Ruth Carney on Sheffield Theatres and Lord of the Rings
March 10, 2009
“I said to Matthew (Warchus) that one of the most fantastic things about Lord of the Rings, for me, is that I will never fear any space, whatever size, again,” Ruth Carney enthuses. “It’s meant that I can go into rehearsals with confidence about large-scale pieces of theatre.”
Carney, who became Sheffield Theatres creative associate on 19 January, was associate director to Yorkshire-born, thrice Tony-nominated Warchus on the gargantuan project. She opines that there could scarcely have been a better way for her to have honed her directorial talents: “It’s the biggest show that’s ever been done. To manage 70 people on a daily basis for 18 months was a huge challenge. My dad described it as me getting my PhD in Theatre because I just learned so much about not only the artistic aspects of directing, but also the managerial side.”
Truck announces opening programme for Ferensway
March 10, 2009
Hull Truck has released details of its programme for the forthcoming opening season at its new Ferensway home, which opens on 23 April. A new play by creative director John Godber and a revised version of Alan Plater’s Confessions of a City Supporter, to celebrate Hull City’s progression to the top flight of English football, will be among the highlights at the purpose-built 440-seater.
The premiering play, entitled Funny Turns, is to run from April 25 until May 16. It is Godber’s 55th and, as is customary, he will direct its first production. The story of a Hull couple whose life unexpectedly veers towards “rock, roadies and rheumatics”, its cast will include several Truck stalwarts, with Robert Angell’s 12th Truck premiere being especially noteworthy.
Review: Into the Little Hill and Down by the Greenwood Side
March 9, 2009
Date reviewed: 7 March 2009
Venue: Howard Assembly Room
This double bill of Harrison Birtwistle’s Down by the Greenwood Side and George Benjamin’s Into the Little Hill, a joint production by the Opera Group and London Sinfonietta, was first staged at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Studio Theatre in February and the Leeds performances complete a short tour.
Review: Can Any Mother Help Me?
March 6, 2009
Date reviewed: 5 March 2009
Venue: West Yorkshire Playhouse
There can be little doubt that Jenna Bailey’s book Can Any Mother Help Me? merits adaptation. A study of the Co-operative Correspondence Club, a group of lonely mothers that wrote candid letters about their lives to one another between 1935 and 1990, its subject matter is illuminative on human and academic levels alike. Similarly, Foursight Theatre’s credentials for delivering this adaptation are beyond doubt – the axis of the company’s work is the accentuation of female perspectives in history. However, the pristine logic that determined its route to production is dubious in one respect: its premise that a series of letters can successfully be translated into a play.