Paines Plough Blog

We’re super excited to announce our full Programme 2012 today.

We’re presenting 11 productions in 44 places across the country from Edinburgh to The Isle of Wight.

Some stuff you already know about, like Matt Hartley‘s SIXTY FIVE MILES which we co-produced earlier in the year with our friends at Hull Truck, and the two shows we have currently running in London – Mike Bartlett‘s LOVE, LOVE, LOVE at The Royal Court and Kate Tempest’s WASTED at The Roundhouse.

In addition we’ve lined up some real treats for you, wherever you live. WASTED continues its tour to festivals in Brighton and York. There’s a national tour of our Manchester International Festival smash hit soul opera THE 8TH by Paul Heaton & Che Walker culminating with a very special performance at The Latitude Festival. Simon Stephens’ LONDON opens its tour at Salisbury Playhouse in a co-production with both Salisbury and Live Theatre, Newcastle.

For the first time in three years, we’re presenting a season of work across London, all of which has premiered outside the capital. Love, Love, Love is currently running at the Royal Court. Wasted visits the Roundhouse. The 8th opens its tour at The Barbican. And we’re thrilled to be bringing our Roundabout Season to to town in the Autumn. Three new plays by Duncan Macmillan, Nick Payne and Penelope Skinner will be presented in our own purpose built portable in-the-round Roundabout auditorium at Shoreditch Town Hall.

Also we’re bringing back our 2009 hit GOOD WITH PEOPLE by David Harrower for The Edinburgh Festival. A new series of Come to Where I’m From will include playwrights from Brighton, Cheltenham, Chipping Norton and the Isle Of Wight; and we’re delighted to again be working with the students at Rose Bruford College on Sean Buckley’s SMITHEREENS.

Here’s a note from James & George:

“We’re hugely proud to announce our third annual programme of work as Paines Plough’s Artistic Directors.

“Our passion for new plays continues to grow thanks to the extraordinary playwrights that lie at the heart of our company. This year we’re presenting work by a huge range of writers, from Olivier Award winners to the stars of the future.writers who between them have won 2 Oliviers, 3 George Devine Awards, 2 Bruntwood Awards and a host of other accolades, whilst continuing to identify and support the stars of the future.

“We believe everyone should have the chance to see outstanding new plays, no matter where they live, so our commitment to national touring deepens this year with visits to over 40 different UK villages, towns and cities. We’re piloting new touring circuits The Local, Neighbourhood and Campus to make sure our unique brand of new plays reach every corner of the UK.

“After two years working outside the capital, we’ve been overwhelmed by the demand for our work to be seen in London. In response we’ve put together a London Season of productions, all of which have already been seen on tour. In typical Paines Plough style they’re spread right across the city so audiences can experience the work in their local theatre – whether that’s Shoreditch Town Hall, the Barbican, the Royal Court, the Roundhouse or the Albany, amongst others.

“As ever, we’re working in partnership across the programme, and are delighted to be working with old friends as well as new – including the National Theatre, Manchester International Festival, the Roundhouse, Birmingham Rep, Sheffield Theatres, Latitude Festival, National Student Drama Festival, Salisbury Playhouse and Live Theatre Newcastle.

“With these partners, we’re presenting astounding new plays by world class playwrights in places nationwide for people everywhere. We’re priveleged and excited to do so, and look forward to welcoming people to a Paines Plough show in their local theatre.”

So there you have it: Programme 2012. We hope you’re as excited by it as we are.

Blythe Duff as Jackie Reid in Taggart (photo: Edinburgh Evening News)

On Wednesday night we opened LOVE, LOVE, LOVE at The Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, and we were delighted to welcome as our guest Blythe Duff, who played Helen in last year’s GOOD WITH PEOPLE by David Harrower, and is best known for playing Jackie Reid in Taggart.

On Thursday morning, as we were thrilled to learn Blythe has been shortlisted in the Best Female Performance category of the Critics Awards For Theatre In Scotland (CATS) for Good With People.

The awards are Scotland’s most prestigious for theatre, and Blythe in shortlisted alongside Kate Dickie, Gemma McElhinney, Mercy Ojelade in her category. The winners will be announced at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, on Sunday 12 June.

Blythe and Andrew Scott-Ramsey toured Good With People to Edinburgh, Coventry, Dublin and Newcastle after the production’s premiere as part of our A Play, A Pie And A Pint season with Oran Mor in Glasgow last Autumn. Our AD George directed.

Here’s what the critics had to say:

“In George Perrin’s razor-sharp production, Blythe Duff is brilliantly deadpan as a Helensburgh hotel landlady, hilariously hidebound by petty regulations.”
★★★★ The Guardian

“Terrific short dialogue – performed with electrifying power by Blythe Duff and Andrew Scott-Ramsay.”
★★★★ The Scotsman

So congratulations Blythe! We’ll be rooting for you on 12 June.

With the advent of a New Year we’ve been reflecting on a thrilling 2010 and we thought we’d share with you some of the nice things the press said about our shows. So here goes – a round-up of 2010 in quotes…

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE by Mike Bartlett

“Mike Bartlett’s bang-on-the-money new play… required viewing”
***** The Telegraph

“Peppered with terrific lines and big laughs…Bartlett does the clash of generational world views with a devastating precision”
**** The Guardian

“Under Hartley T A Kemp’s vivarium-like lighting no nuance of the five actors’ brilliantly hyper-real performances is lost… Dazzling.”
The Observer

TINY VOLCANOES by Laurence Wilson

“Lit up by excellent performances from Kevin Harvey and Michael Ryan”
The Stage

“Brave enough to shake up the Latitude theatre tent with such a challenging piece of work.”
Liverpool Daily Post

“James Grieve’s direction employs many complex layers that build a compelling narrative… the script switches effortlessly between diverse styles of delivery such as stand up comedy and a quiz game.”
Oxford Daily Info

FLY ME TO THE MOON by Marie Jones

“Features two high-powered comic performances from Katie Tumelty and Abigail McGibbon”
**** The Scotsman

“James Grieve’s direction whisks it all quickly along, punting the laughs up front and giving Tumelty and McGibbon the necessary comedic broad-brush shorthands to whisk plot and development along in the brief time available. But not so broad and cartoon-like as to hinder their – and Jones’ – success in creating a pair of humane and likeable characters.”
The Stage

IN THE PIPELINE by Gary Owen

“The writing is brilliant, gripping, poetic, often sensationally powerful”
The Scotsman

“Directed assuredly by David Horan… the writing is sparkly and poetic.”
**** Metro (Dublin)

THE UNCERTAINTY FILES by Linda McLean

“Charlotte Gwinner’s production has a severe and brilliant quiet choreography, controlled down to the minutest gesture; and the performances are riveting, mature, eloquent, beautiful, and not only real, but true.”
**** The Scotsman

“This is tightly performed piece that evoked not just amusement but the recognition of the wide array of views with the theme of uncertainty at their core”
Edinburgh Guide

CALAIS by April De Angelis

“This is a little bit of female history brought to life in a moving and entertaining way with top performances all round.”
Edinburgh Guide

“Tamara Harvey’s clear, dynamic direction, picks right through to the emotional relationship”
The Stage

GOOD WITH PEOPLE by David Harrower

“Harrower’s dialogue is crisp, economic, and loaded with meaning… Duff and Scott-Ramsay both turn in riveting performances brimming with sexual chemistry and charged with danger.”
**** The Herald

“George Perrin’s razor-sharp production…a tremendous piece of work.”
**** The Guardian

Here’s a quick update on where our A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT shows are this week:

FLY ME TO THE MOON by Marie Jones is at Bewley’s Cafe Theatre in Dublin. Click here for information and booking.

IN THE PIPELINE by Gary Owen is at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. Click here for information and booking.

THE UNCERTAINTY FILES by Linda McLean is at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh. Click here for information and booking.

CALAIS by April De Angelis is at the Live Theatre in Newcastle. Click here for information and booking.

GOOD WITH PEOPLE by David Harrower is on a break before opening at Live Theatre in Newcastle next week. Click here to read the outstanding ****review in The Guardian.

We’ve been getting fantastic feedback from audiences all over the UK and Ireland for our A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT plays. Here are a few comments for THE UNCERTAINTY FILES by Linda McLean at the Live Theatre in Newcastle:

“A really thought provoking and engaging piece. Actors really inhabited the myriad characters in such a short time – very telling business with minimal props. Liked the “interview” style and very natural responses highly enjoyable.”  Karen, Lanchester

“Really interesting production. Would like to see it again. Liked the non usual.” Hazel, Newcastle

“I always love coming to the Live & I’m pleased you have new work from Paines Plough coming in – good to see excellent new writing venues joining together – will be keeping an eye out for future work (as always)” Jenny, Newcastle

We’ve also been interviewing the writers of all of our PPP plays. Here are some answers from April De Angelis, writer of CALAIS:

Is 45 minutes and max 3 actors easier or harder than 2 acts and a cast of ten? 

A one act play is definitely less slog than a two acter!

Should every play come with a complimentary pie and pint?

If every play in the universe came with a pie and a pint we’d get bored of the novelty and fatter as a constituency.

What is more scary, contemplating a blank sheet of paper, contemplating a deadline or contemplating the audience at the first performance?

The audience at a first night is the scariest. You can always tear up your writing at the end of the day..

In three words how do you feel about about the critics?

Critiscism ain’t art.

Do you agree with Thomas Edison that “Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration?”

Yes, mind you it’s an elusive 1%

The pie-d piper was getting careless...

Myself and the Good With People company are coming to the end of a rewardingly exhaustive two weeks in Glasgow during which David’s rich, complex and resounding play has gradually and gently revealed itself.

The play is set in Helensburgh, a town which sits at the mouth of Gareloch, about an hour outside Glasgow, home to around 20,000 residents, Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Hill House and Britain’s nuclear submarine base, Faslane. The play brings Evan Bold back to the town in which he grew up and that Helen Hughes has always called home.

Evan We used to boast it was so deep U-boats got lost in it. It was the deepest stretch of water anywhere in Britain. Nuclear subs could pass over each other and not know the other’s there, it was so deep.

Helen We used to boast about that too when we were kids.

Evan And then?

Helen Then?

Evan When you stopped boasting.

Over the course of their encounter, Evan and Helen begin to connect more than perhaps they ever thought was possible. During rehearsals we’ve been listening a lot to a song that resonated with David when he was writing the play – Young Waters by June Tabor.

The play runs this week at Oran Mor before touring to Live Theatre Newcastle, The Traverse Theatre Edinburgh, The Belgrade Theatre Coventry and Bewleys Cafe Theatre Dublin.

When not working hard at 5 Sanda Street, I’ve enjoyed reacquainting myself with the West End of Glasgow, drinking Brew Dog’s Punk IPA over tabletennis at the trendy Hillhead Bookclub, taking in movies at the exquisite Grovesenor Cinema and spending a fortune in the Alladins cave of fine food, beer and wine that is Peckhams.

Beer heaven.