Review #1:
Publication: Shoreham Herald
Publication Data: December 11 2008 issue – page 22
Correspondents: Sheena Campbell
Text Header: Powers behind throne earn plays top awards
Text: Content
TWO Southwick theatre companies are celebrating after receiving a clutch of top drama awards.
Wick Theatre Company and the Southwick Players were both recognised in Brighton and Hove Arts Council’s Brighton and Hove drama competition.
Wick celebrated a fitting finale to its diamond anniversary year, picking up four awards for its production of Richard III at the ceremony at the Barn Theatre, Southwick, last Monday.
Rosemary Bouchy, of Wick Theatre Company, said: “It felt wonderful. Everybody worked so hard, because it was a huge cast. I think most people had more than one part.
It was wonderful for everybody to win, the cast, the crew and Bob the director.”
Richard III was awarded the Bea Waters Challenge Cup for best overall production, with Bob Ryder carrying off the award for best director and Mike Medway winning best lighting design.
Wick newcomer Steve Gallant was the recipient of a new award in memory of Mark Flower’s parents for composing and producing the original music for Richard III.
Mrs Bouchy said the awards were the perfect end to the company’s diamond anniversary year. “It couldn’t get much better, really,” she said.
Wick’s production put a different slant on Shakespeare’s works, being performed entirely in the round, with Guy Steddon in the lead role.
Mrs Bouchy believed it was this ingenuity, which made the play, stand out. “It was a very sharp production and very imaginative. There wasn’t a weak point in it,” she said. “It all really brought it to life and made it accessible.”
Also doing Southwick proud were the Southwick Players, who gained awards for best poster and programme design and best stage setting for their production of Someone to Watch Over Me. Director Ron Common said: ‘The first award to be announced was the poster and programme award, so that got the evening off to a good start for us’. The winning poster and programme were designed by Martin Oakley. ‘It was a great achievement,’ said Mr Common.
Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me told the story of three men thrown together against their will when taken hostage and held in Lebanese cell. The set was designed by Len Shipton, working with Mr. Common. ‘I had an idea of what I wanted for the set,’ said Mr. Common ‘I wanted it on the floor and I wanted it enclosed. It also had to have easy access for the actors. I didn’t want the atmosphere to be ruined by the lights coming up and people walking across the stage.’
The set for the cell was on the floor, right up close to the audience, and, upon entering, the theatre was visible only through prison bars. On arrival, members of the audience were led to their seat through the cell and the Barn Theatre, in Southwick Street, Southwick, had even been sprayed with a scent to replicate the dankness of a prison. ‘It all comes down to attention to detail,’ said Mr. Common. ‘The finishing touch, the one that really won it, was the fan. Len fitted a very slowly rotating electric fan, so the air was hardly moving. The adjudicator loved that bit.’
Each drama company which entered the competition had one of its performances judged by actor, producer and director Daniel Finlay. The audiences were then invited to hear the results of the adjudication.
Review #2:
Publication: Weekend Guardian
Publication Data: December 12 2008 issue – page 4
Correspondents: Sheena Campbell & Sam Woodman
Text Header: Groups take centre stage at awards
Text: Content
TWO Southwick theatre companies are celebrating after receiving a clutch of top drama awards.
Wick Theatre Company and the Southwick Players were both recognised in Brighton and Hove Arts Council’s Brighton and Hove drama competition.
Wick celebrated a fitting finale to its diamond anniversary year, picking up four awards for its production of Richard III at the ceremony at the Barn Theatre, Southwick, last Monday.
Rosemary Bouchy, of Wick Theatre Company, said: “It felt wonderful. Everybody worked so hard, because it was a huge cast. I think most people had more than one part.
It was wonderful for everybody to win, the cast, the crew and Bob the director.”
Richard III was awarded the Bea Waters Challenge Cup for best overall production, with Bob Ryder carrying off the award for best director and Mike Medway winning best lighting design.
Wick newcomer Steve Gallant was the recipient of a new award in memory of Mark Flower’s parents for composing and producing the original music for Richard III.
Mrs Bouchy said the awards were the perfect end to the company’s diamond anniversary year. “It couldn’t get much better, really,” she said.
Wick’s production put a different slant on Shakespeare’s works, being performed entirely in the round, with Guy Steddon in the lead role.
Mrs Bouchy believed it was this ingenuity, which made the play, stand out. “It was a very sharp production and very imaginative. There wasn’t a weak point in it,” she said. “It all really brought it to life and made it accessible.”
Richard lll was the third production in Wick Theatre Company’s diamond anniversary year.
The season began in March, with the acclaimed production of The Graduate, again starring Guy Steddon, as Benjamin, and Gill Etter as Mrs Robinson. In July, the company presented Ray Cooney’s Not Now Darling – an hilarious comedy involving a troublesome fur coat, full of suacy humour. Among the stars of the show were Bob Ryder and Amanda Unwin-Mann.
Wick’s hugely-successful 60th anniversary season will close on Saturday, with the last performance of Gaslight which opened on Wednesday. Patrick Hamilton’s chilling play, set in Victorian London, was full of things that go bump in the night, a feared descent into lunacy and flickering gaslights. All was not as it seemed, and it took a thoroughly entertaining David Creedon as Inspector Rough to convince Bella Manningham [Claire Wiggins] that we wasn’t a figment of her imagination.
John Garland was convincing as the menacing Jack Manningham.with his Jekyll and Hyde personality, with Sophie Lane and Rosemary Mose in fine form as servants Nancy and Elizabeth.
Mike Medway’s lighting design added to the tension, as did Steve Gallant’s music – another impressive display from the pair, following on from their award-winning efforts earlier in the year.
Directed by Diane Robinson, Gaslight was a perfect – if chilling – way for Wick to end its diamond anniversary season.
With a host of talented performers and people behind the scenes, the future looks bright for the company as we approach 2009.
