Review: Alice and Peter had to Grow Up

Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw star in the second installment of the Michael Grandage season as Alice Liddell Hargreaves and Peter Llewelyn Davies, the muses behind Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. It is a tragic look at imposed fame, nostalgia, and self-deception with two riveting turns from its leads. Read the full review here.

Farewell Uncle Monty: Remembering Richard Griffiths

He was the avuncular character whose on-screen creations you always hoped would turn up at someone else’s family Christmas dinner. As Uncle Monty Richard Griffiths became an iconic figure amongst cult fans of the 1987 film Withnail & I and as Uncle Vernon he terrorised a new generation from the mainstream in the Harry Potter films. In between, he delivered another uncle-esque figure with disturbing proclivities who couldn’t help but elicit some disappointed sympathy from his audience in his magnificent Olivier and Tony award winning stage performance as Hector in Alan Bennett’s History Boys. These three uncles-on-his-shoulder guarantee that Richard Griffiths, who sadly died today at the age of 65, will remembered vividly and fondly by fans across generations, mediums, and film-going divides.

Part of the baby-boomer generation, Griffiths was born in North Yorkshire in 1947. His astonishing ability to communicate every nuance of his thoughts so vividly and immediately without uttering a word was no doubt fostered by growing up with two deaf parents, and it is one of his many strengths which marked him out from contemporaries and peers both on screen and stage. His stage career saw him master myriad genres and characters, from the larger-than-life Shakespearean clown to the self-questioning psychiatrist Martin Dysart in Thea Sharrock’s 2006 production of Equus. A favourite of Sharrock’s, he delighted audiences just a year ago in a limited run of her production of The Sunshine Boys, along with Danny DeVito, and for which he received his customary excellent notices. He was an equally strong and engaging presence on-screen; small-screen devotees will remember him particularly for his portrayal of Henry Crabbe – detective inspector and chef – in the 1994-1997 series Pie in the Sky.

Griffiths received an OBE in the 2008 Honours list in recognition of his long career across radio, stage, and screen, which had made him a much-loved name in British households. A man of wit, comic mastery, and wonderful emotional intelligence, let’s remember him with a fine glass of red and say “Farewell, Uncle Monty”.

Interview: Elena Dapelo on Shooting Short Films

Can you give us a brief synopsis of the film?
Sorry We Missed You (the current working title, subject to change) all about courtships misunderstandings and bad timings. Aida’s overwhelming attentions scare off her neighbour Peter, but when cocky Daniel moves in and she is led on by his charm, Peter begins to watch her more closely. Aida is clueless in her romantic pursuits, but she and Peter are not that different after all. 

Making a short film is a lot more time-consuming and difficult than people assume - what convinced you to do it?
I wanted to be more proactive about showcasing my own work as an actress/writer. Plus, I have always wanted to direct at some point. I made my first short, the comedy sketch Taking Chances, just two months before and really enjoyed the experience. So I thought I’d challenge myself further. Sorry We Missed You is longer and more complex than my first project. It seemed like the natural step to follow.

Even short films with no special effects can be expensive. What are the best ways to keep such a project affordable?
Choice of location, crew size and equipment- it’s important to tailor everything according to the type of project and to make the most of what you have. I would definitely recommend sticking to one location. Having the use of the kitchen on location also makes catering cheaper. There is a lot of food involved in the story- we had chocolate cakes and cream cupcakes- all of which ended up on the menu after the shooting!  In my experience, advance planning is usually a key factor with low budget projects. If you don’t want to compromise in quality you need to be prepared for a longer pre- and post-production time in order to save money.

You were the writer, director, producer, and lead actress in this film - that takes multi-tasking to a new level! Did you find that each position impacted the others in a positive way, or would you perhaps do things differently next time?
It’s fair to say I do enjoy a challenge! I also enjoy variety and moving from one role to the other allows me to see my writing from a completely new and different prospective, which I find quite refreshing. I have never directed a script that I haven’t written, so it’s hard for me to make comparisons, but being the writer gave me more confidence when approaching the script. I felt I had the licence “to kill my own baby”, so to speak. As a newcomer director, I would probably have approached another writer’s work with much more reverence. I might have held back a little with my creative choices. Being the writer also gave me an advantage as an actress. I knew I could incorporate my character work into the script and at the same time the creative work I did as a writer was embodied into the role.
The producing side is what can get most get in the way. A certain amount of production duties are probably inevitable, especially at an early stage of a director’s career, but it’s important to plan carefully and to lessen the on-set production duties to a minimum.
If I had to do it all again, I would definitely delegate more to make more space for the creative side.

What were the greatest challenges you faced on this project?
Adapting the script to the location was quite a challenge. Because of the budget restraint the search was long and difficult, so I had to be very flexible whilst at the same time maintaining the spirit of the script. The place I eventually secured had a great filming potential, but it required a considerable amount of script and shot list adaptations. I had to make quite a few compromises with what I had originally in mind and I had to make them fast!

How can short film directors launch their films? What has been your way of getting your work out to the public in the past?
My first short, Taking Chances, has just been released on the 50 Kisses website. It will be interesting to see what response it gets. I think websites have the potential to be incredible promotional tools if you know how to use them. That doesn’t mean I am ruling out taking the festivals route first.

Do you have any future projects planned? A feature film, perhaps?
I am currently working on a series of comedy sketches for the web. The project is now in the late stages of development. I also have another couple of short scripts ready- a comedy and a fantasy- both of which are more ambitious, higher budget projects than Sorry We Missed You, and a TV series pilot. And yes, there is a feature film planned further down the line. It’s a romance comedy-drama and I am currently half way through first draft. So definitely watch this space!

Brighton Fringe Festival Launch!

Welcome to England’s biggest arts festival! The Brighton Fringe launched officially on 26^th Feb with speeches, samples of acts from poetry to stand-up, and a whole horde of Kate Nashes.

The Brighton Fringe offers a platform for artists – professional and otherwise – to reach an audience and an opportunity for attendees to see a whole variety of innovative, exciting, fresh, and extraordinary performances.

With nearly 700 different shows – the cream of the crop from both Britain and abroad – playing around 3,300 performances across the city, this year is set to be the biggest and most exciting yet. You’ll have almost a month to catch these, as the festival runs from 4^th May to 2^nd June. Whilst tickets can be bought on the door, why not get the maximum benefit from the Fringe by becoming a member? £27 will ensure you priority booking, no booking fee, 2-4-1 offers, and membership to the LoveCard scheme, saving you money at local independent businesses.

To book your tickets, find out what’s happening, and check out opportunities to get involved, visit the Brighton Fringe website here.

Review: Simon Russell Beale Puts on a Song and Dance in Michael Grandage's 'Privates on Parade'

There is singing. And dancing. And drag. Oh my. Michael Grandage's production of Privates on Parade is a mascara-eyed feel-good farcical wonder and is coming to the end of its run. Buy the tickets now and then, once done, return and read our full review here.

Fifty Shades of Grey? Try Seventy-Five Shades of Black and White. Philip Pullman Talks Morality and Simplicity in Grimm's Fairy Tales

When I was at Uni we were handed a German language copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales, hot on the heels of having studied Freud, Schnitzler, and other fin-de-siècle psycho-analytic texts from Austria and Germany. The indication was that we should apply some of the interpretative technique communicated by this to the Tales. I find something anachronistic in this method, like applying Marxist theories to medieval lais. Consequently, I was dissatisfied with the Tales because I struggled with the assignment and felt that perhaps I had missed something fundamental because I was trying to make the simple complicated. I had. I had missed the fact that black-and-white morality, although not realistic, is acceptable in fairy tales and I had missed the fact that simple, two-dimensional characters can be a vehicle for narrative excellence.

These are the lessons that Philip Pullman taught us when he spoke at the National Theatre about his new book, which re-tells 75 of the original Tales. Perhaps I should say he re-taught us – whilst the adults, who made up the majority of the audience, asked questions about the modern sanitisation of fairy tales and the necessity of teaching children about real-life morality, a young girl at the front of the audience simply asked why he wanted to write the fairy tales. A simple question which cuts to the heart of the matter. Why did he want to write the fairy tales? Because he likes them. Because he likes that the good are rewarded and the evil are punished. The characters are simple because they do not need to exist as fully rounded personalities – they just need to be figures who are rewarded or punished accordingly. In the spirit of democracy, he did include one tale which he didn't like, precisely due to the fact that the evil, incestuous father was left forgotten and unpunished.

Having been accustomed to over-interpretation and practising it ad nauseum, I cannot wait to approach the Tales once more with the simplicity of a child. There's a lot to be gained from that perspective. Perhaps I'll read his book. Or, perhaps, I'll go to the National's production of Hansel and Gretel, and see if the cast had been listening in, too.

Capturing Transience: The V & A Relaunches its Programme of NVAP Screenings

Last year marked the 20^th anniversary of the National Video Archive of Performance (NVAP). The NVAP is the unique result of a collaboration between the V&A Theatre and Performance Department and the Federation of Entertainment Unions, which has allowed the creation of an archive of theatrical performances from across and beyond the West End for the last 20 years. Although established as a research resource, last year the V&A hosted two programmes of free screenings every Sunday in the first two quarters of the year as a celebration of the NVAP's 20^th anniversary.

It was, in a word, brilliant. To have access generally to this resource is a wonderful thing for all involved in the industry, but to put together a programme which allowed free viewings of past performances felt like a gift, especially to those among us who cannot afford to indulge their passion for the theatre as regularly as we should like. Although initially worried that the unique atmosphere generated by live performances would be lost and to lost to the detriment of the pieces, I soon realised that this was not the case. The productions chosen were so strong in casting and direction that they transcended this boundary and remained strikingly impressive and relevant even in a medium for which they were not created. Even Waiting For Godot, a piece that – and I'm sure this admission will engender some horror – I cannot normally abide, was engaging and entertaining. No small feat, to be sure. From The Alchemist to Polly Stenham's second play Tusk, Tusk to John Osborne's era and generation-defining Look Back in Anger, we were shown familiar classics and new writing, plays that had been produced in the mid-nineties and plays that had been played only the previous year.

The V&A and NVAP returns this year with another programme of screenings, including both major successes from last year (the hugely popular Hedda Gabler with Eve Best and Benedict Cumberbatch and Butley with Dominic West) and new productions, such as The Recruiting Officer, starring Mark Gatiss and Mackenzie Crook, which played just last year at the Donmar Warehouse. With a programme as strong as this, it is bound to be just as successful a venture – and as rewarding – as last year. Entry is free but seats are on a first-come, first-served basis, so arrive in time to avoid disappointment. Screenings, unless otherwise stated, are held in the Hochhauser Auditorium at the V&A at 2 p.m. every Sunday 6^th January - 24^th March (excl. 17^th & 24^th February).

For the full programme of events click here.

Happy New Year!

A very happy new year from Breaking a Leg Hurts! 2012 was a great year for West End theatre with Matilda walking away triumphant from the Oliviers with 7 gongs, the new play Constellations (starring Sally Hawkins and Rafe Spall) set to make its own mark across this awards season, and Alan Bennett's new play People sold out at theNational's Cottesloe until April this year. We saw tiumphs of engineering, composition, music, and dance come together under the ever audacious and exciting direction of Danny Boyle to create certainly one of the most unique and intimate Opening Ceremonies recorded at the Olympic Games. Equally, whilst shops languished due to the mixed keep-off-the-streets-go-shop-shop-shop messages put forth in the run-up to the Games, the theatres made a killing; Yours Truly tried to go see a number of plays quite spontaneously over this period only to find that there were no tickets available for love or money. I found myself unable to resent this situation; it just goes to show that when it comes to attracting the tourists, our West End truly is the goose that lays the golden egg, as the mayor of London recently mentioned in defence of the arts.

This brings us, briefly, to the downsides of 2012. Cuts in the arts budget throw into uncertainty the future of smaller galleries, arts spaces, centres, and theatres. Provincial theatre, such a valuable aide in the continued education of actors young and old, has been struggling with this situation for years. Whether or not the shortfall really can be covered by private donations (or maybe, who knows, a revival of patronage) is something which remains to be seen. At the end of the day, however, what we have to remember is this: London may have been considered to be Europe's financial centre - perhaps it still is - but it is also the centre for world-famous theatre. To experience such a quantity and breadth of theatrical productions, styles, genres, and innovation in one place, the only alternative would be Broadway. People fly from other continents to see one show in London. That's what we as a country and community can do, have done, and will continue to do: world-leading theatre and culture for poorer for richer. Bring on 2013!

Review: A Chorus of Disapproval, Harold Pinter Theatre

Funny and touching, Trevor Nunn's production of Alan Ayckbourn's A Chorus of Disapproval is one to catch before it finishes on January 5th 2013. Read our full review here.

Budgets to Basics: Random Realisations of the Week

• Boris Johnson has a better understand of the value of Arts & Culture to the capital than the Minister of said sector herself. Stock trading isn't the only type of trade for which the capital is renown and it does not take a financial mind to realise this ...
• Central has gained a royal title and shall henceforth be known as the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
• I'm still an incurable woos when it comes to anything supernatural, including the BBC's nicely paced and well acted #TheSecretofCrickleyHall
• The Stage 100 Award nominations are about to close, so if you want to see your preferred producer/regional theatre/school etc., recognised you had better hurry up and submit your choices
• The young Oxford-London theatre company Reverend Productions has a website, which is particularly useful for simultaneously bolstering my self-esteem - cast lists - and keeping me up-to-date with their productions
• The concept of an email signature is still foreign to many creative types, unaware that this is the simplest way of communicating to someone every possible means of getting in touch with you - always important in this industry