Smiles all round

A few audience members share their thoughts on the show...

The Letter

Dear Tom Morris,

I was excited to see the piece on the culture show on your production 'Juliet and her Romeo'.
I thought you might be interested to read my poem 'A love song for pysche and cupid,' which is set in a care home.

The poem was set to music by the composer Silvina Milstein and sung by Jane Manning with the English piano trio on Valentines day, 1995 at King's on the strand.

I wish you all the very best for the production.

Yours Sincerely,

Caroline Smith.

A love song for psyche and cupid

For Silvina

Venus had stabbed the puffed thin skin of her young love,
burnt it black like potatoes
sighed and deflated.

Left alone
On the top storey
Of Morlock Court
Wyn Boiling had come into the old folks home
To share the warmth of bed pans
And perimeters of walking frames.

By day she sat
In the silent laager of chairs,
Wedged bag on her lap,
Long beige stockinged legs
Slanted sidewards like a deer
Hiding in the scar
Of grey pollarded trees

Then, as the red-fox light of evenings stole over their gouted breathing night shapes,
They were turned into an enchanted forest of majestic trees.
She found herself in a beautiful palace
Where a bird of brilliant plumage
Spoke to her from its gilded cage.
Four cooks prepared her lavish meals.
In time a courtier would lead her to her bath.

At night, after they had been put to bed,
The God of love himself
Would come again to her.
he stood before her door,
Legs bent, slightly stooping over his stick,
His loose hand knocking lightly
Against the door to her chamber-
His long drooped face
Requesting an audience.

In the yellow night light,
By the call-button cord,
In the deep rift of the narrow bed,
They maneuvered together.

Her fingers felt out the soft hollow of his stomach
With its raised moles and single tough hairs,
Like sedges stalking out into a quiet fen.
On, down into the tangled thicket of bracken
Catching her jeweled fingers in its strong roots,
Prising free from its nest
A log, long lain in damp beech leaves;
Digging him out from the crease of his old trousers.

They were wet as red mellow wood,
Slimy as leather,
Fruit rotted together on the forest floor.

She had become Venus herself,
Fiercely in love with her old beauty
And her ripened fruit
She named pleasure.

Caroline Smith.
Thistles of the Hesperides, Flambard Poetry.

And we begin...

Tim Barlow reads Shakespeare's 'Sonnet 30'

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.

This beautiful sonnet had to be cut from the play and is sadly missed so we've taken the opportunity to bring it to you fresh from the mouth of the man who would have spoken it: Tim Barlow, who plays Tybalt.

Previews

^{Well, after long but doubtlessly necessary days of technical rehearsal, the previews have begun and cast and crew have set to tightening the bolts ready for Press Night on Tuesday the 16th March. Whilst watching some of this tech process we began to think about how the entire process of making a film is like the technical rehearsal stage in theatre. Scenes are shot in small sections over and over again and the actor doesn’t get much sense of the overall product or their overall performance until they view the film in its entirety if they decide to do so.}

^{In the theatre however, although technical rehearsal requires jumping from cue to cue and repeating very small nuggets at a time until they are perfected, this is a relatively small section of the overall process - now that the run has begun the actors get the opportunity to live the whole story within their character every night. Which is what is so exciting about theatre, that sense of live, and alive, performance.}

^{Before every show the cast are called to the stage for a ‘fight call’ in which they go over all of the fight choreography for the show. This helps the actors by improving their muscle memory of the movements and keeps the choreography fresh in their minds for the performance.}

^{Staged fights can be traced all the way back to the dawning of the human species, evolving from war dances and rituals, through genuine fights staged for the entertainment of an audience (such as the Roman Gladiator fights), into the theatrical form we recognise now. By Shakespeare’s time the idea of stage combat was already well established as is obvious from his frequent stage direction ‘They fight’.}

^{Here is a link to an interview that you might find interesting with our Fight Director Kombat Kate:}

^{http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/may/21/theatre-kombat-kate-fight-director}

Young Company Angels

An interview with our very own Angel: Charlie George about what we've been up to throughout the process and what you can expect to see soon.

Tech rehearsal time!... Pre-preview...

•How would you describe Benvolio in 3 words?
"I can't do 3 words but I'll give it a shot??
I'd say he loves romeo,
he's a grumpy old man, a little aggressive
but an old romantic at heart"
 
•What would be Benvolio's favourite past time?
"A large glass of Red wine.
He's defiantly a bit of a wino"
 
•What does Benvolio think of
the home and what happens around him?
"He tolerates it and he knows that he
has to put up with it to keep the peace.
He keeps himself to himself and
can see exactly what is going on around him"

•What does Benvolio think of Tybalt?
"He dislikes him because that's the way it's always been.
He thinks he's too aggressive and
knows that he's on a short fuse.
He scraps unnecessarily and is above himself "

•Who would you love to work with?
"There's lots of people however
I would love to work with Paul Schofield.
That would be great"

•"Can you tell me a little about your disability?"
"It started only about a year and a half ago.
My right arm started to get slower and
then my fingers started loosing feeling.
It's from torn muscles in my shoulders and
the rotary cap muscle.
It's got some fancy name but I can't remember"
 
•"Is it a problem for you?"
"Not really? It's just harder
getting dressed and an effort lifting"
 
•"What was your childhood ambition?"
"I wanted to be a singer in the South of France.
I don't know why but it sounded so glamorous
to roam for place to place in the sun.
That kind of cool nightclub singer/ giggalo character.
Soon after I realised that
I wanted to be an actor and always followed that"

•"So was it always plain sailing or
have you had any interesting jobs in the mean time?"
"I had to drive around in a van promoting Durex!
It was very embarrassing for me and other people.
It was a very taboo subject at the time and
nobody knew what to say or do?
Quite funny really"
 
•"So is that a downside of being an actor? Unemployment?"
"The positives are being able to remain
individual and be able to dictate your own life.
I have been very lucky in my career but yes,
it is hard to make a living
and also get the recognition that you deserve.
You're always at the beckon call of others"