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What A Lot Of Plays
After all the desk work (and the occasional notebook on train episode) a sudden flurry of seeing plays. This was mainly due to t... Posted: 13/05/2013
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Hoopla is a theatre company specialising in music theatre for young people. We are Philip Monks (writer), Jenny Stephens (Director) and Paul Herbert (Musical Director).
Having just completed a hugely successful remount of our play The Night Queen at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry and Tamworth Assembly Rooms (see 5 Star review from What's on Theatre) we are delighted to announce our new production, 3 Witches, again in association with the Belgrade Theatre, which will premier at the Belgrade from 4th-12th October 2013, before going to Tamworth and Telford. Belgrade tickets on sale now.
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Always being moved on, brother and sister Roy and Betharrive at the castle where Macbeth was once King. There they meet the fearsome Laird, the canny Crow and the wily Hagwitch, the Castle Keeper. Hagwitch challenges them to spend the night in the castle. If they do that, they will lift the ancient curse. And perhaps then they will become King or Queen. But things are not as they seem. There are strange goings-on in the night. And the Three Witches are up to their old tricks. Will Roy and Beth survive the night or will the witches and ghosts, or their own rivalry get the better of them? |
The play comes out of development work with young people and will again play to both schools and family audiences.
As well as the play itself, we are also excited about all the activities around it with young people (and adults!), which are a key part of our work and which we are putting in place right now.
For all general enquiries contact Philip at HooplaTheatre@aol.com
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The development project Encounters With Witches & Ghosts was the forerunner of our new play 3 Witches and took place in Summer 2012. It was in association with The Belgrade Theatre, and included script development (with young people), music and songs, and exploration of the use of digital technology. |
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Set on a heath and in a haunted castle, Three Witches echoes many of the elements of Macbeth but is a modern story of sibling rivalry.
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| In rehearsal at the Belgrade - Jenny working with Naomi and Dan, who played Roy and LizBeth, the brother and sister travellers who meet the witch on the road. | Integrating the live singing and playing into the piece was a key part of the development process. Unlike The Night Queen, all the music for 3 Witches is original. |
There are, of course, the eponymous witches, coming back together again to cause more mischief. But there are also a brother and sister, deadly rivals in many ways. The Witches challenge them to spend a night in the Haunted Castle. Whoever succeeds will gain the title of King or Queen of the Castle. And both want to win...
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| The Witches gather round the cauldron - here we are experimenting with projection, uplighting, smoke and other effects. | The Witches summon the images of the brother and sister and wonder - will they take the challenge? Sound effects and lightning flashes add to the wildness. |
We were pleased to work with Richard Lee School in Coventry on this project. Their pupils have come up with some great ideas and some fantastic work to share with the the local community. Philip from Hoopla also worked with 2 classes in January 2013, helping them write and stage their own plays inspired by elements from The Night Queen.
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We worked with a group of 19 Year 6 pupils (10 & 11 years old) to generate ideas about the characters and the story. They wrote stories, poems and playscripts which they shared with other pupils in the school and family and friends at a sharing event at the school. |
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Leading up to the sharing event at the school, the children worked with several different members of the creative team: writer Philip Monks, director Jenny Stephens, Musical Director Paul Herbert and the 3 actors: Kathy Toy, Dan Willis and Naomi Lee Schulke. We were also joined by Chris Ash, the composer. |
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It was a packed afternoon as the school also saw a performance of the play to date. For this, they were joined by pupils from 2 other primary schools, drama students from the nearby secondary school and friends and family.
The following week they came to the Belgrade Theatre to see a further staging of the play and to rehearse and perform the song they created - Despair & Doom!
We would like to thank all who helped make The Night Queen such a hit again, but especially our cast of Dan Willis, who reprised his role as Dad, Zorastro and, of course, the Owl (twit-twoo), Madeleine Leslay who played Pamina with such verve and commitment and Jennifer Greenwood, who was a magnificent Night Queen, as well as handling the mischievous Popinjay superbly.
The Night Queen is a must see for children who enjoy a good story, and those of us who still believe in magic. (British Theatre Guide)
5 Stars - Coventry Telegraph
Summer 2011 and then toured to:
the egg, Bath,
Roses, Tewkesbury
Poole Lighthouse
More details at www.thenightqueen.net
See video clips on Vimeo
Hoopla is grateful for project support from the Arts Council, the Sir Barry Jackson Trust and The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry.
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