Emerging theatre in Manchester
Submitted by Tanya on Tue, 2007-01-30 16:56.
Emerge, a celebration of actors and writers in the North West showcased their talent to a packed out Library Theatre earlier this month.
Newfound Theatre, the company behind Emerge, was started by actors Hellen Kirby and Louise Twomey five years ago with an aim to give fresh talent the opportunity to be seen in theatres across Manchester.
Newfound have previously devised productions such as 3 Gobby Cows, Look No Hans and The Root Of It. They have also collaborated with a number of community based groups.
The fourth Emerge included 12 original pieces with an eclectic mix of drama,comedy and tragedy. From
the hilarious portrait of a nun in Fanny by Louise Ray to the sombre Short Sharp Shock by Eileen Holroyd, the event certainly entertained and educated its audience.
A notable performance was Louise Morris' convincing portrayal of an asylum seeker in the poignant A Ston
e Feels No Pain by Marion Riley. Another highlight written by
Marion Riley, was the cleverly choreographed Schizophrenia. Sensitively performed by Martin Gilbert and Leanne Kelly the piece hooked in the audience with its comical beginning which went onto unravel a thought provoking study of mental illness.
Chicken and Liver Parfait by Ben Bone provided the laughs with Marie Ekins and Kerry Spillane playing two cleaners gossiping as they struggled to take a break from work.
The witty and confident performances of Sarah Emmott - who has previously performed for Girls on Film and Ziona Smith in On the Edge made for a perfect finale. Written by Deborah Freeman the piece was a comical take on the competition in the world of theatre. A subject which very much spurs Emerge and Newfound Theatre to keep up the good work.
Newfound land
Steve Timms3/ 8/2005
WHAT do actors do when they're resting? The majority go and fulfill vital roles within the minimum wage economy; the minority decide to form their own theatre company.
Just like Arden graduates Hellen Kirby and Louise Twomey, who set up Newfound two years ago with the intention of exploring new writing and new work - as well as providing network opportunities for actors straight fresh from drama school.
The company have produced four shows so far, including Gobby Cows - a series of three monologues for women - which has been revived several times since its premiere at Taurus Bar two years ago.
Latest piece The Root Of It is their most ambitious yet.
"As Newfound's first funded project, we gave ourselves a year for research and material gathering, with intermittent workshop sessions to experiment with ideas," says Kirby.
"We are also using new writing - much created by the actors from the research - along with film and video projection. We wanted to create a visually stunning piece of interactive theatre, exploring human interaction and personal journeys."
To aid them in this journey they've recruited celebrated Manchester actress and performance artist Juliet Ellis to direct the piece.
"Juliet has a very clear, visual style of theatre and a distinct way of looking at and manipulating performance text," says Kirby.
"She deconstructs the source material and performance ideas presented and reunites them as parts of a highly stylised whole. She has given us all a fresh approach to creating performance."
After this short Contact run, The Root Of It will be performed at London's Soho Theatre. Future projects include a musical, a reworked version of Shelagh Delaney's A Taste Of Honey and "an exciting collaboration with an acclaimed author".
Watch this space.
The Root Of It is on at the Contact until Saturday, August 6. £5, £8. Call 0161 274 0600.
Tasty new 'tapas theatre' at Taurus
And no one is currently doing more to breathe new life into fringe than The New Found Theatre Company who bring their latest creation, Emerge 3, to life today.
"The idea behind it all is so simple you wonder why it hasn't been done before," explains writer Arlene Hughes.
"You take a group of local writers, team them up with Manchester-based professional actors and simply challenge them to create a small but perfectly formed five-minute play.
"The result is a kind of tapas theatre," she continues. "Eight plays, varied ingredients, to suit all tastes all ready to share today at Taurus Bar in Canal Street."
Renowned for producing far more than simple vignettes, the Newfound Theatre Company is rapidly becoming an integral part of the Manchester's burgeoning theatre scene.
"The collaboration this time has an Irish flavour," says Arlene. "The writers are made up from the Manchester Irish Writers group who have been involved in literature events in and around the city for the past 12 years. When they performed a series of Irish monologues at the Royal Exchange Studio they met Louise Twomey and Helen Kirby of the theatre company and decided to collaborate from there."
Over the last couple of years the Newfound Theatre Company has made its presence felt in both the gay village through a succession of in-house productions and performances downstairs at Taurus.
At the end of last year their episodic adaptation of Auschwitz and Belsen survivor Janni Kowalski's autobiography Liebe Macht Frei included an impromptu and stirring performance by the Manchester Lesbian & Gay Chorus.
Before that their biggest claim to fame was a play called 3 Gobby Cows which, after a premiere at Taurus, went on to Contact Theatre before heading down to London's Soho Theatre for a brief and successful turn.
Taurus, meanwhile, continues to help nurture much of what is good in the independent and outsider world of Manchester art. Long may the pair work together.
Three Gobby Cows @ Taurus
Directed by Victoria Munich and presented downstairs in the lively and imaginative Taurus Bar on Canal Street, Newfound Theatre Company's Three Gobby Cows is a collection of three one-woman shows, presented and performed by three different actresses.
Based on her own experiences growing up in Ireland's Cork City, Louise Twomey's Women's Little Christmas is a bitter-sweet piece that had members of last night's packed audience finally shocked into some tears after their laughter.
Kate Henry's Mucking Fuddle was another dynamically performed and intelligent piece where serious concerns found expression amid the laughter at what initially seemed to be just another chronicle of a Monday morning gone horribly wrong.
Finally, Deborah Brian's Sandra found the desperate and unhappy titular character nonetheless able to ruminate amusingly on the way happy couples shopped together in Sainsbury's and even on the romantic possibilities of Greggs the bakers.
Hugely entertaining and heartfelt, this is a show that puts some of this town's bigger name companies and venues to shame.
Three Gobby Cows continues until Friday, August 20 with an additional lunchtime performance (
free ticket with lunch) at 1.15pm on Friday. For box office queries, call 07985-642984
Emerging talentFor all the major theatre productions, one of the best things about Manchester is the array of progressive fringe theatre. Emerge, by Newfound Theatre, falls into that category. We spoke to the company's founder, Hellen Kirby, about the event. |
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What is Emerge?
"Emerge is a night which celebrates and showcases some of the new emerging talent of actors and writers in the North West. We have some original and exciting scripts of all varieties from writers who are from a range of backgrounds and experience." How are you involved?"Emerge started five years ago. I started it as an actor myself, initially as a chance to work with other actors in the sameposition in fringe venues in the city." However, as Emerge became increasingly well received, it began to grow and therefore I became more interested in the idea of it being a regular event at least once a year. "Emerge started to gain interest from others in the industry, such as Cheryl Martin, who have now worked with us on this event to make it our greatest one yet. "This is the fourth Emerge in Manchester and this time, excitingly, we will be performing at The Library Theatre." Tell us a bit more about Newfound's aims..."Newfound Theatre Company was set up five years ago to give new talent the opportunity to be seen in theatres around Manchester. "We have some exceptional talent in the North but it is often not seen enough as our focus usually tracks to London. Newfound Theatre likes to concentrate on the talent which we have on our doorstep and give them the chance to showcase their work." What do you think of the fringe theatre scene in Manchester?
"As I say, Manchester has got some fantastic actors and writers, which I think will gain greatly from the growing scene in the City. It seems that public interest in fringe theatre has grown over recent years,making it possible for theatre companies such as ourselves to create new work so much more frequently. "Manchester also has lots of fantastic events such as the 24:7 theatre festival and Queer Up North, which has recently really brought theatre and Northern talent into the spotlight, something which Newfound Theatre hopes to be a part of." Emerge takes place at the Library Theatre on Tuesday 23 January at 1pm and 7.30pm. Tickets are £5. |
