OMG!

Okay, I’m now in shock! This will be a short post as I don’t have too many details, but I have a long last been approached by a professional company! I wish I had more to add at this time, but that long awaited call looks as though it’s happened!

Winning makes you feel…

Alright! I admit it! I haven’t posted in ages; but as per normal I have a series of excuses.

1. My studies have got in the way (I had no idea doing an MSc in a subject I enjoy so much takes up so much of your time).
2. Work has stepped up a gear with loads of projects needing to be completed at the same time.
3. I’ve been acting in one of my plays!

And it’s point 3 that I want to concentrate on today. The Academy Players produced Denim from the 21st to 23rd of April this year. It’s fair to say there were some nerves in this production, as many of the principle actors had never stood on a stage before, there were fears they would never learn their lines – and advanced ticket sales were beyond poor (indeed, days before we opened there were discussions regarding pulling one of the nights).

But we opened on the Monday night and were delighted to have around 20 to 30 people in the audience. We were over the moon when our ‘newbies’ pulled something remarkable out of the hat, in that they played their parts so well, the other members of the cast we doing their best to concentrate on their roles; rather than stand back in shock at how well these newcomers were doing.

For the first time in my playwright career I saw the power of ‘word of mouth’. Sure advanced ticket sales were poor, but the second night saw so many people just pitch up at the door having spoken to someone that saw the play on the Monday. Then on the final night, where we only expected 15 people in the auditorium, we ended up with 60+! Just walking the bazaar’s in between productions all of the cast were hearing people saying “you’ve got to go, it was fantastic!” and one that stopped me dead was from a student attending the Advanced Command and Staff Course (ACSC). In this course there is a large academic element. At this point in the year they are required to submit an 8,000 word MA essay and a 15,000 word Defence Research Project. To say this takes up a lot of their time would be an understatement. I watch these guys daily stressing so much and challenging their time-management to destruction point. One such student explained to me:

“What with all this going on, the last thing I needed was to go and see some
amateur play. But seeing as the boys (two of the cast were ACSC students)
were in it, we reluctantly agreed to go along and support them.

And I’m so glad we did. It was great! I was cracking up from beginning to end. There
was nothing amateur about it – this was real theatre. I would have happily
have paid to see this in a ‘real’ theatre. I’m not joking, this was one of
the highlights of the course for me.”

Moreover for me as a playwright, the final night had greater importance to me. I was our adjudicated performance for the Royal Navy Theatre Festival. We had the great fortune to have Sonia Woolley as our adjudicator who not only made the cast and crew feel at their ease during the production, but gave amazing feedback to enable each of the cast to grow as actors and enable the production crew to make the whole experience of going to the theatre more enjoyable and more exciting.

On Friday night, we had the Awards Night where 19 awards are presented for theatrical endeavours. We walked away victorious! The Academy Players won:

Best Overall Production: Festival Champion
Best Director (Paul Graham)
Best Stage Set
Best Lighting
Best Technical Achivement
Best Actor (Stuart McQuade, playing Pete)

We also collected ‘Highly Commended’ awards for:

Best Supporting Actress (Tamsen Clark, playing April)
Best Female Newcomer (Melanie Wright Cooper, playing Hazel and Charlotte Causton, playing Zoë)
Best Male Newcomer (Brian James, playing Customer 1 and Nick Brittain, playing Customer 2)
Best Actress (Melanie Wright Cooper, playing Hazel and Charlotte Causton, playing Zoë)
Best Actor (Brian James, Customer 1)

My congratulations to all involved! It was a great run that truly entertained our audiences. But don’t just take my word for it… Chris Mills, our producer, has uploaded a 10 minute extract of the play on YouTube... have a look!

But the night didn’t end there. I had entered my new manuscript ‘Error of Comedies: Occupations’ in the Best Original Stage Play category. Winning was great, but the review given by Sonia Woolley took my breath away. Making comments like “A concept worthy of Ayckbourn…”, “Great commercial potential…", "Inspired…” made the process of writing worthwhile.

There has been a slight attitude within the Royal Navy Theatre Association that I play at being a playwright. I saw a fundamental shift on Friday evening. People spent the evening coming up to me and asking about my plays as they were thinking about what they had to produce to win the festival (seeing as this production brings my tally of winning the RN Theatre Festival to 3 times) and asking for copies of Error of Comedies: Occupations.

This has reinvigorated my interest in writing for the stage. I now know more than ever that I want to be a full time playwright. I have a few years left in the service, and now my goal is to find a means of making play writing my full time career when I leave.

Winning doesn’t just make you feel good for a few minutes, it can make you think about where your life is going… And what you are going to do to change it.

Did I really write that?

Put 14 chairs in a circle, pass out a script, tell people who’s who and get them to read it to each other.

There’s your makings of a ‘read-through’.

To the uninitiated, this can be painful process. And we had a few ‘actors’ at the read through who have never trod the boards before. They found the process decidedly uncomfortable, as they wanted to wander around the stage, interact and put some physicality behind their lines.

And I can understand why. But this isn’t the function of a read through. It’s there to ensure the cast has a common understanding of the script and its plot from the director’s standpoint. It’s more of a challenge with something like Denim, as for all but 5 people attending, this was the first time they witness the story from start to finish.

In the auditions, the director purposefully only employed scenes from Act 1: to keep the twist and the counterplot of the second act hidden from the cast and potential audience.

To walk the stage and perform a read through would take at least twice as long – hardly and effective use of time.

So there we were, sat holding a script and talking when it was out turn. It was delightful to see that people had already developed some form of character for the person they were playing. Everyone was modulating their voice to attempt to convey some from of emotion… But they joy for me was there were a number of belly laughs! There were also some physical flinches… To me, that’s job done! The words were enough…

If my words spoken aloud with no direction or coaching can get people laughing and reacting, it means that the dialogue is right. No one was saying “that would never happen” or, “isn’t that stretching the imagination a bit”. They were behind the play.

And you could see the casting choices were correct: Customers 1 and 2 play too nicely against each other; one wide and cheeky; the other thoughtful and concerned. Pete was a joy, setting himself up well as the total wideboy, but developed into his true self as the play developed. Hazel had a true command and has a voice that enables her to put true emotion behind what she is developing. And Sybil… Dear Lord… She’s really going to steal the show as she displays no shame.

And there I sat, acting the disgusting drunk blurting out my lines at the appropriate point. I was overjoyed to see nearly all my lines attract a laugh (as I intended the character). But I felt myself wince more than once, knowing the guttural level of humour which was about to be delivered. More than once I found myself thinking “I am a very naughty man”. I remember when my wife and I saw the Pewsey Vale production and she kept on elbowing me, saying much the same.

Where did I get these lines from? I don’t talk like that in real life… I don’t use humour that base on a day to day basis… So where does this stuff come from.

Throughout the read through, I started to worry the remainder of the cast would assume these lines showed my true character. I needn’t have worried as it turned out, as they asked me how I thought these things up.

And I was reminded of something I wrote many years ago. “It’s like controlled schizophrenia.”

When I write, I try and place a shape to the characters. Before the scenario, I write detailed character biographies to guide me to who this person its. As the scenario develops, the characters take over in my mind and they ‘tell’ me what they are going to do and what they are going to say. Sometime I have to hold them back, but many is the case where their ‘idea’ is better than what I had in the synopsis.

So, although I’m the one that put the words on the page, in many ways it’s not me writing – it’s this person I’ve created telling what words to put down.

Anyway, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!

An actor’s life for me

The new director at the Academy Players has cast Denim.

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I had to stand back from the auditions process other than being an actor myself. We only received the confirmation of roles this morning as the Director had quite a headache regard how he was going to present his image.

This revolved around the person who would play Giles. He wanted Giles to be in his early to mid twenties, and that meant all the other characters would have be aged around him. It also means the play has to be set in the early 90s to maintain the plot line.

With a lot of effort – and asking me if it would work from the playwright’s perspective – he managed it. And the list was emailed out today. And what did I get?

Doug.

I am now terrified!

I wrote the damned thing, but the prospect of playing Doug fills me with fear. I thought I took actors feeling into account when I wrote a play… But now knowing I have to be a filthy disgusting drunkard with poor hygiene… Damn… That’s not right… Hell…! I’ve just remembered what happens with Sybil…! Who’s playing that part…?

OhmygodwhathaveIagreedto?

This is going to be frightening. But it’s also going to be great fun. The cast selected is brilliant. I can’t wait to see Customer 1 & 2 playing up to each other. April is going to be a knock out. Zoë is going to have too much fun. Pete is going to be a scream! Sybil…? Dear Lord… She’s going to steal the show! Doug… I guess he’s going to be passable.

Time to stand back and learn my lines.

It’s going to be interesting to see how this play develops. We have the read through tomorrow night, so I will report on the casts views on the script.

Under starter’s orders

Denim looks like it’s underway again.

The Academy Players are looking to produce Denim at the end of April. This time (for the Academy Players) I get to stand back from the production side of life and live the life of an actor. Paul, the producer of this year’s pantomime, has been hauled in kicking and screaming to take the role of Director – and it had to be said that he is taking to the role with gusto.

It can be very daunting directing your first play, but once you read a script and see what journey it’s supposed to take the audience on, then you’re on to a winner. And that is exactly what Paul has managed to do.

Two audition nights were set, one for Tuesday night and the other for last night. On Tuesday we had a multitude turn up and the auditions were stunning. Many of the attendees had been involved with the Pantomime – but what they presented in the auditions was like nothing we saw in the panto.

In panto, you have to over play everything. In a ‘standard’ play you have to connect with the part and build the character, not only in your mind, but over the course of the play. We had the Baron, Stepmother, Prince and Cinderella there… And they all became different people on the stage.

We also had a couple of newcomers arrive who had never stood on a stage, let alone take part in an audition… They blew me away! (I can’t say what they did to the Director as he has the casting decision to make – which I have no part in.) They presented themselves confidently, clearly and with defined humour. I’ve rarely seen that from total newcomers to the stage.

For me, it was terrifying. It was the first audition I’ve gone for in over 2 years. Add to that, I was auditioning for a part in one of my own plays.

I told Paul I am willing to take any part he considers me good enough for, but it was strange when I was reading the parts. At first I thought that I wanted to be Customer #1 – but someone else not only read him better, but look more the part. Then I wanted to be Doug – then I saw that I maybe wasn’t the right build or age for the part. Then I wanted to be Giles (and I really thought I would never want that part, what with it being so close to home) – and realised if I took the part, I would make the casting process for the remainder of the cast very difficult.

So I have no idea what part I could be considered for. Worse, I have no idea what part I would like to play, given the talent who auditioned.

Due to a low turn out last night, there has to be another audition call – it looks like there are enough women interested, but as with so many AmDram productions, it’s men who are lacking. So I guess I will hear something by the beginning of next week.

Let’s see what, if anything, I get. If I do get a part, I know I’ll be delighted with it (unless they want me in drag).

I forgot how scary it was to audition; I even forgot how difficult it is waiting for a decision… But here’s to waiting.

‘Denim’ Nominated

I was delighted to hear from a member of the Waterside Theatre Company who informed me their production of Denim had been nominated in three categories of the Southern Daily Echo’s Curtain Call Awards.

Nominations are for Best Newcomer, Best Set and Props and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Comic Drama.

Congratulations to all involved!

It’s great to see these nominations after such a non event of a review and each nomination is richly deserved.

Entertaining The Masses

So I have just received the final figures for the Waterside Theatre Company’s production of Denim. It always astounds me how so many people are interested in seeing new writing – and makes me even more frustrated that I can not break into professional productions.

The Waterside Theatre Company’s theatre is not exactly what could be described as being in a built up area. Indeed, if you click here you will see that it’s a former Esso Refinary Social Club. While it’s listed as Southampton, it’s nowhere near as built up.

But that said, over 200 people came and saw Denim. Over 200 people were willing to part with their money and see the play.

Talk to any professional company or theatrical literary agent and they’ll tell you that they won’t deal with an ‘unknown’ playwright as they can’t prove that their work will attract an audience.

At the moment, the professional theatre see me as a unknown playwright.

But, I counter, I can prove I can draw an audience! Ah, they counter, but that’s only AmDram. Yet, say I, the company may well be amateur, but I am a professional – I get paid! No, they reply, it doesn’t count.

But I say it does. And it may fall on deaf ears, but maybe an agent/director/producer out there will stumble on this blog (here’s hoping) and will take the time to hear me out.

For an amateur company to put one of my plays, they have to have one hell of a belief in my work. They have to be 100% that they are going to get an audience.

Why? Because if they don’t they loose the only thing that keeps the company going – cash. If the play doesn’t work, they don’t have enough money to put on their next production. Worse, if their audience don’t like the play, they won’t go to see another one there – and then the club dies.

This is why you find so many clubs opting to put on ‘Allo ‘Allo, Confusions, Bouncers and the likes. They play it safe and put on something that they know they will get an audience for – and hence gain an income.

So take the Waterside example. How much faith did they have in Denim? Isn’t that worth something? And over 200 people in this fairly remote area came and saw a play by an ‘unknown’ playwright.

So tell me… Do I have a track record? Is there something about my work that draws an audience? Is there a reason why professional theatre won’t consider my work?

Answers on a postcard please…

Apathy or Unrealistic?

I’ve found myself feeling a little despondent about the review of the recent production of Denim. I posted a comment on the online review, making sure that one of the actors got a mention that was not included in the review.

I then posted here about what I thought of the review and messaged all the members of My Facebook group to read the review and make a comment.

So far there has only been one other comment – and that was by someone very close to me.
This has left me a little paranoid. Why aren’t there more comments? Did they think that this is a far description of the play? (I think not, given the comments I’ve seen on Facebook profiles.) Do people not care about the play?

Or am I just being unrealistic? It’s only a play after all. It was a night’s entertainment and nothing more. Those that were in the audience only took it away for one evening. They didn’t leave thinking about how I’m trying to promote my plays, trying to land a professional production, trying to get professionals to look at my work, how I am trying to shake this supposed career limiter of having amateur productions.

I know that I have to pick myself up and get on with writing and promoting my works. But at the moment I find myself in a little dark place that makes me wonder if I will ever get there. Will I ever get that professional production? Is my work good enough to make it?

I need a new tack; a new energy.

But how do I drum up the enthusiasm to do so?

When words don’t say that much

With any production I’ve had, I’ve always worried about the reviews the play will get – but it’s a delayed worry. After all, the instant worry is what are the audience going to say on the night?

We got through the instant worry without a flaw, as everyone was very complimentary about Denim – indeed I met a couple of people that are endeavouring to re-launch their club and were saying that they thought that Denim could be the very play to do it with.

But the delayed worry was published on Friday night. If you want to read the review (and see a rather gopping photo of me) then click here.

First and foremost, this isn’t a bad review. But in my opinion this isn’t a review at all. It’s a one line synopsis and a series of statements of facts – X played part Y who has the function of Z and did so well.

To me, this was a huge disappointment. I know that the review only had 150 words to play with, but this says nothing. What was the audiences reaction? How hard/close to the edge/risqué was the humour? There’s a sexual theme running through the play, so how did the audience react to such material…? Most of all, what did the reviewer think of the play?

From this review, I have no idea.

And that’s what upsets me. The cast and crew were astounding! This was the best production of Denim to date; and their reward…? That review.

They deserved more.

The reviewer does not realise what reviews do for a company (and for me, what it does for a playwright).

You are only as good as your last play. So, when advertising your next production, it is damned helpful to put up quotes of your last review. And this serves two functions: The club gets to say how good it is and the paper gets some free advertising.

But from this review, what could you quote?

Zip. Nada. Nowt. Nothing.

Sorry folks, but it left me feeling a little flat.

After all, if you’re going to put pen to paper – have something to say.

Previews and Productions

Last night I was privileged to attend the production of Denim at the Waterside Theatre in Fawley, Southampton.

To say that they did a great job with the play would be a massive understatement. They excelled in all areas; they made the most of the humour in the first act, and they were the first company to truly understand the pathos of the second act.

I was also lucky enough to take a number of my friends with me, who are my greatest critics… If they don’t like something, they make it more than clear to me what didn’t work. And their responses were as positive as my own! Quite remarkable when you consider that Phil had driven all the way from Gloucester to see the play!

Gwen, the director was kind enough to give me a copy of the preview that the Southern Daily Echo ran of Denim (which contains a rather bizarre picture of me in uniform). But the headline of the preview summed things up rather well for me: “Sibling Rivalry from Jay”.

But let’s talk about the cast (and I will talk about the crew in another post):

Doug – Steve Moulster: Played this stunningly, turning Doug into a middle-class drunkard without a care for what the world thinks of him. And the added touch of splash of water down the front of the trousers nearly caused me to cough up a lung!

Stuart – Peter Allen: Played the perfect Dad. The second that he was challenged about his parental status, he reminded me of m father; venomous but controlled. Everyone in the audience wanted a Dad like Stuart.

Giles – Stuart Collins: Shy, out of his depth but deeply caring. A great portrayal. Too close for comfort as it reminded me too much of me!

Customer #1 – Colin Pritchard: A wonderful take on this character, that he described as a combination of Max Miller and Quinton Crisp! He stunningly turned this character into a total showman that endeared himself to the audience.

Customer #2 – Todd Harrington-Tucker: Totally angelic! Delicate and caring. And the timing and care taken over the “this isn’t going very well” line showed the work he put into his character.

Zoe – Nick Simms: Stunned me by telling me that this was the first time that she has trodden the boards! A character with real depth and full of character and stage presence. Very much the type of girl you want on your side when push comes to shove.

Pete – Leighton Fort: Scared the living daylights out of me! Acted this part exactly as I imagined him when I wrote the part. A real lad, but with a heart of gold – and knows how to play the humour!

Fiona – Angela Sutherland: Played off the customer brilliantly! The flirt with most and made Giles more than uncomfortable!

Sybil – Becky Coultas: I know that so many women love playing this part, but Becky gave it something new. He physicality made her even more endearing, even though she (Sybil, not Becky) is totally disgusting. To me, award winning stuff!

Hazel – Julia Allen: This performance deserves an Oscar (if they gave them away in Amateur Theatre). The comedy of the first act was great, but the pathos in the second act took my breath away! I wrote this damned thing and she very nearly had me in tears… And although my friends will hate me for saying this, but she did have a number of them in tears and they have seen the play before! She understands what it takes to be an actor!

April – Amy Tattersall: I still hate her! Stunning, stage presence, characterization and true appeal. Understood her character and made it more than I wrote. Moreover, she made the audience want to follow her and made them want a happy ending for her more than any other character (could there be another nomination here?).

Rachel – Chris Talbot: Oh that giggle! Gave us so much in such a short period of time. A selfless actress that enabled Pete to set himself up so well!

Cherry – Erin Taylor: Short and sweet. Gave us the link we required.

Simon – Matt Martin: In this production, they gave him lines! But here was a man that showed no shame! And damn it worked well. I thought a couple of the older members of the audience were going to have a stroke (and no – I’m not going to make the joke about “only they couldn’t reach).

My huge thanks to all at the Waterside Theatre. Here’s to all of you and I will be thinking of you all during your last performance and after-show party.

But even more thanks to the audience – without you we would have all looked a little silly! But you made the production what it was. I even made the point of sneaking to the back of the auditorium to see what their reaction was. And… It proves what I had always known. People want to see theatre like this; their attention was always on the stage and were willing the characters on. Thank you.

Now all I have to do is land the next production… and who knows, maybe the next one will be a professional production.

So don’t forget to join the JaysPlays group on Facebook and let the world know how much we want to see theatre like this!

Feedback and Facebook

There are times where I just get my breath taken away. Yesterday was one of those. And all because of one of my previous posts about the production of Denim.

I didn’t know if I should have made reference to my opinion of the characterisations I saw, but thought it was the right thing to do. I’m now so glad that I did. I have had feedback from one the actors who was delighted with my comments. Indeed, although I’m sure it was not their intention, I was deeply flattered that they took the time to make comment.

Indeed they have started another event on Facebook to promote the Denim production that echos the event that I have in the JaysPlays Facebook group. Better than that (just on a playwright’s personal level) they even invited me to ‘become a friend’ on Facebook.

And a call to all out there that stumble on this blog: It is very important to me to be in contact with those that have seen my plays, want to see them, have or are acting in them. This gives me feedback that I can not gain anywhere else. I hope I don’t come over as an ogre, so if you’re on Facebook, join my group and drop me a friend request. I’m as interested in my audience and actors as you may be in me.

Denim Rehearsal

The director of the forthcoming production of Denim was kind enough for me to attend a day’s rehearsal. So this Sunday, my family (yep, the wife and kids came – although we did have to cover the kid’s ears on a couple of occasions – my own fault for writing such filthy language!) jumped in the jalopy and dived into the theatre.

This was quite a day for the cast and crew, as this was the first time that they have attempted the script on the stage, it was the first time that they had a set, it was the first time they were attempting it with scripts down and after the tragic events of the last few weeks, this was they the first time the company had been together in a while.

I would dearly love to tell you all about the set as they have developed something stunning and unique – most certainly not what I had in mind when I wrote it, but works better than I could have dreamt up! But if I were to tell you, then it would spoil the surprise and the achievement they have accomplished. Suffice to say you’re in for a treat – and check out the wallpaper.

It stunned me as a playwright, as when writing you develop your own picture of how the characters talk, move and interact. It is the actor’s job to interpret the script, so more often than not, the characters play differently to the way I saw them – and I’m yet to see a bad interpretation. But so many of the cast were playing the characters exactly as I saw them when applying fingers to keyboard! Frightenly so. Indeed my wife commented on more than one occasion that many of the performances were ‘just as I read them’ when she read the first draft.

Did I have comments for the cast? Well, of course I did, but I didn’t pass them on. It would have been completely inappropriate. I’m only the playwright, I have to leave the freedom to act and direct. I did make a point about off-focus acting (when you are on stage, but have nothing to say for a while). If this happens to you (and not just in one of my plays) you have to watch what happening around you. Why? Because this is what happens in reality. You witness things that happen around you. You react to things around you… You listen in to things that are said around you. If you don’t do this, you weaken the plot and performance.

And the performances were great. I would love to mention all of the cast now, but I’ll save my full breakdown for after the production. But for now I have to mention the following:

Pete – Just as I imagined him. He’s going to get the laughs he deserves!
April – I hate this actress! She’s stunning, talented, great vocal inflection, amazing stance and true stage presence. Why do I hate her? Because I wish I had that much raw acting talent.
Hazel – You just have to love this performance, as you like her, you respect her – then you can’t help feeling every last thing she feels.
Stuart – Playing a Dad on stage is one of the hardest roles to play. But this actor doesn’t act it, he is it! Naturally empathic and endearing.
Customers – A new twist for me, but a twist that works beautifully; fed by their ability to use their voices to the full.

And I’m sure I’ll make comments about others later.

If the cast do read this, here is a little (and very true) story that may help you with characterisation and developing your emotions in this play…

Denim was, emotionally, the most challenging play I have ever penned. Being adopted myself, I drew very heavily from personal experience to put this play together – indeed many of Giles’ fears were my own, if over played for the purposes of stage.

About 12 years ago I witnessed my father have a heart attack. I thank God daily that my father and I have undergone tons of first aid training; he knew what was happening to him and I knew what to do about it. But the fear of losing my Dad was unbelievably painful. Thankfully, after a couple of days it became clear that he was going to pull through, even though at that time it did mean that his quality of life was going to be rather severely restricted.

A week after the heart attack I was visiting Dad in Acute Assessment and for some reason I was alone with him. One of his doctors came to the bedside and enquired if I was his son. Dad confirmed that I was and waxed lyrical about how proud he was of me.

“It’s opportune that your son is here Mr Saunders. We do have to address the fact that this is a hereditary condition. We have to prepare your son for the future.”

My father’s eyes welled with tears; the first time I had ever witness him get to such and emotional point. He took my hand as strongly as his condition would allow and stared me straight in the eye.

“Son. This is the first time I’ve ever been proud not to be your father.”

That’s why I wrote Denim.

Your parents are your parents because of what they are, not because of who they are.

Publicity

So I’ve been getting down and dirty with the word processor (or more accurately, Celtx) and have been producing a series of related shorts. This has been going very well and should have something to blog about the outcome by the end of next week.

But I received a couple of emails regarding my website from the director of the forthcoming production of Denim at the Waterside Theatre. One about a change in their website address and one about the dates of the production.

As lock would have it, my internet connection was down (I got the emails on my BlackBerry – which should be renamed the CrackBerry, as they are as addictive as that evil narcotic) and I was in huge battles with my ISP. Eventually I managed to restore my connection and made the required changes to my website.

I fired off a quick email to the director, just to point out that I had made the changes and hoped that all was going well with the rehearsals (I really must free up some time to visit the company). Before I knew it, I got a reply telling me that they wanted to up the profile of the production. As such there is an opportunity to run an article on me in the Southern Daily Echo, concentrating on my writing, aims and aspirations.

Talk about some good publicity, albeit somewhat restricted in its audience. But here’s a chance to sell myself – and who knows, if there is a professional that lives in the Southampton region that reads that paper… maybe they’ll come along and see the play!

Audition call

This Saturday I was privileged to be invited to act as a member of the audition panel for the forthcoming production of Denim at the Waterside Theatre.

I was an amazing afternoon, with a wealth of talent to choose from that all had paid considerable attention to the script. This was demonstrated in the way in which they presented the characters in their own way, rather than the way I had imagined them when writing the script. We had a rather posh Doug (where I thought he was going to be a drunken country bumpkin) a self-centred Customer #1 (where I saw him as ego-centric and dominant) and an aggressive Giles (who I thought would be tender and anxious).

At this point I have to stress that this portrayals are not incorrect. They are the perceptions of the actors concerned. And that is the joy of writing for the stage; no two performances are ever the same. Indeed, these interpretations could well make the play better than the way I envisaged it when writing.

May I just say to all those that were involved in the auditions this weekend, that it was a privilege to be invited to be part of the day. You energy and enthusiasm assures me that you are going to put together an excellent production and has renewed my desire to write and take theatre to a new audience. Thank you!

Pick a Panto

So as I mentioned, I have been made the chairman of the local theatre club. My first two jobs is to form a reading committee and select the pantomime that we intend to put on in January (given the nature of the college I’m working on, there’s not realistic way of putting the panto on in January).

This is an oddity of choice. It is essential that we have a reading committee to ensure that the play we put on is appropriate based on the acting/directing talent we have available, fits our audience demographic and promotes the unpaid professional image we want to portray. However, here I am reading loads of pantos on my own, and it will be me alone that selects the script.

While I need the reading committee, time dictates that I have to make the call on the panto to ensure that I can secure the set, builders and costumes required. For any of you that have been involved with the production size of a pantomime, you will know that these are expensive and logistically challenging shows. I have not been able to put together a panto in less than 5 months. Hence, here I am reading like a loony (and I want more time to write).

And I’ve noticed something about the pantos that I have read. They fall into three categories:

1. Professionally presented off the peg pantos. These are very prescriptive, detailing the traits that each character possesses. This makes for a huge challenge for the director, as they will have to shape their actors to fit the role. While this is admirable in plays, for panto this makes for a huge challenge as panto is often the first experience of acting for people. Indeed there is a huge pool of actors out there that only do panto.

2. Small press pantos. These work well for me. They are pantos developed by amateur groups based on their previous successes. They also tend to have what can only be described as traditional panto humour. This makes them ideal for a company such as mine, as I can adapt the character to fit the actor I cast and I can tweak the humour to fit my audience and the abilities of my on-stage cast.

3. Off the wall pantos. Much like the first category, but with themes that don’t instantly make you think ‘Pantomime’. These can work well, as I have just read “The Three Musketeers: Le Panto!” Not something that I would have automatically reached for, but it is very entertaining. But then there was “Bluebeard”. I thought we were going to be looking at a pirate themed panto (al la Treasure Island). But on no… Again these are often very prescriptive.

What has disappointed me is the level of humour in the professionally presented pantos. The gags are predictable (and I’m not talking about the traditional ‘It’s behind you’ and ‘Oh no you won’t’ routines). I hate gags where you know the punchline when someone sets up the gag.

“The Three Musketeers: Le Panto!” is going to be my second choice this year (as I intend to present 2 pantos to the committee placing arguments why I have selected on over the other). It is a well constructed panto with humour that I can just about tweak. But it’s downside is that it is very set dependant (and there are lots of them), prop heavy (and we’ll have to make most of them) and cast intensive (a panto with 14 named characters and requirement for a chorus on top).

So at the moment I’ll be suggesting a small press script for Cinderella. Not only will it be easy to sell tickets for that production (after all it’s the panto all the little girls want to see) but the characters are open enough for me to play with my cast, it’s realistic about set (although there are a lot of tumbler scenes – and I’ve just los my hoisting rig) and the humour is spot on (and can be tweaked to make it local focused).

But that said, maybe I’ll read another script in the next few days that makes me change my mind. But seeing as I am trying to get professionally produced and have made the move to self-publishing my scripts at the moment, there is something warm in me about using a small press rather than Samuel French.

Back in the Saddle

I just remembered that there was something that I had to blog about and completely forgot about it.

A few weeks ago (8 if truth were told) I moved job. This has been a little painful from the family perspective (as the family are all at home and I live away during the week – after all, I’m the one in the Navy, not my kids) but things are settling down well. Professionally, this job is amazing! Sure the hours are rather long, but you get the real sense of achieving something on a daily basis.

The joy for me is that I have worked here before. And as you might have guessed, I used to be involved in the theatre club that runs on the site. Indeed, this club has produced a couple of my plays (Prime Directive and Mark of a Gentleman).

On returning to the site, I was contacted by one of the club stalwarts and asked if I would consider taking on the role of Chairman seeing as I have been promoted. As I have mentioned I have known this club for years and I leapt at the chance for many reasons: They have a great pool of actors, the tech guys are stunning, the theatre is so well equipped (it has its own bar that runs during rehearsals) and they have a stunning annual budget.

So here I am as Chairman of my own club. I’m in the middle of choosing the panto to produce this year (and yes, I’ll be the director). More on that in another blog, as I forgot how difficult it is to choose from the wealth of scripts out there. And it also looks like a JaysPlays will be produced Spring next year. Although that sounds somewhat nepotistic, it isn’t really. There is a formal reading committee to select scripts after a couple of very poor choices ended up being produced, and I have placed in the constitution that should a JaysPlay be proffered, I cannot have any voting power in the selection of that script. Plus it wasn’t me that suggested it, but the director that put on Prime Directive.

So, there we have it. As you can see, I’m actively back with theatre, not only writing, but selecting others’ scripts, planning and directing (soon). More to follow on all topics.

Call to the stage

I had the very good fortune of being invited to hold a position in the auditions pannel for the Waterside (Southampton) production of Denim. As I have blogged before, this production is taking part this October and is being directed by the lady that review the very first production (which led to it winning Production of the year in the Curtain Call Awards).

You can gain more information on the production at http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/watersidetheatre/whatson.htm

The audtions are being broken over two dates, so on Sunday we only had two ladies to audtion. Having been both sides of the stage, I understand the pain of auditioning. But it didn't appear to show with the two performances I saw that day. Both gave all they could, and the supporting readers soon warmed to what they had to do.

It was very odd for me once again. Here I was sat there with a form in my hand, watching people read my words. Occassionally I could recall the very moment that I thought of a line they were delivering. And occasionally I found myself wincing. But not at the acting, but because I knew what was coming.

To that end, I recommend that you never sit next to me when I'm watching one of my productions as I feel it harder than any audience member and get excited 10 seconds before a line is delivered. My wife says that she finds this very of putting, but hey... she married me!

I'll give you more information after the next auditions.

Saw the show!

Apologies that I haven’t posted in a while, but I have just changed job and am now living away from home during the week. This has been quite a culture change for my family and I and I am only now just about starting to find my feet.

But my real reason for posting today is to get over excited about Denim! I was privileged to attend the Pewsey Vale Amateur Dramatic Society’s production of Denim on 12 May 07.

It was a stunning production. I couldn’t have asked for more. Pewsey are blessed in having a very talented collection of actors and two extremely dedicated directors.

And the way they hosted my wife and I! Okay, I had to put up with Jane telling me how evil a man I am for writing all that stuff – but the cast clearly had a fantastic time putting the play on.

They did tell me that during rehearsal this play was quite painful, but the second they got the set, it all made sense. I guess that’s one of the main reasons that I’m still trying to secure a professional production.

But best of all, here’s the review that ran in the local paper:

Review by Nigel Kerton (14.05.07)

Playwright Jay Saunders summed up on the second ever
performance of his comedy drama Denim at Pewsey in one word most members of the
audience would have agreed with: Stunning.

The title of Saunders' play Denim, a play on words, and is about genes and not jeans. The central character Giles is a young man who was adopted, knows nothing about his natural parents and fears that every girl he meets could be a sister! Saunders, a Royal Navy officer, was adopted himself and said some of his own thoughts as he grew up were incorporated into the play. The story masterly lifted and then dropped the audience that was gripped by the PVADS production, which ran between May 10-12.

It is a tragic-comedy where humour blurred with pathos as friends tried to help Giles, superbly played by Darren Little, come to terms with his phobia. Directors Nettie Powell and Martin Clifton were on edge on Saturday night, the last of the three-night run at the Bouverie Hall, knowing that Saunders was in the audience. But the cast was up to the challenge and kept the audience in awe for just over two hours.

Saunders said afterwards that his play had been presented only once before and he thought the PVADS production had been "absolutely stunning." He added: "They certainly have a talented cast and the directors have done a wonderful job."

Posters for the play had warned of "adult context and some nudity". There were swear words and sexy banter and strip-o-gram Simon (Brad Harris) did get down to a posing pouch. But it was all in context and thanks to clever directing handled a sensitive subject , albeit littered with comedy, in a faultless presentation.

Dave Owen was superb as the drunk Doug; PVADS old-timer John Lavis played Giles father with just the right balance of concern and support. Alex Cuff and Steve Clements put in memorable performances as Giles' friends who tried to help him overcome his fears. Kate Powell was convincing in the strong role of the girl who fell in love with Giles and thought she was his sister but was wasn't! Newcomer to PVADS Emma Harris was fabulous as a drink-sodden man-eater and her husband Brad was brave enough to strip down to a jock strap. There were sterling performances, too, from Nick Mitchell-Briggs, Jane Cuff, Annabel Edwards, Emma Preuss and Kay Davies.

The set, lighting and sound were up to the usual PVADS high standards. For me the saddest part of this play was when it ended because I enjoyed every second.

That sums it up for me!

Re-inventing the wheel

So, now I’ve got four books available to buy: Each of the produced two-act plays and a compendium of all three in one book (the bonus here is that you can save a bundle – and don’t forget to use the ‘standard’ delivery option).

But over the weekend I got a call from the director of the production of Denim that is due this October.

She had a problem… And that problem was language… More to the point, the language that I had used in Denim (in a few areas) was a little to graphic.

Now I have to stress that it was not a request to remove all the swear words in the script. I was a concern that some of the imagery that certain line evoke are a little graphic – especially when they are delivered by female members of the cast.

Normally I would have told the director that they have to stick with what they are presented. But this director had a very interesting point.

This is an amateur production. An amateur production that is going to be performed in a fairly secluded theatre. A theatre that depends on it’s regular audience. A regular audience that is becoming advancing in years but retiring in what they find acceptable.

So when a young woman on the stage makes references to oral sex as a put down, the director was worried that this could turn her audience against her.

And I could see her point.

So I’ve sent a couple of toned down alternatives to certain lines that were causing her and the committee a few raised eyebrows.

From the response… All of my suggestions have been accepted… By the director… Let’s see what the committee think.

I’m glad that it was me that did it though (and until I see the production, they’re not going into the master script – I like pushing an audience, unless the modifications are actually funnier!). The main advantage of me writing these alternatives is that I can do one of two things: 1. Keep the flow and not change the meaning of that extract. 2. Point out that it’s not always necessary to change a line or a scene, but it may require an additional line that enables the audience to feel more comfortable with what’s just happened, by getting someone on stage to complain (in context) on their behalf.

But it’s rather odd going back to a play that you wrote some time ago and alter lines that you have heard delivered.

I just hope I haven’t re-treaded a perfectly good wheel and turned it into an automotive 50p piece.

Come and see Denim!

That's right folks - you have the chance to see a production of Denim!
Sound familiar?
No, this isn't the production in Southampton this October.
This is a new production, this May in Pewsey, Wiltshire.
That's right, yet another contract signed and another production coming this way!
Click here for more details on the club - you'll even see the calling notice for the auditions if you look hard enough.
As always, as soon as I get information regarding box office, I'll publish it here and on the website.