Thursday, February 11th, 2010
And A Nightingale Sang: 11 March – 3 April 2010
And A Nightingale Sang in currently entertaining audiences at the New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme before it moves to Oldham Coliseum Theatre on 11 March 2010.
Take a look at what the critics think so far:
CP Taylor’s gentle, nostalgic saga of life on the domestic front evokes a world of make do and mend, casualties in foreign climes and the sound of Dame Vera Lynn, which seems as long ago as … last September, actually; the recent return of Dame Vera to the top of the charts makes this a canny time to revive a play filled with many of her best-loved songs.
Not that Taylor’s drama belongs to the world of cash-in musicals. It began life in the 1970s as an oral-history project commissioned by Newcastle’s Live Theatre, and the music forms a natural part of the fabric of life in the days when families made their own entertainment.
Head of the household George (Simeon Truby) keeps rushing in with the latest piece of sheet music, though with a family like his you can’t blame him for trying to drown out the noise. Taylor had a poet’s ear for the cadences of his adopted north-east, and each scene is a clamour of competing voices. Devout mother Peggy (Katherine Dow Blyton) makes shrill supplications to Our Lady; daughter Joyce (Anna Doolan) frets whether her husband’s leave date tallies with the arrival of her child; while Grandpa Andie (Ged McKenna) staggers round with a noisome sack containing the remains of his beloved whippet.
Sarah Punshon’s production has a hearty atmosphere and is well grounded in the observations of Laura Norton, as the narrator and elder sister Helen, who keeps her composure while all others lose theirs. And the accents are so convincing you have to remind yourself that, though this is Newcastle-under-Lyme, you’ve come to the right address.
The Guardian
Great plays weren’t the thing with Cecil Taylor, the Glasgow-born writer who spent most of his life around Newcastle-upon-Tyne. His best play by mainstream standards was his last, Good, about a decent German’s slow immersion in Nazism, premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Mostly, Taylor wrote highly effective dramas that spoke to people locally in a language and method they could take to. That language isn’t only a matter of local meanings (“wife” we soon understand in old soldier Andie’s mouth means ‘woman’, though doubtless most of the ‘wife’s were wives too) but a matter of cultural expectations.
Nightingale follows the Tyneside Stott family from 1939 to 1945, as they hardly let the War interrupt their concerns. After initially diving for protection against bombs, before realising the apparent air-raid siren is a whistling kettle, they stick to what really bothers them.
For dolled-up Joyce it’s making-up her mind and dealing with a loveless marriage. For mother Peggy it’s the demands of a life based on stern Catholicism. Which creates difficulties for husband George when, on a tide of wartime confidence, he joins the communists. ‘Old soldier’ Andie sees wartime vicissitudes in terms of a spare room for him and his extensive luggage.
Wartime ballads, including the title one, stand for these folks’ mix of sentiment and resilience, appearing throughout thanks to George’s pianism. Singing and playing alike are strong, especially Laura Norton’s Helen, the narrator who crosses time and space, introducing her family and telling her own story of wartime romance as she emerges from the resignation with which the character waits for chronological middle-age to catch up with her lack of self-confidence, via lipstick and make-up to the confidence in which she can take the revelations of reality that bind her lover.
Fine young director Sarah Punshon makes each point clearly on Helen Goddard’s spare set, silvery barrage-balloons hanging above the family table (fulcrum for major arguments) and flagstone floor. She can’t turn this assemblage of wartime incidents into great drama, but she ensures it speaks with resolution and humour of the people, to the people, loud and clear.
Reviews Gate
All too often, family dramas set in wartime Britain overdo the tragedy or the never say die Blitz spirit, or both. How refreshing, then, to have a reworking of CP Taylor’s bittersweet story of family life on Tyneside during the Second World War that is free of overt sentimentality.
Under the careful direction of Sarah Punshon, the family members at the centre of this play are allowed to tell their collective and individual stories in a down to earth and often hilarious way. They suffer uncertainty and hardships while trying to get on with their lives. And yet, amid the laughter, the painfulness of war still ebbs through in every line.
The New Vic has joined forces with the Oldham Coliseum for this production and it is clearly a successful marriage. Laura Norton has the immense job of not only playing the part of crippled daughter Helen but simultaneously narrating – a task in which she succeeds admirably.
The rest of the cast is well up to the mark, too. Katherine Dow Blyton makes a fine god-fearing matriarch Peggy, opposite Simeon Truby as her piano-playing husband George, while Ged McKenna generates most of the laughs as mischievous grandad Andie.
As an added bonus, the cast perform some of the best-loved songs of the period, including The White Cliffs of Dover and, as you might expect, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. All in all, an honest-to-goodness musical play that tells an engaging story in a most satisfying manner.
The Stage
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Graeme Dalling Playing Huck
What were your first thoughts on reading the play?
That this was no jolly adventure tale. Having only heard about Huck Finn and seen the various screen versions I had the impression that it was this sunny, wholesome, American story. But actually it deals with some really dark, serious issues like racism, slavery, child abuse and neglect! And the language in the book is quite unexpected too, sometimes shocking.
Do you have a particular approach or process you take to your acting roles?
I think I’m still discovering what process works for me. I’m still relatively young as an actor and every director I’ve worked with has had a completely different process. I guess I take little tools from all of them. Before rehearsals I just read, read, read, and try and get as familiar with the text as possible. There is always a danger that you fix in your head how you’re going to say every line and then when you get to rehearsals, its hard to shake that off! So a basic understanding I think is all that is needed. All the main work happens in rehearsals – that’s why we have 4 weeks!
What 5 words would you use to sum up your character?
Determined, impulsive, vulnerable, adventurer and survivor.
Can you tell us a bit about Huck? How do you see him?
Huck is a boy who has always had to fend for himself. His mother died when he was really young and his drunken father has treated him badly. He has never had a sense of belonging to anyone or anything, or indeed the feeling of being loved. This has made him hard, thick skinned and independent. But also it means that he is always searching for something, even if he doesn’t quite know what he is searching for. Maybe it is to be loved, but every time he is taken in and cared for he can’t stand it. He is a victim of his upbringing I think.
Have you done much research into the time of the play (or anything else)?
Because the action in the play is so influenced by what was going on in history at the time, it was important to read up on what was actually going on! But also little details like how hot it is, or how fast the Mississippi flows I find really helpful. In rehearsals, we’ve been focussing a lot on the backstory of our characters, which really informs how you play the scenes; and because the play is structured around a tight time-line, it’s good to know what’s just happened before every scene. Looking at a map was helpful too!
How did you first start in theatre?
I knew I wanted to be an actor from a very young age and that was through watching films and wanting to be like the characters in them! I was always in school plays and musicals and was a member of a children’s theatre group which taught me a lot. It also helped that there was nothing else that I was any good at…..!
Where did you train?
I trained at the Guildford School of Acting, graduating in 2006 after completing a 3 year course.
What skills do you think you need to be a good actor?
A good pair of eyes and ears.
What do you find difficult about being out on tour?
Living out of a suitcase gets a bit tiring after a while, and living in a stranger’s house is something you never get used to! I live in Brighton so that’s the first place I miss, along with the sea, my flat, friends, and having your own space to escape to. But at the end of the day, I’m doing what I love and what I trained to do, so it’s all worth it!
Joe Speare Playing Jim
What were your first thoughts on reading the play?
I thought it would be interesting to do, especially to be a black guy playing a slave. Also how well it was written, he has managed to keep the dignity of the character without going too far the other way. I thought it was a bit like some of Steinbeck’s work – all these characters having nothing and all looking for someone else at the bottom that has less.
Do you have a particular approach to your acting roles or a process you go through?
No. I tend to try and feel the character and story just from the text. I read it and then do it – I like to surprise myself as I go along. I like to keep the script with me as long as possible – as long as I’m allowed to really. I like to make sure I get it right and that I’m not paraphrasing.
What five words would you use to sum up your character?
Honesty. Dignity. Understanding. Kind. Selfish.
Can you tell us a bit about Jim? How do you see him?
Jim is a very simple man with simple needs and ideals. He’s forced to be something he’s not, to use a strength he didn’t know he had.
Have you done much research into the time of the play?
Not for this show, but I have quite a lot of previous knowledge and that all comes back to you – where it’s based, southern states, differences between black & white, rich & poor etc. What’s interesting too is how the times of this play differ so little from much later plays. Black people are always the third-class citizens.
What have you found most challenging about this role?
The way the character is written, the dialect is sometimes ‘slave’ and sometimes he speaks like the other characters, it’s very different. It makes it quite difficult to learn, you can’t make assumptions about how he’d say the lines. I’m also keen not to make him out to be smarter than he is. Difficult.
How did you first start in theatre?
I sneaked into an audition at the Liverpool Playhouse. I didn’t know what it was for, but I got three leads in the season – Waiting for Godot, Adrian Mitchell’s Man Friday and The Double by Dostoyevsky. I’d gone to the Playhouse to set up an equal opportunities programme & decided to see what I was capable of.
Where did you train?
I didn’t. But I wouldn’t discourage anyone else. There are some things it would’ve been helpful to know but I’ve had to be self-taught all the way. No time to spare, I’ve been playing catch-up and learnt on the job. When I was in the West End, I’d go in at 8am to practice dance routines in front of the mirror so that when the rest of the cast came in at 10am I’d be at the same stage as them.
What skills do you think you need to be a good actor?
Life. Living some before becoming an actor really helps feed into your creativity. People who’ve acted professionally since childhood haven’t had enough time to do any living.
What do you find most difficult about being out on tour.
I’m a touring machine. Last year i did 41 one-nighters across Europe, had 2 days off and then went back on the road. After HUCK, I’m off on a 40-week tour. My first ever tour was 18 months with The Blues Brothers, touring from Lincoln to Japan. Touring’s just what i do. It’s a great way of seeing the world for free.
Directing Huck John Terry, Director
How did the idea for Huck begin?
The project started life as a collaboration between Fresh Glory and Shapeshifter, building upon a line of work we had begun in fringe and off-west-end venues. Huck was commissioned from young playwright James Graham just as he was reaching national prominence, and has developed and refined through several drafts and script workshops over the last two years.
What can you tell us about the world of Huck?
We want to draw the audience into a very different world – a cut-throat America, a country still defining itself and trying to work out the conflict between a dream of freedom and a society built on slavery.
How do you see the journey of the play?
The narrative charts a long raft journey south, made by two unlikely fugitive companions – a young troubled white boy and an escaping black slave, as they try to reach and decide upon some idea of ‘freedom’. The production moves between raucous, vivid encounters with the wild and extraordinary characters that inhabit the settlements on the banks of the Mississippi, and atmospheric, almost dream-like segments – more thoughtful and lyrical – of Huck and Jim alone on the raft, drifting along the wide starlit river.
You use music a lot in your work, how do you see its place in Huck?
The music is performed by the cast and is likely to be a patchwork of soundscapes, live singing and live instruments (fiddle, concertina, mandolin etc) that reflect the musical styles of the time. The cast contains strong singers and multi-instrumentalists. The piece is set so much earlier than people think (1840s) and the music of that period is not widely known or familiar to a modern audience, so it is a great way of taking people to a very different dramatic world.
Slavery is a central issue in Huck. How do you see this?
Twain’s novel has been a controversial source of debate since it was published. There are as many different views on the novel’s unusual take on race and slavery as there are readers. Our view, and the one that has shaped this adaptation and production process is this: Mark Twain was taking an unusually liberal, modern view on slavery and race, but he was still doing it through the idioms and accepted stereotypes of his time. We have tried to take on his overall view on the issue, whilst moving away from some of the stereotypes he still used in his writing.
How have you handled the race and slavery issues in the play?
We have tried to remain true to Twain’s sentiment, and to the dialogue in the book, whilst making changes that allow a modern audience to watch the piece and engage with the characters without discomfort. We believe our adaptation is thought-provoking rather than controversial. It features examples of behaviour and discrimination driven by racial attitudes, without using specifically offensive racist language. The piece is interesting to all those with a taste for history, and in particular black and American history, but we would not describe it as a specifically ‘black interest’ piece.
Many people think of Huckleberry Finn as a children’s book – do you see it this way?
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is very specifically not a children’s book, although it is accessible for many younger readers. Unlike its predecessor, Tom Sawyer, the book has darker, more morally complex undertones and issues that speak to an adult audience as well as being to some extent readable to a younger audience.
Can you tell us a little about your journey to becoming a director?
I began directing at school and university – I enjoyed the overall authority of helming a project from start to finish, and it meant that I could do shows that I wanted to do in ways that I wanted to do them. I also started to work with actors who were better performers than I could ever be, and yet could help them to perform better than they otherwise would have.
Who/what are your influences in and beyond theatre?
The American director Ann Bogarde is the biggest influence on my directing practice, and I recommend her book ‘A Director Prepares’ to any aspiring directors. The style of my work is influenced by a lot of folk theatre forms, from Mystery Plays to village pub mummers, the work of Hungarian director Bela Pinter and the Cottesloe Theatre Company of the 1970’s and 80’s. I have learnt a lot from watching the work of great international directors like Robert Wilson, Robert Lepage and Simon McBurney, and British directors such as Carl Heap, Nick Hytner and Howard Davies. And learnt leadership lessons from figures in the world of business, design, and politics.
What do you consider to be the role & responsibilities of a director?
The primary responsibility is to be decisive – to keep the working process moving forwards. With sufficient preparation and forethought, it is possible to get to the position of being right slightly more often than being wrong, but that is about all one can hope for in terms of accuracy. The main thing is to keep moving forward, trying, playing, and making decisions to start to solidify a finished work from one’s explorations.
The other two main responsibilities of the director is to dream up a unifying world for the show – this encompasses aesthetic, mood, stylistic considerations and helps to determine the way in which the audience interface with the show. It helps to produce a show which holds together and is greater than the sum of its parts. And finally the director holds the initial and primary responsibility for casting a crewing a show – surrounding his or herself with the right people for the show – the people who will in time become and beget the show.
How would you describe your style of work?
I unashamedly put the audience’s entertainment as first principle – whilst I want my theatre works to be intelligent, thoughtful, moving, funny, and contain ideas that are original or striking, I consider the greatest compliment from an audience member to be ‘I had a really nice evening.’
Therefore the audience is at the heart of the experience – the way in which they receive the show, and engage with it. This might mean some aspect of shared or blurred spaces, and the incorporation of elements – smells, sounds, interactions – that help the audience become subsumed in the world of the show.
I often use live music, strong characterisation, and historical settings as means of achieving these ends.
What was it that first attracted you to the story of Huckleberry Finn?
I was initially attracted to the book as a potential source material for a production because of the world in which it is set. I was fascinated by this early, almost in-vitro perspective on what was to become one of the most powerful and influential countries and belief systems in the world. It was a world of great aspiration and unfettered dreamers, a world of frontier, half-formed civilisation and foggy morals. I thought that I would like, as an audience member, to spend some time in this world.
What do you think Huck is about? What interests you about these themes?
Huck is about freedom. And it is about a fundamental hypocrisy at the heart of America that still haunts it today. It is also about quiet, starlit nights lying on your back as you drift down the river.
How involved were you in the adaptation process?
I was involved from the commission through all stages and redrafts, including leading workshop processes to explore and test the script. Any novel is a challenge to adapt for the stage, Huckleberry Finn all the more so, as it has almost no discernible structure, and is really a travelogue, a drift through a huge country and the adventures encountered along the way. It has been a long and complicated process, working with the writer to find ways of bringing this effectively to the stage.
What kind of preparation work have you done for rehearsals?
I prepare through detailed historical research and background reading, by working on detailed timelines and structural work on the playtext, by listening to music, and through long wandering conversations in public houses.
Can you describe for us how you work in the rehearsal room?
I normally work very quickly, throwing together the first shapes of the play. However, Huck necessitated a lot of detailed work with the actors, examining in detail the location, time, temperature and immediate circumstances preceding each scene.
I like a busy rehearsal room with lots of people contributing ideas. Generally by week three, the kitchen, corridors and stairwells around the rehearsal room are also full of different members of the creative team and cast working together on different aspects of the show.
What do you think are the challenges in directing Huck?
Huck is an enormously complex script, with a large number of scenes that leap about in time and space. However, the result must feel effortless and fluid. The production should have a riotous energy – almost more akin to a barn dance – and yet clearly lead the audience through a huge number of characters and locations.
The essential challenge of the Huck rehearsal room is for the performers to consume and master this wealth of information and technical detail, and then perform it with spirit and verve.
What questions are you hoping to raise with the production?
How did Slavery last so long? How did America become the moral arbiter of the world? How did they manage to put on such a great show for such little money? Who are these guys? Why don’t I go to the theatre more often?
