What is it about theatre?

cue

Hello theatre folk.
What was your first experience of theatre?
I was in 1st class and we were doing a play based on a short story about First Confession. I had the role of the granny and I was ready for stardom. The opening night I peeked through the curtain at the audience and freaked out. I got sick and refused to go on. After that I reckoned theatre was not for me.

Describe what it was about a production which made you look at the world in a new way?
I went to see Philadelphia Here I Come and i was amazed at the way the secret thoughts of the main character actually became a character in their own right. I had read the play beforehand and it never occured to me that the thoughts were anything other than thoughts. Seeing them voiced by another actor on stage gave the interior world a real life for me. After that I went to see Death of a Salesman and the picture of father/son relations and the expectations between them that it showed made me think about my own father in a way i never had before.

What was the last production which made you really glad you had bought a ticket? Why?
I went to see a piece called The Wooden Dress by an English childrens theatre company. It was magical. Not the story but the imagination used to present it. Their stage managers were present all the time and acted like weird factory men in long blue coats. They walked around with yellow umbrellas standing up on the end of long shoes making quacking noises to suggest geese. Projectors sprayed the characters with moving images and the wooden dress clacked around the stage like giant castanets when worn, and the whole thing was just strange and dreamy.

froggy_7

What was your first experience of theatre?
For me, it was the "Polichinelle" (Pulcinella in Italy or Punch and Judy here) of the Gardens of Cimiez in Nice, France. The old wooden puppet theatre, surrounded by orange and olive trees, the sun, the ice-creams and hundred children laughing and shouting, just like their parents, grand-parents and great-grand-parents before them. The wooden puppets where probably still the original ones...

Describe what it was about a production which made you look at the world in a new way?
I have yet to find THE production that will have such a big and lasting impact on me. However, Lolita and Dublin by Lamplight by Corn Exchange, as well as Candide by The Performance Corporation were plays that uplifted me and made me want to "go on" for months after seeing them. Once I will be able to see a show by James Thierree "live" rather than on the telly, I'll be able answer this question properly!

What was the last production which made you really glad you had bought a ticket? Why?
"Hatched" by Sabooge. A bunch of very motivated, very professional canadian students straight out of Drama School who delivered on every level: a faultless production with breath-taking acting and staging, with a magical story... what more do you expect from a night at the theatre?

Glitter

What was your first experience of theatre?
Probably a panto, or something similar. I've been going to the theatre so long I can't remember a time when it wasn't part of my life.
I know I saw a fantatstic production of Cinderlla somewhere on the Northside one Xmas when I was abround 4 years old. I still remember the gown the lead actress had, all silvery and spangly.

Describe what it was about a production which made you look at the world in a new way?
Not a production per se, but seeing Veda Beaux Reves perform Spanish Train at the Civic Offices Amphitheatre at Pride 1999, the year she won Alternative Miss ireland, was the performance that awakened that long dormant bug and inspired me to get into theatre myself rather than just watching from the sidelines.

What was the last production which made you really glad you had bought a ticket? Why?
Me and Marlene, written and performed by Patricia Hartshorne.
The most moving one-person show I've seen since A Cure for Homosexuality written and performed by Neil Watkins.

cue

Glitter darling
Did you happen to see The Ugly Penguin Scenario in The Crypt a few years ago? Very imaginative so it was. I think Neil Watkins wrote and directed it aswell.

Glitter

I didn't honey, I only discovered Mr. Watkins after his AMI tour de force in 2005. Big fan of his work though.

Doomspell

What was your first experience of theatre?
God I can't remember!! I'd say it was the panto, or something along the lines of scrooge.

Describe what it was about a production which made you look at the world in a new way?
I have yet to find one that does

What was the last production which made you really glad you had bought a ticket? Why?
Blood Brothers by Willie Russell. I love that production. It had so many twists and turns, the characters were brilliant and it was sad, yet incredibly funny:D