Raw Theatre

Jun 30 2016 | By More

Scratch and 24 hr events

Fans of theatre that is vital and raw are in for a treat this week as two separate programmes of untried scripts come to the Traverse and the Assembly Roxy.

On Thursday, the Playwrights’ Studio brings its innovative Stage to Page project to the Traverse for its first outing in the capital.

And on Sunday, Asylon Theatre is hosting a five team, competitive version of the popular 24 hour theatre format at the Assembly Roxy.

24 hour theatreStage to Page is run by a collective of writers, directors and performers who have set up a monthly scratch performance which usually runs its “fast and furious workshop process” at the CCA in Glasgow.

The three short scripts chosen for the evening – from an open submission process – are The Ambient Store by Robert Ramage which will be directed by Caitlin Skinner; Michael John O’Neill’s Headland directed by Kol Bjort Sigfusdottir; and DNA by Fergus Mitchell directed by Caro Donald.

The actors are selected in an open-casting process on the night and will – under the expert direction of Skinner, Donald and Sigfusdottir – bring the raw scripts to life. First through public rehearsals and then script-in-hand read throughs.

All this – rehearsal and performance – happens under the inquisitive and hopefully supportive eyes of the audience who give valuable on-the-spot feedback facilitated by this month’s guest host, the Traverse’s Literary Associate, Rosie Kellagher.

Team event

Over the weekend, five teams of seven performers will be going head-to-head to create a play from scratch over 24 hours.

The 24 hour play concept will be familiar to Bedlamites, where the annual 24 hour play takes place in January.

This particular iteration comes from Asylon Theatre founder, Marta Mari, who told Æ she believes that venues and funders will only fund and book tried and tested safe projects where there is no room for failure. Adding that as “it is failure that develops us more than any success” she decided to put on a 24 hour play.

She said: “I first came across 24 hour plays project years ago in my drama school in America. I loved the rush, the intensity, the madness of it. It’s a great challenge for everyone involved. There is no time for ‘safety check’ as such. The project forces us to trust our instincts-whether we are playwrights, directors, actors or designers.”

The seven-strong teams, made up of designers, directors, writers and actors, will first meet each other for the first time on Saturday evening at 7.30pm. They will then be given themes to work with and the writers will each have to create a ten minute scene for three actors overnight.

The rest of the team will then have Sunday to memorise, create, rehearse and generally ready the plays for performance at 7.30pm on Sunday. The best of the five plays will then be taken up by Asylon theatre, who will help the writer develop into a full length play to be performed by the company in 2017.

Listings and links

Stage to Page
The Traverse, 10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED
Thursday 30 June 2016
7.30pm.
Tickets £3 and details: www.traverse.co.uk

24 Hour Theatre Scotland
Assembly Roxy, 2 Roxburgh Place, EH8 9SU
Sunday 3 July 2016
7.30pm.
Tickets £10 and details: www.assemblyroxy.com

Stage to Page on facebook: StageToPage
Stage to Page at the Playwrights’ Studio: www.playwrightsstudio.co.uk

24 Hour Theatre: 24hourplayscotland.co.uk
Asylon Theatre: http://asylontheatre.org/

ENDS

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Comments are closed.