Performing Arts: News 2006

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AUDITIONS FOR NEXT COLLEGE PRODUCTION

The college theatre group is holding open auditions at 1.30pm on Wednesday 13th September in The Studio Theatre. The production this year is MACBETH. This is the first time the theatre group has mounted a Shakespearean production and is a break from the musical tradition. Director Nic Saunders promises that this production will blow away any preconceived notions students have about Shakespeare being boring or out of date and instead is planning a contemporary and fresh twist on the show in a similar way to which Baz Luhrmann re-invented ROMEO AND JULIET with Leonardo DeCaprio. All college students are welcome to audition, be it for on stage or behind the scenes roles.

FORMER STUDENT NOMIATED FOR EMMY AWARD

Jamie Maclachlan is one of the thirteen nominees for “Best Actor In A Television Movie” for his role as Roger Bannister in the TV movie “Four Minutes” (pictured left) at this year’s Emmy awards.

Jamie left The HENLEY College after successfully completing the BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts. After Henley, he studied at East 15 School of Acting.

“Four Minutes” was Jamie’s big break and followed small roles in television series such as “Waking The Dead” and a handful of stage credits. For Jamie to receive a nomination for such a prestigious American award is staggering and surely hints at a very, very bright future for him.

The department congratulates him on his success and wishes him all the best at the awards in Los Angeles.

PRESTIGIOUS SUMMER PROJECT FOR COLLEGE DIRECTOR

Despite a hectic production schedule at the college which has seen Nic direct three productions this year, the Summer break won’t be providing him with a well earned break.

Since 2001, Nic has run his own theatre company – Theatre 14167 – and has produced two productions to date, one at the Edinburgh Fringe and one in London. This Summer sees him mount the third production with his company – THE BEARD by Michael McClure.

Arguably the most controversial play of the Sixties and a landmark in stage censorship, THE BEARD will run for three weeks in London at The Old Red Lion Theatre in Islington before a likely transfer to Paris.

The production is likely to have a very high profile as it boasts a specially composed piece of music by ‘The Godfather of Minimalism’ Terry Riley and Michael McClure will be making a very rare UK visit to promote the play. McClure’s CV is very impressive – not only is he widely regarded as one of America’s finest poets, but his list of collaborators reads like a who’s who of America culture and includes Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Dennis Hopper, Allen Ginsberg, Norman Mailer, Peter Fonda, Martin Scorsese and Jack Kerouac. Now Henley College’s very own Director of Drama can be added to that list!

Further details of the production and tickets availability can be found online at www.thebeardplay.com.

GRADUATION PROJECT AT NORDEN FARM

The second year BND students finish their course with their final production at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Maidenhead in June.

The ‘graduation production’ is a production of “Illyria” by Bryony Lavery. Continuing the anti-war theme from the last production, “The Visit”, the play tells the story of Maria, a young female news journalist who leaves her safe, comfortable home for an assignment in Illyria. Once a green, green land of dancing, stories and song, it is now a worn torn, dangerous, suspicious, frightened play of horror with a terrifying divide between those that rule and those that are ruled.

Director Nic Saunders, “It’s a dynamic and exciting show that is both challenging to an audience both in the theatrical devices used to tell it and the message being put forward. It’s a piece we all feel passionate about and believe that with the current Iraq debate and the so-called ‘axis of evil’ it has really important things to say about war, peace, dictatorship and how we all choose to live our lives.”

Tickets are available now from the Norden Farm box office and online at www.nordenfarm.org. The show runs from Thurs 15 – Sun 18 June. Start time – 7.45pm. Selected performances will be followed by a Q&A session with the director and principal cast.

DANCE SHOW

On the 18 and 19 May, performing arts students will be performing the annual showcase evening of dance. The show promises a mix of solo and group work, modern and classical, and will interest anyone interested in an evening of dance.

Doors open at 7pm and the event takes place in the Dance Studio. Tickets are priced £5.00.

 

 

THE VISIT

The latest production from the ever busy Performing Arts department was a provocative and politically charged adaptation of “The Visit” by playwright Friedrich Durrenmatt.

The play is an allegorical tale about the dangers of fascism and was written in the aftermath of the Second World War.

Image: James Ashby as Alfred Ill is pushed to breaking point

In the current political climate director Nic Saunders felt that now was the perfect time to engage students in a play that asks difficult questions about what sort of leaders we want and just how far we should go in the name of retribution. The Completely Cuckoo Theatre Company, comprised exclusively of the college’s BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts students, tackled the material with their normal enthusiasm and produced one of the best plays for years. In the principal roles Hannah Banks and James Ashby gave performances that belied their age and inexperience.

All of the hard work was ultimately rewarded by four completely sell out nights at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts in Maidenhead. However, the biggest reward came in the form of the review in the local paper when they wrote “With this production, The Completely Cuckoo Theatre Company have once more marked themselves out as one of the outstanding theatre companies currently at work in the Oxfordshire area.”

The next production from the Company, and the last of the year, will be “Illyria” by Bryony Lavery and will again be performed in the Studio Theatre at Norden Farm in June.

NEW DRAMA PRODUCTION

Following two sell out productions at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts in Maidenhead, The Completely Cuckoo Theatre Company (made up of BND Performing Arts students) return to Norden Farm with their latest production, “The Visit”.

Durrenmatt’s play tells the story of Clare Zachanassian’s return to her childhood home of Guellen. Having been forced to flee the village in shame as a pregnant, unmarried teenager, Clare’s return is motivated by the desire for revenge against the man she feels responsible for her exile. Having now amassed great wealth, Clare offers the villagers the sum of one million pounds if they will murder him and present her with his body.

The play works on two levels. Firstly, as a pure thriller – will the villagers take Clare up on her offer and what are the moral implications if they do? And secondly, critics have read the play as Durrenmatt’s observations on the Swiss and German people in the wake of Hitler’s rise to dominance. Whatever, level you read the play on, it is undoubtedly a powerful piece of theatre that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth afterwards and is rightly regarded as a classic of modern theatre.

The play runs from 23 – 26 March. The show starts at 7.30pm and tickets are available over the phone on 01628 788997 and online from www.nordenfarm.org. Certain performances will have a Q&A session with the director and cast – these are to be confirmed and the venue should be contacted for more details.

Reviews for both of last year’s Norden Farm productions can be found in the Productions section of this website and this show is bound to sell as well – so book your tickets early.

NATIONAL DIPLOMA STUDENTS VISIT DISNEYLAND

Every year the BND First Year students get a chance to experience first hand one of the world’s most successful entertainment parks. As part of their course, students are encouraged to experience dance and drama in all of its forms and this trip provides a unique opportunity to see behind the scenes at Disney. The trip also provides a break from the hard work of rehearsing the first year production – details to follow very soon.