Its Go!Go!Go! at HfC this summer for children and adults.

For some people, Summer is a time for lazy days in a deckchair or on a beach but Hall for Cornwall is gearing up for a packed season of activities and fun for all the family.

SPACE, Hall for Cornwall’s adult acting company makes its performance debut at The Acorn in Penzance next week with Arthur Miller’s tense and thought-provoking play The Crucible. As a first outing, the company have not shied away from a play that is packed with tense scenes and high drama. The questions raised by The Crucible, about how society can turn on itself when one group is targeted and labelled dangerous remain very much relevant in the post 9/11 era.

The Crucible will be performed on the 4th and 5th July at 7.30pm. Tickets cost just £10 (£6 Concessions) and can be booked HERE or by calling Box Office on 01872 262466.

Our junior acting company, Upstage, follow quickly on their heels with a lively production of “The Wizard of Oz” at the Burrell Theatre, Truro on July 16th. Tickets cost £6 (£5 Concessions) and can be booked HERE or by phoning Box Office.

The above productions have gone through quite a bit of planning and rehearsal over the last few months – but if you’re up for a fresh challenge this summer (or you have children who need a challenge) then “Mummy Mia” is for you! We’re offering a group of young people the chance to stage a musical – in a week! Between the 9th and 12th August from 10am to 2.30pm, children can attend daily sessions at Hall for Cornwall culminating in a performance of a brilliant brand new musical for children about life in Ancient Egypt. Details and information on how to book can be found HERE

For slightly older young people (15 – 18 yrs) we have “Theatre Storm”, a series of drama workshops covering improvisation, acting skills, directing and stage management. These sessions take place between the 9th and 12th August in the afternoon from 3pm to 5.30pm. Details of how to book will be added here early next week.
Activity is not confined to our Creative Learning department, however! Between the 5th and 7th August, an energetic family show explodes onto the HfC stage in the form of The Go!Go!Go! Show. This fun-filled pop musical is great family summer entertainment with magic, dance and plenty of participation from the children in the audience.

The stars of the show visited a number of schools in Cornwall this week, previewing a couple of the songs and teaching the children some dance and “Ichi Oo” moves that certainly livened up the morning assembley! Images from Bosvigo and Grampound Road schools.Tickets for the Go!Go!Go! show can be bought online HERE.

Building a Theatre Community

Staff here at the theatre have certainly launched into 2011 with enthusiasm!  Across all departments there has been a flurry of activity in these first weeks of January as we plan a whole series of activities, initiatives and projects.  Many of these have a common theme: building our theatre community.

Part of the magic of live theatre is that the experience is shared with other audience members.  It is the collective “whole” that generates the atmosphere of a memorable experience.  This can range from the collective “booing” and heckling of a pantomime baddie to the rapt silence during a particularly enthralling performance.  There is always a “buzz” as audiences leave the theatre discussing what they have just seen, which is also part of theatre’s magic.

Starting early this year, Hall for Cornwall will be creating spaces and opportunities for our community to share their thoughts and experiences of theatre.  Some of these will be “real” spaces and others online, but the common theme is to allow people, in whatever way they prefer, to talk about our art.  Alongside this, we are taking steps to ensure that our art, and services, are as accessible as possible to all, making ours an inclusive, welcoming community.

Space To Talk (and to listen)
We are in the process of creating an online theatre forum that will be accessible via our website.  Forums are a great way for people to talk about common interests, debate and discuss what they have seen and generally “chat” with other theatre goers.  Beyond that, forums can be a great source of creativity.  We hope to run mini events and competitions as well as offer forum members the chance to contribute to, and take part in, theatre activities and projects.

Of course, as the oft-quoted saying goes, we have two ears and just one mouth (this applies to eyes too!) so as important as discussion will be on the forum, it also offers us at Hall for Cornwall the chance to listen to you.  We can learn about what you like, what didn’t go down so well, what ideas you have and what opportunities you’d like us to provide in the future.

An example of “real” space would be the newly launched “The Play’s The Thing” group for the over 50s.  We’ll be offering people the chance to come along to the Hall for a hot drink and a chance to read through and chat about plays shortly before they arrive on the stage.  This project is a great way to meet other theatre goers and to get to know the plays, and their characters, ahead of the performance.  We have a choice of sessions planned for The History Boys and King Lear.  The  cost, per play, is just £2.50 including refreshments.

Access

We’ve been putting a lot of effort into our accessibility for some time and 2011 should see this work come to fruition.  The website has been re-worked to increase text size and each page can be “read aloud” by clicking the link bottom right of the white text area.  

We are also commissioning an entirely new piece of theatre specifically for a visually impaired audience.  Keep an eye out for the “Theatre In The Dark” project as well as looking for the access show icons on the show pages of our website.  Many performances at Hall for Cornwall are signed, audio described or captioned.

Our aim is to create the opportunities for a theatre community to grow.  All are welcome.

Everybody has a story; what’s yours?

On a cold and icy morning earlier this week an intrepid group of WI members gathered at the CFWI Conference Room in Thremilestone to take part in the first of 6 play writing sessions led by local playwright Paul Farmer. Theirs is the first of 6 community groups who over the coming 4 months will be learning techniques to help them write a 10 minute piece of theatre for the stage.

These workshops form the community element of a new Hall for Cornwall project called Anyone Can Write which is taking place from October 2009 to May 2010.

Isobel King Hall for Cornwall Projects Manager said:

“I was very lucky to sit in on the first of our community writing workshops. For this project we have been seeking out people who are just willing to have a go, no prior experience is necessary. Taking part in a project like this will be fun but there is also a degree of hard work. You also have to brave enough to share what you have written with others in the group and ultimately, if you write something to be performed, with a public audience.

The WI group were a really friendly group of ladies who I’m sure will support each other through the creative process. I look forward to dropping in to another of their sessions and hearing what they have written.”

About This Project

Anyone Can Write is about instilling skills, confidence and creativity into people who may never have thought of writing a play before. It was kickstarted in October with a week long workshop foccussing on writing for the stage which was led by Duncan Macmillan. Duncan won the Second Prize and the Writer-in-Residence Bursary at the inaugural Bruntwood Playwriting Competition for his play Monster, which was subsequently nominated in the Best New Play category at the MEN and TMA Theatre Awards. He was Pearson Playwright in Residence at Paines Plough and had written for the National Theatre Studio, Paines Plough and the Royal Exchange he has also had work staged at Theatre 503 and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 (Afternoon Play).

The Anyone Can Write project is part funded by FEAST. FEAST is a new programme to make great art happen in Cornish villages and towns. The ambition is to touch and inspire people of all ages and backgrounds and generate a whole new wave of creative activity in our communities.

For more information on FEAST go to www.cornwallculture.co.uk/feast

Professional Dance Workshop organised by Hall for Cornwall

Whilst the Hall for Cornwall Trust is perhaps best known for managing the venue and the performances we stage at your theatre, the charity uses the funds available to it to promote Performing Arts in Cornwall in a variety of ways.  Often this work goes unseen and one of the purposes of this blog will be to record some of the excellent work done by our Community and Education team to further the charitable aims of Hall for Cornwall through direct arts projects in Cornwall.

One of the most recent events coincided with the acclaimed Jasmin Vardimon Dance Company's recent performance here on the 2nd December.  Hall for Cornwall, with support from The Works, arranged for a well-attended dance masterclass workshop to be hosted by two of the company's performers for fellow dance professionals from right across Cornwall.

An event like this allows professional dancers an invaluable opportunity to exchange ideas and enhance their repertoir.  This in turn feeds out into the community via both their own dance classes and future performances locally.

Feedback from those who attended was very positive indeed, with many highlighting the ability to layer choreography and work closely with a new dance partner as a particular highlight of the event.

A telling comment was that for one practitioner, the class allowed them to "let go of original intentions/relationships to find unexpected/more exciting possibilities" which must surely be a sign of success in any creative event.

Bingo Bells and Panto Cows make for an interesting evening in Truro!

The reindeer parade and late night shopping was an unmissable opportunity to get our Jack and the Beanstalk panto cast members out and about. The event was also the ideal time to launch "Jack's Bell Bingo" and the cast quickly got stuck into the job of handing out numbered bells to just about anyone who caught their eye!

The bells were a huge hit and Victoria Square was quickly ringing to the sound of countless tiny bells - a sound that followed along the route of the parade as we had a massive 650 bells to give out during the evening.   Each bell has a corresponding numbered envelope which can be obtained from Box Office by bringing your bell in.  Prizes include drinks and food from our restaurant and coffee shop, posters and panto tickets.

After the parade hopeful youngsters were turning up at the Box Office, bells in hand, to see what they had won.  Though many bells remain as yet un-redeemed (we assume because the children wouldn't give them to Mum or Dad to read the instructions!) we had quite a few lucky winners with tickets, posters and other prizes being claimed.

Whilst the title of last night's event was "Reindeer Parade", an unexpected appearance by our panto cow, Daisy, temporarily upstaged the reindeer when she made a brief appearance at the start of the parade.  She even walked some of the route before it all became a bit much for her poor hooves and she made her way back to the stable to rest.

All of the panto characters, and especially Daisy, proved popular with the crowd and many photos were snapped.  The cast did an incredible job with handing out bells and fliers in what was the first of no doubt many public appearances ahead of opening night.  The event was a great success in raising awareness of the panto at Hall for Cornwall and it's nice to think of all those Christmas trees out there that will have an HfC bell hanging on them this December!

Further bell hand-outs are expected between now and Christmas so keep an eye and ear out for them at future late night shopping evenings.

It's not too late to redeem your Bingo Bell by bringing it into the Box Office.

All youngsters GET TO KEEP THEIR BELL regardless of whether it is a winning bell or not.  All bells offer a small complimentary prize so please do pop along with them if you haven't already.  Please note, though, that only bells with their valid number can be accepted as without them we cannot verify which envelope belongs to that bell.

Public Notice:

We received special permission to allow Dame Trot into a public place from her "sheltered home for the excitable"on the understanding she was properly chaparoned!  She was returned home after the event, took her medication, and had a settled night.

Jack and the Beanstalk Panto gets underway!

With panto season nearly upon us, staff at Hall for Cornwall took the opportunity to properly welcome the cast of Jack and the Beanstalk to the theatre ahead of the first script read-through this morning.  Most of the theatre departments were represented at a short informal reception held in the Stars Restaurant allowing us all to meet the cast and the production crew ahead of a busy schedule of rehearsals and a packed 3 weeks of performances.  The cast seemed to be looking forward to the challenge and getting their teeth into a script packed with gags and larger-then-life characters.

We're welcoming back a few familiar faces and some local actors this year and Stage Door blog will be meeting and talking to most of them in the run-up to opening night.  In fact, Stage Door will be following the panto cast closely as they prepare for an exciting season, with regular updates on rehearsals and all the other preparations that go into staging your annual panto.

In the meantime, why not test your wit and reflexes with our Jack's Catch the Coins game? Click HERE to play.

Pictures: Staff and panto cast mix at the reception. Aftwerwards the cast get down to business with a first read-through of this year's script.

Friends Meet the Stars

Hall for Cornwall held a "Meet the Stars" event for the Friends of the theatre after last night's opening performance of Grapes of Wrath.  These events are one of the benefits offered to the Friends of the theatre and are an important part of how Hall for Cornwall operates.

As well as allowing our Friends to meet and talk to the performers, last night's event allowed us to properly welcome the cast to Cornwall and make them feel at home.  After a flawless opening night performance there was no question of the warmth of the reception.

Friendly company and a drink or two was probably most welcome given that the sophisticated set used for Grapes of Wrath includes an on-stage river and a very efficient sprinkler system for the torrential rain scenes that leave most of the cast pretty damp by the final curtain!  They seemed none the worse for it by the time they arrived in the Stars Bar though.

Grapes of Wrath has a fairly large cast with many very experienced and high profile actors.  There was plenty for our Friends to talk over with them and the event was enjoyed by all who attended.

Pictured are a selection of Friends of Hall for Cornwall chatting with Rebecca Night who played Rose of Sharon.

Welcome to Stage Door, the Hall for Cornwall blog!

This is an entirely new endeavour for Hall for Cornwall and hopefully one that will prove popular with our audiences!  What you see here when you attend a show is just the very tip of the iceberg.  The theatre is a complex organisation in which a very wide range of staff contribute in many areas, often hidden from public view.

"Stage Door" aims to offer an interesting glimpse behind the scenes and to introduce some of the people who ensure the sound works, the lights come on and the curtain goes up!

We also hope to share some additional information about performances, such as what goes into producing the annual pantomime.

The name "Stage Door" implies back-stage access and the Stage Door blog will not disappoint!  We will feature interviews and profiles of as many visiting performers as possible - giving you extra information and insight into performances and the actors in them.

Alongside this, will be regular updates on upcoming shows and latest ticket availability.  If you love theatre and Hall for Cornwall, make sure this blog is added to your favourites!