College Bands

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Now there's an idea....

New Banner

So you may have noticed a new spangly banner up on the site as of today. I've been playing around with the theatre branding for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I want to link together the drama, art and music pages on the school's learning platform so they are more unified, and secondly because I've recently been putting together a website and blog for the Swindon Young Actors and really quite enjoy it.

The banner may not stay as it is, in fact it probably won't. That's one of the great things about design.. as long as you have something to fill the gap, you can change, adapt and progress an idea for as long as you like! I think that it will be a good thing for the theatre to have a distinct identity, if you like, so that we can further promote and develop the work we do here.

Swindon Young Actors back at the theatre

Swindon Young Actors (SYA) are back at the Bradon Forest Theatre this Spring with Property Rites by Alan Haehnel.

Kyle Macmanus has invested millions in a high-tech work of art -- fifteen human-figure sculptures programmed to perform thousands of movements, monologues, dialogues, and more. But just when Kyle is about to sell the sculpture, it malfunctions; the figures are alive. As each one struggles to achieve autonomy, they begin a fatal race against their desperate owner's destructive plan.

SYA are one of our community partners and we always enjoy their performances, this one promises to be no exception!

Thursday 15th and Friday 16th May, 7.30pm. Tickets are £5 adults, £4 students.

The Nothing Show

The next performance in the Bradon Forest Theatre is The Nothing Show.

A selection of year 9 students are taking part in an afternoon workshop with the company, followed by an invitation only performance.

The Nothing Show is a one man show, a clown character takes us on a hilarious tour of his world, a world very similar to us all. Things then start to go very wrong and it seems there is nothing he can do but despair. But out of the ruins the clown triumphs and begins a new life. Stewart comes on stage with nothing, no props, no set, no lighting clues. The audience has to imagine everything themselves. By the end of the show they'll be intimate with this man's life - that's the beauty of Stew's performance.

Wednesday 14th May - 7.30pm

Guest Review - Elliot Kinsey Watches Sketch

Elliot Kinsey, Yr10, writes:

Brave to Alice Chalk and the cast of Sketch, what an amazing show! Everything was brilliant especially the character Mr Wilson, played by Jacob Moore, a trule funny young man and the perfect person to play the part. But least we forget the other cast members that also added an extreme comic value to the show. Well done to all!

Sketch is a good play about Mr Wilson and his memories, some are good, some are sad but either way Mr Wilson never forgets them and we see only his best and tragic memories performed on the stage by an amazing young cast. We soon realise that not many people close to Mr Wilson stay with him that long, but that still doesn't stop him from remembering them. Scenes such as the 'interview' and 'broken' were the two best scenes for me because they were pure wit and hilarious. I also realised that most of the audience, including Mr Spiers (our headteacher) were in stitches of laughter before the main part of the play had kicked in!

I particularly liked the ending to the play as well, when Mr Wilson dances with his future wife. I think it was clever how Alice added a younger Mr Wilson, played by Harley Viveash, so that the older Mr Wilson could look back towards the action of stage as if he was reliving his memory.

Once again I wold like to tell you how fascinating it is when you think that this production was not created by a professional company, but by a young girl in Year 11 called Alice Chalk. I think it would be hard not to realise that this girl has the purest, raw talent within her to create such a brilliantly produced play with a help from her fathers imagination, David Chalk, who co-wrote the play. I would like to thank and the cast for such a funny and breathtaking play.

Oh, and before I forget, I would recommend anyone to see this play if it ever goes on tour... which is not hard to imagine as it was so great!

For other Elliot Kinsey reviews, click here.

Sketch Photos Now Online

Sketch photos are now online on the school theatre pages and also on Flickr. If you're able to make it to the show tonight or tomorrow, don't forget to reserve your tickets by calling me on 01793 773981.

It was an absolute gem of a show. It was actually hard to believe that it was written, directed and performed entirely by students with no help from staff at all. I can tell you one thing, it gives some of the professional shows I've seen a run for their money! A review from Elliot will be in just after the two week break and I'll post it as soon as it's in.

Opening Night Tonight, Sketch!

The world premiere of Sketch, written and directed by Yr11 student Alice Chalk, opens tonight in the Bradon Forest Theatre...

Tickets are £4 adults and £3 students. To reserve yours call 01793 773981. The show starts at 7.30pm.

Any Dream Will Do?

I don't know how many of you enjoy watching the mind-numbing 'talent' shows that the BBC are now airing repeatedly, to promote Lloyd Webber's West End shows and line his pockets even more, but here's what Kevin Spacey has to say:

Spacey said it was great that people were getting interested in the West End but that the BBC should broadcast a series about the theatre "to help kids find their own sense of self-esteem, confidence and ability to collaborate. These are interesting ideas, now they're not sexy so maybe they don't want to put them on air.

Read the rest of the article and let me know what you think about his comments.

A Users Guide to Theatre Brochures

I spotted this article on the Guardian Arts Blog and thought it was relevant! Points for me to remember:

• Make sure that the booking information and details are clear and easy to find.
• Include professional companies websites.
• The brochure should be memorable so that people are more likely to keep it to hand.

I'll keep you up to date with the progress!

Fanzines

Does anyone remember the fanzine? Being an 80's girl I vaguely remember them, and I think even have recollections of making a one off issue for Bros...

Well, the reason I bring it up is because I'm working on ideas for the next season's brochure for the theatre. The first year I was at Bradon I slightly re-jigged the old brochure format to mimic pages from an exercise book. Then I added all the events to a digital pinboard here and here. I liked the way that the promotion of the professional theatre still strongly linked back to school, as a lot of the productions are put on by the students as well as professional companies.

I'm now thinking that the fanzine style is the way to go for the next season and have been doing a bit of research. I'd love to include original artwork on a few of the pages so have posted a competition on the school website. If you're a Bradon Forest Student and have some sketches you'd like to enter a piece (or pieces) for consideration then email me or come and see me in the arts office!