East 15 Summer Season Brochure

Summer Season 2019

ACTING SCHOOL

east15.ac.uk #east15

All productions are performed by graduate year students

MA ACTING PRESENT:

MAPs

At The Corbett Theatre Rectory Lane I Loughton I IG10 3RY

A season of new work by MA Acting companies over two programmes Devised by the companies Conceived by the companies The MA Acting cohort have grouped into nine “scratch” companies to research, devise and present nine short new pieces of theatre. Productions showcased for the first time as part of the MAP Season have frequently gone on to win awards in Edinburgh and have toured to acclaim nationally and internationally.

Come along to the 2019 crop so you can say you were there at the beginning!

Book for both Programmes - A & B - to see the full range of work.

Programme A: T hursday 9 May @ 2.30pm Friday 10 May @ 7.30pm Programme B: T hursday 9 May @ 7.30pm Friday 10 May @ 2.30pm

6+ Age. Many of these nine new pieces may contain themes and * 1language of an adult nature which some may find offensive.

At the Corbett Theatre & Dance Studio – specifics to be announced, see website for details

BA ACTING & CONTEMPORARY THEATRE PRESENT:

Launch 2019

Mentored by Uri Roodner Devised by the Company The ‘Launch’ is a Festival of experimental new work.

It follows in the footsteps of East 15’s pioneering ‘Debut Festival’ as a dedicated platform to showcase original work created, produced and performed by graduates on the BA Acting and Contemporary Theatre Course. Past work has gone on to receive prestigious awards such as the Edinburgh Fringe Best Comedy and The Stage Best Ensemble.

Thursday 23 May @ 7:30pm I Friday 24 May @ 7:30pm I Saturday 25 May @ 2.30pm & 7.30pm MA AND MFA ACTING (INTERNATIONAL) PRESENT:

Lilies on the Land

By The Lion’s Part Directed by Sonia Ritter

You had to be there to know...

In June 1939 women in Britain were asked to volunteer for a special service. Many suffered harsh conditions and punishing treatment, thrown into labour demanding skill, endurance and courage.

Few, however, were to regret their choice. Who were they?

Poignant, passionate and very special, Lilies on the Land gathers together and gives voice to the chronicles of the extraordinary women who chose to fight by farming the land - together. The Women’s Land Army.

Wednesday 12 June @ 7.30pm I Friday 14 June @ 7.30pm I Saturday 15 June @ 2.30pm

Summerfolk

By Maxim Gorky, in a new version by Nick Dear Directed by Robin Sneller Russia 1904 - In Gorky’s witty, seductive and moving naturalistic masterpiece, a group of privileged Russian families meet every year in their summer country retreats. In the sultry heat of summer,

love affairs ignite, politics are argued over, friendships break and tempers flare. Underpinning this emotionally expansive panorama of life, there lies an uneasy awareness that a great radical social change is in the air and that their whole way of life may be under question.

Thursday 13 June @ 7.30pm I Friday 14 June @ 2.30pm I Saturday 15 June @ 7.30pm MA ACTING PRESENT:

Dreaming Life*

A response to the classic text of Life’s a Dream by Calderon de la Barca Conceived by Simon Pittman and the Company with Calderon de la Barca.

Directed by Simon Pittman A parent fleeing destiny. A child imprisoned for being born and searching for how to live. A woman seeking vengeance, fighting the limits imposed on her.

Exploring themes of free will versus fate, reality versus illusion, agency and social justice, this radical interpretation of Calderon’s masterpiece ‘Life is a Dream’ blends sections of the original play, with new material devised by the company from their own experiences.

Dreaming Life questions the flexible nature of reality and the possibility of freedom in a world apparently governed by powers beyond our control.

Friday 21 June @ 7.30pm I Wednesday 26 June @ 2.30pm I Friday 28 June @ 7.30pm

Brazen Head*

A response to the late sixteenth century comedy Friar Bacon & Friar Bungay

by Robert Greene Conceived by Matt Harrison and the company with Robert Greene Directed by Matt Harrison It’s 1598 - A friar keen to protect Britain from European Invasion tries to build a wall around this fair island. He doesn’t have a golden toilet, but he does have a bronze head.

Using Robert Greene’s Elizabethan drama as a catalyst, we explore what we can learn now from those who have gone before.

And ask where the desire to protect and preserve may lead us…?

Monday 24 June @ 7.30pm I Wednesday 26 June @ 7.30pm I Thursday 27 June @ 2.30pm

Devil?*

A response to classic text of The White Devil by John Webster Conceived by Taio Lawson and the company with John Webster Directed by Taio Lawson Themes of purity, power and abuse are woven through the stories of accusations and shame. What did it mean to Webster then - what does it mean to us now?

Tuesday 25 June @ 7.30pm I Thursday 27 June @ 7.30pm I Friday 28 June @ 2.30pm

BA ACTING AND STAGE COMBAT PRESENT:

At The Clifftown Theatre Nelson Street I Southend-on-Sea I Essex I

SS1 1EF

Origins

Devised by the Company Join us for a night of original theatre as our 3rd Year Acting and Stage Combat students present their final show! Comprising of three imaginative and challenging one-act pieces devised by the company, ‘Origins’ celebrates the skills and abilities acquired over three years of training. It’s not to be missed!

Thursday 9 May @ 7.30pm Friday 10 May @ 7.30pm Saturday 11 May @ 2.30pm & 7.30pm BA WORLD PERFORMANCE PRESENT:

Worlds Apart

Devised by The Company. Tutored

by Ramiro Silveira, Margaret 'Jiggs' Coldiron & Steffany George A three-for-one spectacular at the Clifftown Theatre as our World Performance students offer three brand new short plays told through mask, puppetry, dance, music, text and much more.

Thursday 16 May @ 7.30pm Friday 17 May @ 7.30pm Saturday 18 May @ 2.30pm & 7.30pm BA PHYSICAL THEATRE PRESENT:

A Dream Play

By August Strindberg Translation by Michael Meyer Directed by Irina Brown A final opportunity to see the 3rd Year Physical Theatre students before they graduate. Working with Irina Brown, they will bring their unique skills to Strindberg's fantasy ‘A Dream Play’ in 14 scenes.

The story of Agnes, daughter of the gods, who comes to earth to see if life is really as difficult as people make it out to be...

Thursday 23 May at 7.30pm Friday 24 May at 7.30pm Saturday 25 May at 2.30pm & 7.30pm BA ACTING AND COMMUNITY THEATRE PRESENT:

Act Locally

Devised by The Company Tutored by Ainslie Masterton Four companies present two double-bill community plays created and performed with the people of Southend. The plays explore local views on men expressing emotion, our personal gifts and powers, why school and exams don't define us and the power of shared stories and experiences.

Thursday 30 May May @ 7.30pm Friday 31 May @ 7.30pm Saturday 1 June – Times TBC (find out more at east15.ac.uk)

Touring – Joan Littlewood Studio Theatre Roding House Campus I Oakwood Hill I Loughton I IG10 3TZ

BA ACTING PRESENT:

Americans Season: All my Sons

By Arthur Miller Directed by Michael Oakley All My Sons tells the story of Joe Keller, a successful, middle-aged, self-made man who has done a terrible and tragic thing. He framed his business partner for a crime and engineered his own exoneration. Now, his son is about to marry the partner’s daughter, the affair is revisited, and his lie of a life is unravelled.

Wednesday 8 May @ 7.30pm Friday 10 May @ 7.30pm Saturday 11 May @ 2.30pm Monday 13 May @ 7.30pm

Summer Brave

By William Inge Directed by Michael Yale Described by the author, William Inge, as “the rewritten and final version of the romantic comedy Picnic”, this deeply affecting play was withheld from general availability during the author’s lifetime. It follows the basic story of its Pulitzer Prize-winning counterpart: the play takes place on Labor Day weekend in the neighbouring yards of two middle-aged widows. The one house belongs to Flo Owens, who lives there with her two daughters, Madge (“the pretty one”) and Millie (“the smart one”), plus Rosemary Sydney, a spinster school teacher who boards with Mrs. Owens and her family. The other house belongs to Helen Potts, who lives with her elderly and invalid mother. Into this female atmosphere comes an unpolished young stranger named Hal Carter, whose attractiveness seriously upsets the entire group, and sets the town’s tongues wagging.

Thursday 9 May @ 7.30pm Friday 10 May @ 2.30pm Saturday 11 May @ 7.30pm Tuesday 14 May @ 7.30pm

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12 Angry Men People A new version based on the original by Reginald Rose Directed by Rikki Henry

Following the closing arguments in a murder trial, the 12 members of the jury must deliberate, with a guilty verdict meaning death for the accused, an inner-city teen. As the dozen men try to reach a unanimous decision while sequestered in a room, one juror casts considerable doubt on elements of the case. Personal issues soon rise to the surface, and conflict threatens to derail the delicate process that will decide one boy’s fate. Join us to see an original, contemporary version of this classic film set in modern day America.

Wednesday 15 May @ 7.30pm Thursday 16 May @ 7.30pm Friday 17 May @ 2.30pm & 7.30pm

MA AND MFA ACTING (INTERNATIONAL) PRESENT:

Touring – Tristan Bates Theatre 1a Tower Street I London I WC2H 9NP

Blood Wedding

By Federico Garcia Lorca in a new version by Ted Hughes Directed by Kristine Landon-Smith Lorca’s Blood Wedding is based on a newspaper fragment which told of a family vendetta and a bride who ran away with the son of the enemy family. Lorca writes with poetic authenticity saying: “My whole childhood was centred on the village: shepherds, fields, sky, solitude. Total simplicity. I have a huge storehouse of childhood recollections in which I can hear the people speaking. This is poetic memory, and I trust in implicitly”. Blood Wedding captures the rhythms of a rural community in this searing classic of twentieth century poetic theatre.

Thursday 30 May @ 7.30pm Friday 31 May @ 2.30pm

Pericles

By Shakespeare Directed by Simon Usher Pericles is Shakespeare’s Odyssey. A revelation of royal incest leads to a long voyage culminating in an epiphany of non-sexual love between father and daughter. A wife assumed dead comes back to life and the daughter in question is abandoned, lost and found. The play balances spoken narrative with striking images. ‘Your eye and your ear I’ll reconcile’ claims the narrator poet, Gower.

Friday 31 May @ 7.30pm Saturday 1 June @ 2.30pm

A Dream Play

By August Strindberg, in a new version by Caryl Churchill Directed by Sara Brodie Enter A Dream Play, where in Strindberg’s words, “Everything is possible and probable…imagination spins”. We follow Agnes who has descended from the heavens through the shifting prism of a dream to find out what it is like to be human, to probe existence and endeavour to uncover the secret beyond the door…

Wednesday 5 June @ 7.30pm Friday 7 June @ 7.30pm BA ACTING (INTERNATIONAL) PRESENT:

6 Characters in Search of an Author y Luigi Pirandello B Translated by Methuen Drama Directed by Matthew Lloyd

A group of actors are preparing to rehearse for a Pirandello play. As rehearsals begin, they are interrupted by the arrival of six characters. The director is furious at this disturbance and demands an explanation. ‘The Father’ informs the director that they are looking for an author...

Thursday 6 June @ 2.30pm and 7.30pm Friday 7 June @ 2.30pm

BOX OFFICE INFORMATION Tickets £10

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£8 concessions.

For all Corbett Theatre bookings Box Office: 020 8508 5983 E-mail: corbett@essex.ac.uk Online: www.east15.ac.uk

For all Clifftown Theatre bookings Box Office: 01702 328335 E-mail: clifftown@essex.ac.uk Online: www.clifftowntheatre.co.uk

For all Littlewood Theatre bookings Box Office: 020 8508 5983 E-mail: corbett@essex.ac.uk

For all Tristan Bates Theatre bookings Box Office: 020 7240 6283 Online: www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk

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@east15actingschool

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East 15 Acting School Rectory Lane I Loughton I Essex

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IG10 3RY

East 15 Acting School is part of the University of Essex and is a member of both the Federation of Drama Schools and the University/Resident Theatre Association (USA)