Sewell Barn Theatre

                                               Editor: Jill Fuller,
                                                    20, Blofield Road, Brundall, Norwich, NR13 5NN
                                                                                         Tel: 01603 715346

2011/2012 season      
Newsletter 4: January 2012

Contents
Les Miserables
Entertaining Angels
Company News - Workshop
Auditions
What Else is on in the Area?
Next newsletter

Our next production
                                       
                                       Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
                                          Adapted by Tim Kelly. Directed by Robert Little
                               Jan 12th -14th , 18th – 21st Jan 2012 (Matinee Saturday 21st )


At the moment a cast of 26 actors and technicians are all working their socks off. Just imagine the look I got when I said to the Wardrobe department that most of the actors would require at least two if not three costumes. Well, eyes were rolled followed by sleeves being rolled up. The commitment, which has come together for this production has been nothing short of fantastic. All driven to do justice to Victor Hugo’s wonderful novel.

The musical this isn’t, but you will be entertained by the emotional journey taken by the central characters Jean Valjean and the driven Inspector Javert. The fall and rise, the loves and losses, it’s all there from tears of Joy to, tears of great sadness. Then there is the Barricade and the following stand by the students of Paris. Many will die but some will live on, to a bright future. The cast brings together a truly representational cross – section of the Company. Newcomers, and established Company actors and returning actors. There are too many to mention, you will definitely need a programme for this show, to unravel the people from this large pool of talent.

I understand that tickets are already selling. So the advice is to book early, so as not to avoid disappointment.

Robert Little


Ticket Office Ticket Office
Customer Services (2nd Floor), Jarrold Department Store, London Street, Norwich, NR2 1JF
custserve@jarrold.co.uk      tel: 01603 697248      fax: 01603 611295
Please book early to guarantee places. Reserved tickets must be collected from the theatre by 7.15pm.                       

                                 Our Previous Production
                                         Entertaining Angels

Mike Dunne’s lively production of this play gets off to a cracking start. Grace, a clergy widow, is on the phone to a friend and every line has the audience laughing from the word go. A good sign. Then, by the playwright’s ingenuity and originality enter the deceased husband, Bardolph. He is not really there of course, but Grace can converse with him as he remains unseen by other members of the family. A clever idea which works well in Ian Shephard’s world weary and distracted performance of the local cleric. He remains almost impervious to Grace’s romantic overtures as he struggles to get the text of his next sermon right.
Mandy Kiley gives a sustained, energetic performance as Grace, peppered with the wicked wit and repartee she was not able to employ in her previous guise as the vicar’s wife. The sense of release and freedom to act in this way is remarkable. Kiera Long as Jo, their daughter, now a young adult and qualified psychotherapist, is constantly embarrassed by her mother’s outbursts, and leaves us in no doubt as to how fond she was of her late father; a calm and telling performance. One almost wished he could not have appeared to her, too, in his newly virtual existence.
Ruth Howitt gives an admirable account of Ruth, Grace’s elder sister, now on furlough from Uganda where she is a missionary, given to mowing the vicarage lawn with an energy that irritates her sister. It is Ruth, too, that springs the surprise of the evening when she lets it be known that she had a son by Bardolph, the son now thirty years old, also living in Africa. This opens a can of worms which threatens to poison the relationship between Grace and her sister, and the two women sustain the animosity well until the end of the play when the two become reconciled. The tone and atmosphere of the play changes with Ruth’s admission, and it is here that the pace of the piece slows down and could become tedious in less able hands. The new vicar is played by Rachel Miller, a young woman not sure if she is in the job but ultimately comes to terms with her calling and her desire for motherhood. Good to see Rachel back on the Sewell Barn stage.
Jonathan Adkins and his helpers have created a splendid garden setting, and Mike Dunne and his company deserve full honours for discovering this fairly recent play and giving their audiences an obvious enjoyment and enthusiastic response to the whole occasion.
David Hare

                                       Company News
                                                                                               Workshop
BhutoMasterclass
Two of our members have reported on the recent BhutoMasterclass:
About ten of us turned up to the Dance workshop, I suspect wondering what we were letting ourselves in for: all of us tired after a long busy week, and a day of appalling stormy freezing cold weather. Carita who is a very highly trained Bhuto specialist immediately put us at ease, and it was lovely to be a part of a mixed group of young and older Barn members.
So what is BHUTO? It is an art form which is attributed to Japanese Dance legends, and is the name given to a number of activities connected with dance and performance. This is a very simplistic explanation of a many faceted subject, and never having been involved in any session other than the two hours we spent with Carita, I realise that a whole new world of creativity exists out there about which I know little. Suffice it to say that as we were taken slowly through the various stages of the workshop, a sense of calm and serenity prevailed.
In an excessively fast moving and stressful world (particularly at this time of year) the encouragement to clear the mind of all detritus and work in a grounded, slow way was both relaxing and energising at the same time. We required concentration to carry out some of the exercises, holding some positions for up to 5 minutes. Allowing hands to uncurl over a several minutes, nothing in the whole session rushed, frenetic or outwardly showy, allowing ourselves to "be" rather than "do" A lesson to all actors making their journey through rehearsal to performance .
I am sure that all of us who attended went home feeling uplifted. It was a privilege to be in Carita's safe hands and I for one would love to have the chance to work with her again sometime in the future.
Jenny Hobson

On Friday evening 16th December I spent an evening learning about a type of Japanese dance called Butoh.
The Workshop had been organised by Miche - our Artistic Director, who had met Carita (a tutor of Butoh) and had asked her if she would give us a Master Class at the Sewell Barn.
As I have always loved music and dancing I wanted to join in and learn something new. It turned out to be a most unusual and moving experience for me and I think the other 10 people taking part.
Many thanks to Miche for giving us the opportunity to enjoy and learn from this Workshop.
Stella Jay
 

                                       Auditions
Brighton Beach Memoirs
After two workshop sessions I am delighted to say that we now have a full cast. We welcome four young and very enthusiastic newcomers to the Barn, together with three of our well known actors who have worked at the Barn in the past . Sadly I had to disappoint one or two people, but my thanks to them for working so hard over two nights. I am looking forward greatly to starting work on the production, and feel very fortunate to be going into rehearsal in March backed by a a very strong technical team
Jenny Hobson.

‘You Never Can Tell’ by Bernard Shaw

Director : David Hare
Email :revvie@tesco.net
Tel: 01953 607080
Performance Dates 14th -16th, 20th – 23rd June 2012

THE PLAY
An early work by Bernard Shaw, one of his "Plays Pleasant", the play takes us to the Torbay coast of Devon in the year 1896. Mrs LanfreyClandon, an authoress, has recently returned to England from Madeira with her family, Gloria and twins Dolly and Phil, and is holidaying at a fashionable hotel on the seafront of a Torbay resort. The action turns very much on the theme of women's suffrage, and the desire, still prevalent in those twilight years of the Victorian age, to raise a family respectably and with decorum. The family is accompanied by an assortment of male characters including the new dentist, a landlord, an old family friend who is a dubious solicitor, and a Queen's Counsellor whose legal knowledge and expertise helps the family to sort out its affairs. Much of the action is presided over by the affable and exquisitely mannered waiter, William.

AUDITION: Tuesday 24th Jan 2012 @ 7.30pm. This will be text related. It is Shaw after all.

If you can’t attend the audition please let David know that you are interested.

                          What Else is on in the Area?
Great Hall Players: At the Assembly House, Norwich. ‘Letter of Intent’ by Sarah Friedel. January 31st to February 4th at7.30 pm with a matinée on the 4th at 2.30 pm.

The Maddermarket Theatre:‘Blue Remembered Hills’ by Dennis Pottter. January 19th–21st and 23rd – 28th at 7.30 pm with a matinée on the 28th at 2.30 pm.

                                  Next newsletter

Due to go out around 9th February. All copy to me by February 1st please.
Jill