2008 Summer Programme

8/14/2019 2008 Summer Programme

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in situ:2008The Winters Tale

MetamorphosesOedipus Rex

2


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The Winters Taleby William Shakespeare

2 www.insitutheatre.co.uk

The Performers

Master of Ceremonies Ian Sandison

Leontes, King of SiciliaMat Wollerton

Paul Paxton

Hermione, Queen to LeontesRachael Duthie

Tanya Jarvis

Mamillius, young Prince of SiciliaHarry SwordHelen Zhang

Perdita, daughter to Leontes andHermione

Rachael Duthie

Camillo, Lord of SiciliaSimon Nuttall

Tony Barrs

Antigonus, Lord of Sicilia Tim Penton

Paulina, wife to AntigonusKatrina Nuttall

Polixenes, King of BohemiaRichard HareSimon Taylor

Florizel, Prince of BohemiaHarry Sword

Shepherd, reputed father of PerditaMat Wollerton

Clown, his son Steve Adams

A Bear Steve Adams

directed by: Richard Spaul

The performance lasts about 110 minutes,

with no interval.

Smoking is not permitted anywhere in

The Leper Chapel or its grounds.

Please switch off all mobile phonesduring the performance.

We hope you enjoy The Winters Tale


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The Play

The Winters Talewaswritten in about 1611 andmost people think it isShakespeares penultimate

play (the last being TheTempest).It defies the usualcategories of comedy,tragedy, etc, mixing upelements of various differentgenres, and combining theextreme violence usuallyassociated with tragedy,with the broadly happy and

redemptive ending that weassociate with comedy.Along the way there arealso elements of romance,pastoral, horror and cabaret.This, along with a verydense and experimental useof language, makes for afascinating challenge.

The PlotIt starts in Sicilia, whereKing Leontes develops acrazed fantasy that his wife,Hermione, is having an

affair with his best friend,Polixenes, King of Bohemia,and moreover that she ispregnant by him. He tries topersuade his trustedservant, Camillo, to poison

Polixenes, but Camillo is agood chap and rescues himinstead.Hermiones baby is born a daughter (theyve alreadygot a son Mamillius), butLeontes orders anotherfaithful servant, Antigonus,to take the baby away andabandon it in a forest

somewhere. He does so.Hermione is put on trial forher life, but the Oracle ofApollo pronounces herinnocent and prophesiesthat the King will livewithout an heir if that whichis lost be not found.Leontes disregards theoracle and proceeds with

the trial.Moments later, news comesthat his son is dead. He isfilled with remorse but it istoo late. Then news arrives

that Hermione is also dead.He goes into deepmourning.

Meanwhile, Antigonusdeposits the baby in a

desolate forest in Bohemia,leaving some gold andsome identification in caseanyone should find her. Hehas been visited in a dreamby the dead Hermione andtold to name her Perdita(Little Lost Girl). Antigonusgets eaten by a bear, butPerdita is unharmed and

rescued by a shepherd.

16 years pass.

Perdita is now a prettyshepherdess and is about tobe engaged to none otherthan Prince Florizel, son ofPolixenes, King of Bohemia.But his father disapproves

of the marriage andthreatens them with death ifthey pursue their plans.The young couple flee toq Turn to Page 4

www.insitutheatre.co.uk 3


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q from Page 3

Sicilia, where a still-grievingLeontes agrees to intercedeon their behalf.The shepherd shows thedocuments he found withbaby Perdita, revealing her

to be the daughter ofHermione. The oracle hasbeen fulfilled. That which islost has been found.A statue of Hermione hasbeen 16 years in the makingand is now about to bedisplayed by Paulina, one ofthe late Queens ladies-in-waiting. All gather

expectantly and areastonished to find that it isno statue, but Hermioneherself, miraculouslypreserved.She blesses her new-founddaughter and is reconciledto her husband.

The PerformanceYou will be invited to movearound from time to timeduring the performance,although for the most partyou will be seated.

The performance beginsoutside the Chapel, after

which you will be invited toenter the Chapel and sitdown. About half waythrough, the action againmoves outside, where youmay stand, walk around, orsit on the grass as youwish.You will then be escortedback inside for the playsconclusion.All this will be very clearlyexplained to you during theperformance.


Songs featured

I put a Spell on you- ScreamingJay Hawkins

Take good care of my Baby-Bobby Vee

Jealous Guy- Roxy MusicYou was- Dean Martin and

Peggy LeeA Walk in the Black Forest-

Horst JankowskiSimon Smith and his Dancing

Bear- Alan Price

Friendship- Judy Garland andJohnny Mercer

This Years Kisses-Nina Simone


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Metamorphosesa new performance based on and inspired by Ovids Metamorphoses


The Performers

The Guide

Mark Sparrow

The Storytellers

Rachael Duthie

Boris Mayger

Helen ZhangMat Wollerton

Tony Barrs

Tim Penton

Steve Adams

Demosthenes Tambakis

Woman on Bridge

Bella Stewart

directed by: Richard Spaul

Above all, Ovid was interested in

passion. Or rather, in what a

passion feels like to the one

possessed by it. Not just ordinarypassion either, but human passion

in extremis passion where it

combusts, or levitates, or mutates

into an experience of the

supernatural.

Ted Hughes, Introduction to Tales

from Ovid

In any process, the total energyof the universe remains the same.

First Law of Thermodynamics


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The Performance

Metamorphoses is anenvironmental/walk-aroundperformance in two parts.During the first part, eightdifferent stories will be toldat different points on theIron-Age Ring Ditch.Many of these stories takeplace simultaneously andyou are invited to listen to

whichever ones you like,moving between storytellersas you wish.You can stand as near or faras you wish, or you can sitdown on the ground if thatsmore comfortable.Please be prepared tochange position though, ifperformers seem to need to

move through the spaceyou are occupying.

The second part consists ofa short circular walk, during

which The Guide will escortyou.You will see and heardifferent things on the way.While you are free to gowherever you like in thepark and experience theperformance in your ownway, we would recommendthat you stay fairly close toThe Guide to avoid gettinglost!

The pace of the walk isalways sedate, with frequentstops.The performance is bestexperienced in silence, sowe would ask you pleasenot to talk during it,preferably not to each otherand certainly not to theperformers. Although you

will be addressed at fairlyclose quarters, theperformance does notinclude any audience-participation.

We hope the weather will bealright, but we will beperforming in allcircumstances (barringdangerous ones, in theevent of which the park willbe closed); so, if theweather is not good, it isyour choice as to whetheryou want to proceed. If youstick with us, we willperform!

The Poem

Ovid was writing roundabout the time of Christsbirth, during the reign ofAugustus Caesar. He wasan extremely popular poetat the Roman court, but hefell into disfavour for some

reason and in 8AD he wasbanished to Tomis, on theBlack Sea, where he livedout the remainder of hisdays.



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Everything is always changing.Nothing dies.When death, or what we think isdeath,Occurs, the spirit transmigrates,It moves from one thing toanother,It changes form, it changes

shape, it movesFrom animal to humanAnd then back againFrom human to animal,

Changing, changing all the time,But never ceasing to exist,Like wax, which, when its softCan easily change shapeBut never ceases to be wax,Like wax, the spiritNever ceases to exist,But keeps on changing

All the time.Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 15,The Teachings of Pythagoras(tr. Richard Spaul)

His masterpiece,Metamorphoses, is anexhaustive poetic treatiseon the nature of change. It

begins with the creation ofthe Universe and ends withthe near-contemporarydeath of Julius Caesar. Itconsists of hundreds ofstories about changes metamorphoses (meaningchanges of shape) mostly Latinized versions ofGreek myths concerning

people changing into trees,stones, animals, birds, andso on. Towards the end ofthe poem, there is a longdiscourse delivered by the

Greek philosopherPythagoras, proposing aUniverse of perpetualtransformation rather than

one of finite individualidentities.Ovid was extremely popularin his own time andthroughout the Medievalperiod. He was a hugeinfluence on Shakespeareand other Elizabethandramatists, but was littleregarded during the 18th

and 19th centuries.He has, however, enjoyed aresurgence of popularity inthe late 20th Century, withseveral new translations by

major poets such asCharles Martin and TedHughes.We have been struck by the

paradox of an urbanecourtly poet writing aboutpowerful passions andtransformations, whichrange from the charming tothe horrific and we haveimagined a journey in whichpeople begin by tellingstories of supernaturalchange and end up

embodying those changes.We invite you to accompanyus on this journey.We hope you enjoyMetamorphoses.


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Time and Tides:East Devon,

Sept 12-19, 2008

For the last six years, insitu:has been runningits Theatre and

Landscape series ofresidential workshops,exploring every aspect ofenvironmental theatre. Wevebeen on sand dunes inNorfolk, stone circles in NorthWales, castles, marshes andabandoned nuclear weaponsinstallations in Suffolk.Each new site yields

something unique in terms ofatmosphere, history,acoustics and space, and themore sites we explore, themore convinced we becomethat theatres are probably theleast interesting place to dotheatre!Theatre and Landscape isartistically exhilarating and

great fun to do.Maxine Fay explains why:I had done Learn to Actand one performance within situ:before going on myfirst Theatre and Landscapeweekend. I was verynervous about going andworried that I wouldnt beable to be creative for awhole weekend. I was soworried that I panicked andnearly didnt go but I am soglad that I did. Theweekend was such goodfun (I dont think I stoppedlaughing all weekend), and Ibecame such an addict thatI have been on everyweekend possible sincethen, and on the week longcourse to Llandudno lastyear. Theres no pressurebecause the way theweekends are planned

means that you just havefun collecting material,visiting interesting sites andcreating performances. And

thats not to mention thefantastic cooking, thecopious amounts of wine,the singing and the goodcompany.

And Brandon High, who hasworked with in situ:formany years, says:There is no pressure to

produce perfectperformances, nor to learnimpossibly large amountsof text. For anyone whohas no previous experience


Be inspire

For anyone whohas no previousexperience ofperforming, thisis the perfectintroduction

Theatre and


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f performing, or who is

ot familiar with in situ:,

his is the perfect

ntroduction. You need not

much more than awillingness to experiment

nd an open mind.

ennie Ingram, on the other

hand, had never done anyperforming until she didTheatre and Landscape inMay. She says:

It was an opportunity torediscover your best selfwith great support andenthusiasm from in situ:.Good food, wonderful

setting more productivethan youd ever imaginepossible.

And Margaret Pikes, herself avoice teacher of internationalreputation, with The Roy HartTheatre, says: It was great

to be with others whocould so imaginatively usethe world as their stage!The beach or the museum,the garden or the forestbecame part of ourintended scenery and oftengave such a deep poeticaldimension to simpleactions. I felt so well

guided by the courseleaders, who enabled us allto feel relaxed andconcentrated on makingtheatre together in placeswhere we could easily havebecome dispersed andunfocused.

in situ:runs several Theatre

and Landscape weekendseach year and one week-longresidency.They are open to all,regardless of previous theatreexperience. A wholeheartedwillingness to collaborate isall that is required.This year well be based atthe fabulous Sheafhayne

Manor (Francis Drakeshunting lodge) in East Devon.Our visits will include LymeRegis (Jane Austen, JohnFowles and much muchmore), the famous landslipknown as The Undercliffand the Jurassic Coast,famous for fossils andgeology.

Time and Tides runs fromSeptember 12-19, 2008. Formore information, please pickup a leaflet, ask a member ofstaff, or visit our website:www.insitutheatre.co.uk


by nature

It was great tobe with otherswho could soimaginatively

use the worldas their stage

Landscape


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Oedipus Rexa new performance by in situ:based on Oedipus Rex by Sophocles,

in a new translation by Richard Spaul


The Performers

Chorus Leader Katrina Nuttall

OedipusRichard HareSimon Nuttall

Paul PaxtonJames Blake

Richard SpaulIan Sandison

Creon Jane Durkin

Tiresias Julie Kendall

Jocasta Maxine Fay

Messenger Tanya Jarvis

Shepherd Cyrus Pundole

directed by: Richard SpaulThanks to Demosthenes Tambakis for helping

us with Greek pronunciation.

The performance lasts about 100minutes. There is no interval.

Smoking is strictly forbidden anywherein the Leper Chapel or its environs.

Please switch off all mobile phonesduring the performance.

Please note that there are NO LOOS onthe site.

in situ:would like to dedicate these

performances of Oedipus Rex to

John Thompson performer,supporter and friend.


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The Story

Thebes is suffering from adreadful plague. The King,Oedipus, sends his deputy,Creon, to the Oracle atDelphi to find out what iscausing it. Creon returnswith the news that theplague will not end until themurderer of King Laius, theprevious king, is brought tojustice.Oedipus pronounces his

curse on the murderer,whoever he may be, andsummons Tiresias, a blindprophet, to see if he canhelp with the investigation.Tiresias is at first reluctantto speak, but then revealsthat Oedipus is himself themurderer he seeks.Oedipus is concerned

when his wife, Jocasta,widow of King Laius,describes the circumstancesof the former kings death,namely that he was

attacked at a cross-roadsbetween Phocis and Delphi.Oedipus remembers that hekilled a traveller, togetherwith his entourage, during

an argument at that verycrossroads.Could he unknowingly havepronounced his curse uponhimself?Oedipus explains this toJocasta and in so doingreveals importantinformation about hisbackground. He was

originally a prince of Corinth,son of King Polybus andQueen Merope, whose courthe had fled after receiving aprophecy that he would killhis father and marry hismother.It was during his flight thatthe incident at the cross-roads had taken place.

Arriving at Thebes, he hadfound the city in thrall to theSphinx, a monster, half-woman, half-lion, but hadovercome her by answering

her famous riddle. Hisreward was to be made kingand to be given the hand ofJocasta in marriage.A messenger arrives from

Corinth with the news thatKing Polybus is dead.Oedipus is relieved becausethis seems to mean that thedreadful prophecy cannotcome about, but themessenger tells him that hewas not Polybus naturalson - he had been adopted.The messenger himself had

been given the babyOedipus from a shepherdon Mount Cithaeron, nearThebes.The shepherd, now an oldman, is summoned andinterrogated from whomdid he receive the baby? Itwas from Jocasta. Oedipusis Laius son.

Laius had himself receiveda prophecy that he would bemurdered by his own son.To thwart this he hadq Turn to Page 12



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ordered the baby Oedipusto be taken to themountainside and killed. Butthe shepherd felt sorry for

the child and gave it to themessenger from Corinth.Oedipus and Jocasta nowrealise the dreadful truth.Jocasta hangs herself.

Oedipus gouges his eyesout and is cast out of the city.

The Performance

This performance beginswith a brief, walkaroundsection, taking placeoutside, during which youare invited to move from

one performer to another,listening to whoever youwish. After about fiveminutes, the action movesinto the interior of the

building. You will be shownto your seats and theremainder of theperformance takes placewith the audience seated.


Complex issue

He reacts as though byself-analysis he haddetected the Oedipuscomplex in himself, andhad recognised the will of

the gods as glorifieddisguises of his ownunconscious; as though heremembered in himself thewish to do away with hisfather and in his place towed his mother, and mustabhor the thought. Thepoets words seem to himto mean: in vain do you

deny that you areaccountable, in vain do youproclaim how you havestriven against these evildesigns. You are guilty,nevertheless; for you couldnot stifle them; they stillsurvive unconsciously inyou. And psychologicaltruth is contained in this;

even though man hasrepressed his evil desiresinto his Unconscious andwould then gladly say tohimself that he is no longeranswerable for them, he isyet compelled to feel hisresponsibility in the form ofa sense of guilt for whichhe can discern no

foundation.Sigmund Freud

Introductory Lectures onPsycho-analysisA DVD of in situ:'s Oedipus Rex is on sale at a price of 10.


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WITH the death of JohnThompson last November, insitu:lost an enthusiasticperformer, a dedicated boardmember and, above all, agreat friend.John was very well knownfor his involvement withmany good causes, notablyThe Emmaus Communityand The MichaelhouseCentre, with which he wasinvolved for many years, butit was fairly recently (in 2004)that he got the acting bugand started doing in situ:sacting classes. He lovedevery minute of it, going on

to play the unforgettableSimeonov-Pishchick in insitu:sThe Cherry OrchardProject.He began work on OedipusRexin April 2006, but had to

withdraw at the beginning of2007 after being diagnosedwith cancer.He continued to serve on insitu:s Board of Trusteesuntil shortly before his death.He was helpful, wise,enthusiastic and kind.Were very grateful to himand we miss him terribly.in situ:performer MilaGinsburskaya knew him well.She says: When I go backfrom The House afterrehearsals I cross the railwaybridge on Coldhams Lane.This is the route Johnshowed me. I lived back then

in Chesterton, and he oftenaccompanied me as wecycled back home from ourCherry Orchardrehearsals.He would make a big detourto make sure I was safe and

did not have to cycle alone inthe dark.That bridge on ColdhamsLane is actually quite steep,and every time we climbed it Imarvelled at Johns fitness asI was getting out of breath.We were partners in severalepisodes in the CherryOrchard and this connectionadded a special quality to ourrelationship outside the play.I am still engaged in in situ:projects and go to TheHouse every week. Andevery time I cycle backacross that bridge Iremember John. It has

become a souvenir, and amonument.These performances ofOedipus Rexare dedicatedto John and his tragicallybrief love affair with acting.


John Thompson 1953 - 2007in situ:performer, board member and supporter


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Cyrus Pundole giveshis thoughts on arewarding three yearssince joining the ranksof in situ:

Six years ago I pickedup the phone andspoke to Richard

Spaul, director of in situ:. Ican recall nothing about ourbrief conversation, save thefact that it was certainlyfriendly.I was enquiring about acting

classes, yet I was a littleapprehensive about theidea. Perhaps I thoughtbeing in a room withstrangers, doing strangethings (I never went near adrama class at school) wasnot for me after all. I didnttake things further.Three years later I heard

about anin situ:

Learn toAct taster session -- achance to try it out with littlerisk, AND I had a friend whowas interested too.Within minutes the sense ofslight trepidation hadcompletely dissipated. Aidedby Richards relaxed, yetfocussed style, there were

15 people who were havingfun. We started off playinggames, simple ones thathelped us communicate

through play and laughter.Within half an hour we wereimprovising on the hoof, notsomething I would haveexpected to be able to do,let alone enjoy.Less than five weeks later Ihad completed Learn to Act1 as part of a group of six.The skills we learned wereoften elementary, as youwould expect, but one thingIm sure Richard was keento achieve, and he did, wasmaking us feel comfortableto push ourselves, just alittle bit.Learn to Act 2 focussedmore on acting together as

a group, or in pairs andthrees, interacting with eachother. A set text, of our ownchoice I chose a poem ofaround 100 words had tobe learned and we had tochoose the best way toperform it. At no point did Ifind any of this daunting. Ithink entering into the spiritof what Richard tells thegroup to do is key toeveryone getting along andlearning.What I did find daunting waswalking through the LeperChapel doors for the firsttime. If you want to carry onacting with in situ:after



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Learn to Act, theres onlyone thing for it, and thats tojoin the next group buildingtowards a performance.Thats what I did, and otherthan three or four familiarfaces from Learn to Act,there were other slightlyless familiar faces, who Irecognised either from TheCherry Orchard or HeddaGabler, in situ:shows Idhave seen in the sixmonths previously.These were experiencedperformers. What were theygoing to make of someone

like me? Well, over that firsthalf-term of Oedipus myconfidence grew as I got toknow everyone it certainlyhelped to have a few post-class drinks at TheWrestlers after Tuesdaynights in the chapel.There was no huge jump inthe demands Richard

placed on us, certainlyinitially. Blindfold gameshelped to build trust and theconstructive way that pairsor threes could producescenes at five, or eventhree minutes notice wasquite an experience. If itmight have beendemanding for me at first,

more experiencedmembers would contributethe ideas required, allowingme to quickly learn fromthem.This time last year wepresented Oedipus Rexfora week, including somesold-out performances. Itwas thoroughly enjoyable,

and the camaraderie thatgrew within the cast wassomething to treasure.I got a real buzz fromperforming. I would be

nervous we all would be at the start of a show, but

once under way we allknew what was required. Ican only describe it as akind of automatic pilotinfused with high energylevels.If youve ever been temptedto act, but havent pluckedup the courage, there reallyis little to worry about. You

wont find yourself beingpushed to perform. Whatyou will get is a sense ofachievement, and perhapsyou will surprise yourself.

The

thrillof the

stage

Your chance to try itLearn to Act has beenrunning for several years.It has been attended by

hundreds of people from allwalks of life, and many goon to take part in in situ:sperformances.Learn to Act weekends runregularly throughout theyear.The next Learn to Act I is onSaturday and SundayOctober 25/26.The next Learn to Act II

takes place on Saturday andSunday November 8/9.For more details of classes,please see the enclosedleaflet or visit our website at:www.insitutheatre.co.uk


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Fear

oftherat

A Case of

Obsessional

Neurosis

a new performance by insitu:based on SigmundFreuds Ratman casehistory.

November 25-28, with anextended 9-hour

performance on Saturday,

November 29.This November will seethe culmination of aremarkable new in situ:project A Case ofObsessional Neurosis anew performance inspiredby Freuds case study,now better known by theominous title of Ratman.Its about a young manwho sought Freuds helpafter he develops a morbidfear of rats. Freuds casestudy offers a fascinatinginsight into obsession andmental illness.The performance takesplace in The House and,due to space restrictions,will not be made availableto the general public.If you would like to receive

an invitation and furtherdetails, please put yourname on our free emaillist. You can do this byspeaking to one of ourfront-of-house people or

Acknowledgements:

First and foremost, we would like toexpress our gratitude to Janet Cornish,Jon Gibbs and The CambridgePreservation Society for permission toperform in these two wonderful sitesand for their support of our work.To find out more about C.P.S. pleasephone: 01223 243830 or visit theirwebsite at: www.cpswandlebury.org

Thanks to Jennie Ingram and ourfaithful front-of-house volunteers; toChristine Cellier for photographs andvideo records of the performances; toJennie Ingram for photographs; toRichard Hare for creating our newwebsite and to Cyrus Pundole forpress liaison and programme design.Th k t B d f T t f ll

in situ:mailing list/Friends of in

situ:If youve enjoyed the performance,would you like to join in situ:s freemailing list? We will give you regularupdates on performances, workshopsand residencies, some of which takeplace in very small locations, such ashouses, and are not advertised to thegeneral public. Please give your nameto the front-of-house people.You might also like to considerbecoming a Friend of in situ:, whichhas various benefits, including ticketoffers, invitations to in situ:specialevents and priority booking. Formscan be found at front-of-house.To find out more about in situ:please:call us on: 01223 211451

i i b i

Documents

2008 Summer Programme