THIS WEEK: Fragments of an Artist

Fragments of an Artist, a collection of pieces by Eleanor Rodda, is performing THIS Sunday at The Harrison Pub in Kings Cross (postcode WC1H 8JF).

The four-strong ensemble have been hard at work on the collection, each piece featuring the fragility of the artist and it's place in our collective consciousness.

We are delighted to have each of the performers back, as well as stage manager Mariana Gorey, as we have worked with each of them during 2012, Absent's first year. Each of them give outstanding performances and bring their talent and focus to Rodda's scripts, in collaboration with director Amy Gunn.

We sincerely hope you can join us at The Harrison Pub at 7:30pm for Absent's last performance of 2012. As we close our first year of production, we look forward to 2013, bringing a taste of what is to come in Sunday's show.

Absent Theatre

Rehearsal Photos: Fragments of an Artist

Photos from today's rehearsal with Julius de Mattos and Ryan Wichert. The boys are rehearsing 'Service in Ash', a fragment featuring playwright Christopher Marlowe and his lover.

With thanks to Greenwich Theatre for use of their rehearsal space.

Rehearsal Photos: Fragments of an Artist

Have a look at these photos of Rachel Eireann and Danielle McNally rehearsing for three of the four "Fragments" today. Many thanks to The Harrison for letting us use the venue for our rehearsal.

Email absent.theatrecompany@ymail.com for discounted tickets for our new show on the 9th December.

Fragments of an Artist: Discounted Ticket Offer!

We are offering a reduced rate on tickets for Fragments of an Artist if you confirm attendance early.

Email us at absent.theatrecompany@ymail.com to be put on a discounted list. Pay only £3.50 for your ticket on the door instead of £5!

Fragments of an Artist, 9th December at 7:30pm
The Harrison Pub, Kings Cross

Fragments of an Artist: The Cast and Crew

We are delighted to announce the cast and crew for 'Fragments of an Artist', performing for one night only at The Harrison Pub, Kings Cross. The show features an ensemble of four incredible performers in different combinations to share four new pieces from Absent Theatre's playwright in residence, Eleanor Rodda and realised by Absent Theatre's artistic director, Amy Gunn.

Ryan Wichert first worked with Absent Theatre in 'Old Rabbis in the Sky' in March, playing Greek. Since then he has featured in the September production of 'Lost/Faith/Art'. We are thrilled to collaborate with Ryan for a third time on this new show and eagerly anticpate working with him again.

Rachel Eireann has been with Absent Theatre since its launch in January 2012 with 'Lost/Faith/Art'. Since then she has performed in 'Old Rabbis in the Sky' and with director Amy Gunn's sister company, Plain Sight. To continue working with Rachel is a sheer pleasure and we are so happy to embark upon another project with her.

Julius De Mattos returns after his performance of Deacon in 'Old Rabbis in the Sky'. Since working with him in March, we've been determined to cast Julius in another Absent project. We are delighted to finally work out mutual scheduling clashes and work with this fantastic actor again!

Danielle McNally first performed with Absent Theatre this September in 'Lost/Faith/Art'. To have her back so quickly is a joy and we look forward to exploring this more conventional performance with such a talented and intelligent actress.

In addition to a stunning line up onstage, we are working with two amazing talents from 'Old Rabbis in the Sky'.

Callum Jackson provided the design work for 'Old Rabbis in the Sky', creating our publicity material and programmes. His work for 'Fragments of an Artist' coincides with the launch of our new logo, another example of his work with Absent Theatre.

Mariana Gorey returns as stage manager after her work on 'Old Rabbis in the Sky'. Our previous productions have been so small we have not used a stage manager so this is our first opportunity to ask Mariana back. We look forward to working with her again!

'Fragments of an Artist' is on at The Harrison Pub at Kings Cross on Sunday 9th December. Tickets are £5 and the show begins at 7:30pm.

Work in Progress.

A short piece from Eleanor Rodda:

"Oh yes rain, rain of course there is rain – I will stand here and be loudly dissatisfied, such is the nature of things – and it will rain. Of course I smoke. Notice the hacking cough and I’ll be coarse throughout as I should be, as I should be in this: too well fitted jacket, having lost the effect of effortlessness that it once had; that I once had."

Footage From Patience is on YouTube.

A performance of 'Patience' is now available to watch on YouTube.

This performance is the opening ten minutes of an original thirty minute script, written by Eleanor Rodda in 2010. This is the recording of the performance from Battersea Barge as part of Encompass Productions' Bare Essentials event on 1st August 2012. Performed by Clare Langford and Ellie Morris, directed by Amy Gunn and assisted by Ben Mills for the Bare Essentials event.

A big thank you to Encompass Productions for filming and uploading footage to YouTube, and for having us for the event!

You can watch the footage here.

Fragments of an Artist

New show for December 2012.

A collection of work by Eleanor Rodda.

'Tales of love, truth and loss celebrating some of the most fragile amongst us; the artist.'
Directed by Amy Gunn.

9th December, The Harrison Pub, Kings Cross.

From 7:30pm, tickets £5.

Photos from Lost/Faith/Art

A sneak peek at some of the photos from September's Lost/Faith/Art at The Harrison Pub, King's Cross.

 

It was fantastic to re-visit the piece, and very interesting to do so with three separate pairings over three nights. We clocked up a total of nine hours on an endless performance - and we're still not done with it!

 

A thank you to all our performers, including John Fricker who stepped in at very short notice to participate in the show on the 21st.

 

Thank you to The Harrison Pub, who were fantastically helpful in the run up to and excution of the production.

 

And a sincere thank you to all who attended, some of whom sat through until the very end. We hope you enjoyed our performance and we hope to see you at another Absent Theatre event very soon.

 

Amy and Eleanor

Absent Theatre.

 

 

19th September: Ryan Wichert and Ana Luderowski

19th September: Ana Luderowski and Ryan Wichert

20th September: JP Lord and Evelyn Campbell

20th September: JP Lord and Evelyn Campbell

21st September: John Fricker and Danielle McNally

21st September: John Fricker and Danielle McNally

Tonight: Lost/Faith/Art

The t-shirts are packed, tickets printed, ambient playlist compiled (involving much discussion of our collective music tastes) and we are on our way to The Harrison Pub in Kings Cross.

We're very excited about the relaunch of Lost/Faith/Art - we thoroughly enjoyed it's premiere in January and are thrilled to welcome a new cast of six talented performers for this extended run.

Join us for any length of time this week. Just seeing ten minutes you can appreciate the performance - but we have had people witnessing the whole three hours before. We are also offering repeat entrance for the whole run. So if you enjoy what you see tonight you can come back on Thursday or Friday for no extra cost. Just £3 for up to nine hours of performance art.

We sincerely hope you can join us for our sixth performance this year - another evening of Absent oddness!

Cheers then!

Amy and Eleanor
Absent Theatre

Trailer: Lost/Faith/Art

As we draw closer to our re-launch of Lost/Faith/Art, opening this Wednesday, please check out our first trailer:

Lost/Faith/Art is performing THIS Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Join us at The Harrison Pub in Kings Cross from 7:30pm for the admission price of just £3 - one ticket for all three nights - return as much as you like!

Amy and Eleanor.

Lost/Faith/Art - Meet The Cast

In only nine days' time, Absent Theatre will be relaunching endurance performance art installation Lost/Faith/Art.

After its premiere (and Absent's launch performance) at The Parlour Studio and Project Space in Kentish Town, London, we've always wanted to revisit the work. The four hour session we spent on the work threw open the doors to so much that we didn't feel we had begun our exploration of it. To return to it after eight months feels like another fresh approach but one we are attacking with renewed enthusiasm and purpose. We know what we want to do with the piece and that it works in this format.

The biggest alteration to the production is the extension of the three night run at The Harrison Pub, Kings Cross. As such, we have triple-cast the piece, featuring a brand new exploration every night. Each performance is unique.

On Wednesday 19th September, the performance features Ana Luderowski opposite Ryan Wichert. Luderowski has worked with director Amy Gunn (as stage manager) on 'Spring Awakening' (Brockley Jack Studio Theatre).

After playing Greek in 'Old Rabbis in the Sky' (Tristan Bates Theatre), we are thrilled to welcome Wichert back to Absent Theatre. Since Old Rabbis he has also performed in Edinburgh as part of director Amy Gunn's independent production company, Plain Sight.



On Thursday 20th September we have Evelyn Campbell opposite JP Lord. Both Campbell and Lord have worked together on 'Spring Awakening' and are new to Absent Theatre. We welcome these two exciting emerging actors to the company and are thrilled to work with them on this piece.

On Friday 21st September our final performance will feature Danielle McNally and Oliver Malam. A graduate of Goldsmiths College, while McNally is new to Absent Theatre, she saw the original performance of Lost/Faith/Art in January - so she may have more of an idea of what lies ahead!

Malam has performed with Absent before in a preview of 'Patience' this July. This is his second production with the company and we are delighted to work with him again.


Welcome all actors, returning and new alike!

Coming Up: Lost/Faith/Art at The Harrison Pub, Kings Cross

Location: The Harrison Pub, Kings Cross, London

Dates: 19th - 21st September

This September Absent Theatre presents the second production of Lost/Faith/Art - an installation endurance performance featuring the writing of Eleanor Rodda and staging rehearsal (led by director Amy Gunn) as performance.

This time, three pairs will explore the text, a different pairing each night. You are welcome to join us for as long as you wish, spending time in the basement rehearsal space or surfacing for refreshment at the bar of our host venue, The Harrison Pub,

Admission for the whole night is £3, tickets can be bought on the door - details of advance bookings to follow.

Absent Theatre at Avignon Festival

Last week was a very prolific week for Absent. While previews of 'Patience' have been staged in London, our writer, Eleanor, was at the Avignon Festival with a French translation of 'Old Rabbis in the Sky' (or 'Les Vieux Rabbins Dans Le Ciel').

Read Eleanor's account below:

On a gloriously hot day myself, Cyrielle Garson and our two stunning actresses, Loren Troubat and Pauline Vermeule headed to the University of Avignon. I had been busy exploring the Festival, while the girls had been considering how to stage the reading. They decided to use the characters, by placing their names on the ground and moving between them, so that the audience was more aware the relationships between them. This was a formula of reading I was unfamiliar with, but after a little tweaking in rehearsal it worked perfectly for the script. All we had to do now was to wait for an audience!

Well we had a small turnout for the Performed Reading of ‘Old Rabbis in the Sky’ but it was an unmitigated success. The feedback and comments after the reading lasted longer than the theatre and was insightful and positive. Many commented on the high standard of the translation, the use of heightened language and how well it had been translated into the French. At the same time everyone noted how the play remained faithful to my voice and to its Englishness. There was one Parisian student, who found the play very moving, and several asked to see copies of the text in both French and English.

Needless to say after discovering not only the epic and utopian Avignon Festival, but also the very talented translator Cyrielle Garson, we are planning to return if possible next year, both Amy and I taking Absent Theatre international. All I can say is a big thank you to Cyrielle, Loren Troubat and Pauline Vermeule for all their hard work and their hospitality. It was a week not to be forgotten.

Eleanor


Stay tuned for more international Absent Theatre news coming soon.

Coming up: Patience at Bare Essentials

Absent Theatre is delighted to announce a further performance of our extract of 'Patience' in forthcoming event, Bare Essentials.

Hosted by Encompass Productions at Battersea Barge, and in collaboration with

Mixed(up) Productions, the event showcases new writing and emerging artists.

We are very excited to be included in this event. Preparations are now underway at Absent HQ for the performance at Battersea Barge on the 1st August.

Due to actor Oliver Malam's schedule, we have re-cast his role and are thrilled to welcome Ellie Morris to the team, following her performance in Spring Awakening at the Brockley Jack.

We also are delighted to welcome Ben Mills, who joins this round of rehearsals as Assistant Director.

Details of the event are available here:
http://www.facebook.com/EncompassOnline

Stayed tuned for rehearsal photos.

Rehearsal photos: Patience

A couple of photos from today's rehearsal of 'Patience'.

It's been a brief rehearsal period, but an exciting one. We've been working with actors new to Absent; Clare Langford and Oliver Malam. It's been great encountering the script as a new team and I'm looking forward to Sunday very much!

Amy

Rehearsal week: Patience

This week sees the return of Absent Theatre with a 10 minute preview of Eleanor's 2010 work 'Patience'. This marks Absent Theatre's first production of the work, though it has been staged in Lincoln and Sheffield previously.

Rehearsals begin on Thursday with a performance at the Brockley Jack scratch night on the 15th July. A whirlwind rehearsal period.

The play, a portrait of a relationship in three movements, features two actors new to Absent Theatre; Clare Langford and Oliver Malam. Having seen their work in productions of As You Like It and Spring Awakening respectively, we are very excited to begin working with them both.

Tickets are available from the Brockley Jack's website here:

http://www.brockleyjack.co.uk/brockley_jack_studio_whats_on.html


Or just come along on the 15th. The night starts at 6pm. Tickets are £7 each for a whole night of new material.

New Play: Patience

Since 'Old Rabbis in the Sky' performed to sell-out houses in March, Absent Theatre has been relatively quiet. Spring/Summer has been rather busy for us, for different reasons.



Eleanor has been working on her final submission for her MA in Writing for Performance at Goldsmiths College. 'On Beauty' had its first reading at the Soho Theatre on 6th July, produced by Ugly Sister Productions. She's now preparing to attend the Avignon Theatre Festival, France, for a reading of 'Old Rabbis in the Sky' (the readings are in both English and French).



I've been working as a stage manager (the day job) on The Great Gatsby at Wilton's Music Hall and on Spring Awakening at The Brockley Jack Studio Theatre. Both productions received excellent reviews and have been great fun to work on.



But now it is time to look towards our next production. Written by Eleanor Rodda in 2010, 'Patience' is a portrait of a relationship in three movements.



'Patience' has been staged in Sheffield, and more recently in Lincoln. This performance marks Absent Theatre's first production of the work. Our first performance is hosted by Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, as part of their scratch night on the 15th July. This is a 10 minute preview of the work, to gain audience feedback.



Tickets for Brockley Jack's night can be found via their website:
http://www.brockleyjack.co.uk/brockley_jack_studio_whats_on.html



We are then staging the full play on the 19th, 20th and 21st September at The Harrison Pub, Kings Cross. Please stay tuned for further details.


Until then,

Amy

Welcome to Absent Theatre

Welcome to the blog for Absent Theatre Company.



Founded in 2011, Absent Theatre is the partnership between playwright Eleanor Rodda and director Amy Gunn.

Eleanor Rodda is about to graduate from Goldsmiths College, University of London with a Masters in Writing for Performance, after a BA in English and Drama from the University of Sheffield. All of these studies have had aspects of philosophy and this interest is a heavy influence in her work. She has written and performed for The Sheffield Crucible as part of their Youth Associate Network, and published performance texts for the University of Sheffield. She has acted in Productions for the Pomegranate Theatre in Chesterfield and as a teenager, wrote in association with the Nottingham Playhouse. Eleanor's second work with Absent Theatre, Old Rabbis in the Sky has been translated into French and is due to be performed at Avignon Festival this July.

Amy Gunn works as a director and stage manager in London after graduating from The University of Sheffield with a BA in English and Drama in 2010. During her degree she completed two dissertations in performance, one in devised physical performance and the second explored the staging of violent and sexual scenes in theatre, staging work by Sarah Kane. In 2009 Amy assistant directed Howard Barker’s The Castle at The University of Sheffield as part of the 21 for 21 Festival. In addition to directing, Amy works in stage management, having worked on shows at The Southwark Playhouse, The Southbank Centre, The King’s Head Theatre and Wilton’s Music Hall.

Having met at university in 2009, the pair have worked together on several productions. Absent Theatre is the collective name for performances solely written by Eleanor Rodda and directed by Amy Gunn.