Programme
Welcome to Mokushla Theatre Company!
We are delighted to be able to bring you the one-night performance of "SAIFE In The Conference Bar?" Thank you for making it possible for us to entertain you this evening.
This show is very different from most theatre productions you may have seen. There is no script ! However, it has been rehearsed and there is a structure to the story. But what the performers say tonight could be quite different from rehearsals. The play is an original Mokushla Theatre creation, developed in a unique way: by the cast in role-play style rehearsals.
It started with each performer creating their own character and then developing storylines with each of the other characters. In the first few rehearsals a rough plot emerged and the character storylines were woven into this through the remaining rehearsals.
So what's it about?
It is the end of this years SAIFE* conference and the team have spent the week attempting to stay awake through the relentless training in order to discover who has won the coveted award of Best Youth Safeguarder!
With a holiday-of-a-life time prize to go with the trophy, this should be the party of the year but this is Mokushla Theatre so nothing is ever going to be that simple. Set in the bar at the end of a conference, the misfit group of teachers let their hair down after a long week out of the classroom. But what do they reveal when their guard is down ?
*SAIF (Safeguarding Actions In Further Education) is the latest in technology to be unleashed on the weary teachers. It is entirely the product of Nigel's imagination and any resemblance to a real system is entirely coincidental.
We hope you enjoy the show as much as we've enjoyed creating it.
Meet the cast (in order of appearance)
Nigel: Alan Duncan
I just went to a planning meeting and ended up with a part in this play !
After all those times Cat and I discussed the idea of putting on a "scriptless" performance - made-up play acting, I was excited to see if it was possible. That's why I went to the planning meeting. I wasn't expecting to be told I was in it!
Throughout the development and rehearsal of the show, the cast have been apprehensive, excited, stretched and at times, confused but they have remained committed to producing a great performance for the audience.
We hope you enjoy the show - it certainly will be unique !
Gemini Carmen: Cat Hunter
Alan and I have been thinking about a compilation piece like this for years. Until now, I have never found any actors crazy enough to leave the comfort of a script and a director to give the concept a go.
With the setting created, we went and developed our characters and began the traditional role-play to construct a story and character narrative.
We have had fun doing this project and we hope that you enjoy watching it. Join us for some dancing if you wish!
Malcolm: Stephen Parker-Aiken
Cat mentioned this idea to me a while back and I immediately thought "No way! I can't act, especially without a script" but the more we talked about it the more she convinced me it would be fun to do.
It's a bit like getting tangled in a tango - you just tango on.
The rehearsals have been fun and I believe that the audience will be entertained.
Bella: Sharon Wilkinson
When I was asked to take part in this project I was apprehensive and nervous but it has been one of the best things I have done. It has been so much fun: the cast have worked so hard to pull this together.
We have worked as a team and developed a funny and fast paced performance. There are some shocks uncovered also.
I hope you have an evening of entertainment and join us on the dancefloor!
Daphne: Rebecca Dutton
When Cat told me about this show I was very excited to work with her again, then I realised that we were writing the play ourselves!
I then got quite nervous as I had never done anything like this before.
It has been very enjoyable to work with some new people and also those who I have worked with before. It has been fun to create my own character and play a new kind of role within this play - different from what I've done before.
The show has come together well and I think that it'll be as fun for the audience to watch as it will be for us to preform it.
Richard: Rob Schonau
As an actor of at least 30 years I have only ever performed in plays with a script, as is tradition. I’ve always wanted to perform in something unscripted: a comedy of sorts. Then I met some likeminded people and we got the ball rolling.
We put all of our ideas into the bag and the concept grew and grew until we had a full production.
We believe in what we have created. I hope you do too.
Riley: Alexander Woods-Wells
As an actor, one of the many joys of performing is taking on a range of roles and characters. However, there is always a limit on how far that can go. Due to always having to replicate what is on the page, your own ideas can be thrown to the side, for the sake of sticking to the script/story at hand.
This is why, when Cat reached out to me with a production where we, the actors, have 100% control over our roles, I was very intrigued.
Working on this project has been a very different but amazing experience as an actor and I will definitely miss having this level of ownership of the story and characters when I move onto the next (scripted) performance.
Stella: Robyn Bateman
I am doing this because I love Cat (I am her favourite front of house person after all!) and I knew that my dad would end up having to do something in it too, if I did it...muahahahaha
Mr Wisowski: Andy Bateman
When Cat asked me to be part of this and explained that there was no script I straight away said "no". Not because I didn't like the idea but because it felt far too much out of my comfort zone.
After attending the rehearsals I began to see it taking shape and how chaotic, funny and unique this whole thing is. I only hope you enjoy it as much as we have all enjoyed putting it together.
Oh yeah and thanks Robyn!
Who was Luke Hunter?
Luke was a typical teenager who loved gaming and had recently discovered "bouldering". He had an ear for music: playing the drums, guitar and piano. Unlike many teenagers, Luke also loved theatre and was a strong supporter of his mum's play-writing and performing. Having just completed college and qualified as a Chef, Luke was embarking on his career, working at the Boar's Head, Walgherton. Tragically, on Sunday 14th July he was involved in a road accident where he died. This group has come together (again) to perform Room 13, which was the last of Luke's mum's plays that he watched, and the prequel: The Hartley Wedding, which Luke contributed to the ideas behind the story.