Jack in the TSF Box

New year, new start

2012-01-18T08:38:00.000-08:00

The New Year is always a time for reflection and given that this New Year signaled a brand new job, what better time for a look back on my first two weeks as a Producer at Théâtre Sans Frontières?

It’s been a fantastic blur of meetings, new faces (and too many names!) and exciting projects so let’s put it to the test and see what I can remember.

The first day was the obligatory bundle of nerves mixed with the shock of leaving the house at 7:15am to get to Hexham from Newcastle. It was more than worth it though when my first day unfurled and I began to see what I was in for. I had the full building tour of the company’s base at the Queen’s Hall, including the stage and back stage areas, the box office, gallery and rehearsal rooms and met everyone from the technicians to the Artistic Director and some of the other companies sharing the building. Without exception, everyone I met was friendly and welcoming and it made me feel very much at home. No time to relax though, as from there I had meetings with TSF’s Artistic Directors (to look at what my job role entails) and a project specific meeting in the afternoon.

First day done and it was back on the train, metro and bus and near enough straight to bed.

The next few days were more meetings, more lovely people and the start of me finding my feet and feeling at home. Some of my highlights included;

An all staff meeting on the Artistic Programme

On my second day the whole TSF team had a meeting to review the Artistic Programme. It was a brilliant opportunity for me to see what shows and projects the company have planned and eye-opening to see that they’re planning now right up until 2015. It was also great to see how involved everyone is and what the company lacks in man power (there are only 6 members of staff and only 2 full time) they definitely make up for in passion.

Marie Curie project

TSF work very closely with schools on a lot of their projects and I was fortunate enough to visit one such school with Artistic Director, Sarah Kemp. The Project is based around Marie Curie and involves the children taking part in a whole day of activities looking not only at the French language but also the history and culture of the country. We met with staff from the Science, English and French departments and I was impressed with how keen everyone was to be involved. It is a project that could easily be seen as a ‘language’ project but actually has great benefits across the curricular. In one of the sessions the children get to take part in a science experiment, based on some of the principles that Marie Curie worked on, looking at the component parts of a substance. Although I’m not sure we persuaded the science teacher to go as far as getting into costume he was keen to brush up on some French in preparation for the big day. It was a really insightful meeting and I’m planning to go back to see the project in action.

The office mysteries

A bit of light relief came mid-week in the form of a mysterious smell that developed in the office. It was a solvent, inky kind of smell and everyone had a theory as to where it was coming from. We had the computer guy come in to check the printer (‘it must be a sticker that’s got caught’), had the Queen’s Hall Artistic Director check it out in case it was a building problem and all the team turning the office upside down to find the source of it. In the end we all de-bunked, had our meeting in the coffee shop next door and celebrated when we came back to find it dispersed. Never a dull day!

It’s been an intense two weeks full of lots of information but I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in on writing some funding applications and getting out and about to meet different venues and programmers.

Thanks for reading,

Becci

2011-07-18T03:25:00.000-07:00

Le Tour de France - On the road again!

John, Sarah and Ken Patterson - the original team from 'Sans Frontières' - have been green screen filming in Newcastle University's Culture Lab as part of the digitalisation of our show Le Tour de France.

A recent successful bid to the Esmé Fairbairn Foundation has resulted in an award which gives the go-ahead for TSF to revisit this much loved show, an adventure involving our detectives being caught up in the Tour de France bicycle race. The original show toured to schools and venues for lively school groups of 8-11 year olds and family audiences.

The hope is to re-film scenes originally played on stage to align with extensive film footage from France which also featured in the show. At present we are investigating doing this via the blue/green screen process where actions filmed in front of such a screen can be superimposed on other background film.

Initial fears of Sarah's costume sporting a green too similar to the glowing back screen against which we would film were allayed in the technical sessions there. We have been very lucky to enlist the sevices of local film maker Christo Wallers from The Star and Shadow Cinema, Newcastle, to sidestep such technical obstacles.

We spent two days filming one section of the show which included the Panneaux song based on French road signs, performed on our quirky trio of bikes: racer, unicycle and scooter! Other scenes saw Le Fantôme Cycliste's dastardly plan to stop us with a jar of tacks thrown in our bicycles' way!

The finished film will include interactive media with French language and cultural themes embedded in a cliff hanging adventure to save the yellow jerseys of Le Tour de France.

Vive Le Tour de France!!

Les Aventures de Lapin

2011-06-28T01:31:00.000-07:00

Back on the road

After a spring tour, the Lapin team is on the road again. Some last minute design interventions from Alison Ashton have meant we have a terrific (in the true sense of the word) mask/head of Zobolak the Zombie for our cemetery scene! Scary, but not too much. Kids enjoy being scared after all. Alison made it overnight, using all her skills and experience of working with Welfare State International, the maverick leaders of community art and theatricality, now sadly disbanded. Yet they leave their mark in fine and bravely designed work from its many disciples across the UK and beyond.

The cast are full of beans and give performances truly inspired and physical in a pleasing and engaging manner. Despite being more years older than them than I care to reveal, I join them in those mind bending, body bending antics, playing Monsieur Cheval. Ken Patterson's lovely charming music gives a real flavour of the relaxed Caribbean, with also some crazy lyrics around the world of bananas. You can hear and see it on YouTube.

The show feels very complete and has a lively colourful look to it which should transform the most prosaic school hall or canteen.

Crikey another fab show! Enjoy!

Here's the Lapin tourists at Stonehenge. Watch out English Heritage - Rabbit loose among the stones!

2011-06-10T04:59:00.000-07:00

Lipsynch in Quebec City, Canada 3-5th June 2011

Lipsynch is appearing at the Festival du Carrefour International de Théâtre. Its Director, Marie Gignac, was an early collaborator in our creative team. We are to play three consecutive days, amounting to three 12-hour days, never before achieved so there is a buzz of interest as to whether we can last the pace.

We play in an ice hockey arena in a suburb of the city on the edge of town. Even the driver can't find it to begin with. The technicians joke that it is Opera à Vanier, which might equate to Brixton, Castlemilk or Longbenton. The vast interior of the hockey pitch and bucket seats has been transformed into our usual theatre dimensions set in a black box of curtains. The dressing rooms are the real thing: they have a whiff of adrenalin, sweat and shouting coaches. Rick gives us his version of a typical pep talk to get us into gear.

Strange to return to QC after three years touring when so much time was spent devising Lipsynch here with the team in Robert's La Caserne, his ex-fire station where research and development from film to opera still goes on. It's also ten years since Robert invited Sarah and I to see the space and mentioned the possibility of us being in a show he called 'Lipsynch'.

Thomas Michelle Marie:

Hans Piesbergen has just finished filming in Quebec his segment - 'Thomas' - of the projected film of Lipsynch. We look forward to seeing footage of some of the shots on Robert's computer. The film maker Pedro Pires, who had his film Danse Macabre at Newcastle's Film & Media Festival, has a fine eye for composition, tone and atmosphere and makes our actors from 'Thomas', 'Marie' and 'Michelle' look fabulous. This is no Hollywood stuff. The characters look grainy, real and moving. Another episode 'Michelle' will be shown in Berlin as part of a Court Metrage festival and later all three excerpts (including 'Marie') will be presented as one film.

Show well received with full houses of 750 odd each night. We receive news we will definitely play Melbourne next summer. Great news, but sad not to see the team now for another year.

That's all for now. I'll be touring with Les Aventures de Lapin later in the month, having taken over from Jack Burton. More of that later!

John

THE NORTH!!!

2011-03-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

We are back in the north!! I love it!!

On friday Deb and I drove up to Manchester from Oxford, while Emily and Mark went south to London. I had a lovely weekend with an old friend, reminiscing, drinking and watching football! As we were leaving Macclesfield to head to Leeds on Monday, we stopped to fill up on diesel and check tyre pressures. A routine check turned into a longer delay, as I discovered a broken seal on one of the tyre valves. I had been looking at the tyre earlier in the day, thinking it looked rather flat, so it was a good thing I heard the sound of air after pumping it up! I did a quick(ish) tyre change, which the cast were most impressed with, and then we continued on to Leeds. The following morning, while workshops were being run, I located a tyre repair company close by and had a replacement valve put on, so now we are all good!

After performing in Leeds, we drove to Ingleton, on the edge of the North Yorkshire Dales, and Emily, Mark and I took the opportunity to walk up a big hill and enjoy some spectacular late afternoon views. It was breathtaking up there, and I intend to visit more summits, as I believe it good for the mind!!

Just two more days before I get back to my house, which I have missed quite sorely at points for the last 5 weeks...YOUPIII!!!

jack

SUN!!!

2011-03-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

Having an excellent week so far, enjoying the sun whilst doing get ins and outs of lovely schools! Enjoyed some fine private school dinners, including a very tasty coq au vin at st swithums in winchester. Its Marks birthday tomorrow!! We have the morning off, so are going to brunch in Oxford before driving to our school for (hopefully) another sunny get in and out! Honestly, it was bloody gorgeous today!!

jack

Brighton Rocks!!

2011-03-14T04:33:00.001-07:00

Hi all,

another week has passed...

last week we enjoyed shows in Woking, Eversley, Tunbridge Wells, Brighton, Caterham and Horsham. On Wednesday the school we were meant to be performing at in Brighton had a power cut, which meant a welcome but dissapointing day off!! I spent the day recording the sounds of Brighton's seafront, while the cast shopped, walked and caught up on sleep! We did a show in a great school in Caterham on friday, where I spied a very good future venue for TSF's small scale theatre shows such as La Pelota Magica. There were plenty of overhead LX bars and a very nice stage and raked seating. Earlier on in the week, we were refused entry to a staffroom in a primary school and had to wait around in the hall while teas and coffees were brought to us! Pretty odd visitor service if you ask me!!

We've just done or first show this week, which went very well. We're returning to the same school after lunch for a show to their year 5s and 6s...

jack

Les Aventures de Lapin - Tour

2011-03-03T10:57:00.000-08:00

So, the night before our preview show at Hexham Middle School, we packed the show into the van and I drove home. Soon after leaving I realised something was wrong with the van...a loss of power meant it took me an hour and a half to get home. The show went well on friday, with lots of the people who had helped to make it coming to see it. I was slightly preoccupied by the van and the impending tour, for which I still needed to get a number of things sorted in the office. The van was taken to our mechanic Brian, who could only attempt an exploratory fix job in the short space of time he had to work with it. I spent the rest of the day sorting out petty cash and other necessaries for the weeks on the road.

On Sunday we met in Hexham before driving up through the borders to Galashiels for 3 shows over 2 days. The drive back took a very long time, as the problem with the van reoccurred. We drove it (slowly) to a Mercedes dealership in Longbenton to have it repaired. There we picked up a replacement hire vehicle, which was slightly smaller inside than our van. Somehow we managed to transfer the show into this smaller Vito, and I had to drive my own car to the venues while we used the van, as we were using some of the seat space for the set. The next week passed with a lot of good shows, great audiences and enthusiastic teachers, who really enjoyed the colourful and energetic nature of the show. We all settled into our parts well and the get ins and outs became really quick, which always makes me happy!

After exactly a week, the office received news that the problem with the company van had been solved and we drove to Longbenton to pick it up and transfer the set once again. I was glad to be back in it, as there is a lot more room for the set and ourselves and we could use the roofbox to transport our luggage instead of my car! We spent the rest of the week touring in the original van around the north east before we broke up for half term. I used this break in the tour to arrange some repair meetings with Alison, as a few props and costumes were already looking a little sorry for themselves and I took some of the more simple jobs home with me.

I drove down to Tunbridge Wells over the weekend to stay with a friend, before meeting the cast in Croydon and travelling to our first venue in Kent. That was the beginning of this week, in which we have since been based in Croydon, performing around the south west of London. Today we had a very interesting show in Kensington in a tiny hall. The get in involved a lift that could only be opened by the secretary, a front door that had to be closed when said secretary was not standing by it, and a £10 fee for parking! The show was squashed but the audience really loved it and sung along enthusiastically throughout.

I'll try and post again more frequently during the coming weeks, the tour is becoming more relaxed by the day...

Til then

Jack

Les Aventures de Lapin - Production weeks

2011-03-03T10:36:00.001-08:00

In early December, Mark Hanly, Deb Pugh, Emily Grant and myself came together to create a new show for primary children under the direction and guidance of John and Sarah. We worked with material from the caribbean, specifically the Anansi style stories of the trickster Lapin. In these stories, Lapin plays many tricks and pranks upon a wide range of characters, mainly other animals, such as Elephant, Tiger, Horse, Whale etc etc. We spent a week turning a chosen few of these stories into a rough piece of theatre, before breaking up for christmas. We returned in January to rehearse with a beautiful set made by Alison Ashton, puppets made by Elena Miller, props sourced and made by myself and Alison and infectious songs written by Ken Patterson. John had updated the script and we spent a further two weeks rehearsing, gradually bringing the show up to scratch for a preview performance at Hexham Middle School on the Friday of the second week.

La Pelota Magica hits the road

2010-10-19T01:56:00.000-07:00

Helooooooooo,

since last posting, Islands successfully played four shows in Cyprus, to great and full audiences. I returned to Hexham, immediately to begin rehearsals of La Pelota Magica with Shona Wright as LX Stage Manager and a cast of Paddy Burton, Angel Aguacil and Xela Marx. Rehearsals were hectic, as Xela hadn't done the show before and the rest of us have pretty bad memories!! Luckily John and Sarah always use a DVD for reference when reworking past shows, so we were able to see what happened last time!! I really enjoyed getting back behind the set where it all began for me with TSF...two years ago I was fresh faced and recently graduated from Goldsmiths University of London with a 2:1 in Music. Shona and I have picked up where we left off (we are a cracking team) and I'm so pleased to be able to speak with Angel and Xela much better than I could two years ago...Those intensive 10 days with Dimas in Cyprus really got my Spanish up to speed again.

I hear from John that Islands went well in Tenerife...I am quite disappointed that I couldnt be part of it, but I'm sure I'll get opportunities to work on it again in the future. It is a good show that is getting better.

Right now we are in the middle of our 4 weeks on the road, currently in Banbury. A week ago Shona developed a nasty cough and slowly but surely we have all been taken down with her. She is still suffering, and I have been constantly attached to a roll of toilet paper since yesterday afternoon!! Paddy, Xela and Angel have all been unwell too, but to a lesser degree (a good job too as they're the performers) Thankfully our schedule hasn't been too hectic while we've been ill...our two weeks in the north east were much more full on. We have an epic drive on Friday, from Thetford, Suffolk to Stirling, for which we're very much hoping to have recovered from the bug...

hasta luego

Jack

PIra, Pira, Pira

2010-09-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I've been very busy since last posting...

Throughout July I organised the shipping of the Islands set to Cyprus, through the very friendly but uncommunicative Andreas Shipping Co. I spent a day making some very sturdy boxes to transport some of the props, of which I am immensely proud!! I was in constant contact with Nicoleta Kalatha, the most hardworking person I think I've ever met, who organised our tour of Cyprus (as well as creating all the brilliant videos in the show). I sent her the lighting plans, tech details and much more, also sending these documents to Carlos Belda for the Tenerife leg of the tour.

In mid July we took Contes Dores for a spin for two days, performing two shows in Norwich at a primary language teachers conference, before driving to Alnwick to perform at a primary languages festival for children from schools in Northumberland. Both gigs went down very well, and we had the pleasure of welcoming back Geraldine, who devised and performed in the original version many moons ago.

I also got on with preparing our next show for touring, La Pelota Magica, which involved a lot of disinfecting and washing, as mice have taken a shine to the store...everything is very clean now, and mouse deterrents are installed in the store - I had to evict a family from a box of shoes, which was pretty upsetting, but I had no choice if I wanted to avoid completely re-propping the whole show!

In early August I somewhat nervously said goodbye to the Islands set, as it was picked up by Andrews Shipping Co and sent to Cyprus...two weeks of anxious waiting ensued, before I received confirmation that it had arrived at the theatre in Cyprus from Nicoleta.

I took two weeks of well earned holiday, enjoying lie ins and the banal but thoroughly satisfying task of repairing my car and getting it through its MOT.

And on the 29th of August I left Newcastle for Paphos, Cyprus with Becky Jameson to begin our Cyprus tour of Islands. I am writing from my hotel room, at1am, having just finished our final run through before the dress rehearsal tomorrow morning. We open tomorrow evening, with the director Franzi having made a number of changes to the show. New scenes have been added, existing scenes moved, and new features also, which is challenging but also satisfying as I can see a more logical and easy to understand piece developing.

I've been passing my knowledge of the show on to Dimas Cedres, the lighting technician, who will be managing the show without me in Tenerife. Thus he must know everything I know about the show before we part ways...Again, I'm delighted to be able to speak spanish, as his english is not as fluent as my spanish, and I've learnt lots of new words, such as pulea, which means pulley...etc etc!!

It's going very well, considering the heat (which is almost unbearable in the tech box), the fairly confusing changes Franzi has made to the order, and the short time span in which we've been working to...two days tech, two days rehearsals. I'm delighted to be working with Franzi and Nicoleta again, as they are such nice people and have so much experience and knowledge from which I can learn...

So tomorrow we open, and Saturday morning I (hopefully) get a lie in and some time to see Nicosia, as I have nowhere but the theatre and the hotel yet!!! Aaaah well, such is the life of a stage manager...I wouldn't change it for the world though...I really do love theatre!!!

Ok, I'm going to sleep now as the big day is tomorrow.

Until next time

Jack

not enough hours in our day

2010-07-01T07:25:00.000-07:00

As thew lead singer of Gomez once said, "there aren't enough hours in our day". Just about how I feel...

All is good in the technical world of TSF. Islands came and went, with lots of stress, enjoyment, elation and sadness all bundled into 9 shows! The cast, crew and office staff really worked hard, together to make a really good show. The audiences laughed, probably wept, and gasped at the realities exposed in the show and everyone had a really good time!

Since then I've taken time off to work for my parents' company, thanks for that TSF! Following a two week break, I was back in the store, preparing the Contes Dores set for its summer tour. A lot of the props had fallen victim to a group of ravenous and crafty mice, which meant a lot of disinfecting, hand washing, sewing, respraying etc etc etc...the usual then...after a very busy weekend it was all ready for the start of rehearsals, and John took over Paddy's roles as Madame Griselde and the king.

The tour went very well, although it was uncomfortably hot in many of the school halls we visited. As well as clashing with a heat wave, the World Cup was taking place...for any of you who haven't met me, I love the World Cup, so I religiously watched as many games as I could, in hotel rooms, hotel bars, hotel lobbys etc etc etc!!!

That tour finished last week, and this week I've been taking some holiday as well as beginning to sort the store, which has been needing a good tidy for a while...I might even run into those mice again!!!

til next time...

Jack

Two weeks

Shockingly belated ISLANDS gossip!!

2010-05-11T07:56:00.000-07:00

RIGHT, since I last posted, our most recent production Islands has opened, toured and finished! If I wasn't so completely and utterly involved in it I may have posted a few more words during April, but my head was very full of stage directions, music cues, possible props, definite props, positions of chairs and much more!!

So I'm gonna do a series of posts about the production...this one is about the rehearsals.

It was in at the deep end for me...I finished touring Contes Dores, had a weekend off, then went straight into rehearsals with the rest of the Islands crew. They had been rehearsing for a week already, and I was pretty confused by it all in the first week. There were so many new names, new languages and new faces, not to mention the big script and never ending list of props that was passed my way!

Myself and Craig, the production manager, dealt with the props list admirably however, and by the tech week we had found everything on the list, or made it. I was working the late shift, from 2 til 10, which was tiring, but allowed me to stay up late with my nocturnal student brother who was visiting for easter! We ran a dress rehearsal/run through on each Thursday night to round off the week, and I could see the show coming together week after week. This was an ambitious project and I remember feeling slightly worried during the first week that it would appear very self-centered from the outside. But with each weeks run through, the stories of each character became more concise and clear and my questions and misgivings were answered.

The composer, Juani Belda, came from Madrid in the third week to play us some of his compositions. It breathed new life into my perception of the show and I then realised that the same effect would take place when I saw it with the video projection as well. Craig and I tried to get a projector up and running for the final run through in rehearsals, but the blackout in the church hall was insufficient, or perhaps it was the tiny projector trying to blast out some big images...whichever, we wouldnt see it all together until the first dress rehearsal.

So, that was a potted history of Islands rehearsals...tune in for the next installment: Tech week

Jack

New show!!

2010-04-05T12:01:00.000-07:00

Hi all.

I am currently rehearsing TSF's new collaborative show Islands, which opens at the Queen's Hall, Hexham on the 22nd April. Rehearsals are going well; my hours are 1.30 - 10 most days. Its the first time i've done late(ish) shifts and I like them a lot. It wasn't so long ago I was a student doing fairly similar hours!! Although it's amazing how quickly I'd settled into a 9 - 5 routine!

I've been helping the production manager, the great Craig Davidson, gather props and costumes, order set parts, and generally bring the technical side of the show together. It has been fun...I've made contacts in the south Scottish milk industry, discovered the wonders of Oxfam's online shop and observed the rigorous and thorough work the cast and director do. During the show I will be manning the sound desk and the projection of video.

Today I went to pick up Juan Belda, the composer, from Newcastle airport. He has just arrived from Madrid and we had a very nice talk on the way back to Hexham. I can see I'm going to get lots of opportunities to speak more spanish in the coming weeks!! YAY!!!

hasta luego

Jack

Finally...some internet and time!

2010-03-22T09:23:00.001-07:00

Hi all,

We are in our last week of Contes Dores in the beautiful town of Harrogate. The show is going very well; our pack up time has quickened to 30 mins where needed and the kids are as enthusiastic as ever!

Since I last posted we enjoyed a week in Wokingham and Reading, performing to a variety of year groups in some lovely schools. We performed at a secondary school, which is always a bit nervy due to the quite childish nature of the show, but we were very well recieved there and it was much better than when we visited the same school last year. This was followed by a friday gig in the uber-picturesque village of Ewelme, south Oxfordshire. The school was amazing...it was like a castle; all nooks, crannies and mysterious corridors! Unfortunately their hall was really small, so we performed in the village hall just down the road. The kids and teachers really enjoyed the show and I think the whole school came to see it, which was nice, as you can always count on 6 year olds to get the crowd going!!

The following week we went to stay in Cambridge with Emilys mum Shona, and had a lovely time catching up with her. Shona came to Tunisia to spend christmas with Emily and we all had a great time with her out there. She cooked us some fab food, which always makes me happy! After staying with Shona we did a strange day in a town near Bedford, performing a great show in the morning to a really nice primary school, before moving next door for an afternoon show in a middle school. It was supposed to be for a teachers conference, but only 10 showed up, so some year 6s got brought in and were a bit confused by it all as they hadn't done any prep work on the story or vocab in the show...plus we were in a corner a cavernous sports hall! The teachers did enjoy it a lot though...we could hear them laughing throughout and the kids even managed to learn the choruses to the songs by the end of the show, so it was a success! We then went to do a show in Stretford, Manchester, which was very good. Lots of visiting primary schools came and really enjoyed themselves. This was followed by a show in Northwich at a high school with more visiting primaries.

Then I got to go home...yay!! We were away for 4 weeks and I had missed the north quite a lot...I was really chuffed to be back in the cold, dank grimness of Sunniside once again!

We have just finished a very rowdy show in our first school in Harrogate. They saw the show two years ago, before I was in it, and enjoyed it again!

After this week I begin rehearsals for Islands, which opens in Hexham on the 22nd April. I'm looking forward to being back in a theatre...not that I dont enjoy primary schools; there is always a great camaraderie to be found in the staff room, but I find there is much less mashed potato on the stage than in the school hall!!

hasta luego

Jack

Quick networky post...

2010-03-16T05:21:00.000-07:00

Hello to any readers of The Courier who are visiting this page after the article in the paper on Monday. Although there wasn't enough space in the article, we'd love for you all to become fans of us on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hexham-United-Kingdom/Theatre-Sans-Frontieres/132121159401 and/or follow us on Twitter - http://twitter.com/theatresansf

We are touring at the end of next month, and these will be good ways to stay in touch with us and see what we're up to! Of course, you can find all our tour dates, locations, information about previous shows and so on at http://www.tsf.org.uk

Thanks,

Stu

Busy, busy, busy + no internet = not very much blogging!

2010-03-04T03:11:00.000-08:00

Hi,

We have been touring hard in the south east, living in a cottage with no internet access. the show is going well. We have a morning off today, getting a little bit of internet time in, but it's not enough...we have to leave for Sonning Common high school in half an hour. So it's short and sweet today. I will try and write something with more substance this weekend when I go to visit my brother for his birthday in Totnes. I don't think he has the internet either though...I'll find a way though, he sleeps until mid afternoon, so there should be time in the morning!!

Ok Do k

Must rush

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Jack

Half Term

2010-02-16T06:36:00.000-08:00

Hi all.

Last week was exciting, full of ups and downs...

We performed in Newcastle, Blyth, Bishop Auckland, Wakefield, Warrington and Glasgow. The best Premier Inn was in Glasgow, for all who are interested! We were photographed a lot last week, lots of the schools wanted photos for their websites, newsletters and govenors. We posed after the show with some children from the schools. The performances we did were lively, the show is getting much closer to the 1hr 5min target, Warrington was 1hr 6!! We just need to keep Paddy on track!

On Wednesday night, while driving from Wakefield to Warrington, I put £60 worth of petrol into the van. When I took the company fuel card up to the kiosk to pay, they told me I'd put the wrong fuel in!! aaaaaaagh!! So I had to pay for the fuel, then we waited to get the fuel pumped out. We got to Warrington at half 10 and I felt really sheepish! Hopefully I will never do it again...I've heard loads of 'wrong fuel' stories from loads of people since, which has been nice!

Its half term now, Emily and Mariae have gone to Tunisia and Portugal respectively. Paddy is planning a new music show with a friend of his and I am taking a couple of days off before the final five weeks of the tour begins. I will also be doing some fixing jobs; sewing, spraying and stapling mainly!

The second part of the tour sees us bound for the south of England for four weeks. We will be in Kent, Essex, Beds, Oxford, Hampshire and more before finishing the tour with a week in Harrogate. We will be staying in rented accomodation, which I'm really looking forward to...I enjoy cooking my own food too much to be in hotels and restaurants all week!

Bye for now

Jack

I've been to Northumberland

2010-02-07T07:07:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

This week has been eventful. We started with a jump start of the van in Piercebridge and a squashed show in Staindrop, which was very lively! Then two shows on tuesday with a very rowdy but involved bunch of year 8s from Blyth! Then to the north of Northumberland, staying a night in Beadnell Towers on tuesday night, doing shows in Seahouses and Wooler on wednesday. We were in Alnwick on Thursday in the ornate Dukes Middle School hall, and a middle school in Bedlington on Friday. I went to look at a possible venue for the La Pelota tour in the autumn on thursday, it was good and I think we could use it.

Tonight I am off to Newcastle to do shows in the city and Blyth tomorrow. Then we are in Bishop Auckland on tuesday, my homeland! Wed, Thurs and Fri we are in Premier Inns in west Yorkshire and Glasgow, before its half term and Emily and Mairae go on holidays! While they're enjoying sun and warmth, I'm going to fix a chair leg, sew the set, and explore amplifier options!

Aaaah the life!

Jack

School dinners and map reading

2010-01-31T13:25:00.000-08:00

Hi,

We have finished the second week of Contes Dores tour. We have all driven lots, Paddy and I especially, as we travelled all the way up to Amble and back from our native south-west Durham. I have sewn, glued and sprayed lots! The show got much smoother last week, with our changes between scenes becoming less frantic. Emily, Mariae and Paddy are also remembering the order of the strike, which is very nice to see! We enjoyed school dinners at Murton community primary school and Hummersknott secondary! School dinners are a bit of a taboo for me!

This weekend I went to find a plastic apple and gold spray paint so I could respray the apples. One of the existing golden apples lost a stem, so I had to replace it...a very nice man at a fake plant shop gave me a golden delicious for free! I did some sewing as well, sorting out a basket lining, and making a new thing for the set so it looked a bit prettier.

This coming week we are going to stay in some B&Bs and hotels as we are in the far north of Northumberland for a few days. The following week sees us travel to Wakefield, Warrington and Glasgow, before half-term.

Speak soon

Jack

Busy, busy, busy

2010-01-24T13:16:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Since I last posted I have battled the snow trying to get to Aydon Castle Cottages where John and Sarah live. Paddy and I dropped the van there on the way back from Tunisia and it got snowed in pretty deep! I walked a mile one morning, from their house to my stuck car with armfulls of props I had to repair and remake. It was all fun though and I helped dig Sarah out a few times. I got all the props, education packs and costumes ready for the tour of Contes Dores to begin on Jan 18th. I also managed to do some database work for the office, as well as booking some hotels for us to stay in while on tour...aah the office life! I am enjoying it as much as the touring side of the job! It must be those lovely people who work there :)

We have now finished the first week of the tour. It has gone well, with lots of enthusiastic audiences and teachers. We are getting back into a good rhythm as a team now and I'm looking forward to the 5 weeks we will be spending on the road, once we are finished in the north east. We will be living in self-catering accomodation for a few weeks, which always creates a great bond between the crew.

Sorry for the delay in posts, but I have been very busy organising my first tax return!

I will post again before we are finished touring the north east.

Jack

2010-01-06T12:25:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of our time on the road to Tunisia...

Jack

Fethi looking gleeful as he sits in a right hand drive van! (Nabeul)

A night in the hotel bar with Jean-Louis, a Belgian lighting technician.

Me and dad in Dijon on the way through France.

Breakfast in Bruges...mmmmm!

Emily, Maria and I in Bruges main square.

Final episode of TSF goes to Tunisia

2010-01-05T01:39:00.001-08:00

Thursday continued...John and I looked at the tree after dinner and decided the best solution was for him to hold it in the play tomorrow! Paddy and I played songs late into the night with some people from Morocco and Iraq, fusing their Oud with our baritone ukulele!

Fri 25th...I was awoken by mum and dad bringing me some little presents and breakfast. They told me to be at a venue for a champagne reception at 12, which I went to. There was no sign of anyone from TSF however, and I sat outside this building for 40 minutes, before deciding that they had gone somewhere else. When I left I forgot to take the key to the room and my brother was still asleep as he is ill. So I ate lunch in the hotel, waiting for anyone from our group, with no luck. Then I walked into Nabeul, to see if they were in town, which they weren't! When I got back to the hotel at half 3, they were all there and we went to see a wonderful show by Jose Navarro, a Peruvian who lives in London. Afterwards mum, dad and I went to drink some tea in a little cafe and had a wicked chat to the proprietor about life and politics and some other things! We had a christmassy table for dinner, at which I played the scrooge...bah humbug!! We played more cards in the bar afterwards, with Eleanor winning again! Paddy and I played some songs until the bar closed before going to bed. It was a strange christmas day that is for sure!

Sat 26th...Today we perform our last show, in the hotel again. I think Emily, Sarah and Mariae have been promoting it very well and there will be a lot of people from the festival there as well as a lot of kids. I am going to see if we can do it in a bigger space than the one we performed in on monday. If lots of older, bigger people turn up then the room will be stupidly cramped!

Sat 26th continued...We managed to perform in a bigger room in the hotel, although we had to persuade a hotel worker to let us as he was setting the room up for a wedding! The show went really well; lots of people from the festival turned up and really enjoyed it. Some children who had seen it on monday came to see it again...they were revealing the plot quicker than we could at times!! After the show I went to fill up the van with fuel with Fethi while Mariae went to buy us food for the boat journey. We were given some gifts in the hotel lobby by Hamedi at about midnight. TSF recieved a very nice tile with the festival logo painted on it...i'm sure that will go up in the office soon.

Mon 27th...We woke up early, had breakfast and packed the van. Said goodbyes to people who were up and drove to La Goulette, the port in Tunis. Boarding the boat was much easier than getting on and off the last one, and we sat down to some lunch and left pretty much on time. It is very empty compared to the journey the other way. Mariae and Emily hadn't been to bed all night and fell asleep soon after we finished lunch I guess. Stupidly, dad and I left the food in their room and now we are really hungry. We have knocked on their door lots and I slipped a note under their door proclaiming our dire state, but they are probably fast asleep!! Hopefully they will wake up soon...While we waited I wrote some verses of a very promising pirate song, part of my pirate album, which you will hopefully be able to buy in a store near you in the near future!! They didn't wake up by 8pm, so we went to get some food from the really expensive onboard restaurant. As we were eating Mariae came in. Oh well! We watched some films in french in our rooms before sleeping thoroughly.

Tues 28th...Got off the ship on time and drove straight out of Marseille into the french countryside. Mariae and I made sandwiches in the back of the van as Paddy drove and I took over driving after 3 hours. We arrived in Troyes at 8 and went for a massive meal in the same restaurant Paddy, Emily and I had gone to on the way down. We laughed lots, reminiscing about a pretty amazing past two weeks, and felt generally knackered by the whole experience. It was the last night of us all being together as Emily was leaving for Paris on the train the following day and we were driving to Zeebrugge. We stayed in the restaurant for a good 2 and a half hours before going back to the hotel.

Weds 29th...Emily got her train ok, I did a little bit of late christmas shopping for mum and dad and Paddy took lots of pictures of Troyes. Mariae drove most of the way to Troyes while I made us some hearty sandwiches in the back. Paddy took over for the last 60 miles and we managed to have a drink in a cafe in Zeebrugge before getting on the boat. Now we are waiting for the buffet to open before finishing off our Tunisian wine. Then its bed and Britain tomorrow morning! I am really looking forward to getting back to the cold, grim north!!! The buffet was good and we talked to one of the bar men who we had spoken to on the way down, he remembered us as we remembered him, which was nice!

Thurs 30th...Got off the boat and into the country really quickly. Sorted out Mariae at the train station in Hull and drove back up north. Paddy and I dropped the van off at John and Sarahs at about 2pm and were home by 3. WOWEEE...what an epic and thoroughly tiring adventure! It is strange how just sitting in a van all day can really take it out of you...

Anyways, thats the end of my Tunisian tales...I will be posting updates on how things are going throughout the year, in a much less diary orientated format...

Until then

Au revoir

Jack

Doing shows, fixing things and making friends

2009-12-24T09:27:00.001-08:00

Actually, my first show on foreign soil was in Colombia when I was 11 in an adaptation of Shakespeares The Tempest.
We met Fethi Hassine today, 29, who has helped us throughout the festival. He is an english student who lives in Nabeul and has been coming to the festival for many years (the festival is 24 this year) He would like to be an english teacher when he has finished his studies. He took Paddy to a supermarket to buy water, then my mother to buy lunch. He has also accompanied pretty much everyone from our group around Nabeul, helping to translate and inform where neccesary. Contes Dores went well...we had a really packed room of children and their parents, although we were about an hour late in starting...that has become a theme!! We weren't allowed to play our music because there was a marine biology conference going on in the room next door. After doing the show we went to the official opening of the festival, which started late as well. There was a crazy acrobatics show which was most unsuitable for young children (I think) due to the beautiful, half-naked girls doing sexy dancing inbetween fire breathers and trapeze artists. Anyhoos, that was fun. We then enjoyed meeting lots of people from all over the world who are performing here too.

Tues 22nd...Don't think I did anything of great note today as we weren't performing. I went to see a school we will perform in on Thursday with Paddy. All was good regarding that and I enjoyed spending the rest of the day with my beloved brother Tom, who I wish I could see more.

Wed 23rd...Today we went to Menzel Bouzelfa, a town about 30 mins drive from Nabeul. We did a show in the town hall to a packed audience, which went really, really well! The children sung along to the songs, clapped when the heroes completed tasks and laughed throughout the show, especially when Paddy appeared as the king! We were given some very nice nutty cakes by the people from Menzel Bouzelfa before stopping for some oranges on the way back to Nabeul. I fixed Mariaes princess fan and made a new CD for some of the music in the show in the afternoon. We played card games in the bar that evening; cheat and shops, which made us all laugh a lot! Tom and I sang Bob Marley songs with some Tunisians in the bar before going to bed.

Thursday 24th...We went to perform in the school today. The show was great, with the kids interacting with Mariae all the time. They really enjoyed singing the songs and helping Petit Jean find the magic brush and magic mirror. Performing here is really incredible; the audience becomes part of the show in a way I haven't experienced in Britain before. They clap all the time; when Paddy enters as the king, he normally gets a standing ovation at the very least! Some props did break today though, the tree snapped in half as we were bringing it to life, and the witch puppet lost her broom as we were packing the van at the end. I will brainstorm how to fix the tree in time for Saturdays performance tonight, and fix it tomorrow. I will have to make a new one on returning to the UK...c'est la vie.

Ciao for now

Jack

Bonjour au Tunisie

2009-12-21T00:50:00.000-08:00

Hi all, Jack here. We have finally made it to Nabeul, Tunisia!! Here's how it went...

WED 16th...after doing a successful run through in the morning, we packed the set into the van and left for Hull. The boat journey was enjoyable...I ate a huge load of food in the all you-can-eat buffet and we drank some Hoegaardens before sleeping.

Thurs 17th...I was not expecting snow when we drove off the ferry!!! We faffed around for a while in a lay-by trying to figure out where we should put those stickers on the lights so we didn't blind everyone we drove past. Eventually we decided to have a breakfast of coffee and waffles in Bruges and solve the problem afterwards...which we did! Maybe the lack of coffee was why we couldn't be decisive!? Then it was the French open road, with a little stop for food in a Leclerc somewhere. Driving was tough going as it was very snowy. We arrived in the beautiful town of Troyes in the early evening, had a very nice dinner of Boef Bourgnoinge (I think) and went to bed.

Fri 18th...Woke up early to find an inch and a half of snow on the van. We heated it up, scraped ice from the windows and set off to Marseille. We sang songs and played my baritone ukulele as Mariae drove along in the snow. Stopped in the suburbs of Dijon so Emily could send some correspondence while we had a coffee, then got back on the road. As we passed Lyon, the conditions began to get better, and by the time we reached Marseilles the sun was shining, although it was still only 2 degrees! We faffed around trying to find somewhere safe to park in Marseilles before Paddy and I went to meet a friend from Durham who is studying in the city for a year. I ate Boullaingaises (I think thats how you spell it) the signature Marseille dish, which is a not very nice fish soup! I have realised that this trip would be a lot better/easier if I could speak French! Oh well...you work with what you've got...the lines from the show basically!!

Sat 19th...We woke up super early to be at the port for 8.30, which was totally unneccesary as we are still not going anywhere, an hour after we should have left! We sat in the van for some three hours in massive queues inching our way towards various kiosks to have our passports and tickets looked at. Avoided a few slow motion collisions with impatient North Africans before boarding at 11.30 (the supposed time of departure!!) I managed to find Fulham vs Manchester Utd on Canal+, which made me very happy!

Sun 20th...The ferry is expensive.The food on the boat was ridiculously overpriced; we ate a salad and desert menu for 20 euros before retiring last night. I watched a french reality tv show, 'the battle of the choirs', which was so boring I fell asleep! I awoke this morning to sunny skies and a more violent rocking of the ship. I wasted lots of hours watching a nature programme about fish, sharks and octopuses, then a France vs Russia handball match! Now it is almost 3pm and we can see Tunisia. We cannot go into the harbour however, I think we are so late we have to wait for a free period. We have been on the ship for 27 hours now and we were supposed to arrive at 8.30 this morning. Some time today we will get off onto African soil and drive to Nabeul, where I will post this from the hotel. Until then it's more rocking and rolling as we go round in circles in Tunis bay, and Herman Hesse's Steppenwolf...

We finally got off the boat at 6pm, before waiting for another 3 hours in the docks getting through customs. We were on the ship for 30 hours in the end. After making it through customs (thanks go to Emily...we couldn't have done it without her) we drove to Nabeul, and met Hamedi, the festival organiser and his crew. They asked us if we could do the show in English, which made us laugh as we ran through the first few scenes...it sounds much much better in French! We will see about doing it in English, though I think we won't as we can't help laughing! We went for a well earned beer in the in-hotel club before going for some well earned sleep!

Mon 21st...The cast are meeting in the foyer in 5 minutes to put the set up and get ready for our first performance at 12.30 today! I am very excited to be doing my first show on foreign soil!

Speak to you soon

Jaques

A placeholder...

2009-12-15T03:42:00.000-08:00

NOTE: This is Stu, TSF's e-marketing placementee [what IS the proper word to use there?!], not Jack who will be the usual author of these posts. I just wanted to post something here to whet potential reader's appetites, as this turkey and stuffing sandwich is doing to mine. There's nothing sadder than an empty blog :(

Travelling stories always make for an interesting read; combining it with the trials, triumphs and tribulations of a travelling theatre troupe means that this blog is bound to be one worth following. We really hope you enjoy it!

Merry early Christmas from Theatre Sans Frontieres!