The Future of Belt Up Theatre

Belt Up Theatre has always been about three things, the shows, the audience and the people.  We have loved creating the shows; we’ve loved performing to the audience and loved working with the people we’ve had the chance to work with. The audiences have been incredibly loyal and supportive – without this support we would not have been able to do what we’ve done. For that, we can only say thank you.

Running a theatre company comes with many challenges. Financial ones. Artistic ones. Personal ones. It’s been an absolute delight and occasionally an absolute nightmare. It has given us the chance to create the shows we want to make, to meet wonderful people and, more recently, to see some incredible parts of the world.

In late 2012 we met to discuss the future of the company, something that has been uncertain for some time. We’ve never planned ahead – we’ve always focused on the work we are making and the work we want to do next. What we’ve decided is that there is still a lot more that we want to do but we aren’t certain when we’ll do these things. Essentially we have decided that there will be a future for Belt Up but it will be exactly that, a future. For the time being we’re going to be very quiet. There are no on-going shows and no shows in the pipeline. You won’t see Belt Up in Edinburgh, York, London or anywhere around the world in the near future. But we will return when the time is right.

So many people have worked with us through the highs and lows of the last five years. We won’t try and list them here but they know who they are and we hope they know how grateful we are for their help in making Belt Up what it has become. Thank you all.

We’re obviously still going to be around as individuals, making our shows and developing our own projects. We’ll keep you up to date on Twitter and Facebook of what we’re all up to. Here’s how to follow us as individuals:

Dominic Allen

Twitter: @domjallen

Email: dominic@beltuptheatre.com

Jethro Compton

Twitter: @JethroCompton

Email: jethro@jethrocomptonltd.co.uk

Jamie Wilkes

Twitter: @JamesWilkes

Email: james@beltuptheatre.com

Alex Wright

Twitter: @AlexanderGerald

Email: alexander@theflanagancollective.co.uk

Also, here’s Joe Hufton (@JoeHufton) our Associate Artist and Serena Manteghi (@SerenaManteghi) who’s our longest serving ensemble member. Do look out for them as they’ll have plenty of great projects over the next few months that will be well worth watching.

We are, as ever and always, so very grateful for the times we have had and the work we have made. Our genuine thanks to all who have made the last five years quite so special. We looking forward to keeping in touch and seeing where the future leads.

Much Love,

Dom, Jethro, Jamie & Alex

A Little Princess Comes to London

The third and final part of The Drawing Room trilogy, A Little Princess, is coming to London for three performances only.

A Little Princess brings Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic novel to life. Join Sara Crewe as she is torn from her life in India in a journey from princess to pauper. Left without her father in a foreign land; comfort her, listen to her tales and relish in the magic and the tragic beauty of her story. A stunning adaptation of a well-loved novel.

Click here to read the reviews from Edinburgh.

Click here to view the trailer.

Click here to view the website..

Click here to book tickets.

Hunchback of Notre Dame - in Selby Abbey

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that tickets have gone on sale for Belt Up Theatre's Hunchback of Notre Dame in Selby Abbey in North Yorkshire.

Jethro Compton Ltd will produce the site-specific production of Victor Hugo’s classic novel Notre Dame de Paris in Selby Abbey in 2012 involving a professional team and a number of community performers (choir, bell ringers, organists) that will be supported by local businesses and enterprises.

Belt Up Theatre’s Hunchback of Notre Dame is a vivid recreation of Victor Hugo’s timeless tale of longing, passion and unrequited love. The production is inspired by a previous version performed by Belt Up Theatre, company in residence at York Theatre Royal, who have been hailed by York Press as 'the future of theatre’ and The Observer as ‘bright young things changing the face of British Theatre’.

The Arts Council England has awarded funding to the project, which will run for a week at the end of 2012. The company will run workshops for local schools and public workshops in the lead up to the performance. 

‘I’m absolutely delighted that we are able to go ahead with the production. We’ve been working with the Abbey, Creative Selby and Selby Chamber of Commerce for the best part of a year now and it’s just fantastic that all that hard work has paid off. The Abbey is such an incredible, historic landmark; we’re all thrilled that we’ll be able to make the show there.’ Jethro Compton – Producer and Writer.

The former show, titled as ‘Quasimodo’ has had critically acclaimed sell out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2010, The Lowry in Salford Quays earlier in 2011 and Southwark Playhouse, London in 2010.

‘a clever, claustrophobic, psychological horror’ **** Time Out London Critic’s Choice    

‘an intense adaptation of Victor Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris’ **** The Scotsman

‘dark and compelling… fantastic’ **** Manchester Evening News

The cast includes Dominic Allen as Archdeacon Frollo, Serena Manteghi as La Esmeralda and Sam Donnelly as the hunchback, Quasimodo. The production will be directed by David Calvitto who directed Belt Up's Macbeth in the House of Detention earlier this year.

The production runs 13 - 17 November 2012.

For tickets and more information, visit www.hunchbackofnotredame.co.uk

A Little Princess: the reviews so far

A Little Princess is our new show this year at the Edinburgh Fringe. Here are the reviews so far...

BROADWAY BABY *****

‘a triumph of literary subtlety and genius’

‘Serena Manteghi's disarmingly stunning portrayal of Sara Crewe astounded from start to finish’

‘Outstanding in every possible instance’

http://www.broadwaybaby.com/listing.php?id=15118

THE SCOTSMAN ****

‘There’s a specific and very warm kind of magic in Belt Up’s shows’

http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/scotland/theatre-review-belt-up-theatre-s-a-little-princess-c-nova-1-2461297

THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS ****

‘a beautifully told story… a truly enchanting hour’

http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-evening-news/edinburgh/review-a-little-princess-c-nova-victoria-street-1-2466718

THE SKINNY ****

‘Beautiful… this is storytelling at its best’

http://www.theskinny.co.uk/comedy/fringe_2012/302899-belt_up_theatre_little_princess_c_nova

FRINGE REVIEW ****

‘Serena Manteghi is brilliantly charismatic and gorgeous’

http://www.fringereview.co.uk/fringeReview/4971.html

FRINGE GURU ****

‘Manteghi is a true revelation’

‘There’s a noble beauty to Compton’s soaring script’

http://www.fringeguru.com/reviews/edinburgh-2012/belt-up-theatres-a-little-princess.html

THREE WEEKS ****

‘Manteghi is charming from the outset’

http://www.threeweeks.co.uk/article/ed2012-theatre-review-belt-up-theatres-a-little-princess-belt-up-theatre-and-jethro-compton-ltd/

THE TELEGRAPH ***

‘Manteghi is excellent’

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/edinburgh-festival-reviews/9467728/Edinburgh-Festival-2012-Belt-Up-Theatres-A-Little-Princess-C-nova-review.html

FEST ***

‘a sweet fable for the power of story-telling’

http://www.festmag.co.uk/theatre/100872-belt_up_theatres_little_princess

THE LIST **

‘the toast of the Fringe’

‘Miss Minchin (a role tackled with aplomb and humour by a bearded Dominic West in a dress)’

n.b. Dominic West was unable to perform the entire run due to prior Hollywood commitments. Dominic Allen has stepped in as Miss Minchin.

http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/article/44245-belt-up-theatres-a-little-princess/

THE STAGE

‘a celebration of the power of the imagination, of storytelling and of Burnett herself’

http://ed.thestage.co.uk/reviews/1528?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheStageEdinburghReviews+%28The+Stage+%2F+Edinburgh+%2F+Reviews%29

PRIMARY TIMES

‘I already want to see it again’

http://www.primarytimes.net/edinburgh/the-little-princess

The Drawing Room: EdFringe2012

We are thrilled to announce our new space, The Drawing Room, which plays host to our Edinburgh Fringe Season this year.

The room within a room mixes ambitious design with Belt Up's unique style to create a custom-made environment perfectly suited to hold our three shows, The Boy James, Outland and the world premier of A Little Princess.

The season runs from 2 - 27 August. Full details here.

Have a listen to the music composed for the show by the incredible Jonny Sims:

Listen to ‘The Main Theme (with Indian bits) from A Little Princess’ 

Learning a Thing or Two: by James Wilkes

It’s July 2012: the year of the Olympics, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the year the world comes to an end but most importantly of course it is Belt Up’s fifth Edinburgh Fringe. It only feels like yesterday that about fifty students from York University were deliriously trying to rehearse twenty five different productions for The Red Room. It feels like yesterday but it, like many things in the past, seems like a different age. Belt Up is a different company, we’re all different people but at the same time... the same.

I won’t be performing with Belt Up this summer; I haven’t been with Belt Up at the Fringe since 2010’s The House Above (feels like yesterday/a different age). It’s fascinating though to watch the company more objectively. Last year on a day off from York Theatre Royal’s ‘Peter Pan’ I snuck up to the Fringe and was able to watch Outland, simply as an audience member. I’d seen a stumble through during rehearsals but it felt rather nice to be able to come in relatively ignorant and just enjoy a Belt Up show as a Belt Up audience member. What struck me was how far we’ve come since our emerging days in 2008. The writing, acting, directing were all so much more sophisticated. In those many years we’ve been rattling around, we’ve actually learnt a thing or two.

I’ve now hidden away from the harsh realities of the real world and gone back to being a student – taking a sabbatical from Belt Up to train at LAMDA- so learning and developing is very much on my mind at the moment.  One thing that I’m truly starting to appreciate is how much I’ve learnt from writing, directing and acting with Belt Up.

As a company we developed greatly as individuals. We have learnt bucket loads from each other and our mentors but more often than not, our most important lessons have come from our interactions with the audience.

Lyn Gardner once described us as “learning on the job, 21^stc equivalent of the rep system” and I think this is entirely accurate. Through doing so many shows we have been able to experiment directly with our audiences. Because they’re not hidden away in the shadows, our audience’s reactions aren’t hidden away – that means if you’re giving a bad performance, you’re very quickly aware of it; you can see every smile, laugh, tear, yawn or grimace. You can see at exactly which point a critic writes in their pad. You can see all too clearly when someone gets up and walks out (most of the time they have to say ‘excuse me’ to pass you). This open relationship has meant throughout our many shows and many runs we get instant feedback and that kind of experience is invaluable. Every single performance can teach us something new.

All artists are individuals and every member of Belt Up is an individual. We exist as a collective but we also have our own paths in which we’re growing and learning. One thing is for sure though; we are all indebted to what we learn through our work with Belt Up and the prospect of new lessons is what keeps Belt Up going. I for one can’t wait to see Belt Up’s work this Fringe and I can’t wait for the audiences too either. After all, over the next few years when 2012 feels just like yesterday/a different age, the audiences for The Boy James, Outland and A Little Princess at this Fringe may actually have taught us even more than we’d have imagined.

Directing a Belt Up Show - by Joe Hufton

We have been in rehearsals for over a week now for ‘A Little Princess’ and so far it’s all going well. We have played with dolls, debated lots and laughed ourselves silly (including one memorable conversation about the British Raj and claymation badgers).

As we head into the second week of rehearsals I thought I would share with you the five things I try to remember when directing a Belt Up show (in no particular order).

Belt Up is a creative collaboration

One of the most exciting things about working with Belt Up is the amount of ideas that fly around in rehearsal; everyone offers things and gets involved in the conversation. Belt Up actors have a huge amount of ingenuity and great creative instincts, and any director has to respect this. Directing Belt Up, more than many companies, is about leading a process rather than dictating ideas and there is a real sense that four heads are better than one.

You will only ever be able to rehearse 80% of the show

Belt Up shows cast the audience in a role and as such that role will never be filled in rehearsal. This means that Belt Up’s dress rehearsals happen at the same time as our opening nights when for the first time we get that final missing cast member. As such there are moments in rehearsal where we have to stop and go ‘and now you will do something with the audience that we can’t do until the first night'. It can be quite terrifying then watching on the first night: wondering if the bits you were unable to rehearse will ever come together quite as you imagined. 

There will never be enough time!

I always feel like we are running out of time. A lot of this has to do with the fact that once we reach the end of the rehearsal process we have to build a set! This may be time consuming and stressful, although a really crucial part of the process. It means we have a real connection with our immersive environment; however there is a point as a director where you have to let go of creative decisions and start climbing ladders, cutting material and arranging furniture for 3 days when all you want to do is fix those last little bits!

There will never be enough space!

I always underestimate how much room the audience take up. We rehearse a show and then realise we have lost 30% of our playing space due to the various legs, arms and that most hated of audience accessories, their bags. In 4 and half years of working for the company I never cease to be shocked at how much space you guys take up on the first night.

Remember to have fun

Our rehearsals are exciting and intense but above all fun. As soon as we lose that, I think we are doing something wrong. The company prides itself on the playful nature of our work and I think if we have fun, enjoy our rehearsals and the process of making the show, then hopefully a little of that might rub off on our audiences!

Belt Up Theatre's Edinburgh Fringe Season 2012 includes THE BOY JAMES, OUTLAND and the world premiere of A LITTLE PRINCESS. Full details here.