Shakespeare workshop day a big success!

On Saturday 20th November Red Rose Chain hosted a Shakespeare drama workshop, offering young people a day of fun and creative expression, with the chance to develop their acting skills, or even try their hand at drama for the first time.

Participants at the workshop. Click the image for more photos from the day.

The free workshop was held at our studio at Gippeswyk Hall and attended by 20 young people, working alongside skilled professionals from Red Rose Chain.

Artistic Director Joanna Carrick was joined by Assistant Producer/Actor Michael Linge and Steve Whyte, an Actor with our Community Theatre Group, to work with participants on developing their acting and drama skills with a focus on Shakespeare.

The day was also a great opportunity for the young people to meet like-minded peers, and also to discover how they can get involved with Red Rose Chain’s work in the future. Some of the feedback we received from the day:

“Have really loved today! Great experience, great staff, great fun!”

“I have really enjoyed today and I have learned a lot. I would love to be involved in volunteering.“

“Understanding Shakespeare in a new light; more relevant, more understandable. There should be more events like this! The lessons on language will help a lot in GCSE English and Poetry.”

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Many thanks  to all those who attended and well done on a fantastic day. If you would like to hear about future events at Red Rose Chain, please visit redrosechain.com and sign up to our E-Newsletter.

Filming Bed Bugs – an actor’s perspective

This week’s blog is from hugely talented actress and friend of Red Rose Chain, Victoria Gee, as she looks back on our recent film production of Bed Bugs.

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Arriving at Gippeswyk to film Bed Bugs was exciting.  I had been apprehensive at spending a week as Nat, the 14 year old I play in the piece, as the last performance which Ed and I had done of Bed Bugs ended with me in tears and Ed making jokes to cheer me up.  It is a difficult story to tell yet an exceptionally worthy one and therefore I wanted, more than ever, to do a good job.

On the set of Bed Bugs at our Gippeswyk Hall studio

Each morning Ed, Laura (who did our makeup) Jen (our brilliant runner) and myself arrived at Gippeswyk at 7am to start the makeup.  There was a lot of dirt, bruising and fake spots put on Ed and I as well as Ed’s daily black eye that had to be applied (I did volunteer to give him a real one to save time but for continuity it wasn’t possible). But with Heart’s daily time tunnel and an amazing breakfast selection we soon got going and the team arrived to start filming at 9am.

For an actor, filming is a much slower process than rehearsing a play and it’s amazing how many people are involved in a shoot making sure that everything is as perfect as it can be.   It was very quickly apparent that we all wanted the film to be incredible with everyone being exceptionally precise to make this film as dramatic and startling as it could be.

Vicky and Ed preparing for another take (click here for the image gallery)

The script is constant in Bed Bugs and whilst there are moments of silence, the squalor and shocking life these two young people are leading never stops. Therefore filming was difficult and uncomfortable at times. I know Ed, at 6 foot 4, didn’t particularly relish spending a full day under a single bed, and one particular scene when Adam (the mother’s abusive boyfriend) returns, was hard to shoot and keep the fear and anxiety running through you whilst the lighting was changed or a crayon moved. But with Jo directing she made sure we all worked together to get the best out of everyone, for every shot.

We also had a lot of giggles. Ed’s constant reference about Bed Bugs being a Trojan Horse quickly became a running gag and as we had all spent the summer in the forest there was a lot of amusing A Midsummer Night’s Dream stories to get us giggling at lunchtime and at the end of the day.

It was an amazing experience filming Bed Bugs with such a talented and brilliant team of people. I hope the audience get the full extent of what life is like for young carers and that Suffolk County Council can use the film to spread the word and open discussions on how to help young people in this situation.

Victoria Gee

It’s OFFICIAL, Theatre In The Forest 2010 is our most successful year ever!

With the summer sun FINALLY re-emerging and just EIGHT shows remaining at Theatre In The Forest 2010, there’s never been a better time to join in the fun…

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Ok so it hasn’t been the most glorious of British Summers. The weather has certainly kept us guessing, with more mood swings that a chameleon on a metronome. But it hasn’t damped the enthusiasm of our wonderful audiences, who have been flocking to Theatre In The Forest in their droves! At the time of writing we have just broken our previous Box Office record, having sold more tickets than ever for this year’s event!

If you haven’t yet been out to see the show, here’s a taste of what you’ve been missing:

“Beautiful setting, great costumes and lighting and a fantastic cast with some very strong performances indeed. Fab!”

“The combination of scripting, setting, props and of course acting was truly spellbinding for children and adults alike.”

“The whole evening was a quite magical experience”

“Your version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is amazing!”

To give you even more of a flavour, we have been posting loads of photos from the show. There’s too many to mention them all here, but recent highlights include:

PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW: (Gallery 1) (Gallery 2)

THE MECHANICALS VISIT ALDEBURGH CARNIVAL

PROMO VIDEOS: (Fairy In The Forest) (I Have Had A Dream)

You can also read reviews of the show by visiting our Theatre In The Forest Reviews Page.

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ runs until Sunday August 29th 2010. For more information or to book tickets, please call our Box Office team on 01473 288 886 or visit the Theatre In The Forest website.

Theatre In The Forest is here!

This week’s blog is super-sized as we report on the fantastic opening of Theatre In The Forest 2010!

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The inimitable atmosphere of Theatre In The Forest

Welcome to A Midsummer Night’s Dream!

After months of preparation, the show is now up and running, and doing brilliantly! We opened on Wednesday 28th July and at the time of writing we are just about to begin our 8th night in the run of 25! Cast, crew and front-of-house teams have been working their socks off – having loads of fun in the process – to bring our audiences the most magical take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream you are ever likely to see! Our beautiful forest theatre comes alive with fairies, magic and mirth in a spectacular production that is enchanting visitors of all ages.

Photos galore!

We’ve been capturing photographic records of all the preparations for Theatre In The Forest 2010 and these, along with photos from the show itself and our opening night, are all available at our Flickr Photo Gallery online. Click here to visit the gallery.

Audience approval

Thank you to everyone who has come to see the show so far – we’ve received some brilliant feedback and it’s so rewarding for us all to see so many people out in the forest enjoying what we do. It’s the reason we’re all here, in truth. It may be an overused cliché, but you can really see our ‘Shakespeare for everyone’ approach bearing fruit, as every night the giggles of young children have been ringing out in unison with the laughter and applause from seasoned theatre-goers. As one audience member verifies: “My 5-year-old daughter Millie was mesmerised from start to finish and we both loved the evening.  We can’t wait till next year to come again, it’s our highlight of the summer.”

And if you haven’t got your tickets for the show yet, don’t panic! There are still EIGHTEEN shows left of Theatre In The Forest 2010, so come along and join in the unique atmosphere in the forest. The show performs Tuesdays to Saturdays through August, with a final SUNDAY NIGHT performance on August 29th to conclude the run. You can book your tickets by calling our Box Office on 01473 288 886 (open Mon – Fri 9-6 & Sat 10-3), online at www.theatreintheforest.com, or on the gate on show nights from 6pm.

Wonderful volunteers

We can’t conclude this blog without giving a mention to our wonderful volunteer team without whom we simply couldn’t attempt to host Theatre In The Forest. Their dedication and enthusiasm have been second-to-none, and have made every effort to give all of our visitors the best possible experience. On top of all this, they’re all such lovely people to work with!

Keep an eye on our News page, Facebook, Twitter and Flickr sites for all the latest as Theatre In The Forest continues!

Theatre In The Forest preparations hot up!

It looks like summer has finally arrived, which can mean only one thing – Theatre In The Forest 2010 is not far behind! This week’s blog reports on our preparations for the show on three fronts…

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1. Our theatre emerges

This week a team from Red Rose Chain has been out at Rendlesham Forest to begin work on the seating and front-of-house setup for the show. Click the image above to see the first images from their work diary. This gallery will be regularly updated as things develop, so be sure to keep an eye on it to check on progress at the site.

2. Rehearsals, week 2

Week 2 rehearsals part 1

Week 2 rehearsals part 2

It was another hard-working but enjoyable week of rehearsals for our Theatre In The Forest actors, and the show is really starting to carve out its identity. Having caught bits and pieces throughout the week myself, I can tell you there’s loads of great touches and brilliant moments throughout – some of which you may see in our photo galleries, but many of which you’ll have to wait for the show itself to find out about. All I can say for sure is, it’s going to be hilarious fun.

3. Fairies out & about

Last but by no means least, a word on our Fairies. These friendly sprites have teamed up with our very dedicated marketing team, travelling the length and breadth of the region to spread the word about Theatre In The Forest. They’ve visited schools, fairs, concerts and events of all kinds, bringing lots of fun and a little bit of fairy magic with them. They could be at an event near you soon, so be on the lookout!

Click here, or on the image above to see some of the places our Fairies have flown into. More will be added regularly – and if you happen to spot a Fairy, take a picture, send it to us and we’ll add it to our gallery!

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As a final note for this week – tickets for Theatre In The Forest 2010 are selling faster than any previous year. To ensure you don’t miss out on the most spectacular and fun-filled event of the summer, log on to www.theatreintheforest.com now or call our Box Office team on 01473 288 886.

Last week part 2: two new performance galleries

As promised, part two of last week’s update is here, featuring lots of new photos and goings-on…

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Gippeswyk Hall was teeming with actors this week, with two projects entering full-time rehearsals.

First up, the full cast for Theatre In The Forest 2010: A Midsummer Night’s Dream gathered for the first time to begin work on this summer’s show. You can see a gallery of Katrina, Ed, Vicky and Owen working on scenes here. Rest assured there will be lots more pictures (and video perhaps) as rehearsals continue. Despite only being week 1, progress has been rapid, with the cast all bonding really well and doing some brilliant work already.

This work ethic has been helped no end by our new surroundings, which also allowed Michael and Genevieve (our newest team member) to conduct a full-scale rehearsal programme with the Tic-Tac theatre company on their latest project. The group have been working on scenes from Macbeth over the past few months in weekly workshop sessions, but during the past week the work was stepped up to a full-time schedule, in preparation for a headline performance at our launch party on Friday night.

A full gallery of the project is here, featuring stills from both the rehearsal period and the showcase night. The end result was a superb production that took guests on a tour of the Hall and exhibited some top-notch acting talent from each and every one of the participants. Of particular note were the lead performances from Steve Whyte and Claire Bokenham who, as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, really drove the piece and brought moments of genuine tension and drama to the captivated audience.

A big well done to everyone for another fantastically hard-working week. Stay tuned for more in next week’s blog – things will only get more exciting as we move into the summer!

www.theatreintheforest.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/redrosechain/sets/72157624304864011/

Welcome to Gippeswyk Hall!

After a brief hiatus, our blog is back in earnest with a two-part report on last week. We start with a look at our Gippeswyk Hall welcome party…

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2nd July 2010. We could not have asked for a more perfect night on which to host our housewarming party for Gippeswyk Hall. On a barmy summer’s evening last Friday, Red Rose Chain were delighted to welcome friends, colleagues and associates to enter our magnificent new premises and share in an evening of entertainment and celebration.

Guests were invited to explore the Hall and gardens, before being treated to a host of spectacles and performance. This included a preview of this summer’s Theatre In The Forest, along with a stunning depiction of the Tragedy of Macbeth, performed by Red Rose Chain’s Tic-Tac theatre company. More on this to come in part 2 of the week’s blog.

Our very own Michelin-starred Chef Barry Reid catered for us superbly, preparing a delicious array of canapés and barbecue food. Live music continued throughout the evening, courtesy of the eclectic and eccentric troupe known as Swervy World.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped in the preparations for this event, without whom we couldn’t have done it. Another huge thank you to all of you who came along to show your support, it was great to see you all and we hope you had as fantastic a night as we did.

CLICK HERE or on any of the photos for a gallery of the evening.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a Nutshell is here!

The popular Nutshell guide is back! Plus, summarising our first week in a new home…

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As ever, it’s been a really busy week at Red Rose Chain – with the added complication of moving-to and setting-up-in our new premises. Luckily, we’ve had the help of some fantastic volunteers during the move, without whom we’d have run into a lot more problems than we did. Our thanks go to Steve, Barry, Jade, Ashton, Will, Jackie, Genevieve, Jay, Agne, Sarah, Katie, Anna, Rebecca and all of the other volunteers (I’m very forgetful with names!) we’ve had over the last few weeks – your help has been fantastic!

Alongside our move, there’s been plenty going on at Red Rose Chain this week. Ticket sales for Theatre In The Forest are currently up on last year, and our marketing teams have been out and about promoting the show across the region. If you see them, be sure to come up and say hello – they’re very friendly!

A Midsummer Night's Dream in a Nutshell

Next up – Yes, that’s right! This year’s Theatre In The Forest production has been given our special Nutshell treatment. Click here to read our interactive storybook guide to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And if you like our nutshell guides, or have any tips on how we can make them better, please let us know – email me at nick@redrosechain.com

Elsewhere, work has been progressing on our two feature films currently in post-production. The fully-featured DVD of Wagwan, the Hollesley Bay 2010 project, is set to be completed within the week, and work has begun on the music for Strictly Body & Soul, the feature length film based on our highly successful theatre production of the same name.

The team has also been working very hard on a number of long-term funding applications that we hope will lead to exciting developments at Gippeswyk Hall and beyond. Finally for this week, our Tic Tac theatre company have begun rehearsals for a very special performance of a Shakespeare classic. More details of that to come in a later blog…

Nick.

Red Rose Chain & Tic Tac in London!

Our Artistic Director Joanna Carrick tells us about the Red Rose Chain & Tic Tac Theatre Company’s midweek trip to London…

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Last Wednesday was 19^th May, which is the anniversary of Anne Boleyn’s execution and so I took the Tic Tac Women’s group to visit the Tower of London where she died. I am currently writing a historical play about Anne Boleyn (funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund) and with the women’s group we are working on creating a modern day version which will run alongside the period show.

We had been looking forward to this day for months and it turned out to be a wonderful experience which none of us will forget. For many of the women, it was their first visit to London and it was at the same time exciting, moving, hilarious and educational. We had beautiful weather and spent four hours in the tower, where we had a picnic, saw the crown jewels, interacted with some historical characters and Beefeaters, as well as visiting the site of Anne’s execution and seeing the graffiti in the Beauchamp Tower. After that we took a taxi along the embankment and a highlight of the day was the excitement of seeing Big Ben and Parliament for the first time. We rounded off the day with a posh tea at the National Gallery.

I would like to thank the Paul Hamlyn Foundation for originally funding Red Rose Chain’s work with the group, Selina from Red Rose Chain for helping me organise the day and Laura from Red Rose Chain for running the day with me. Thanks also to Susie from Iceni for accompanying us and most of all to the girls for coming along and entering into the experience with so much passion and commitment. Here are some of their comments about the day, along with some photos of these very special historians in action…

“My favourite part was seeing the graffiti in the Beauchamp tower. Tea was beautiful in the National Gallery. Felt really special. What an amazing day, will remember it forever.”

“The whole of the Tower of London was great, but best of all was seeing where Anne was kept just before her execution. It also was the house Henry bought her for a wedding present.”

“I really really enjoyed myself today more than I have in a long time. I enjoyed going to the tower of London and learning all the history and about Anne Boleyn and her being executed.”

“Just like to say, days like this make you feel alive! Brilliant!”

“The best thing was being with the women’s group and seeing all the exciting places in London. The Tower of London is beautiful!”

“The most amazing thing was seeing the writing Anne’s brother done for her b4 he was beheaded and seeing the roses someone laid down cause 2day is the day she was killed. I’ve had the best day ever and thank you so much 4 the experience.”

Revealing the art of Theatre In The Forest 2010

In this week’s blog we take a look at some of the artistic creativity that is going into this year’s Theatre In The Forest production…

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COSTUMES

In case you haven’t yet heard, this summer’s production is A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We are delighted to be working with costume designer Gemma Rushbrook this year, and she has produced some wonderful garment designs for our characters.

Click on the image above to view the slideshow of Gemma’s costume illustrations. We’ll be showing you more beautious bedizenment once the pieces start to become a reality – look out for a special costume-fitting edition of the blog in the weeks leading up to the show! Of course, you’ll have to wait for the show itself to see them for real – log on to the Theatre In The Forest website now to book your tickets!

MARKETING MASCOT

Click on our mystery mascot to see how she was made!

One thing we pride ourselves on here at Red Rose Chain is this creative and original methods we use to promote our work. A mainstay of our promotional strategy for Theatre In The Forest in recent years has been a mascot for the show, and with fairies so prevalent in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there was really only one choice for the form that this year’s character should take.

It was down to our technical manager James Meen – who can seemingly turn his hand to anything practical – to don his artist’s and design engineer’s hats simultaneously to create our Fairy Mascot. We think he’s done a fantastic job with her – click here to see the gallery of her development and let us know what you think! She will soon be out and about, appearing at events right across the region on a mission to tell people about all the fun they could have at Theatre In The Forest this summer. If you see her, why not take a picture with her and send it in to us. We’ll be sure to feature your pictures on this blog and on our facebook page – we might even award prizes for the best ones!

Until next week,

Nick.