and 21, and from May 24 to 28.

For more information and online booking, go to www.apollo-theatre.org.uk

The cast in rehearsal with Maggie Cardew (right)

Front Row L to R: Amy Burns, Britney Kent, and Helen Clinton Pacey
Back Row L to R: Eve Fradgley and Carole Crow

Setting the Scene for Little Gem.

This piece has been written by one of our very experienced set design team, Louis Lawrence, explaining how he has taken on the challenge of designing a stage for Little Gem...a play without staging.....

I asked Maggie for an opportunity to design a stage set in the current season. She asked me to work on ‘Little Gem’. When I got the script I was surprised to find there were no stage directions and there was no previous set design illustrated.

This is very unusual as, in normal circumstances, the playwright is very specific about how they see the play and the settings, leaving little room for anything but surfaces and ambience of décor.  

Shakespeare specifies settings and activity, and George Bernard Shaw was notorious for his meticulous notes about how his plays should be staged. It's not often a set-designer works without any kind of parameter. It is a challenge. The only previous experience I had of this situation was at Toynbee Hall in the 1950’s when a friend of mine authored two plays both of which sank without trace.   

Having read the script twice, I began to get an impression of how the actors might be moving about, and when research produced a critique published after the original show in Dublin, it became clear that the action would revolve around some chairs.

Indeed the critic seemed obsessed by the chairs and assumed because they were an ill assorted lot, that there was some meaning to them, which it turns out there is not other than as seating.  

It bears out the understanding that everything appearing on stage however small the detail is attributed some significance by the onlooker.   

The action of the play could be taking place in a number of locations as the actors speak about their lives and times. It was manifestly impossible to provide all these on the Apollo stage. Also It would have been a distraction from the continuity of the action were there lots of scene changes.  

When I discussed this with Maggie she agreed with me that a neutral setting would be best and she asked only for one simple piece of furniture to be available for multiple uses: a raised dais as an acting area, and a prop bed to be brought on (apart from those pesky chairs!)

But how neutral? The ethos of this play lies entirely in the individual actors’ monologues and the mental pictures they create for the audience. The stage set could not impinge on or distract. It needed to be totally neutral, undecorated, leaving the audiences eyes to focus on the actors only. Technically, allowance has to be made for getting on and off but apart from that It could be all black ….we chose white.

In the actual production I hope the audience will be totally unaware of the stage set– just the players, that’s how it should be!

Louis Lawrence

The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter.

Taking on a Pinter play, let alone one of his most famous works, is an ambitious prospect  for any theatre company, and the director, cast and crew of this Apollo production have risen to the challenge admirably, capturing the essence and nuances of the work.

The decision to have an open set immediately presents the audience with the facade of an ordinary domestic living room and kitchen, which we learn is a boarding house somewhere on the coast.

The initial conversation between owner Meg and her husband Petey appears equally conventional, yet beneath the bland comments about the ‘nice’ breakfast and what’s in the paper, we sense a lack of real communication between the couple. Sue Edwards skilfully brings out Meg’s simplicity and delusions as she clings to familiarity, while Simon Cardew deftly shows Petey as apparently just as apathetic yet clearly more aware than his wife.

The appearance of their sole boarder, Stanley takes the atmosphere further into unconventional and confusing territory. In front of her husband Meg treats Stanley like a son, yet as soon as Petey leaves she becomes flirtatious. Stanley treats her by turns with teasing, cruelty and flattery. 

The audience starts to wonder who he is. He seems to want to leave, yet refuses the offer of Lulu, a flirty young neighbour played by Ellie Warren, to do so. Pete Harris adeptly captures the conflicts and confusions of the main character.

The arrival of two more ‘guests’, Goldberg and McCann, throws the situation further into confusion with unexpected consequences. As Goldberg, Michael Arnell is by turns charming, sinister and menacing, in stark contrast to the open violence displayed by his ‘sidekick’, played by Colin Ford.

The limitations of human communication; the comfort we find in the mundane and our fear of change are explored; however, there are moments of comedy and warmth which serve as a foil to the inherent violence, uncertainty and chaos.  

The ‘truth’ of The Birthday Party is that there is no truth, only chaos and confusion from which we make order if we choose: and the other truth is that the Apollo Players have presented us with a highly entertaining production of this play.

The Birthday Party is on from Tuesday to Saturday 5-9 April at 7.30 pm.

Tickets from: http://www.apollo-theatre.org.uk/the-birthday-party/

Harold Pinter's play, The Birthday Party, has divided opinion ever since it opened in London in 1958. Warmly received on its pre-London tour, it was panned by critics and closed after just eight performances.  But a positive review in the Sunday Times restored its reputation and it went on to become a modern classic.

Now it's about to return to the stage at the Apollo for the first time in over 40 years.

The play is about Stanley Webber, a piano player who lives in a shabby boarding house run by Meg and Petey Boles, in an English seaside town, ‘probably on the south coast, not too far from London’.  Meg organises a birthday party for Stanley, but two sinister strangers, Goldberg and McCann, who appear to have come looking for him, turn the birthday party into a nightmare. 

The cast includes John Hannam theatre award winner, Ellie Warren, who is making her Apollo debut.  By contrast, Colin Ford first played McCann in the original Apollo production  in 1974 and is in this role again, being directed by his wife, Marylyn Ford, who said: "This play combines the comedy of everyday life with mystery and menace, and the Apollo's intimate atmosphere is the perfect setting."

The cast also features Simon Cardew, Sue Edwards, Pete Harris and Michael Arnell. 

The Birthday Party runs from Friday April 1st and Saturday 2nd April, then from Tuesday 4th to Saturday 9th.

For more details and to book online, go to http://www.apollo-theatre.org.uk/the-birthday-party/

Picture caption:  Left to right, standing: Michael Arnell and Colin Ford, in rehearsal with Pete Harris (seated).

The Rule of Three....

It's an old saying that everything happens in threes, and this has certainly proved true for the current Apollo production of The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter.

Shortly after casting, one member unfortunately had to turn down the offer of a role; then sadly Joe Plumb fell ill and had to relinquish the role of Stanley; now we have to report illness has also meant Rod Jones has had to step down as Petey, meaning three roles have had to be re-cast during the production. All for very good reasons, but a potential headache for the director, Marylyn Ford.

Thankfully, all the parts have been taken up by experienced and very talented actors, so the old adage that 'the show must go on' has remained true: the Apollo Players would like to welcome Simon Cardew to the role of Petey and thank him for stepping in at such short notice.

So if you do see him on stage with a script as a 'comfort blanket', please bear in mind that he has joined the show with two weeks to go before opening night! And if he is word perfect, he will deserve a huge accolade!

The teamwork and mutual support:onstage, backstage and front of house is a wonderful feature of the Apollo Theatre - it's one of the reasons why we enjoy being members. Another reason is that we can all participate in putting together a truly entertaining evening for our audiences.

So, on with the show - all we need now are audience members to come and enjoy the fruits of our labour: seats are being snapped up rapidly so with less than two weeks to go, make sure that you secure your tickets here:

http://www.apollo-theatre.org.uk/the-birthday-party/

The Birthday Party runs from 1 - 9 April. See you there!

Simon Cardew (right) as Petey, with Sue Edwards as Meg and Pete Harris as Stanley.
Picture courtesy of Paul Jennings

The Birthday Party at The Apollo

The Birthday Party  was first performed in Cambridge on 28 April 1958, and it’s pre-London tour also included Oxford and Wolverhampton. Although it received excellent reviews at all these places, its first London season, at the Lyric, Hammersmith, closed after only eight performances, in the wake of poor reviews and low box offices. Perhaps audiences were not ready for such a play in those days!

However, a ‘rave review’ published in the Sunday Times after its closure thankfully rescued ‘The Birthday Party’ from oblivion, and it has gone on to become a classic. Its fiftieth anniversary in 2008 was celebrated with a revival season at The Lyric – this time to packed houses!

The play is about Stanley Webber, who lives in a seedy seaside boarding house ‘probably on the south coast’ (so not too far from the Isle of Wight!). The boarding house is run by Meg and Petey Boles, who are preparing to celebrate Stanley’s birthday when two mysterious strangers, Goldberg and McCann, turn up, apparently looking for him, and turning the day into a nightmare as everything is questioned.

 Is it really Stanley’s Birthday?

Who are these strangers?

Are Meg and Petey really running a boarding house?

The ambiguity and contradictions invite the audience to question the relationship between past and present; truth and lies, and what humans can do to other humans.

Here is your chance to see a world-acclaimed, thought-provoking and entertaining theatre classic at the Apollo Theatre from April 1 – 9. Don’t miss it.

Further information and booking here: http://www.apollo-theatre.org.uk/the-birthday-party/

The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter 1st to 9th April

   Thoughts from the Director,  Marylyn Ford

Directing a play at the Apollo Theatre, the National Theatre of the Isle of Wight, is like riding on a tumbrel to the guillotine:  slow but inexorable, no going back. 

Rotten eggs are thrown by the production crew, usually because the director hasn't made her/his intentions clear, with no changes. 

Squashed tomatoes hurled by the cast find their mark. especially at that point in rehearsals when there's no more time for meandering discussions of character or motivation, or the set/costume is thought to be "wrong". 

Mme. Defarge awaits, knitting up hubris. 

To quote Sydney Carton, aka the Scarlet Pimpernel, I can only say, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done;  it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known." 

Or, mine's a small Chardonnay, chilled.


(Apologies to Charles Dickens)


The set is being built as we speak....photo courtesy of Paul Jennings.