Brief Encounter… Tempest producer Nicola Foxfield
Nicola Foxfield is a producer for both Hecate Theatre & Green Girl Productions. Her latest project is Green Girl’s The Tempest at the Barons Court Theatre, which opens tonight (12 February). Here she talks about getting into producing, and the show, which runs until 17 February.
How did you get into producing?
In 2011 I performed for Hecate Theatre in Metamorphoses: Fables from Ovid. 12 months later – as the company was gearing up for the Edinburgh fringe – artistic director Hannah-Marie Chidwick asked if any of the cast members wanted to help out on production. The rest, as they say, is history! I like to be busy, so when Green Girl approached me, it was an easy decision to come on board.
Shakespeare’s plays have been performed countless times, what’s different about this production?
We have brought the play forward into the 21st century and set it on an island awash with the debris of consumerism. There have been some very interesting production meetings, where conversation has switched effortlessly from discussion of how to edit the text without altering the iambic pentameter, to the best way to disinfect McDonalds boxes!
The Tempest has a large cast, yet the stage at Barons Court is fairly small, how do you manage in such a challenging space?
Firstly, while the layout is challenging, (audience seated on three sides, two large structural pillars) its also very rewarding, allowing the audience to gain persectives on the action that conventional proscenium theatre lacks. We were able to whittle the cast down from 16+ roles to 12 central characters. The one case of role doubling is an interesting twist that I don’t think audiences will have seen before. In the final scene, 11 people are shoe horned onto a stage the size of the average bedroom, thankfully the nature of the space allows our cast to move in and around the audience, preventing crowding on the main stage, whilst immersing the audience in the action.
You open tonight – what’s happening in the Green Girl office?
Last minute tasks include:
Updating our social media,
Promoting our viral trailer
Compiling our flyering schedule
Crossing our fingers that the opening night goes to plan
and finding a single marigold glove.
The Tempest finishes on the 17th February, what’s next for Green Girl?
Ask me in a months time! However, hopefully this won’t be the last you hear from us.
