Guest Blog: David Shopland - "When all is said and done, it is the artistic output that has to count."

David Shopland

In the late summer of 2011, I sat around a table at Henry’s Bar in Covent Garden with three close friends and discussed the possibility of taking those first brave steps towards starting a theatre company. Two years later that company is producing Riverside Studios’ Christmas show, The Little Mermaid.

This original adaptation searches for the truth behind the fairytale paralleling the life of Hans Christian Andersen and focusing on issues of sexual identity and belonging. We had all trained at Rose Bruford College together and despite coming from different backgrounds and possessing diverse theatrical interests, we had gravitated towards each other during our final year.

I think Drama School instills you with a certain fire in your belly, and as a performer it gives you the chance to play characters like Willy Loman and Blanche Dubois; parts you would never be considered for professionally until much later in your career. You also get the opportunity to create your own work experiment with different theatrical techniques. This means a Drama School student can graduate with an idealised impression of how the industry will treat them when they graduate. There is nothing wrong with this. Rose Bruford was a fantastic training facility, and the American Theatre Arts degree was particularly focused towards creating militant theatre-makers. However, you are forced to learn swiftly that the realities of theatre are far more complicated than the rose tinted image you have in training. That’s when you have to make a choice. In my mind there are two options for any graduating practitioner; either you strive to become part of this country’s historic theatrical landscape or you strive to change it.

Review: The Speed Twins at Riverside Studios

The Speed Twins
Riverside Studios (Studio 3)
Reviewed on Tuesday 3rd September 2013

The Speed Twins is a new play which, according to press material, "unleashes an explosive and darkly comic conflict of desires and challenges us all to ask fundamental questions about identity." This is a bold statement and I'm not sure this is something Maureen Chadwick's play necessarily achieves.  The Speed Twins is set in The Gateways Club (a secret venue which welcomed lesbians when when nobody else did) and follows Queenie, who has to face her lesbian feelings when she is reunited with a ghost from her past.

Review: Carnival of the Animals at Riverside Studios

Carnival of the Animals 

Riverside Studios
Reviewed on Thursday 11th July 2013

Carnival of the Animals is a new musical which is currently running at Riverside Studios for just fourteen performances. With an impressive cast, including ex-Eastenders actress Anita Dobson as well as many experienced West End performers, I was certainly interested to see the show, although I did not have a clue what to expect.

Sneak Peek at... Anita Dobson & the cast of Carnival of the Animals in rehearsals

Images have been released of cast members rehearsing for Carnival of the Animals, a new musical which will premiere at Riverside Studios in London from 4th to 14th July for 14 performances only. Take a look at the pictures below! (Click on an image to enlarge.)

The French composer Camille Saint-Saens wrote his short orchestral suite The Carnival of the Animals as a work of fun for his friends, and did not permit a public performance during his lifetime. Since his death, the piece has become a firm family favourite in the concert hall, with many of its melodies, such as The Elephant, The Aquarium, Fossils and The Swan, achieving popular recognition. 

Composer Gavin Greenaway, lyricist Roger Hyams and book writer Andrew Marshall, along with director Thom Southerland and producer Brian Eastman, have now taken this music and worked it into a new stage musical, capturing the family appeal Saint-Saens first created.

Review: Payback the Musical at Riverside Studios

Payback The Musical

Riverside Studios (studio 3)

Reviewed on Friday 14th June 2013

It is always exciting when you sit down in a theatre to see a brand new show as you simply do not have a clue what to expect. From beginning to end, Payback is a high energy musical with a strong score and a funny script.  

Interview: Sarah Earnshaw

Sarah Earnshaw is starring in Payback: The Musical which opens at Riverside Studios later this week. Fresh and funny, this new musical has a sharp, original script and catchy score, and recaptures the excitement of the very best traditional musicals. A new performance for the stage amongst re-writes, this 2016 tale of love stretches from Brazil to England. Featuring a blend of jazz, latin and traditional ballads, it takes a wry, contemporary look at today’s celebrity and story-hungry media culture.

Sarah Earnshaw recently starred as The Lady in the Lake in the West End production of Spamalot at the Playhouse Theatre and she is well known for her time as Standby Glinda in Wicked (she was part of the original West End cast). 

Sarah's other theatre credits include The Ghost Of Christmas Past in Scrooge (London Palladium and UK Tour), Emma Carew in Jekyll and Hyde (UK Tour), Alice In Wonderland (West Yorkshire Playhouse), After The Turn (Courtyard Theatre), Dan Leno (Lion and Unicorn) and The Royal Variety Performance (London Coliseum). Next month Sarah will play Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

Recently I spoke to Sarah about what people can expect from Payback, why she loves new writing and what it was like starring in the West End productions of Wicked and Spamalot...

Payback is a new musical meaning you get to create a role, is that something you've always wanted to do?

Yes, absolutely! Starting rehearsals was so exciting because we didn't know where it was going to end up! When you work in musical theatre creating a role it is something you always want to do but you don’t always get that chance. It’s so great creating a role because you are not following in anybody’s footsteps so there are no expectations. It is amazing to be able to put your stamp on something! 

Review: Knee Deep at Riverside Studios

Knee Deep

Riverside Studios (Studio 2)

Reviewed on Wednesday 30th May 2013

Internationally renowned circus company, Casus, have completely re-invented the meaning of the word circus with their stunning show Knee Deep. Usually a circus show features a larger than life ringmaster and clowns with bright makeup but Knee Deep takes the circus back to basics. The four performers get up close and personal with the audience in the fairly intimate space of Studio 2 at Riverside Studios and dressed in plain costumes they are totally exposed with nowhere to hide.

Interview: Jesse Scott, starring in Knee Deep at Riverside Studios

Jesse Scott is a member of the internationally renowned circus company Casus who have brought their show Knee Deep to London's Riverside Studios. Through bold, quirky and captivating performance the four members of Casus: Emma Serjeant, Jesse Scott, Natano Fa’anana and Lachlan McAulay bring a wealth of knowledge and experience into this innovative work, having previously performed extensively in Australia and around the world with C!RCA, Legs on the Wall, Polytoxic and Briefs. Knee Deep sees bodies pushed and pulled, weighed and tested, probing the limits of both physicality and feeling.

Jesse is a graduate of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus where he spent 11 years training and touring under a selection of the world’s greatest circus trainers. After graduating in 2004 he toured as a freelance performer working with companies including Legs on the Wall, A4 Circus Ensemble, Candy Stripe Circus and The Australian Opera. He has also performed with the Brewarrina Youth Circus and Flipside Circus. In 2008 Jesse became a full time ensemble member with Circa, Australia’s leading contemporary Circus. He worked with the company for three years touring internationally and performing at some of the world’s most prestigious venues. Some of his highlights with Circa include: two seasons at the Barbican Theatre, La Tohu in Montreal, opening and headlining the Montreal Circus Festival and Dublin International Theatre Festival, New York Skirball Centre for the Performing Arts, Galway International Arts Festival and The Sydney Opera House.

Are you excited to bring Knee Deep to London?

Yes, we arrived in London straight from the Brighton Fringe Festival which was a great place to start our tour of Knee Deep. We are looking forward to being in London for the next month, particularly if the weather improves!

Review: The Great Gatsby at Riverside Studios

The Great Gatsby

Riverside Studios (Studio 3)

Reviewed on Friday 24th May 2013

I have never read The Great Gatsby but my understanding is that the perspective of the novel is primarily internal, focussing on the thoughts and emotions of its characters and little on action and events. A work difficult to translate on stage, yet this new musical adaptation manages to create an entertaining and mostly light-hearted evening through clear story-telling, a lyrical soundtrack and some captivating performances.

Review: Hutch at Riverside Studios

Hutch

Riverside Studios (Studio 3)

Reviewed on Friday 18th May 2013

Hutch is a bio-drama charting the early, successful years of Lesley Hutchinson's (affectionately known as Hutch) career when he played and sang in the cabaret houses of Paris and London. This is a play about love, focusing on Hutch's intimate friendship with Cole Porter and subsequent affair with the English Lady Edwina Mountbatten.