Five Reasons To See…Rage
Graham Atkin is a Manchester based professional actor who has recently enjoyed success in the hit 24/7 theatre festival production, Working Title. He is about to star in Rage, his 1st play with Vertigo Theatre Productions, a Manchester based company who have had previous hits with M and Dog Sees God. Their new piece explores the aftermath of a high school shooting and Graham plays Dean, an aggressive jock whose opinions easily offend and whose actions can have serious consequences. Here, he gives us his five reasons why you should see Rage at Taurus next week.
1. Amazing Performances:
Considering some of the cast are new to acting, it has been great to see them work and perform at a professional level. Everybody in the cast are giving fantastic performances and we have all been learning for each other, as we all come to the piece with our own styles and own methods.
2. The Story:
I love the fact the narrative does not show the actual pivotal event, as the action takes place after a college shooting. We do not need to see what happened to understand what these people are going through. The issues raised during Rage, like why the event happens are all looked at and are argued for and against. I have to credit the writing for this because it keeps the story moving along at a pace that never seems to dip. This is because as soon as one argument finishes another starts. This piece also has a powerful message which people need to hear.
3. The Characters:
It is also great to do a play with so many characters that are all on stage at the same time and all have the same amount of minutes in the spotlight. There are no main protagonists because they all have a story to tell and the play is about how the shooting affects everyone and not just an individual.
4. Manchester Theatre:
The quality of work in the north is so strong and Manchester gives us so many opportunities to put on our own work and get our faces out there and hopefully this will make casting directors finally realise that you don’t need to go to London to find a good actors, directors, writers, technicians and shows.
5. Me playing against type:
Rage gives me a great chance for me to play a bad guy because usually I’m the nice guy, the friend of everyone, the guy who does the right thing or even the geek. It has been so much fun to make my fellow actors suffer. So I do apologise to them but I’m having a blast. Enjoy the show!
Rage runs from 3 -7 November at Taurus. For more information, visit the Vertigo website.
