Lyceum Open Day
Theatre sets 2016-17 season off in style
Doors Open Day comes early to the Lyceum this year, as the theatre opens its doors for a day of behind-the-scenes talks, visits and events on Saturday.
The events of Saturday 10 September 2016 are driven by the vision of new artistic director David Greig who wants to assert the Lyceum’s place in Edinburgh as a big city theatre for a capital city.
A back stage tour led by Theatre Manager Jacqui Nagib. Photo Aly Wight
They include backstage tours, interactive workshops, and creative discussions. All chosen with the aim of exploring the different elements involved in bringing work to the stage and specifically exploring the new season ahead.
David Greig told Æ when he was announced in the post that the theatre needs to be a “public space in a public sphere and a space where people come.
Speaking of his vision for the theatre he said: “One of the things I like about coming to the theatre is talking and I think the theatre is one of the last spaces we have now where we gather as people and we encounter each other. Not through the veneer of social media; through tweets and memes and hashtags.
“We encounter ourselves properly and we have drinks with each other and we talk with each other and then we go and see a play and we talk about it afterwards.
“Part of the job of a big civic theatre is to create and ferment and provoke discussion. and that is certainly at the heart of this vision.”
the events
The heart of Saturday’s events lie in the backstage tours, which will take place throughout the day. Participants can explore the hidden world behind the theatre’s curtain, including the actors’ green room, quick change spaces and, of course, the stage itself.
Attendees will be led through the building by the very people who work there, who will be able to share trade secrets, as well as insight into the rich history of the building, and its inner workings today.
Greig has made sure that his own ideas for the theatre are not just theoretical constructs, understood by an inner circle of the initiated. He is putting himself up for interrogation as well as allowing people to see how his own creative process works as a playwright.
In the first of these events Greig hosts a talk discussing how he programmed his inaugural season, his process for selecting forthcoming productions, and his hopes for the future, before leading an interactive workshop where participants can create their own dream season.
Later in the day he hosts a “practical and playful” writing workshop for all those interested in pursuing the life of a playwright. He has worked extensively with established and aspiring playwrights as far afield as Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco, and Syria, and will apply many of the techniques used with them, here.
building blocks
Lyceum actors Gail Watson and Richard Conlon will be be giving an informal workshop on creating the building blocks of a career on the stage. The two actors will also be giving a Q&A session in the afternoon, aimed at revealing the highs and the lows of life in the theatre.
One part of that life will be on view in the afternoon, with an open rehearsal for the first Lyceum production of the season: The Suppliant Women. The cast and creative team will be in action as they work towards the first night of this 2,500 year-old play, re-written by David Greig.
For those adults who might wish to put theory in to practice, there will also be rehearsal room sessions centred around the Lyceum’s season finale, The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, led director Wils Wilson and Movement Director/Choreographer Janice Parker.
For younger theatre enthusiasts, the Lyceum Youth Theatre’s creative team will holding taster sessions throughout the day, for anyone aged between 5 and 18. Meanwhile, in ‘LYT’s Manifesto’, the company will create an immersive site-specific performance inspired by The Cheviot, the Stag & the Black, Black Oil.
Listings
Lyceum Open Day Saturday 10 September 2016
The Lyceum, 30B Grindlay Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9AX
Free drop in activities – no need to book:
LYT’s Manifesto
Throughout the dayInside The Lyceum Workshops
Throughout the dayThe Suppliant Women Open Rehearsal
2pm, 2.30pm, 4pm, 4.30pm
Free scheduled activities – booking advised:
Box Office: 0131 248 4848
email: boxoffice@lyceum.org.uk
Website: www.lyceum.org.uk
Backstage Tours
10:15am, 10:45am, 11:45am, 12:15pm, 1:15pm, 1:45pm, 2:45pm, 3:15pm, 4pmProgramming A Season
10:30amIntroduction To Acting
11:30amWriting Workshop
1pmQ&A With Actors
2pmCreative Conversation With David Greig
3pmLYT Taster Sessions
10:30am – 11:15am – LYT Mini workshop for 8 to 10 year olds
11:30am – 12:15pm – LYT Play workshop for 5 to 7 year olds
12:30pm – 1:15pm – LYT Junior workshop for 11 to 13 year olds
2:00pm – 2:45pm – LYT Senior workshop for 14 to 18 year olds
3:00pm – 3:45pm – LYT Mini workshop for 8 to 10 year olds
4:00 – 4:45pm – LYT Senior workshop for 14 to 18 year oldsThe Hour We Knew Nothing Of Each Other Workshops
10:15am & 11:45am
ENDS
