Mine eyes dazzle

Now, I’m afraid I’m going to be a bit rubbish over the next two weeks, chums. The reason for this is that, as I have previously said, I’m going to be in Youth Action Theatre’s production of The Duchess of Malfi, this week in London and next week at the Edinburgh Fringe. This will, I fear, make updates on this blog sporadic at best.

Of course, if you’d like to see this play yourself, you’d be most welcome to come along. This week – from Tuesday 9th to Thursday 11th August – we will be performing at the Hampton Hill Playhouse as part of a double-bill with a rather exciting devised piece called Lost and Found. It’s a world premiere sort of thing, so I must confess to not knowing a huge amount about it – however, I can vouch for the talent of the author, cast and director. It’s made extra-exciting by the fact that Yr. Humble Chronicler is supplying some of the props.

The Duchess of Malfi follows, and in accordance with the limitations of the Edinburgh Fringe, is pared down to an hour long. What this means is that you can tell everyone you’ve seen Webster’s masterpiece, but you haven’t had to sit through the full-length version which is like six weeks long or something.

If this all sounds like your kind of thing, and frankly why wouldn’t it, more info can be found here. Or if I’ve excited you sufficiently with this blog entry alone, you can book tickets here.

Of course, it might be that you’re in Edinburgh the following week, in which case why not come to see us up there? We’ll be at The Space (venue 36) from August 15th-20th, and you can book tickets here or here.

So there we are. I hope you’re as excited as I am, and I hope to see you there. Until next time, chums.

Coming Attractions

What are your plans for this April? I know there’s Mother’s Day and Easter and I believe that Royal Wedding business is happening then, but what about the period from the 13th-16th inclusive?

I know! Why don’t you go to the theatre?

I can understand some of your objections – it’s expensive, it’s hard to get tickets for the big shows, Andrew Lloyd-Webber is pretty rich already, and so on, and so forth. So why not go a bit further out, to Hampton Hill in West London? At the Hampton Hill Playhouse, I hear there’s a superb production of Arthur Miller’s classic play The Crucible coming up. And what’s even better is that I’m in it. I’m playing Danforth, the dude presiding over the mess, no less. So don’t worry, it’s not like one of those shows you go to because someone you know is in it, and then it turns out they’re only in like one scene at the end or something.

The Crucible is one of the all-time greats of American drama, a dramatisation of the Salem witch trials originally published as a protest against McCarthyism, so much so that Miller (shown left) was himself investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee over it. Though McCarthyism is but an embarrassing memory, the play still retains its relevance – wherever personal morality is put to the test by greater oppression, or where ostensibly laudable motivations are used to mask selfish greed, where mass hysteria overcomes reason and emotion is given precedence over common sense, there you’ll see the parallels. For this reason, it’s Miller’s most performed play. Plus a guy gets crushed between some rocks, which is wicked-awesome.

So, an amazing piece of drama with me in it. How much would you expect to pay for that in the West End? Thirty? Fifty? A hundred pounds a ticket? Well, turns out you can get them at a low, low price of EIGHT POUNDS!

Yeah, I know, now you’ve had some time to recover, you’re probably wondering where you can take advantage of this incredible offer? Well, you can book online right here.

I’ll see you there! Yaaaay!