Rehearsal Photography - 'Quality Street', Northern Broadsides

Here’s some rehearsal photography I did at the New Vic Theatre for Northern Broadside during their production of ‘Quality Street’ in 2023.

As always with rehearsal photography my approach is to not interrupt the session, work in a way that captures process and the flavour of the performance.

I’ll typically send an hour or so in the rehearsal room and look for images that let the viewer inside the rehearsal process, are useful for marketing the show and act as a record of the production.

Marvellous - SohoPlace Theatre + New Vic Theatre

Marvellous @SohoPlace Theatre

This is the second time I’ve photographed this production at The New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-lyme and it remained as fresh and enjoyable as ever.

Here’s a selection of images from the show and I’m so pleased that it is going to be the opening show at a new theatre in London’s West End - SohoPlace Theatre.

Best of Theatre 2019

Here’s a little slideshow with my favourite Theatre Photography of 2019….

Don Giovanni - Clonter Opera

Don Giovanni is a bedazzling tragicomedy showcasing the genius of Mozart and Da Ponte at the height of their powers. The Martin Lloyd-Evans production will transport this serial seducer and charismatic anti-hero into the midst of contemporary society to reveal staggering hypocrisy hidden beneath a surface of respectability.

“Compelling, stylish, imaginative, colourful, gripping and refreshingly unpretentious.”



GLORY - Red Ladder Theatre Company - The Dukes Lancaster

I love working with new people and it was great to go to The Dukes Theatre in Lancaster to photograph the new play from Red Ladder Theatre Company, directed by Rod Dixon.

From the Red Ladder website:

The Dukes and Red Ladder in association with Tamasha present

Glory

Meet Dan, Ben and Sami.

Three wrestlers compelled over the ropes and into the ring to fight for glory. Three men wrestling with demons, life, each other.

Jim ‘Glorious’ Glory used to be somebody. In the heyday of British wrestling, he was a colossus. Now his empire has crumbled.

Through Dan, Ben and Sami, Jim catches a glimpse of resurrection; a chance to re-establish his great name and his decaying gym. But do they want to wrestle and restore Jim’s glory? Or do they have a different fight in mind?

Only one hero can emerge.

A new play from the writer of Partition and the award-winning The Chef Show – GLORY takes us into the wrestling ring in this painfully funny, sweaty and gutsy story about what people will do to achieve glory.

Glory has been supported through Arts Council England’s Sustained Fund.

Theatre Photography : Anna of the Five Town - New Vic Theatre

On the 150th anniversary of Arnold Bennett the New Vic Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent mounts a new adaptation of his most famous novel adapted by Deborah McAndrew.

Directed by Conrad Nelson it's a lovely version of the book that uses not only a cast of professional actors but members of a local community choir - The Phoenix Singers - to populate the stage and add a musical accompaniment.

" Anna Tellwright’s 21st birthday brings with it newfound responsibilities, wealth and a suitor for her heart.

Courted by desirable bachelor Henry Mynors, Anna struggles to gain her independence. She finds herself torn between trying to please her tyrannical father and a desire to help young Willie Price and his family from the brink of ruin.

As pressure mounts, tragedy strikes, and Anna must discover where her heart truly lies before it’s too late. "

Rehearsal Photography : Mighty Atoms - Hull Truck Theatre

With Hull being the 2017 City of Culture there is a lot of attention being directed o the North East of England. I was lucky enough to go along to Hull Truck to photograph rehearsals for the third part of the Hull Trilogy - Might Atoms by Amanda Whittington.

I've photographed the preceding two parts of the Trilogy - Dancing Through The Shadows & The Gaul - and it's great to complete the cycle.

From the theatre website:

"In a struggling pub on one of Hull’s toughest streets, ex-pro boxer Taylor Flint runs a women’s boxercise class. For Lauren, Jazz, Aneta and Grace the class is much more than a way to lose weight and have a laugh – they’re fighting the grinding challenges of everyday life.

When the pub is threatened with closure, the women agree to be part of an unlicensed fight night to raise money and rally the community. They’re ready to prove themselves in a world that shows them little respect, but Taylor knows that once the gloves are on, the real test will be going toe to toe with friends and neighbours.

Inspired by Hull’s original Mighty Atom, Barbara Buttrick, this new play by award-winning writer Amanda Whittington (Ladies Day, Be My Baby, Amateur Girl) pulls no punches."

Here's a quick peek at rehearsals in progress - I'm looking forward to popping back in a couple of weeks for the dress rehearsal...

Rehearsal Photography : Beryl - New Vic Theatre

I was across at the New Vic Theatre in Stoke again on Tuesday afternoon to photograph rehearsals for Maxine Peake's play 'Beryl' which opens next week.

" Maxine Peake’s critically acclaimed first play – a warm and witty celebration of the life of unsung sporting legend Beryl Burton. A working class mum from Leeds, she cycled her way into the record books, becoming the greatest ever woman on two wheels. But her remarkable story was, largely, forgotten – until now!

Nobody expects young Beryl Charnock to amount to much. She never makes it to grammar school and, after a serious illness, is told to avoid exercise. Then she meets keen young cyclist, Charlie Burton, and finds herself smitten – not only with Charlie, but with the thrill and freedom she finds on her bike.

With husband and daughter at her side, the determined Beryl defies the world, embarking on a journey that leads to true sporting greatness. She dominates cycling throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s, becoming five-time world champion and best British all-rounder for 25 consecutive years. And still makes it home in time for dinner!"

Directed by Gemma Fairlie

Rehearsal Photography : Peter Pan in Scarlet - Oxford Playhouse & New Vic Theatre

Here is some from rehearsal photography from the forming premier production of the sequel to the classic children's tale 'Peter Pan - 'Peter Pan in Scarlet'.

The official sequel to J M Barrie’s Peter Pan by the three-time Whitbread Children’s Book Award winner, this awfully big adventure has been adapted for the stage in her trademark all-action style by New Vic Artistic Director, Theresa Heskins.

It’s 1929, Wendy and the Lost Boys have all grown up. Then, suddenly, 20 years after they left, they begin to dream of Neverland – of pirates and mermaids, war paint and crocodiles. Something is wrong and Peter Pan needs their help.

So Wendy, John and the Lost Boys put on their children’s clothes and, armed only with fairy dust, fly back to Neverland to join Peter for one last adventure. But everything has changed. And the dangers they meet are beyond their wildest dreams.

Performance Photography : Hull Truck Theatre - Educating Rita

This is the production photography I did for the Willy Russell play 'Educating Rita' at Hull Truck Theatre (unsurprisingly in Hull in England). 

Here's the review from 'The Stage' by Will Ramsey

"Great stacks of books dominate James Turner's set. They bulge from the shelves and the piles heaped above the door frame makes you fear for whomever dares to enter. It's a fitting metaphor for how Rita is about to have her life shaken up in Hull Truck’s revival of Willy Russell’s play – a little learning can be a head-turning thing.

Mark Babych's production of Educating Rita is lithe and leanly-muscled. In the mouths of the two leads, Simon Armstrong and Taj Atwal, the words flow like poetry. A lot of work has gone into getting the rhythms of the speech right – lecturer Frank's exacting turns of phrase and the Scouse inflections of his student Rita. They’ve been honed to the point where they feel completely natural; it’s as if we're listening in on them.

As the destructive Frank, Armstrong keeps his character's fears beneath the surface. There are points when, whether silently staring into space or sharply reacted to Rita after she tells him about the young students she's been speaking with, we sense of the deep disappointments buried in him.

Rita brings joy back to his life. As played by Atwal, she is sparky and engaging, but her performance is more than just a humorous turn. We sense the sharpness of the character's intelligence, the hopes that she holds that this course of study could change her life.

The themes of the play seem more pertinent now than ever, given the financial pressures involved in taking a degree. Babych nods to this with a brief snatch of a radio report - it sounds like the dulcet tones of John Humphries – about the strains universities face. It makes you wonder what Rita – and others like her – would do today."