Lizzie's Rehearsal Blog

So I've survived my first week! Everyone else's second week, but my first, as I was drafted in last minute. I was definitely quite nervous and apprehensive joining a cast that had already bonded/rehearsed/ate together for a week; would they get my humour, think I am cool? Could I quickly catch up on the work they have already built on. I think I've done ok...

It helps that everyone is absolutely lovely.

It's great to be working with Black Coffee and on such a unique new piece of writing. With Luke and Maria you definitely feel in safe hands. Not literally. Metaphorically. Yes. I love working on new writing and in small casts, so this is ideal for me.

Discovering Kate has been interesting. She is a cunning lady with a ruthless ambitious streak, yet it is important that we see her softer side; finding the right balance and not just making her a manipulative monster. The writing is really naturalistic and I was genuinely really impressed by the cast on the read through last Monday, which made me very excited to get cracking on the script and get into the rehearsal room.

I think we're at a very good stage, with still a week and a bit left of rehearsals. However, I feel we are all slowly morphing a little into our characters, so come show time, heaven knows where we'll be! Probably washed up on a beach, having some proper banter... HASHTAGLovingit.

I am going for a run amongst the cows and countryside now. It's good to be back tup north.

Bring on Newcastle. Whay aye man!

Jacks Rehearsal Blog

Mark Wallace...enigma...romancer...idiot!!!
A character that I sometimes find myself slipping into even when not rehearsing, which is sometimes worrying but at the same time is also a character that is a lot of fun to play with.  His awkwardness in certain situations can be very entertaining & if Luke & Maria would let me I could use those pauses even longer & make it even more awkward; but this is not Pinter this is Adamson!!!


He is the sort of person I wish I could be more like at times, in terms of how he always strives to do the right thing, a  trait I try to have myself but doesn't always happen...hence the word try!!

Rehearsals have been a lot of fun & it is a joy working with the rest of the cast, there is always a lot of laughter & occasionally some inappropriate banter but there is no need to go any further into that!!
Time for me to sign off as myself, Luke & Will are off to get a curry!! I share a room with Will...so tonight will be interesting!

Peace & love people

Jack aka Mark

Roberts Rehearsal Blog...

So we are week two, up in sunny old Stockon, continuing our second week of rehearsals for 'Found' at the Arc Stockton; who might I add provided cake week one, no such luck this week though #justsaying!
Having a week in-between the first week was great to go away from the rehearsal room and have some time for what we'd already roughly set to sink in! Also to learn some lines, not that they are actually all leant yet... Darn V Festival!
I'm playing Brian in the show and I must say it has been a struggle thus far to play the over the top, flamboyant, pretty male, late twenties as he is described, as that is so very far from myself... Who am I kidding, I'm loving Brian and what I have to get my teeth into in the play. In fact the challenge for me here is to play a character so similar to myself, bringing humour whilst keeping it truthful and believable. I have some meaty scenes with some great dialogue, which is what I think makes the play, the writing is very naturalistic and allows us as actors to really put ourselves into the situations the characters are confronted with.
The rest of the cast however are unbearable unfortunately and I'll have to carry the show single handedly! In all seriousness the guys are lovely, Will has even been my personal trainer, helping me whip my flabby bum into shape. Will also handily pointed out whilst on a stroll to Saltburn beach how hard it actually is to skim stones in water, as Jack and I have to do in the play... You see even in our downtime we are working! (Sort of).

So back to the rehearsal room and as I speak, there's an amazingly awkward scene between characters Mark, Jack and Kate going on, amongst lots of discussion about tea making within the play. Oh and I must mention WE ARE HAVING SAND! (now that'll Draw in the audiences, and Luke now it's in writing it has to happen).
Im looking forward to the rest of the week before we head up to Newcastle to our next home at Northern Stage. Right I'm off to shove these lines in me head!

Thanks for reading, 
Rob x 

Rehearsals so far...

Our rehearsal process so far in pictures...

Keep checking in for blogs from each of our actors, coming soon...

FOUND 

Luke in Alnwick 

Maria slacking off... 

The Lads 

Beautiful Alnwick 

Cast trip to Saltburn 

Week One Table Work 

Bank Holiday Rehearsals 

For more news, gossip, future castings and ticket offers please follow @BlackCoffeeUK, sign up to our NEWSLETTER or like us on Facebook!

Thanks for reading,
BCT x

Our brilliant cast...

Here's a little introduction to our cast for 'Found'...

Robert Saunders is playing Brian.

Robert is originally from Basildon, he drives a little red car, enjoys diving at a competitive level and achieved his life long ambition to play 'Toad' in 'Wind in the Willows' at Polka Theatre last Christmas (and he was marvellous).

William Croft is playing Jack.

William is originally from Sheffield, he likes to keep in shape, enjoys taking his top off at every opportunity and performs a brilliant one man show in which he plays a gay, German cabaret singer.

Jack Harding is playing Mark.

Jack is originally from London, he recently played Sebastian in Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night' and is a fan of both football and tattoos. He always likes to take part in karaoke competitions whilst on holiday, his favourite being Skegness where the competition is exceptionally high.

Elizabeth Hope is playing Kate.

Elizabeth is originally from York, trained at BSA and now lives in London. Lizzie enjoys walks on the beach, especially in Saltburn. She is an ex-England international football player, enjoys bikram yoga and reading poetry.

Maria Crocker is playing Hayley, as well as co-directing.  

She is always carrying a suitcase.


For more news, gossip, future castings and ticket offers please follow @BlackCoffeeUK, sign up to our NEWSLETTER or like us on Facebook!

Thanks for reading,
BCT x

a sad day for BCT...

Tis the last day of my work experience! Sad times, fellow Black Coffee Theatre fans and supporters…

However tis also my birthday today - joyous times! – And this morning I was surprised by Luke and Maria when they came into the Playhouse with a splendid cake in tow.

(I was treated like a princess!) However, whilst the gesture was lovely and more importantly tasty, the cake itself did serve 18 people and sadly Maria can’t have wheat products so me and Luke had the nigh on impossible duty of finishing the cake. This meant that whenever anyone wandered within a ten meter radius of our little work table one of the three of us would grab the unsuspecting visitor whilst another would cut a slice, and the other would forcefully hand them a piece of cake akin to a reasonably sized meal upon a paper plate. With no fork. We forgot cutlery is generally needed when it comes to eating. But no matter!

Anyhow after cards were opened – I’m not kidding, Luke and Maria put in so much effort - Luke departed to an audition – good luck! – Maria and I got down to business. Whilst she tackled the tricky business of filling out an employer’s liability insurance form which required her to answer such dubiously worded and fun filled questions as:

“Will any of the employees be hypnotised during the process?”

and

“Will there be any inflatable play equipment?”

 - (I want to see THAT show!) – I went and attempted the task from hell for someone socially awkward and went to hand out flyers in Alnwick. Luckily I’m not socially awkward and if anything it was the tradespeople of Alnwick who looked somewhat perturbed when I came in at rush hour lunch time service to ask a) if I could hang posters up and b) if they had anything with which to hang said posters as I was frankly lacking preparation and materials to carry out my duties. (Oh, and quick update from yesterday about the flyers and the search for a photocopier, apparently Alnwick has one colour photocopier available to the public and charges £2 per sheet to use (and seeing as we needed 100 sheets that would deplete our entire marketing budget) much to  Luke’s visible and audible horror. After he had recovered from his heart attack and had regained some of the colour to his cheeks, Nicola from the Playhouse said she’d print the flyers for free. Hazar!)

So around 80 flyers later, Alnwick was well and truly decked out with advertisement for the production. I only got distracted from my task once, I swear. Unlike the last time I didn’t need to fill out a rather lengthy form. This time a friend of mine told the town crier it was my day of birth. And after an earth shatteringly loud announcement, things escalated quickly, resulting in the entirety of the Alnwick market place singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me. (It’s my birthday today by the way, did I mention?

Anyway after my little excursion I believe Alnwick now is aware- like it or not- of the upcoming Black Coffee Theatre production. Job done! 

I made my way back and got on to writing this blog. Next we’re going to film a short interview with me. Because Maria and I both want too and definitely NOT to satisfy the Arts Council educational outreach programme.) anyway so check that out and feel free to laugh at my silly face.

Anyhow since this is my last day – WAAAAAAAA – this will be my last blog until the 19^th when I revisit the world of Black Coffee Theatre and help – hopefully not hinder – with the dress and tech rehearsals of ‘Found’. I’ll get to meet the other actors and see the finished set and final product! Luke and Maria are also doing a workshop with the local school, Duchess’s Community High School – my sixth form no less! – which coincidently we wrote the plan for yesterday. It’s going to be fun. We’ll have question and answer sessions, and vocal and physical warm ups and drama games which have dubious and intriguing names such as “Eye Roulette”, “Who killed King John?” and “Damsels, Knights and Cavaliers” – which is basically where you walk around the space and on command suddenly run and hurl yourself towards the nearest person in a damsel like way, hoping that they will see you running, realise what you are doing and catch you as you jump into their arms seconds later. The alternative and probably more likely is that your partner will panic and promptly run and hurl themselves at you also, resulting in broken noses and minor concussion.

But in all seriousness in my work experience week I have learnt loads of inside info on the sometimes stressful but always rewarding business of running your own theatre company. I want to take this opportunity to say thanks to Maria and Luke for having and putting up with me.  It’s been so much fun and I’ll see you at the dress and tech rehearsals soon! 

And remember – 19^th and 20^th of September, Alnwick Playhouse, 7.30 start.

I’ve already got my tickets! 

Work Experience, Day 3

Day three of four, dear Black Coffee Theatre supporters!

And as of yet I have not done anything of huge hindrance to Luke and Maria – like delete the press release they were working on until stupid o clock in the morning, for example. (If I had accidently done that I doubt that I would be in a fit state to be writing this blog. Although to be fair, had I spent even half the time Maria has on the press release I would be ready to murder as well…)

But joyous news! I finally did it! I made tea and I am now an official work experiencer! I have experienced work, officially!

It happened like this; Maria sighed and looked at me and before she could finish the sentence ‘I could murder a cup o…” I had seized my opportunity, scrambled to my feet, and sprinted to the green room – where incidentally a samba band were practicing and looked miffed at my dramatic entrance – only knocking over a couple of chairs in the process. Perhaps it was because I was overly nervous, perhaps it was due to the interrogating eyes of 10 interrupted and angry drummers piercing my back, but whatever the reason in my haste I stupidly did not pour enough water into the kettle resulting in two and a HALF cups of tea instead of three. Goddamn! However using my newly acquired quick thinking problem solving skills I have acquired through my work experience, I cleverly and slyly topped up the other half of the inadequately filled tea cup with sweetened soya milk. (There was no ordinary milk – damn and blast!) I’m not sure who it was in the end that got the slightly too cold, too sweet and probably disappointing cup of tea, however neither Maria and Luke complained and whilst I had nearly suffered a coronary during the making process of the painfully mediocre beverage, I feel that I completed my task as succinctly and properly as I could. Although I may have displeased a non English speaking samba band in the process …

Anyhow, today Luke and me began to experiment with the set design – hanging strips of different weighted, coloured and textured Wilkinsons own brand wallpaper from a bar at the top of the stage to see how well each would drape. Our major problem was the poor quality of Wilkinson’s own brand Sellotape – take note Wilkinsons, I’m NOT impressed at its wallpaper hanging capabilities– and resorting to the use of masking tape which I kept calling Gaffa tape – because I get confused easily – which got Luke very excited.

‘Ooh, you have Gaffa tape, where did you find it?’

‘Err, no, I meant masking tape - I get confused easily. Sorry.’

‘Oh, ok, never mind.’

Anyway after winching the bar up high we got to have a look at our handiwork. The basic design is wallpaper hanging from the ceiling – as you would expect – but in a twisted turn of artistic and theatrical design the wallpaper then comes down and spreads across the floor towards the audience in a rather topsy turvey style. And may I say, for roughly about seven minutes of work it actually looks great! We haven’t yet chosen the wallpaper itself. We think we need it untextured, fairly thick and more colourful as we noticed that the white wallpaper strip looked like artistically hung toilet roll and not the classy interior of a bachelor pad that Maria and Luke had envisioned. Oh, and cheap; the wallpaper must also be cheap. (Which reminds me, if you are a wallpaper tradesperson in the northeast looking to get rid of any old stock or to expand within the theatre business for a low, low price, do feel free to get in touch!)

Anyway my next task was to create some business cards for the Black Coffee Theatre company. The creation of the cards was pretty simple – I put on my creative hat and had completed them pretty quickly. The hard part was maneuvering through Vistaprint’s various add ons and hidden costs. So about twenty minutes, several font replacements and a free metal cardholder capable of holding 10 of the 250 business cards I ordered later the shipment was placed and processed HAZAR!

Now for the rest of the day, we are going in search of a cheap photocopying deal to print out the flyers that were made yesterday. You hear that photocopier owners of Alnwick? We’re coming for you and we’re looking for some bargain deals.

Say HELLO to Annie...

Hello there fellow Black Coffee Theatre fans and supporters!

My name is Annie Davison and I am the new and nervous work experience student helping – hopefully not hindering – the work of Luke Adamson and Maria Crocker for a week in the Alnwick Playhouse as they prepare for their performance of “Found” on the 19^th and 20^th of September.

And I’m going to write a blog. For the first time ever. Ah! How terribly exciting.

So! I arrived yesterday and after a few frightening minutes of trying to open the only locked door of the Playhouse and one nervous email later – “Maria, I have arrived but I am locked out!” - I finally managed to navigate my way into the building and introduce myself to Luke and Maria. By Jove they’re nice people!

Anyway we got cracking down to some admin work – Woo! I wrestled with a Macbook Pro in order to make a flyer advertising both the arts and Luke and Maria’s performance, and whilst my technologically impaired mind was occupied, Maria and Luke tirelessly combatted the endless amounts of forms and funding and insurance and train tickets and accommodation costs that a theatre company must tackle on a regular basis. This independent theatre company malarkey is much more complicated than I thought!

We then read through the script – which was exciting and may I say, a great read. (and can I just take this opportunity to shamelessly remind you of the performance dates – the 19^th and 20^th of September 2013 at Alnwick Playhouse starting at 7.30 PM- in a style that is absolutely in no way at all like subliminal messaging. Remember the 19^th and 20^th!) The read through was great though, we edited areas of the script – I even contributed! Felt dead grown up, like.

And due to this I feel it was only reasonable that today I should be given a task of great importance which is a credit to my responsible skills. I was entrusted to go down to Wilkinson’s and – wait for it – buy wallpaper and bamboo skewers! I swear I was only distracted once on my journey and this resulted in me filling out a double sided form on the importance of tourism in Alnwick, but other than that little detour I completed my task without delay!

No but in all seriousness these past two days have been great fun and so useful as I have learnt so much about drama schools through Maria and Luke’s personal stories and I have really enjoyed the whole problem solving aspect to designing sets, editing scripts, arguing with banks and learning about how to run an independent theatre company - there is so much to it that I never before considered! Of course my highlight of today was being made “Content Creator” on the Black Coffee Theatre Facebook page – Holy Moly! A real title! – and being able to blog about my experiences so far. Tomorrow we are going to experiment with set ideas which may or may not involve sand depending on whether Maria gets her way – Luke’s not so sure. BUT THAT INFORMATION IS A SECRET. So ssh.

Let’s see what the rest of my work experience week holds. I’ll keep you posted. I haven’t yet made Maria and Luke a cup of tea – a work experience staple. I’m putting that down to the sweltering heat of the Playhouse, but I feel like this task will be done by Friday!

What's going on?!

Hello to all our lovely readers, 

So, The Seagull ended in April and since then we've been sat drinking herbal tea and watching copious amounts of daytime TV, 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' being a particular favourite...

 AS IF!!!!! 

What we've actually been doing is writing funding applications, researching audience development structures, working on a brilliant new script, organising rehearsed readings, speaking to venues about touring a production next year, planning networking events, meeting new actors and chatting to lots of wonderful people within the industry that have shown us great support and kindness. 

So, what's happening RIGHT NOW?! 

Our new production 'FOUND' is well on it's way. We've been working with the brilliant Annabel Turpin from The ARC, the wonderful Jo Potts from Alnwick Playhouse and the fantabulous Katie Catling from Northern Stage. We were also working with the lovely Jo Cundall but she left us to have a beautiful baby boy called Elliot - Congratulations from all at Black Coffee, he's adorable and we'd like a cuddle soon please!   

 'FOUND' is a new play, written by Luke Adamson. It's being developed through 'Bridging The Gap', which is a scheme that has been created by the best venues in the North East to help support emerging theatre makers in the region - and apparently, that's us. 

If you're wondering what the play is about.... 
When Mark finds an unconscious man lying in the sands on Scarborough beach, he does what any other person would do; he stops to help. He has no idea that in doing so he is starting a chain of events that will seemingly ruin his life.

So yeh, that, basically. It has some funny parts, some sad parts and will be quite short - so what's not to like?! 

We'll be performing the play at ARC, Alnwick Playhouse and Northern Stage in September - don't panic, we'll remind you to book your tickets.

We've been working like crazy squirrels to get this project off the ground, and so far we haven't received any funding - we all know how tough it is at the moment, and as a company we are still very much learning about the process. 

So if you would like to help us out and make a donation towards the project, we have a WeFund page - literally ANYTHING would be greatly appreciated! 

Just click here to part with your cash...

MASSIVE THANK-YOU to Dan Rowson, Jo Lindoe, Hayley Ashton and DB Bramley for your generous donations - it made us all feel warm inside. 

ACTORS: Casting details will be released shortly so keep an eye out for that on our website here! 

Thank-you for reading and for your continuous support, 
big love,

Maria, Luke and Jonathan. 

We took our Seagull cast SURFING....

 We were very lucky to have such a brilliant cast for our production of 'The Seagull'. Everyone got on tremendously and we had lots of fun during rehearsals and on tour.

Here's one of our highlights in beautiful Devon...

2 shows down...

Well, what a week we've had at BCT...

Our opening night at Wimbledon Studio was a complete sell out - people were waiting for returns!

We're so grateful for all the support, messages and well wishes that we've received over the last few weeks. It means an awful lot to us at BCT and we wouldn't be able to make theatre without it - so thank-you. 

We've had some brilliant reviews so far including this 4* from SoSoGay.co.uk

"A triumphant production for Black Coffee Theatre company and a real glimmer of young talent amongst the saturated industry. If we had a sherry, we’d toast you." Read more HERE... 

And this fantastic review from WESTEND.BROADWAYWORLD.COM 

"Black Coffee Theatre Company's truly heartfelt production seems to be far more telling of Chekhov's characters and their ideas than a lavish West End production might."

"this company is literally one to watch - and representative of something British theatre is sadly seeing less of now. Here is truly interesting, thought-provoking regional theatre..."

Read more HERE... 

To keep up to date with all the The Seagull reviews, keep checking our website on the review section

http://blackcoffeetheatre.co.uk/the-seagull-reviews/

After a brilliant show in Bradford last night, our actors are all resting in sunny Selby ready for our performance at Selby Town Hall tomorrow evening. If you haven't booked a ticket yet, you can buy one HERE... 

Thanks for reading, 

BCT x 

a day in photo's

BCT take health and safety very seriously ...  

Luke using his hoody as a dead seagull...

(Don't worry, we're borrowing an actual one from The National's prop store next week) 

                   A potential jacket for Dorn... 

                 Nina providing some essential heating... 

Gregory/Dorn being as charming as ever... 

Julia's elegant Arkadina relaxing in 'the snug' and Felix looks like he's ready for anything... 

And some well deserved drinks for Julia's birthday... 

(Maria's Crabbie's was an extortionate £5!!!! - you wouldn't get that in Boro)