Arts
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Henley
Performing Arts: News
FIRST DIPLOMA COURSE ENDS WITH SHAKESPEARE PLAY
THE WEDDING OF THE YEAR
BND YEAR ONE PRODUCTION OPENS AT NORDEN FARM
STUDENTS HELP WITH EX-JERSEY BOYS' FILM
STUDENTS WORK WITH HOLLYWOOD ACTOR
EX-STUDENT BECOMES WEST END LEADING LADY
NEXT PRODUCTION ANNOUNCED
TICKETS SELLING FAST AS TOMMY APPROACHES
CHRISTMAS PRODUCTION ANNOUNCED - "TOMMY"
RICHARD ALSTON DANCE COMPANY COME TO COLLEGE
EVENING OF BRECHT
IMPRESSIVE YEAR FOR GRADUATING BTEC DRAMA STUDENTS
NEXT PRODUCTION ANNOUNCED
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS VISITS THE COLLEGE
FIRST DANCE EVENT OF 2009
TICKETS ON SALE FOR NEW COLLEGE PRODUCTION
KNIFE CRIME DRAMA DRAWS NATIONAL ATTENTION
TRIP TO DISNEY 2009
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First Diploma Course ends with Shakespeare Play
Last week saw the BTEC National Diploma students end their 2 year course with a very well received production of Lorca’s “Blood Wedding”.
Next week the First Diploma students end their course with their production, a version of “A Midsummer Nights Dream”.
Says director Neil McCurley, “Shakespeare might initially seem a bit daunting for level 2 students, but they’ve really risen to the challenge and they’ve been great to work with. We’re actually working from a modern translation, so issues such as the language haven’t been a problem, but our version still deals with all the same themes and issues as the original text and, of course, features all the same characters and situations. We’ve worked hard to stage it in a slightly different way than the students have been used to using the studio space and we’ve really tried to make it fun and entertaining. Basically, we want our audience to have a great night out and hopefully see how far our level 2 students have developed over their course, many of whom are progressing next year onto the National Diploma”.
The production opens on Tues 29th June and runs until Fri 2nd July in the College’s Theatre Studio. The production starts at 7.30 and lasts approx 90 minutes, including an interval.
Tickets are £6/£5 and are available from Deanfield Reception, over the phone on 01491 579988 and on the door. Tickets are available now.
(June 2010)
Tickets - or rather invitations - for the last Completely Cuckoo Theatre Company production of the year are now on sale.
The graduation production from BTEC National Students is normally staged at Norden Farm Arts Centre in Maidenhead, but this year the students have chosen the setting of the front lawn of Rotherfield Hall as their venue.
The production is a new version of a play many herald as one of the classics of modern theatre, Blood Wedding by Lorca. This version is inspired by Lorca's original is and not a conventional restaging of it. In fact, much of the dialogue is entirely new and the story promises a few twists and turns that will take those already familiar with the play by surprise.
"Lorca's play is a classic" says director Nic Saunders, "and we're trying to take the essence of his work, but trying to create something more than just a play, we're trying to create an experience for the audience. We're staging the story as a wedding in real time and we want the audience to really participate. The tickets are actually invitations, we want the audience to come dressed in their best suits and dresses and we'll be serving champagne throughout. We want to create an immersive, interactive theatrical event that really absorbs people - so, we'll be involving the audience in the wedding pictures, in the cutting of the cake and other pivotal moments of the story. Hopefully, it will be a really exciting and dynamic event."
The production opens on Wednesday 16 June and runs until Saturday 19th. Tickets are available from Deanfield reception or from 01491 579988. Tickets are strictly limited to 60 a night and will sell out very quickly, so don't hesitate if you want to be part of what promises to be an innovative and memorable night out.
BND Year One Production opens at Norden Farm
“Our Country’s Good” is being performed by the BND Year One students at Norden Farm Arts Centre all this week.
The show opens on Thursday 18th and runs until Sunday 21st March.
Says director Neil McCurley, “It’s a tough show and has presented some real challenges to the young cast, but we’ve been rehearsing every hour to be ready and I’m confident we’ll be presenting our audiences with a thought provoking and dynamic piece of theatre”.
Tickets are available from www.nordenfarm.org
The Henley College has a strong relationship with the West End hit show “Jersey Boys” – Frankie Valli (alternate) was played by ex- BTEC student Scott Monello and Four Season Nick Massi was originally played by actor Philip Bulcock, who was directed by the College’s Head of Performing Arts Nic Saunders in a film project in 2009. So when Philip needed some voice recording for a film he is currently working on where else but to Henley could he turn!
Actor Philip Bulcock, who has also directed the film, came to the College last week and recorded a group of female students screaming. In the piece, these screams will be used over a scene in which fans go crazy outside a hotel window when their idols, a Four Seasons style group, appear.
Says Nic Saunders, “It was a great experience for the students to do something a little bit different and it gives them an insight into how the industry works. When they see the film they’ll hear themselves, but coming from the mouths of professional actresses – it will be a strange experience, I’m sure. We’re very grateful that Phil would think of Henley when he needed the help and we’re more than happy to give it.”
STUDENTS WORK WITH HOLLYWOOD ACTOR
A group of Performing Arts students spent their February half term in College participating in a week long intensive course of Acting workshops.
The lucky group of students spent the week working with American actor Kirk Baltz. Kirk’s work developed the Acting work the students have done as part of their college courses and then pushed it in new directions. Kirk’s work is based primarily on the ideas of practitioners Sanford Meisner and Sandra Seacat and his focus is on the ways in which actors can develop characterisation through accessing, understanding and employing their own emotions and life experience. It is very personal, intimate work and the students had a very challenging week, but they all agreed that it was “the experience of a lifetime”.
The College was very fortunate that Mr Baltz agreed to come over from Los Angeles for the week. Internationally renowned as an Acting Coach, Kirk is also a working actor and has appeared in films such as “Dances With Wolves” and “Natural Born Killers” and TV shows such as “Will and Grace” and “24”. Kirk is probably best known for the role of Officer Marvin Nash in Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs”.
“It was really great that Kirk would consider working with our students – I have no doubt that we will see the benefits of his work in all their performance work from now on. It wasn’t an easy week and Kirk took them to some difficult emotional places, but the students gave their all and responded really well. It was great for them to work with a professional actor for a long period of time and it’s given them a taste of what to expect if they continue their training after Henley”, says
Nic Saunders (February 2010)
EX-STUDENT BECOMES WEST END LEADING LADY
Susie Allman graduated from the BTEC National Diploma Performing Arts course in 2002 and went to study the dance at The Urdang Academy.
Since graduating Susie has spent time in Guildford in productions of “Sweeney Todd” and “Godspell” and toured the UK in a production of “Cinderella”. Susie recently starred opposite Celebrity Big Brother winner Alex Reid in independent British gangster feature film “Killer Bitch”. Susie has also carved out a niche for herself as a model and was the face of FHM’s Dance Workout video – a clip from which can be found at:- http://www.floorfillersmusic.com/cd/floorfillersmusic/fhm/susie.shtml
Starring opposite Toby Anstis and Siobahn Dillon, Susie can be now found nightly at The Piccadilly Theatre in her first West End role as Parry Simcox in “Grease”.
The College congratulates Susie on landing the part and wishes her all the best. It is always very encouraging to current students to see people working in the profession who started their training at Henley. (January 2010)
The Completely Cuckoo Theatre Company have announced that their first production of 2010 will be “Our Country’s Good” by Timberlake Wertenbaker.
“Our Country's Good” is the story of convicts and Royal Marines sent to Australia in the late 1780s as part of the first penal colony there. It follows Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark's attempts to put on a production of George Farquhar's restoration comedy The Recruiting Officer with a cast of male and female convicts. The play shows the class system in the convict camp and discusses themes such as sexuality, punishment, the Georgian judicial system, and the idea that art can act as an ennobling force.
Says director Neil McCurley, “It’s a terrific play with lots of interesting staging possibilities and I’m keen to see what myself and the students can bring to the piece.”
The play will be performed at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts in Maidenhead from 18 – 21 March. Tickets will go on sale in February. (January 2010)
TICKETS SELLING FAST AS TOMMY APPROACHES
With less than two weeks to go until this year’s Christmas production, last minute rehearsals are well underway to produce another top quality production. Says Nic Saunders, “It’s a mad couple of weeks, but things are really coming together now – last night we put the dance, band and acting together for the first time and I’m pretty optimistic we can top our production of We Will Rock You from a couple of years back.
We Will Rock You set a real benchmark for the College, but Tommy may exceed that. The students are working really well, giving up an enormous amount of their time and I’m hopeful the hard work will pay off.”
Tickets are selling fast and are available from Deanfield Reception and Nellie’s Sweet Shop, Friday Street in Henley on Thames. Tickets are also available over the phone on 01491 579988 and are priced £8 / £7 (concs).
(December 2009)
RICHARD ALSTON DANCE COMPANY COME TO COLLEGE
Hannah Tatham from The Richard Alston Dance Company (Education Dept) came to College to work with Dance students last week. Alston’s work is a set study for A Level dancers, so it was an excellent opportunity to experience the work from a first hand perspective. The students will also be going to see the Company perform their work on stage in the coming weeks at The Swan Theatre, High Wycombe. Dance lecturer Tara Bloomfield commented, “It was a tough day and students were really made to work, but they learnt such a lot and hopefully the experience they had with Hannah will be of enormous benefit when they come to their examinations.” (Nov 2009)
Following 2007’s production of Queen’s “We Will Rock You”, the Performing Arts and Music departments are teaming up to bring another great rock musical to the college stage. This year’s Christmas production will be “Tommy” by Pete Townsend and The Who.
Telling the story of a deaf dumb and blind kid who encounters characters such as The Pinball Wizard and The Acid Queen, “Tommy” was a smash on Broadway in the mid nineties. Originally an album by The Who and later a film by Ken Russell, “Tommy” promises to be a dynamic and innovative production. Says Nic Saunders, “It’s a challenging show, but I’m really excited to get started on it.”
The Auditions are open to all students and take place on Weds 16 Sept in D401 at 1.30pm. Singers, actors, dancers and musicians are needed, but so are students with an interest in set design, lighting, etc.
Let the Amazing Journey begin! (September 2009)
The Year One BTEC National Diploma students will be performing two evenings of devised pieces on Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 June.
The pieces explore the Celebrity obsessed culture we live in through the theatrical ideas and techniques of German practitioner Bertolt Brecht. Says Nic Saunders, “Brecht is without doubt one of Theatre’s most influential theatre practitioners and his ideas have shaped every aspect of modern performance. The students have been studying his work and will be presenting the results of that to the public in what I hope will be two quite dynamic and interesting pieces of work.”
The evenings start at 7pm and will be in the college’s in-house Theatre Studio. Admission is free. (June 2009)
As the academic year draws to a close, it is very rewarding to see that four students from the current BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts course have been successful in being accepted to prestigious Drama Schools. Natalia Torres will be studying Acting at Rose Bruford, David Gurney is going to East 15, Ben Parsons is going to Mountview Academy and, in a first for the college, Jessica Kell has been accepted at RADA.
Image: Jessica Kell who is going to RADA in her first year production, "Talk Radio"
In addition, Lucy French and Niamh Handley Vaughn have been accepted to Bath Spa University to study Performing Arts, Olivia Martell and Helen Sharrad are going to Bournemouth University to study Performing Arts and Dance, Jodie O'Callaghan is going to Chichester University and Aemilia Owen is going to Weston College to study Musical Theatre.
Says Nic Saunders, "It's very pleasing to see the training at Henley has been of the standard to help our students make their next step on the ladder and I wish them luck in their future careers." (June 2009)
NEXT PRODUCTION ANNOUNCED
The next production from the Performing Arts department will be a dynamic new interpretation of Euripides' classic play 'Medea'.
Betrayed by her husband Jason, Medea exacts a terrible revenge in what many have called "the greatest play of all time". The College has not staged any Greek plays since 2002 when it performed all three parts of Aeschylus' epic trilogy 'The Orestia'. That project culminated in all three parts being performed as a seven hour single piece in the Greek Theatre at Bradfield College. Says Nic Saunders "There's a reason these plays have stood the test of time and are regarded as the best the Theatre can offer - great stories, great characters, conflicts between mortals and Gods, the supernatural element - they have it all, and I'm confident that our current crop of students will do this particular play justice. Its definitely not going to be one for the squeamish as there will be a lot of blood".
'Medea' will run from 11 - 14 June at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Maidenhead. Tickets are available from the venue. (May 2009)
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS VISITS THE COLLEGE
Dance students were treated to a day of workshops from dancer Matthew Malthouse.
Matthew has just finished a run as the lead role in Matthew Bourne's phenomenally successful production of 'Edward Scissorhands'. Matthew gave the students the low down on what it was like to work with Bourne, how he created the character of Edward (who, of course, was famously played by Johnny Depp in the film version) and put them through their paces by teaching them some choreography from the show.
Nic Saunders "It's great that Matt was able to come to the College. The A Level students are being taught about Matthew Bourne and his work, so to work with one of his principal dancers was a real buzz. Matt's a great guy and very popular with the students who all left his workshops absolutely dripping in sweat and we're very grateful he found the time to come and work with our students".
(April 2009)
FIRST DANCE EVENT OF 2009
The Dance department of the college is keen to showcase student work and has several evenings during the year where the public can come and see examples of Henley dance. This is ideal for those thinking of coming to the college to see what the dance department has to offer and for family and friends of current students to see the work they’ve been doing.
The BTEC courses – both First and National Diploma – will be showcasing their work on Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 March. The venue is the college’s own dance studio and the evening starts at 7.15pm. Tickets are just £4.00 and are available from the college reception.
“The evening will allow an insight into the student’s dance studies and their progress. The show will feature exercises from classes in the styles of ballet, contemporary, jazz and street. Some short dance pieces will be performed in these styles as well as a small selection of choreographies by diploma and second year students. I hope it’ll be an exciting evening”, says Tara Bloomfield, the college’s dance lecturer.
With only 70 tickets available per evening, this is sure to sell out fast. (March 2009)
TICKETS ON SALE FOR NEW COLLEGE PRODUCTION
Tickets are now available for the next college production. The production is the powerful and controversial play “The Laramie Project”.
“The Laramie Project” is a play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project about the reaction to the murder of Matthew Shepard. The play draws on hundreds of interviews conducted by the theatre company with inhabitants of the town of Laramie, company members' own journal entries and published news reports. Matthew Wayne Shepard was an openly gay university student who was brutally attacked near Laramie, Wyoming in October 1998 and left for dead by his attackers. Shepard later died from bleeding in the brain and hypothermia.
The play is a hard hitting and at times deeply moving piece of theatre and continues the college’s tradition of tackling challenging and adult material. The play is being performed by the first year BND students at Norden Farm from the 19 – 22 March. Tickets can be bought from Norden Farm on (01628) 788997 or online at www.nordenfarm.org
“It’s a tough play and bound to elicit some strong reactions from the audience, but that’s what good theatre should aim to do. The play doesn’t shy away from asking some difficult questions and it’s not always an easy watch, but I think it unlikely to be a play that audiences will leave and not talk about for a long time afterwards”, says director Neil McCurley. (March 2009)
BND Performing Arts students pose on Main Street USA in the Disneyland Park, Paris. The trip to Disneyland has become a hugely popular part of the BND course.
The purpose of the trip is to both raise awareness of the performing arts opportunities at Disney and help create a sense of ensemble within the class as they prepare for their first year course production. Says Nic Saunders, "The trip was a great success - the students had a great time and I think have come back as a closer group and eager to get on with their work on The Laramie Project, their first year show. (January 2009)
