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.

Edinburgh Fringe 2012

There has always been an embargo on announcing shows until the Fringe Programme had officially launched. That was removed this year. And now, the week after the official launch, it feels as if the cat has been out of the bag for ages. But nonetheless…

We are thrilled to announce our Edinburgh 2012 Fringe Season.

After two sell-out years in Edinburgh, two sell-out runs in London and a season at the Adelaide Fringe, ‘The Boy James’ returns. Inspired by the life and work of ‘Peter Pan’ author, J.M. Barrie, The Boy James tells a story of playful innocence and cruel experience. A dark but beautiful tale of one bright eyed boy’s startled awakening to the harsh realities of adulthood. Play with him, and take his hand as you lead him back to Neverland. Join in the games and forget the cruel world on the other side of the window. But as the tick tock of the clock continues, you too will have to face the inevitable voyage.

 After its award-winning and sell-out season at Edinburgh last year, and on the back of its critically acclaimed international debut at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, and a teaser in London, ‘Outland’ returns triumphantly. ‘Outland’ travels from a melancholy reality ‘through the looking glass’ into a topsy-turvy world, where the landscape and characters are always shifting. As you journey from stuffy Victorian drawing rooms to fairy palaces, you will also get a sense of the paradox that was the man himself, the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, known by the world as Lewis Carroll.

  

And alongside those two shows we have a brand new one as well – to complete the trilogy. Sitting perfectly alongside the imaginations of Lewis Carroll and J. M. Barrie comes the incredible world of Frances Hodgson Burnett  in this original adaptation of ‘A Little Princess’. Recommended by The Times and The Guardian; 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. 

More info at www.beltuptheatre.com

Outland in London

We're really delighted that Outland is going to be coming to London in July. To get us warmed up for the Fringe we're going to be doing two performances in a stunning venue in Mayfair. The University Women's Club Library is, for anyone who has seen 'The Boy James' or 'Outland', undoubtedly perfect for a Belt Up performance. The room is a glorious Victorian library fitted with leather armchairs, sofas, wood panelling, chandeliers and lots and lots of books. 

As there are only two performances we strongly recommend booking sooner rather than later - tickets are selling very quickly.

If you're a fan of Belt Up, of Lewis Carroll, or just fancy a summer evening enjoying the lounge, library and gardens where you can have dinner or drinks all evening, then please do come along.

We're asking that everyone come in either Black Tie (just formal will do - don't worry if you haven't got a tux), or to come dressed as a character from a Lewis Carroll story. Part of the fun of performing is getting to put on a ridiculous costume; we'd like to share that silliness with everyone else. 

We hope to see you there!

More info at www.beltuptheatre.com

Review of Macbeth from One Stop Arts

Macbeth is a hauntingly exciting production by the well-established ensemble.  

The House of Detention in Clerkenwell lends itself perfectly to the promenade performance, providing haunting brick cells and low lit playing spaces. 

The stand-out performance for me was the young actress Serena Manteghi.   Her versatility was very evident in her transformation from a weird sister to Lady Macbeth, then further on to Lady Macduff. Every word she said was enthralling and each moment she was on stage I couldn’t take my eyes off her. In some cases she outshone Macbeth in their scenes together. A bright future awaits this talented actress. 

An absolutely brilliant show and a triumph for Belt Up.

****

www.onestoparts.com

Royal Portraits: the first photos of MACBETH in the House of Detention

Dominic Allen as Macbeth. Serena Manteghi, Joe Hufton and Sam Donnelly as the Witches.


Photographs by Jethro Compton.


Macbeth runs in the House of Detention until 18th May 2012. More information at www.macbethlondon.com 

'Return of the King' by Dominic Allen

They say it's cursed. Maybe. It is certainly not without trepidation that one takes up the mantle, for the second time, of playing theScottishKingwhoshouldnotbementionedfromShakespeare'sScottishplayofthesamename.

Now, I'm not a superstitious person; I don't mind black cats, spilt salt, broken mirrors and the only reason I don't like people putting their shoes on the table is that it's unhygienic. Generally, I don't even mind 'The Scottish Play' being called by its proper name. Or, at least, I didn't – but we'll come back to that. That said, there is something altogether sinister about that play. There's something in it – some twisted bit of Shakespeare's genius – that gets inside you and makes you go a little bit... oogie.

As if the play itself wasn't cursed enough, I'm sure many of the more superstitious actors in this world would think again when we consider the venue. It's not a bad venue once you get past the cold, the damp, the ingrained sense of a history of cruelty in its very fabric, the dark, the smell, the strange feeling of being watched, the what-was-that and the What-did-you-say I-didn't-say-anything – I mean, if anything it's perfect for the play – but it hardly does much to put a superstitious man at ease. Not that I'm a superstitious man, you understand... but even without the shifting shadows and tricks of the light, it's still a funny old place. It's bigger than you'd think and it's... twisty. You'd be surprised how easy it is to sneak up on people in there. And there's something to be said, I think, about its design. It's not designed to make you feel comfortable or at ease with your surroundings. It's designed to make 18^th Century soon-to-be-Australian convicts feel like... well, convicts. And it works.

Finally, we come to the dates of the performances. Surely, there couldn't be anything untoward or darkly sinister about those? You would think not but, alas, here we have it. A preview performance date. Yes, it's a Friday. I wonder if you can guess the actual date? Well, it's the second Friday in April. And the first Friday is the sixth... so six plus seven is...

Ah! So maybe the schedule could be better, given that were I superstitious – which I'm not – I'd not only have to contend with a long tradition of the play being cursed and long established ghosts in an allegedly haunted prison but also the most quintessentially unlucky date in the history of the entire world! Lucky for me I have absolutely no reason to be worried about that – it's all total nonsense, hokum, gibberish... oh, except for last time we did it (the same play in the same venue on the same date) and something utterly terrible happened. But apart from that, there's no reason to be worried at all. I mean, lightning doesn't strike twice. Does it?

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to it. And why? Because it's so much fun. I get to go round killing people, scaring people, I get to shout, scream, giggle, cry, grow a bigger beard, get covered in blood and perfect an evil laugh. So why don't you come down one night and join in? I mean... what's the worst that can happen?

Dominic is appearing in 'Macbeth' at the House of Detention, Clerkenwell, London from 17th April - 18th May 2012. More info at www.macbethlondon.com