The Fisherman’s Daughter – 2016 – 17
tinderbox – autumn 2015
‘A captivating twist on an original tale’
Play by Jacqueline Avery
Music by Joe Butcher
A war-torn soldier and an obstinate princess – aided by three unearthly dogs, a strange and wizened woman with a magic tinderbox – discover the unbreakable bonds of true love.
This new play gives a classic Hans Christian Andersen tale an illuminating Jurassic Coast twist, and AsOne AsCend ensemble add heart and soul dusted with humour.
‘tinderbox’ is an audio-visual treat to thrill all the family. Powerful physical storytelling; puppetry; shadow play and animated imagery – accompanied by live, original music and song – combine to create a spell-binding experience whatever your age.
AsOne AsCend ensemble is putting the magic back into family theatre.
Writer/Director Song-writer
Cast
– click on photos for more information
‘tinderbox’ tour 2015
Friday 16 October | 7.00pm | The Corn Exchange, Dorchester, Dorset | 01305 266926 | www.dorchestercornexchange.com |
Wednesday 21 October | – | Burton Bradstock C of E Primary School | Students only | |
Thursday 22 October | – | St Michaels Primary School, Lyme Regis | Students only | |
Friday 23 October | – | Symondsbury C of E Primary School | Students only | |
Saturday 24 October | 2.30pm | The Groundlings Theatre, Portsmouth, Hants | 023 9273 7370 | www.groundlings.co.uk |
Wednesday 28 October | 2.30pm | The Regal Theatre, Minehead, Somerset | 01643 706430 | www.regaltheatre.co.uk |
Thursday 29 October | 7.30pm | The Princess Theatre, Burnham on Sea, Somerset | 01278 793099 | www.princesstheatreandartscentre.co.uk |
Friday 30 October | 7.30 pm | The Mowlem Theatre, Swanage, Dorset | 01929 422239 | www.mowlemtheatre.com |
Wednesday 04 November | 7.00pm | The Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton, Somerset | 01823 274 608 | www.tauntontheatre.org.uk |
Friday 06 November | 7.30pm | Manor Pavilion, Sidmouth, Devon | 01395 576798 | www.manorpavilion.com |
Saturday 07 November | 7.30pm | Athenaeum Centre, Warminster, Wilts | 01985 213891 | www.theath.org.uk |
Thursday 12 November | 7.30pm | Greenford Primary School, Maiden Newton, Dorset | Students only | |
Friday 13 November | 7.30pm | Pavilion Theatre, Esplanade, Weymouth, Dorset | 01305 783225 | www.weymouthpavilion.com |
Saturday 14 November | 2.30/7.30pm | The Rondo Theatre, Bath | 01225 444003 | www.rondotheatre.co.uk |
Friday 20 November | tbc | Hanger Farm, Totton, Southampton | 023 8066 7274 | www.totton.ac.uk/hanger-farm |
Friday 4 December | 7.30pm | Shelley Theatre, Boscombe, Dorset | 01202 413 600 | www.shelleytheatre.co.uk |
Saturday 5 December | 2.30/7.30pm | Shelley Theatre, Boscombe, Dorset | 01202 413 600 | www.shelleytheatre.co. |
—————————————————–
1918 – 2014
True Stories of War and Love
100 Years Apart
PASSION
– Line of Departure
By Stephanie Dale
Multi-award winning AsOne Theatre Company present
a gripping new piece of theatre with live music – five incredible stories of families affected by war. The play has been created using real testimony from people: who’ve fought in Afghanistan; who’ve waved their child off to fight; who’ve discovered a WW1 relative’s diary. Intertwined with extensive research and dusted with talent this is affecting theatre at its best.
AsOne Theatre Company’s project 2014/15 ‘PASSION’ had live music, song and film and was timed for the anniversary of the start of WW1 and the planned final exit of UK troops from Afghanistan. Funding in place from Arts Council England, The Heritage Lottery Fund, West Dorset District Council. It was premiered at The Corn Exchange, Dorchester and toured from Wednesday 8 October 2014 – throughout wider Wessex and into Gloucester, London, Bath and Bristol – until our finale in Weymouth in November 2014. In 2018 we plan a national tour out of Edinburgh with some secondary schools hosting us where we will not only perform but offer workshops (Tel. 01305 835541 if you are interested). A big thank you to our Major Sponsor Brewery Square Dorchester who invested £1500 towards our Marketing Budget ensuring the quality of our marketing. We are always thrilled to have such amazing partnerships. http://www.brewerysquare.com/
Tour List Information about the Creative Team follows the tour list.
Wednesday 08 October | 8.00pm | The Corn Exchange, Dorchester, Dorset | 01305 266926 |
Thursday 09 October | 7.30pm | Hanger Farm AC, Totton, Southampton, Hants | 023 8066 7274 |
Friday 10 October | 7.30pm | The Mowlem Theatre, Swanage, Dorset | 01929 422239 |
Wednesday 15 October | 7.30pm | The Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton, Somerset | 01823 274 608 |
Thursday 16 October | 7.30pm | The Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, Gloucs. | 01684 295074 |
Friday 17 October | 7.30pm | The Princess Theatre, Burnham on Sea, Somerset | 01278 793099 |
Wednesday 22 October | Schools Perf. | Budmouth College, Weymouth | Private |
Friday 24 & Saturday 25 October | 7.30pm | Omnibus, Clapham Arts Centre, London | 020 7498 4699 |
Wednesday 29 October | 7.30pm | Shaftesbury Arts Centre, Dorset | 01747 854321 |
Saturday 1 November | 7.30pm | The Shelley Theatre, Boscombe, Dorset | 01202 413 600 |
Thursday 6 November | 7.30pm | The Cygnet Theatre, Exeter, Friars Gate Devon | 01392 277189 |
Friday 07 November | 7.30pm | The Manor Pavilion, Sidmouth, Devon | 01395 576798 |
Saturday 08 November | 7.30 pm | The Athenaeum Theatre, Warminster, Wilts. | 01985 213891 |
Wednesday 12 November | School’sPerf. | Parkstone Grammar School, Poole, Dorset | Private performance |
Thursday 13 November | 7.30pm | Swindon Arts Centre, Devizes Rd., Wilts. | 01793 524481 |
Friday 14 November | School’s Perf | Royal Manor School, IPACA, Portland | Private |
Thursday 20 November | 7.30pm | The Groundlings Theatre, Portsmouth, Hants. | 023 9273 7370 |
Friday 21 November | 7.30pm | Pavilion Theatre, The Esplanade, Weymouth, Dorset | 01305 783225 |
THE CREATIVE TEAM Multi-award winning AsOne Theatre Company has gathered a creative team par excellence: Playwright – Stephanie Dale; Director – Peter Leslie Wild; Composer and Musical Director: Tim Laycock
Stephanie Dale was our commissioned playwright http://www.stephaniedale.org
Current commissions include: For the Past 30 Years (Birmingham REP, 2014) Alice in Wonderland; (Theatre in the Quarter,2014) Passion, a play about the First World War and the exit from Afghanistan, (AsOne Theatre, touring 2014) and A World Beyond Man; (Arena Theatre and tour, 2014). Recent work includes: Chester Mystery Plays;(cast of 250 at Chester Cathedral, June-July 2013) an adaptation of Moonfleet; which toured the South West (BristolOld Vic Theatre School, May-June 2013). Believe Me; (nominated for the Tinniswood Award 2011, BBC Radio Four, 2011) andThe Witches’ Promise ;(cast of 120, Birmingham REP @ Weoley Castle Ruins, July 2012). Other work includes: Mary Macarthur; (cast of 80, Midland Actors Theatre) and A Time to Keep; co-written with David Edgar, (cast of 120, Dorchester Community Play Association, November 2007). A Time to Keep is published by Nick Hern Books. Stephanie taught Applied Drama at Loughborough University for seven years and was a Supervisor on the MRES in Playwriting at the University of Birmingham for five years. She currently teaches Writing and Devising at Birmingham School of Acting. Stephanie has facilitated playwriting workshops in over 500 schools, colleges and universities and has facilitated over 50 pieces of community based theatre projects. She has also written four large- scale plays for schools. She has an MA in Playwriting (University of Birmingham, 1998) BA (Hons) Theatre and Media Drama, 1996.
Peter Leslie Wild directed. http://www.peterlesliewild.com/ Peter Leslie Wild is a theatre director and audio drama producer with more than 20 years’ experience in the business. Since winning the 1989 BP Young Directors Award he has worked in a vast range of media including theatre, radio and video. He set up and ran the Community Programme for the Orange Theatre between 1991 and 1995, before moving to the BBC where he produced and directed hundreds of radio dramas for Radio 4, Radio 4 Extra, Radio 3 and Radio 2. He has also made a speciality of site-specific work, creating theatre and audio in vast cathedrals, a Roman gold mine, the streets of cities, and museums and art galleries. He is known for combining drama and documentary, having produced more than 25 drama-documentaries for Radio 4, two of which won the prestigious Prix Marulic. His site-specific audio work has often included a documentary element, as in the Titanic Trail, which mixed commentary and drama to tell the story of the designer of the ill-fated Titanic; and the National Trust audio trail for Dolaucothi Gold Mine, which features interviews with archaeologists and dramatic inserts. In the theatre, Peter has directed major site-specific work such as The Chester Mystery Plays (Chester Cathedral and Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, 2013), and The Worcester Pilgrim (Worcester Cathedral), right down to small scale touring and work in regional reps such as The New Vic, Stoke.
Tim Laycock composed and arranged original and traditional music. http://www.timlaycock.co.uk/He is well known in Dorset as a folk musician, composer, playwright, director, actor, and storyteller. Tim toured as musical director for A Winter’s Tale with the RSC earlier this year, directed the local New Hardy Players The Woodlanders, and continues to perform his Tuneful Stories at Max Gate, tour the his own ‘Time Clock’ performance piece . Tim is an extraordinary talent and genuinely loved wherever he performs or works. He has written 10 plays for theatre companies, and continues to work for Solomon Theatre with writing, arranging and playing in two short plays for senior citizens: Trickster, which has received over 450 performances to date; and Too Good to be True, both directed by Mark Hyde. Sonia Ritter and he perform in The Land; and Tim’s own play about William Barnes: The Year Clock with musician Colin Thompson is also still being booked. He is currently appearing in Whoops, Apothecary! with Alan Cheeseman for Theatre Merchants.
AsOne Theatre Company Associate, Annette Sumption designed the set, props and costume. Annette has 30 years experience of Theatre design and has worked throughout the UK since 1977 including: The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield; The Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke; Contact Theatre, Manchester and in London’s West End. This will be her fourth design for asOne Theatre and we are delighted.
Jane McKell has been AsOne Theatre’s founding Artistic Director/Producer for 10 years. The company draws upon the experience of Jane’s work with memory projects in theatre, education, the community, and on both commercial and BBC radio. Jane set up AsOne Theatre Productions in 2004 to employ Dorset based professional theatre practitioners and shake hands with the community whilst taking real Wessex stories to theatres all over the region and encouraging new writing. An experienced professional actor, singer, director and theatre producer Jane has toured regionally and nationally in everything from Pantomime to contemporary and classical theatre with a little film and television for good measure. She feels it is a privilege to explore real, regional stories and then create exciting, bitter-sweet theatre that informs whilst genuinely pulling at the heart strings.
HOW DID WE CREATE OUR THEATRE PIECE – PASSION?
We asked ‘Has your family lived or are you living in Wider Wessex; either: Dorset, Devon, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Bath or Bristol and have you either family connections or direct stories to tell about WW1 or the Afghanistan Conflict?’ The response was wonderful and some fantastic families came on board from Portland, Weymouth, Bournemouth, Dorchester and Bath. Their stories touched, amazed and thrilled us.
Dorset based, Award winning, AsOne Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Jane McKell, accompanied by film and radio expert, Andy Worth collected and recorded real stories from Wessex families as research, for Stephanie Dale our playwright to interweave some of these remarkable stories writing a brand new theatre piece with live music; as well as create pod-casts for the internet, and a radio documentary as a legacy. The creative team chosen is of standing and experience. Playwright, Stephanie Dale; director Peter Leslie Wild, and Composer/Musician Tim Laycock are joining forces with Artistic Director/producer Jane McKell commissioned by AsOne Theatre Company to respectively write, direct, compose, design and produce a premier tour of ‘PASSION’ – Stories of War and Love 100 Years Apart
“Intertwining stories from the First World War and the Afghan War, Passion integrates genuine memories, original live music and song to create a poignant, sometimes funny, vivid and surprising take on the effect of war on combatants and families alike.”
AsOne asked Wessex people willing to talk openly about their own experience as a soldier or what it is like to have children, husbands, fathers or brothers and sisters away fighting in Afghanistan; some who returned safely, some injured, some who lost loved ones to the conflict. We talked to descendants of Great War combatants about the stories, photos and diaries handed down by their relatives, who were involved in WW1 in Europe, Messapotamia, Gallipoli or Russia. All research was handled sensitively and with respect, with people’s anonymity preserved if that was requested.
If you would like to further contribute to exhibitions that will be touring with us and share relevant memories, letters or diaries please do so by writing to: info@as-onetheatre.co.uk
or AsOne Theatre Company ‘Talbothays’, 3, Osmington Lodge, Osmington, Weymouth Dorset DT3 6EX
100 – autumn 2013
'100' 2013
Award winning AsOneTheatre Company proudly presented it newest venture 2013: AsCend Physical Theatre chosing Diene Petterle, Neil Monaghan, and Christopher Heimann’s thought provoking ‘100’ as its first touring production.
Imagine you had to choose just one memory to take into eternity, and that you would re-live that treasured memory afresh, experiencing it as for the first time over and over and over. That is what four characters are urged to do by a mysterious other – to a count of ‘100’! This singular decision turns out to be far more difficult than any can imagine. It challenges the way each have lived, loved, observed, and even valued life itself; there are implications none would have guessed. What memory would you choose?
Award winning AsOne Theatre presented its new sister company AsCend Physical Theatre with an imaginative, energetic approach to story-telling and a huge heart that will leave the audience buzzing with images, thoughts and questions. Written by Diene Petterle, Neil Monaghan and Christopher Heimann ‘100’ is an Edinburgh First winning production – realised anew by AsCend in collaboration with acclaimed director Peter John Cooper.
Directed by Jacqueline Avery and Peter John Cooper
Music by Simon Swarbrick
Animation by Thomas Hughes
AsCend is touring late September through to late November 2013, and would love to come to your theatre. We also offer an optional audience Q & A post-performance; this comes at no extra-cost.
Our Final Performance of the tour is now upon us!
21st November 013 – Weymouth Pavilion Theatre, Weymouth, Dorset Box Office: 01305 783225 www.weymouthpavilion.com
There is a planned National Tour in Spring 2015
If we have already performed at your theatre we are always keen to return; if you have yet to see us in action we would be very excited to share ‘100’ with your audiences.
Programmers – Tel: 01305 835541 for more information
‘100’ – Fringe First Winner 2002
‘… this breathtaking piece of theatre. I do believe I will remember it, in both my head and my heart, all of my life. It is a tiny, huge, simple, complex play that touched me in places I didn’t even know I had. (…) This play moved me more profoundly than anything I can remember seeing in theatre..’ The Scotsman, Edinburgh
The Cast
- Mainga Mayeya
- Ellis J Wells
- Maya Aitken
- Jacqueline Avery
- Jane McKell
Photographs from the technical rehearsal – click on a thumbnail to launch a slideshow.
- ‘100’ 2013
All photos of the technical rehearsal © Andy Sherlock
The Cabinet Makers Daughter – 2012
The Cabinet Maker's Daughter 2012
“compelling and powerful – brilliant acting”
This new play by Peter J Cooper portayed the life and final moments of the renowned 19th Century fossil hunter from Dorset – Mary Anning. It completed its 21 date tour on 16 November at the Bridport Arts Centre. The final three theatres played to capacity houses and overall represented one of the best audience take ups and responses to any of our productions to date.
She Opened The Door – 2010-2011
She Opened the Door 2010/2011
It successfully toured 15 theatres, starting at the 2010 International Thomas Hardy Festival in the Corn Exchange Dorchester and culminating in a rerprise performance in the garden of Hardy’s Home Max Gate – where the play was set.
“Sure to become a theatrical treasure of the future” – Dorset Echo.
A book of the play is now available on Amazon by Roving Press.
Hey Baby – 2009
Hey Baby 2009
Lets Do It -2007-2008
Let's Do It 2007/2008
Evergreen Noel Coward and Cole Porter remain two of the wittiest and intelligent of 20th century composers and lyricists of revue/musical theatre. Their stories and music is inter-linked by photographs and film evoking contrasting times of gaiety and depression.
A String of Pearls – 2005
A String of Pearls 2005
A String of Pearls toured from the end of April until late June 2005 in Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire. It is an original project, the culmination of 18 month’s research and collation by As One Productions using more than 200 original WWII memories – sent from all over the UK – the stimulus for a story of three sisters with very different lives and goals. The sisters go on a journey of discovery whilst packing up their deceased Grandma’s possessions. What they learn about themselves is more than matched by what they learn about Grandma.
A thrilling string of stories about all kinds of women; the trailblazers, the homemakers, the brave, the frightened, the young innocents and the worldly-wise with one common denominator; an indomitable spirit… and Grandma certainly has the last word. This production sees the very experienced, singer/actress Giselle Summers joining as performer/joint musical director/vocal arranger.
In the Mood 2004
Circle of Life 2002/2003