24/11/11 – Summer and Independent Pitches
Committee: Jonny Baynham, Alex Bray, Present: Lozz Gallagher,
Jade Thompson, Rob Etheridge, Tom Wilson, Lian Patston, Lydia
Longman, Sophie Grout
Late: Claire Gilbert, Sam Beath, Joe Hart
Non-committee: Mustafa Pathan, Rachel Prudden, Jonathan North,
Rob Mcgough, Stephen Watkins, Murray Tremellen, Joel Jackson,
Sam Jenkins-Shaw, Alex Curtis, Alexis Forss, Lee Alexander,
Theresa Crisham, Hannah Cutting, Sam Dobson, Jessica Woolley,
Amy Fitzgibbon, Tom Searle, Sera Berksoy, Aoife Thomas, Ian
Palaczky, Raees Mahmood
Independent Pitch
Unseen
Directors: Rachel Prudden, Sophie Grout and Jonathan North,
Producer: Miriam Price
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Set deep in the heart of SUSU, a group of people known as
the unseen are trying to get the audience involved in the cult
Fully immersive devised piece of abstract theatre
Get audience involved
Message – being easily manipulated without knowing it
Devised & performed in 1 week
Rehearsal techniques/ensemble work to devise the piece
Looking to advertise over the internet because no budget
Act as if real cult on concourse
Distribute red wristbands
Performing in meeting room 2
Cast is 13 even split
Sounds like ‘Here’, how does it differ?
 Naturalistic story performed in abstract way, ‘Here’ was the
reverse
 Physical theatre & theatre of cruelty
Will you be beginning the viral aspect before the week itself?
 If we’re allowed to we will
 Focus extensively in the week
Is SUSU ready for the idea of a cult not a show?
 Cult is to raise curiosity
 They will really know it’s a show not want to join a cult
Viral campaign?
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Putting QR codes
Facebook campaign
Potentially advert on Youtube
Have to piece it all together – curiosity
Red wristbands – why are you wearing them?
Plot outline?
 Everything apart from the plot line of 3 characters will be
devised
 Essentially a cult of personality
 Cult leader’s wife has visions
 Both the leader & the wife need the cult or they feel like their
life might fall apart
Negative idea of a cult?
 Wont be referred to as a cult in the marketing
 Refer to it as the Unseen
 Nobody know what the Unseen is
How
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will you cope with short time period/on campus marketing?
Increased production team than here
Miriam taking control of marketing
Split shift type thing
Less showings than last year to keep up energy but slightly
bigger audience
13 even split?
 Estimated split 6 – 7 one way or another
Ensemble rehearsal techniques/putting a show together in a week?
 Like 1 massive workshop
 Start off with practicing devising
 Audition process – workshop auditions
 Techniques, games & exercises to make the cast work
together & energy
Bit like epidemic marketing wise?
 Have to tell them it is a play
 Use hints etc than explicit outline
 If start the campaign before the show possibly keep them in
the dark until show week
 Teaser campaign
Banner in SUSU?
 Yes if you tell us the date
Posters – no budget?
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Haven’t really discussed posters
Prod team print them off
Audition process?
 Workshop style audition
 Looking for people who can work together
 Have creative energy
 Warm up games then something to devise
Experience in abstract directing?
 Rachel in showcase piece that Sophie directed
 Sophie directed the abstract piece & did that sort of thing in
drama A level & workshops
Artaud & abstract is a difficult concept to pin down, clarify how you
are going to do it?
 Hasn’t been done in TG before
 Because got a naturalistic plot & character shouldn’t be too all
over the place
 Serves the point they’re trying to make
Costumes?
 Very simple
 Hopefully all cult members wearing same sort of thing like all
black
Set?
 No set
 Potentially torches or something
What
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will you as directors bring to the piece/work together?
All working on different bits aspects of the play
Put together the pitch together as a group from scratch
Jonathan – co-directed before so used to working with people
Sophie – organised & has experienced. Calm & can bring
people together
Rachel – clear idea of what different things need to be
achieved over the week
If there is no set how are you going to make it not just look like a
room in SUSU?
 It’s a blank meeting room with nothing in it
 Everyone knows it’s a show so using that to their advantage –
how the messages will fit into wider society
Lighting/music to make the atmosphere different from a meeting
room?
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Seen
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Use the torches
Blinds in the room to complete darkness
Actors create the mood – with movement & loads of different
sounds
immersive theatre before?
Sophie very interested in it & sees a lot
Non touching of the audience policy through our piece!
Metamorphosis
Done abstract productions in A Level
Where is it set?
 Doesn’t matter
 A generic space
Which is more important abstract or story?
 Abstract just method of presenting the story
 Will still have a beginning middle & an end
Inspiration?
 Rachel had the idea of a cult & rough idea for plot & message
 Production team got together & discussed abstract approach
to keep it interesting & add to the experience
 Developed the story internally
Immersive theatre can be too much?
 Hoping to use ribbons that people could take the ribbon if it
got too much
How does it all come together?
 Will take place in one room in real time, just one meeting of
the cult
 Literally as if the audience were invited to join the meeting
Example of abstract?
 One woman having a vision & it will get acted out &
experience that with her… possibly not exactly what she’s
seeing but a symbolic vision
AFTER COMMITTEE & NON-COMMITTEE FEEDBACK - UNSEEN
FOR INDEPENDENT PLAY. STIPULATIONS WITH FEEDBACK
SESSION WITH THE COMMITTEE FOR THE DAY BEFORE THE
SHOW
Summer Show Pitches
Vindice
Director: Alexander Curtis
Assistant Director: Sam Dobson and Joel Jackson
Producer: Sophie Grout
Choreographer: Tom Wilson
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Based on revenges tragedy
Rewritten & set in met police
Central message – people not getting angry when they don’t
understand things
Want to use a lot of music
Use projections – reference to popular culture
Images of kill bill etc
Vindice use megaphone to deliver a speech
Strobe lighting. Vindice’s face lit
Dancers come in & dance grotesquely
Set pieces very important
Joel done a lot of TG stuff before but wants to do directing
Sam likes the character developments & lots of
multidisciplinary skills.
Why is this good for summer show?
 TG is having a big year with Nuffield etc. spectacular way to
send off the year
 Use interdisciplinary helps to push the idea of PA being a
united force
 All linking in & working together within PA
 Different but still works on the thematics of TG this year
Experience?
 Wilson – dancing since 13, physical theatre passion
 Joel - has a bit of experience but learned a lot from watching
Alex Bray & Chris Clark doing Seagull
 Sam – co-ran a drama group & toured with a theatre
company doing workshops
 Sophie – hasn’t yet produced but will have more experience
by then
What are you expecting from those who audition?
 Couple of scenes where main characters dance but
deliberately simple
 Separate dancing roles so different auditions
 Dancers in there to communicate the script.
Big cast – how will you coordinate rehearsals?
 Cast as early as possible
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Might overlap with Lear but there will still be a lot of people
that didn’t get into Lear that are going to want to do
something
Rehearse over Easter – specify that you will have to rehearse
over Easter in auditions.
How would you sell the show?
 Curtis – Vindice is a spectacular and entertaining attack on
people that are angry without knowing why
 Wilson – beautiful expression of emotion
 Joel – a play which explores the theory of vengeance
 Sam – physical experience but about the acting
 Sophie – visually spectacular
Actors not dancers
 Opening up the floor to other societies – actors don’t have to
be dancers
 Dance can be used as a mode of expression in theatre
 Could function without the dance but wouldn’t be as good
 Bring people from outside in to do it
Consulted Stagesoc about lighting?
 Spoken to James Caulder about tech as its tech heavy
 Spoken to people about things they think isn’t doable – live
feed with camera on stage with image on the back screen but
it seems doable
How are you going to make it visually spectacular with limited
resources?
 Achieve this through light
 Music very important to giving it a sense of spectacular
 If images/projections big it will seem spectacular
 Dancing
 Projection makes annexe seem larger
Appeal of play to actors?
 Lussurioso starts off pervy then develops into a character that
is more naturalistic – very scared
 Vindice goes the other way, starts off naturalistic & angry
then loses grip on society
 Duchess relationship doesn’t satisfy her & finds herself having
an affair & doesn’t really know why
Curtis as writer & director – obviously has specific vision… how will
you work as a team?
 Changes are starting to be made already
 Developing the script but keep plot the same
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Everyone questioning the script
Not just Curtis’ vision & other people see how it can be
changed
Tech heavy – budget?
 Used Fresher’s budget as somewhere to start – vast majority
of what they aren’t paying for rights with this they have put
into tech.
Year
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of dark plays – how is it different?
It’s funny so light relief
Sell the comic side
Promoting a comedy music video done by 2 of the characters
Easy to make multiple trailers to sell different sides
Appeals to a certain market – how will you appeal to everyone else?
 Met police easy way to show a power struggle
 References to pop culture basically in the images that flash up
so the audience don’t necessarily need to get the references
 Basic story of murdered lover don’t need to understand the
other references
Spectacle the whole way through?
 When Castizia gets upset when her mother suggests that she
should continue things with Lussurioso because money is a bit
tight at the moment – very touching scene
 Contrast between this & the spectacle scene
Is any of the music righted & have you budgeted?
 Music often used without rights, never rights approved
Clarify male female split?
 Weighted towards male but gender non descript roles that can
be either
 Rules out a lot of theatre if you try & split it well
 Dancers to be female
 Larger play, still a good amount of female roles
Side note: anything entered into NSDF will be for June 2013
Sometimes filming is a hassle without trying to do a lot – time
budgeting for this?
 Outside man coming in to do it
 Ruthlessly efficient
 Plan is to come down over Easter/just before or after when we
are still at Uni
 Budgeted for his travel & he has his equipment
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Knows how to make a filming schedule
Daunting that it’s a tech heavy play, when you going to put the tech
in?
 Working with the music daunting so try & rehearse with it
from early on
 Obviously can’t rehearse with lights
 Make sure that everyone knows what’s happening throughout
Set and costumes?
 Simple set room for dancers
 Looks Brechtian initially
 Suggestions of Met police – graffiti
 Toying with the idea of coming from the wrong period of time
– tie it back to original text
 Male will be mostly wearing suits
 Mostly modern/naturalistic costumes with hints towards
Names?
 Texts from the time written by protestants – to denote people
make them Catholics so use Italian names
 Idea of coming back with evil society & stereotyping the
characters
 Ridiculous names fit in very nicely
Running time?
 87 minutes, bit more development plus minutes for dance =
about 2 hours
Close to finished script?
 Put a few more little bits in
Are the dancers separate/any of the main parts dancers?
 Principals dance simply
 The characters & dancers are separate
 Of 21 cast the dancers are a separate 6
 About 6 non gender descript – 11 males, 4 females
DeadHead
Writer/Director: Ian Palacsky
Assistant Director: Amy Fitzgibbon, Alisa Stewart
Producers: Joe Hart, Tom Wilson
Assistant Producers: Stewart Semple, Sera Berksoy
Costumes: Aoife Thomas
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Set in nowhere.
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Not even the characters know where they are.
Four men, three women & all lost their memory
Publicity wise – more than just a viral account – like how
portal 2 was launched
2 phases of marketing – before the play is on getting the
world of dead head out
Sense of mystery
Seven people wake up & don’t know where they are
They are in a computer & there is clues everywhere
Want to know who they are
Start to remember big chunks of their memory
Do they want to be that person anymore
Know how to get out but need to remember who they are to
get out
Audience feel part of it
Abstract setting but actors are naturalistic
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Inspiration?
 Dr Who
 Mix genres – who done it, horror & thriller
 Combined Saw with Poirot
 How people think
 Lot of expression
Font
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for the title?
Will be on every flyer & poster – symbol <>
Computer system called DeadHead
Basic programming - does not equal to
Symbol mean this world does not mean anything
Cannot leave
In posters DeadHead but with the shadow of the sign after
If you type the sign into google it comes up with no results
Staging?
 2 3ft raises at the back & 5ft raise in the middle with a
projections on it
 No one goes on the 5ft raise
 Possibly sit on the 3ft raise
 Open to adaptions if needs be
 Projection might not have to be on 5ft raise
What
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do you want the audience to take away?
Been on journey with characters
Neither the audience or characters know where they are
Understand what the characters are feeling
Emotional journey
Audience & actors find out the same thing at the same time
Running time?
 About 2 hours – split between 2 acts
Money in publicity but a lot online?
 QR codes on flyers which lead to online
 Track directly how many people use it
 Symbol & URL code on flyers initially
Experience?
 Ian directed in 6th form & A Level task had to narrow script
down into 15 minutes, worked with people before
 Have the idea of how it will all come together
 Joe – directed & produced in films before, done young
enterprise
 Wilson – Freshers play
 Amy – done directing in 6th form
 Sera – assistant producer needs to be organised, mid-level
manager at Lego Land
 Aoife – costumes for 2 school musicals
Target audience?
 To students & adults who are into the thriller/unknown
 Focussing on mid adult & teen
 Really good opportunity to get people to see it that wouldn’t
usually do it
 People who like tech & games etc
 Figured out the tasks etc so want to see final result
How
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does it fit in with other TG stuff?
Different
Feel like you’re in the computer system
Could be done as a film
Different style
Advertise it in an innovative way
Year of hard hitting/meaty theatre – opportunity for people
who don’t want to see that sort of thing
 Inquisitive mind
Concept of alternative reality, how will it fit into theatre?
 Emphasis not on it being futuristic but acting important
 How people deal with the situation they are in
 Lots of the time being darkness
 Need 7 very strong actors to convey this
How are the team going to work together?
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Viral
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Amy has sat Ian down & tried to make it more accessible to
those who aren’t as techy
But the complexity is what is appealing
Make it a bit simpler
Changes of sat has happened already
Ian accepts there’s better ideas than his own visions
sometimes
Large number of production team so can reveal the more
theatrical side – characters dealing with identity crisis
thing take up a lot of time?
Interactive stuff Joe will find quite easy
Distributing the workload
Getting the people to go to the website is the hardest bit
How can you make an alternative reality?
 It is important but the audience should be interested in how
the characters should get out
 Identity crisis will keep people hooked but the outside
alternative reality is the thing that will draw them in initially
Clockwork Orange
Director: Rob McGough and Tom Wilson
Assistant Director of Movement: Amy Nicholass
Producer: Theresa Crisham
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Tom
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Space for one more new Producer
About Alex who is going on a violent drug & alcohol rampage
& is corrected by society
Good moral question & relevant to riots etc. setting it in a
near future
Cast of 11
Lots of multiroling
Not specialist movement auditions, actors are actors
Callbacks will have more movement in it
stage is very basic black
Props made up of small boxes
Well known, will sell itself but not based on film
Using blocks as chairs for example
you’re in 3 production pitches… motivation?
Freshers got his love for it
Vindice – fell in love with it
Clockwork orange – be more theatrical based
Deadhead – very different
In Clockwork – co-director & very keen for this
3 very different roles on all plays?
 Filled roles that were needed
 For Deadhead he has more experience
Very
off?
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stylised movement, only those with good training will pull it
None of it is dance
Extreme movements
Uses physical theatre but not a physical theatre production
How is the movement different from the Edinburgh production?
 Rob who saw that production will focus on the characterisation
& Tom who is doing movement didn’t see it
Blocks – who will make them & need them in rehearsal?
 Have some in the house
 But make them as soon as possible
Budget?
 Only a draft not £2 but £1
Does
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it fit into the years worth of shows, another hard hitting show?
Biggest name of a play
Someone who isn’t engaged in theatre will have heard of it
Use the grotesqueness to a comic effect
Even the small characters stand out
Movement stand out from other productions
Are you going to try & make it different or keep it the same from
other productions?
 Nothing like the film which doesn’t suit the vision set in the
modern world
 Most like the Edinburgh production
 Use classical music instead of modern because it reflects the
story well
 Similar mind sets of the Edinburgh production
 Experience to the actors – actors should be given the
experience to do
 Type of production that isn’t done enough in TG
Done in Nuffield how will you get away from that?
 Entirely different play – it was very Brechtian
 This is being marketed primarily to the student audience
whereas the other one wasn’t
What are you trying to portray?
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How
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Play about morality
Alex is the most likable even though he has committed the
most horrific acts
Question morality
are you differentiating from the Brechtian Nuffield?
Alex wasn’t just the one character
Alex will be the one character
Following the flowing narrative
Set is being simplified to see the acting
Do you want to make it clear to the audience that it is different from
the film?
 Poster design will have black hoodies – modern youth of today
 Publicity itself will speak for itself that it isn’t like the film
 Make them question it more by changing it up
 Possibly using the image for publicity – get people noticing
what is going on
Costumes?
 White t-shirts/black hoodies for youths, suits for gov. officials
– like real world
Flowing production – glorifying violence?
 No matter how you show it you can’t get away from the fact
that its violence
Age limit?
 16+
Taking a lot of iconography out of it… not turning it into a ‘chav
show’?
 Different ideas to what we have now anyway
 Can’t relate to it as much if they used the post-modernist
society
Language indicates alternative view on reality, then to change it to
current time will go against the grain of the piece?
 The language was made to relate to the people of the time
 This version just changes certain words in order to make it
modern
How is dance going to be employed?
 No time where dance just starts & finishes, it is an organic
play
 This will not make violence seem good
Conflicting ideas from the film & other productions… what is your
vision?
 Want to make them question the events of the play
 Like the character more than we usually would with the
character
 Very heavy acting play
 Intensive acting
How are you going to represent it on stage?
 Raise the stage 2 feet
 Practicing stylised
AFTER NON COMMITTEE AND COMMITTEE FEEDBACK
VINDICE WAS CHOSEN FOR SUMMER SHOW
Claire owes £2.75
Alexis has already paid his 50p
Lozz owes 75p
Curtis owes £1