Research...

I'm deep in the middle of research for a new play I'm directing this autumn, KING MACBETH.
Deborah McAndrew's new verse play explores the life of the real Scottish King in the mid 11th Century in Scotland, and examines the motivations behind how and why he came to power. Shakespeare's intentions for writing his MACBETH were often at odds with telling the story of the real king, and yet it is his version which we now cling to as being the story of an honorable king Duncan who was murdered by a man clinging onto the prophecies of the three sisters of fate with his manipulative wife using every tactic to persuade him to kill Duncan. In the real story Duncan is Macbeth's cousin and the current king is called Malcolm (the Second). We begin in 1020 when the young Macbeth has just learnt of the death of his father who has been murdered by one of his cousins.... Any more and I'll be revealing the plot so you'll have to come and see it!

I'm enjoying the research period, and piecing together what little we know of the real King and the life of Scotland in the 11th Century (where it is all the rage to kill to acquire power and few eyelashes were batted!). From this I am examining the motives which are explicitly on the page; and also more implicit motives of honour, shame and jealousy and how person qualities affect motive. I'm currently using Cameron Taylor and Alistair Murray's fantastic book On the Trail of King Macbeth as stimulus and background reading. I'm especially excited about going on a three day research trip starting in Inverness to retrace Macbeth's steps and to get a living, breathing insight into the landscape to try and get a glimpse into the psyche and lands which Macbeth, Duncan and Gruoch (the basis for Lady Macbeth) held so dear.

Some Links:
www.kingmacbeth.com/index.htm
(To Taylor and Murray's site on the real King Macbeth)
www.revealtheatre.co.uk
(to Reveal Theatre's site for production news)

Silent Anger pics

Some pics from Silent Anger I've co-produced. Directed by Patrick Connellan and production shots by Andrew Billington (Vital Photo)

Opening this week..

Silent Anger opens this week... It's been a busy few weeks and will post some pics and details about the project later this week

Arran..

Am off to Arran this week to co-ordinate 'Voices of Arran'... site specific documentary exploring the Highland Clearances. Also coming with us are 15 postgraduate PGCE students to explore new narratives and creative techniques of working.
And it's been given out for snow!!

March 2010- the month of Silent Anger!

It's been a busy few months of which I've obviously not been blogging! I had a wonderful time in Porthcawl with a fantastic cast and creative team on Beauty and the Beast. See some pics here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Coventry/Imagine-Theatre/100435475543?ref=mf#!/album.php?aid=103425&id=100435475543

So, what's new? I'm currently co-producing and on the script construction team for Silent Anger our new documentary play for touring combatting right wing views and extremism. We've been researching now for a number of weeks. It's a powerful medium documentary and verbatim theatre and, as Max Stafford Clark posits, it really does do what journalism fails too. We have to now think of how to construct and weave these various narratives together to create a compelling and dynamic drama that will be suitable for Year 10 students through to public performances also.

We had a great casting session in London, aided by actor Neil Roberts alongside myself and co-producer Julia Barton.... Normally at casting you start from the premise that the actors you will see CAN actually act; so then all the other factors then influence proceedings, such as parity, whether people would get on for 7 weeks touring and seemingly mundaine issues such as height and accent! We like to give actors at least 30 minutes at auditions as its imperative to assemble to right cast for such a specific piece. We also look for people interested in the political and social aspects of the piece... but all the actors were- such a tough day but we've a fab team in place.

So this Friday we begin with our team of script editors- myself, Dom Meir (an actor in the piece and who has undertaken most of the interviews), writer Deborah McAndrew and director Patrick Connellan. We have to find the material that will support what we want to say and sift through piles and piles of primary and secondary source material. But director Peter Cheeseman's mantra always remains true: "if there's no material, there's no scene". After Friday I imagine we will have to go away and delve deeper into research as well as interviewing more people.

The journey begins (as the designers are desperate for a script we'd better make it a speedy journey!!)