Nineteen12 Productions present
The BFG
The Dixon Studio, Westcliff-on-Sea
5th to 9th April 2016
The BFG
The Dixon Studio, Westcliff-on-Sea
5th to 9th April 2016
Michael Rowley and Claire ‘Pinkie’ Brooks, the producer and director of Nineteen12 Productions certainly know how to go above and beyond what one usually expects of an amateur dramatics group. I meet them with just under a month to go before their next production goes up and they enthusiastically fill me in on how their vision of The BFG is coming together.
Written by children’s favourite Roald Dahl, The BFG (short for Big Friendly Giant - just in case you didn’t know) tells the story of orphan, Sophie, who is snatched from her dormitory window one night by a Giant and thinks it won’t be long before she’s gobbled up!
“Luckily for Sophie, the BFG is far more 'humbly' than the other Giants who love nothing more than guzzling up human ‘beans’ every night. But she decides that it’s time someone stopped those grotsome, bog thumping man eaters and cooks up an ingenious plan with The BFG to save all the human ‘beans’ of the world from coming to an ucky mucky end.”
Some of us will recall the 1989 animated film of The BFG, starring David Jason as the voice of the BFG and there will be great excitement this coming July when Steven Spielberg's much-anticipated version of the story will be released. The film will star Mark Rylance as the Giant and Penelope Wilton as the Queen.
Nineteen12’s production, (which will run for approximately an hour and twenty minutes), will consist of 8 actors, 5 small puppets and 5 Giant's heads. With lots of costume and character changes for the actors involved, there will be little time for any of them to get any rest.
“Once the actors are out there, they literally won’t be going back to the dressing room until the end of the show,” Pinkie explains, “there simply won’t be time!” The actors have had their fair share of challenges with this production for as well as having to perform, they have also had to learn how to work with the puppets that are being used for the production.
Already having a keen interest in puppetry, Pinkie has been fortunate enough to be able to attend a week’s workshop with renowned puppet maker, Peter O’Rourke at the Little Angel Theatre in Islington. During the course, she was taught how to make a puppet from scratch, which also included learning all the mechanics involved in making the puppet move with complete believability. Not as easy as one would think, it appears, as Pinkie admits, “The puppets I’ve made for this production are the most complex puppets I’ve ever done.”
As well as directing the play, Pinkie is also once again in charge of costumes and is constantly on the look-out for a bargain, often scavenging the local charity shops for a suitable item or two..or ten! Fortunately, if she gets a bit too tied up with costume-hunting and making, she has her mum, Carolyn, on hand to help her out. Highly skilled, Carolyn, an ex-Savile Row tailor with years of experience has already made a bed quilt for the show which Pinkie proudly tells me looks “really, really great!” and is looking likely to be lined-up for a few more jobs before the show goes up in April.
Written by children’s favourite Roald Dahl, The BFG (short for Big Friendly Giant - just in case you didn’t know) tells the story of orphan, Sophie, who is snatched from her dormitory window one night by a Giant and thinks it won’t be long before she’s gobbled up!
“Luckily for Sophie, the BFG is far more 'humbly' than the other Giants who love nothing more than guzzling up human ‘beans’ every night. But she decides that it’s time someone stopped those grotsome, bog thumping man eaters and cooks up an ingenious plan with The BFG to save all the human ‘beans’ of the world from coming to an ucky mucky end.”
Some of us will recall the 1989 animated film of The BFG, starring David Jason as the voice of the BFG and there will be great excitement this coming July when Steven Spielberg's much-anticipated version of the story will be released. The film will star Mark Rylance as the Giant and Penelope Wilton as the Queen.
Nineteen12’s production, (which will run for approximately an hour and twenty minutes), will consist of 8 actors, 5 small puppets and 5 Giant's heads. With lots of costume and character changes for the actors involved, there will be little time for any of them to get any rest.
“Once the actors are out there, they literally won’t be going back to the dressing room until the end of the show,” Pinkie explains, “there simply won’t be time!” The actors have had their fair share of challenges with this production for as well as having to perform, they have also had to learn how to work with the puppets that are being used for the production.
Already having a keen interest in puppetry, Pinkie has been fortunate enough to be able to attend a week’s workshop with renowned puppet maker, Peter O’Rourke at the Little Angel Theatre in Islington. During the course, she was taught how to make a puppet from scratch, which also included learning all the mechanics involved in making the puppet move with complete believability. Not as easy as one would think, it appears, as Pinkie admits, “The puppets I’ve made for this production are the most complex puppets I’ve ever done.”
As well as directing the play, Pinkie is also once again in charge of costumes and is constantly on the look-out for a bargain, often scavenging the local charity shops for a suitable item or two..or ten! Fortunately, if she gets a bit too tied up with costume-hunting and making, she has her mum, Carolyn, on hand to help her out. Highly skilled, Carolyn, an ex-Savile Row tailor with years of experience has already made a bed quilt for the show which Pinkie proudly tells me looks “really, really great!” and is looking likely to be lined-up for a few more jobs before the show goes up in April.
Nineteen12 Productions is quite unique in their dedication to putting on shows to include everyone in the community, having already introduced 'relaxed', 'signed' and 'audio-described' performances with their previous production, The Witches, which were all immensely popular. Their shows always sell out very quickly and this one is no exception. In fact, they have added an extra date (Friday 8th April at 10.30am) for The BFG such is its popularity and currently there are still tickets available for this show, although you will need to get in quick if you don’t want to miss out.
“Relaxed performances are aimed at people who may be on the autism spectrum. They are also suitable for those who may never have been to see a theatrical performance before and are perhaps a little wary of what to expect on their first visit.” Michael explains. He continues, “Audiences are welcome to come and go as they feel is necessary and unlike most times you will visit the theatre, in 'relaxed' performances, it’s absolutely fine to make a bit of noise during the show. Some younger children may be a little nervous about seeing a play if they’ve never seen one before and so coming to a 'relaxed' performance is a great way of introducing them to live theatre.”
Michael says that the audience for the 'audio-described' performance will be invited to come to the theatre before the show starts and will be able to have a guided tour of the set, with the opportunity to be able to touch parts of the set as well as props and also have a chance to meet the actors. They will be encouraged to ask the cast questions, see and feel the costumes and touch the puppets used in the show. During the performance, the house lights will stay on and the actors will tone down any parts of the play that they feel could possibly be frightening to the audience.
There is also an option on the Nineteen12 website to download a visual guide, detailing everything that someone coming to the theatre for the first time could possibly need to know. This includes directions of how to get to the theatre, a map setting out where everything is in the theatre from the Box Office right down to the toilets. Parents can also find out from the guide what the storyline of the play will be with an explanation of who the characters are too, which will help prepare them and their children for what they are going to see.
Being able to perform a 'relaxed' performance is something that the group have been fully trained to do as they took part in a training course given by the Little Angel Theatre at the Cliffs Pavilion and they are currently the only production company in the area who actually offer these types of performances.
For the signed performances Nineteen12 have hired professional signer, Taz Hockaday, from Britain’s leading signing agency TheatreSign. She will stand at a set part of the stage where deaf and hard of hearing audience members will clearly be able to see her. The performance will be signed in BSL (SLIP).
The 'audio-described' performance gives those with visual impairment the chance to enjoy the magic of Roald Dahl. They will be given a personal headset which fits comfortably over their ears, they will then have the show described to them. If required, details of the set will also be described before the show and Michael tells me, “The set is going to be really beautiful - we’ll be using fog machines and there will also be bubbles and we’ll even have some aromas being wafted through the air conditioning to create a completely immersive experience. We want the audience to experience sight, sounds and smells.” he enthuses.
“Relaxed performances are aimed at people who may be on the autism spectrum. They are also suitable for those who may never have been to see a theatrical performance before and are perhaps a little wary of what to expect on their first visit.” Michael explains. He continues, “Audiences are welcome to come and go as they feel is necessary and unlike most times you will visit the theatre, in 'relaxed' performances, it’s absolutely fine to make a bit of noise during the show. Some younger children may be a little nervous about seeing a play if they’ve never seen one before and so coming to a 'relaxed' performance is a great way of introducing them to live theatre.”
Michael says that the audience for the 'audio-described' performance will be invited to come to the theatre before the show starts and will be able to have a guided tour of the set, with the opportunity to be able to touch parts of the set as well as props and also have a chance to meet the actors. They will be encouraged to ask the cast questions, see and feel the costumes and touch the puppets used in the show. During the performance, the house lights will stay on and the actors will tone down any parts of the play that they feel could possibly be frightening to the audience.
There is also an option on the Nineteen12 website to download a visual guide, detailing everything that someone coming to the theatre for the first time could possibly need to know. This includes directions of how to get to the theatre, a map setting out where everything is in the theatre from the Box Office right down to the toilets. Parents can also find out from the guide what the storyline of the play will be with an explanation of who the characters are too, which will help prepare them and their children for what they are going to see.
Being able to perform a 'relaxed' performance is something that the group have been fully trained to do as they took part in a training course given by the Little Angel Theatre at the Cliffs Pavilion and they are currently the only production company in the area who actually offer these types of performances.
For the signed performances Nineteen12 have hired professional signer, Taz Hockaday, from Britain’s leading signing agency TheatreSign. She will stand at a set part of the stage where deaf and hard of hearing audience members will clearly be able to see her. The performance will be signed in BSL (SLIP).
The 'audio-described' performance gives those with visual impairment the chance to enjoy the magic of Roald Dahl. They will be given a personal headset which fits comfortably over their ears, they will then have the show described to them. If required, details of the set will also be described before the show and Michael tells me, “The set is going to be really beautiful - we’ll be using fog machines and there will also be bubbles and we’ll even have some aromas being wafted through the air conditioning to create a completely immersive experience. We want the audience to experience sight, sounds and smells.” he enthuses.
Anyone who is familiar with The BFG will know that hundreds of dream jars are needed for the play. Pinkie has called on the services of the pupils of her old Westcliff-on-Sea school, Westborough, who will be submitting their very own dreams for inclusion into each of the jars. An exciting prospect for the 100 pupils who will have their dreams picked to be in one of the jars.
Although Nineteen12’s last two productions have been predominantly geared towards children, their next show is most definitely not. It will be Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, one of the most classic murder mysteries of its time, however, this doesn’t mean that they won’t be doing 'relaxed', 'signed' and 'audio-described performances' - far from it. Michael tells me, “We appreciate that there may be some elderly people who are put off coming to the theatre because they are afraid they won’t be able to hear the actors on the stage. Our 'audio-described' performances are a perfect way to combat those fears.”
Nineteen12 clearly don’t want anyone to miss out on the wonderful theatrical experiences that their company provides and I take my hat off to their eagerness to accommodate everyone in the community to join in regardless of whatever disabilities they may have.
It can only mean one thing - that more and more people will be able to experience the joy, pleasure and wonderment that live theatre can bring - to everyone!
Check out the Nineteen12 website
www.nineteen12.co.uk
The Nineteen12 Creative Team explain below what to expect for Signed, Audio Described and Relaxed Performances