KDC Theatre presents Plays In A Day
A showcase of four of the best new writing by our members, performing 29 March and 5 April
KDC Theatre has always encouraged writers to pick up their pens and send us their scribblings. In return we give them the chance to see their work turned into fully staged plays. The first step on this journey is our Plays In A Day productions – and that’s where you get to be involved. We’ll cast the shows on a Monday and give you 12 hours of rehearsal in total to bring the piece to life for a script in hand production. These productions will fill the matinee slots of the last two weeks of our Spring season.
You can audition for as many of the plays as you would like to and there’s no need to register for auditions. You’ll be needed on the Saturday morning for rehearsal, and the directors will squeeze in as many evening rehearsals in the week before as they can! Here are all the dates and details you need.
Tickets: Available from the Lion & Unicorn Theatre
Auditions: Monday 24 March at 7pm (Blackfriars Room, St Bride Foundation)
Performance: Saturday 29 March at 2.30pm at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre, Kentish Town
The Dinner Party by Doc Watson, directed by Caitlin Homes
Dinner with the husband and the ex – lingering emotions escalate with each course.
Wellington Cat O’Shea, directed by Lorenzo Mason
On their graduation night, five Dublin friends look back at their student life.
Auditions: Monday 31 March at 7pm (Foundry Room, St Bride Foundation)
Performance: Saturday 5 April at 2.30pm at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre, Kentish Town
Rumble Young Lady Rumble by Yasir Senna, directed by Matthew Partridge
Allison faces being dismissed from her job at a construction company. Can her favourite boxer inspire her to hit back?
Room Temperature by Jim Tanner, directed by Carl Fletcher
As a couple return home from a drunken night out, their bickering reaches boiling point.
Contact: Matthew Partridge is ready to take your questions on newwriting@kdctheatre.com
An Ideal Husband Cast Biographies
Tom McMahon as Robert Chiltern
Acting has been a pastime of Tom’s since he was at primary school where he took on the notable role of French Hen in a telling of The Twelve Days of Christmas. He kept it up ever since: during his first week at university he made the mistake of going along to an audition for The History Boys and thenceforth had to balance three years of Mathematics and Amateur Dramatics, taking on roles which included Edmund in King Lear, Dr Hyman in Broken Glass and Rupert Cadell in Rope. Theatrical interests transcending acting; he also produced and presented the company’s weekly radio play, produced its biennial “24 Hour Charity Musical” and was even known to paint a door from time to time, although only under strict supervision and after copious demonstrative training. He now enjoys a riveting life in Civil Service and is thoroughly enjoying his debut with KDC.
Sarah Mannion as Gertrude Chiltern
Sarah is delighted to be returning to KDC after a four year absence from treading the boards. Prior to this period of self-inflicted darkness, she played Elizabeth Wilmot in The Libertine and Lily/Flo in Alfie for KDC. Other previous roles include Irina in The Three Sisters and Lucienne in A Flea in Her Ear (Questors Theatre, London), Alaura/Carla in City of Angels, Velma in West Side Story and Letter Quintet Soprano/Chorus in Sweeney Todd (Gala Theatre, Durham) as well as numerous other musical theatre roles. Having worked in theatre management for the past five years, she is currently studying for a Masters in Culture, Policy and Management at City University.
Sarah Beebe as Mrs Cheveley
Sarah Beebe is marking her return to KDC, having been seen with them as Escalus in Measure for Measure, and earlier in All’s Well That Ends Well and Electra. Having most recently played a Witch in SEDOS’ Macbeth, her villainy points are rapidly increasing. She is therefore utterly delighted to be playing “the brilliant Mrs Cheveley,” one of her dream roles since first learning the meaning of a femme fatale.
Peter Cabrera as Lord Goring
Peter’s first performance with KDC was in The Tamer Tamed at the Lion and Unicorn, playing “the comic relief” Jacques in 2012. Subsequently, he appeared as Napoleon Bonaparte and the Lieutenant in The Man of Destiny by G.B. Shaw at the Bridewell Theatre (swapping roles on alternate nights) as well as producing Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You for KDC. Last year, Peter played the Runner in The 17 Greatest Dates of Matthew Reading, an independently-produced feature film which premiered at The Riverside Studios in Hammersmith in the Summer. Most recently, last October, Peter played two roles in KDC’s What the Dickens, a series of ghost stories for Halloween. By day, Peter works in the City, but prefers not to draw attention to the fact.
Laura Horton as Mabel
Laura is delighted to be making her KDC debut with the lovely cast of An Ideal Husband this season. Since her first role at the tender age of 6 as a dung beetle, Laura’s performing career has gone from strength to strength. With a penchant for musical theatre, past favourite roles include: Maureen in Rent, Cathy in The Last 5 Years, and less conventionally, Margaret Thatcher (!) in The Beggar’s Opera… Consequently, Laura is looking forward to giving her vocal cords a rest this season.
When she is not onstage, Laura teaches History to a motley crew of 11-18 year olds. It’s a bit like acting, except the audience sometimes don’t want to be there and there’s substantially more heckling.
Clive fell in love acting in 1972 whilst masquerading as an economist in New Zealand. He performed in several plays and even managed a cameo role in Close to Home a TV soap. There then followed a fascinating 40 year detour through the “real world” of corporate banking, journalism, TV production and political consultancy before KDC allowed him to return to his true love as the grizzly Billie in Demolition in Progress in 2011. His more recent roles include: Petronius in The Tamer Tamed (KDC) , Harold in Singles (South London Theatre), Benedict in Rumble (Beyond Theatre) and Sir George Young in Tartuffe (Cockpit Theatre) Clive is relishing the role of the intimidating, severe but genial and flirtatious Lord Caversham.
Gerry Skeens as Lady Markby
Gerry’s favourite EVER part was Kath in Entertaining Mr Sloane when she was far too young. Recent roles include: For Sedos: Ghastly Countess in Gormenghast ; Dumb Mum in Autobahn ; Sweary Veronica in Interception. Also: Beline in The Hypochondriac ( Putney); Filumena in Filumena (Common Touch); Barbara in Pack of Lies ( Network); Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty ( Southfields Theatre Group – STG) and Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf ( FinGer productions). She is currently directing/ part-writing a Revue The Last 5 Years for STG and will be appearing for them as Florence in The Vortex in July. She is looking forward to being swathed in fur as Lady Markby and talking utter nonsense.
Saria Babiker as Lady Basildon
Saria started her acting career at 15 as part of The Bull Youth Theatre in Barnet, plating such roles as Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret. Whilst embarking on her nursing career, she progressed through the theatrical ranks to become a member of The Actors Company at Arts Depot in North Finchley. She has played a variety of roles including Snug in A Midsummer Night’s Deam, Jedediah Shultz and Zubaida Ula in The Laramie Project, sister 2 in Beauty and the Beast and Wife in Blood Wedding. This is Saria’s first production for KDC, in which she is making her debut as the incorrigible flirt, Lady Basildon.
Becky Golding as Mrs Marchmont
Becky Golding started acting with the London based Carlton Players (originally a civil service group) in 1999. Among her roles have been Jenny in The Jenny Johnson Show, Harriet in The Lightening Play and Maureen in Stags and Hens and she received the London Civil Service best actress award for playing Emily Wilding Davison in 2002 in Diary from Clapham an original play by Karen Monid. Becky’s roles have involved many different accents, weapons and characters ranging from the Angel Gabriel through glamour model to murderer but never any Oscar Wilde! So Becky is now thrilled to be cast as hard core party girl Mrs Marchmont and enjoying working with the KDC team.
Will Lewis as Phipps
Will Lewis has loved performing ever since he can remember and has played a toad, outlaw, sergeant, clown, rapper, security guard and even a bullying photocopier… his proudest role however, was recently, as a real life wheelchair user describing his experience of abuse as a disabled man. After being distracted by a “proper” office job in television, Will is now building a career as an actor and has appeared in theatre, television, shorts and corporate films. This will be the second time he is playing a servant to aristocracy, having been an adviser to Queen Victoria. Downton Abbey beckons…
The Cast & Crew
Blood Wedding Cast
Cast in order of appearance
Beggar Woman – Ami Sawran
Blood Wedding marks a rather festive first anniversary for Ami at KDC. Since drowning the stage with tears as both Hamlet and Electra and leaving little to the imagination in Stag Nation, she is pretty excited to take on an even more sinister role this season. She is starting to worry about being typecast as murderous, bloodthirsty loners, but at least this one doesn’t indulge in incest. When she’s not lurking about on stage, Ami tends to the cosmopolitan farm animals of London, muddles through a PhD, co-edits Reprobait magazine and tweets about how tired she is @ayemiy.
Mother – Emma Knott
Emma first performed with KDC back in 2007 as the mildly violent teenager Helen in The Cripple of Inishmaan. Over the years she’s morphed herself into a variety of soldiers, spurned women and spinsters in plays such as All’s Well That Ends Well, Dangerous Corner and Crimes of the Heart. Having spent some time on the other side of the fence directing The Libertine, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Lying Kind, Emma returned to the stage last year in KDC’s Halloween season.
Bridegroom – Mark Ewins
Mark is delighted once again to be performing with KDC and that his last performance in KDC’s What the Dickens didn’t scare people away! By day Mark works as a Food Product Technologist but by night he is a collector of talents. He plays clarinet in a community orchestra (CLO) and sings with Sustain choir or ‘we’ll sing for cake’. As a keen ice skater Mark lives on the edge and enjoys a good cast ice-breaker and post-performance pint…..you’re buying 🙂
Neighbour – Su Vigus
Su came to acting a few years ago through singing in amateur opera productions and this is her second venture with KDC, having played the nurse from hell in the 2012 production of Dracula. Roles with other companies include Agnes in Dancing at Lughnasa (Tower Theatre), Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (SEDOS) and Lucetta in The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Cheltenham Rococo Players). Su also has Musical Director/Composer credits for Bazaar and Rummage (Network Theatre) and Murder in the Cathedral (CP Theatre Productions).
Wife – Asma Mani
Asma’s acting debut (aged 4) as the improbably-cast Giant in Jack and the Beanstalk has led to her playing an eclectic mix of characters, including traffic wardens, queens, maids, hookers, lords, goddesses and thwarted nearly-nuns. Her longest dramatic engagement was a two-year stint pretending to be a teacher (audiences were – eventually – receptive). By day she now pretends to understand tax and computers, a career choice entirely informed by The West Wing. Afraid of being type-cast by her previous roles, she is exploring the uncharted territories of being a wife and mother in Blood Wedding.
Mother-in-Law – Helen Jackson
Helen moved to the big smoke from oop north many moons ago and has treaded the boards with KDC on several occasions, playing everything from a mischievous fairy to an angry chav. Past productions include A Clockwork Orange, The Tamer Tamed and Electra. She is looking forward to eating all the wine-cakes.
Leonardo – Govind Hodgson
This is Govind’s fifth season with KDC and subsequently fifth rather standard biog – and this one promises to be no different. Govind has been lucky enough to play many lovely parts with KDC, and has loved every moment of this one.
First Girl – Ciara Robley
This is Ciara’s third involvement with KDC. Not so long ago she was otherwise known as ‘Hoodie’ and/or ‘Despair’ in KDC’s Twisted: The Modern Plays. Oooh. She cannot wait to play a less typical role that involves her other loves: Song and Dance (olé!) and she’s equally looking forward to not having ‘blood’ dripping from her face every night. That said, given the title, she may have just spoken too soon…..!
Servant – Ade Gbinigie
Ade has been performing since she was a child and has been training for as long in dance, singing and acting. This is her second time in Blood Wedding; having been previously cast as Beggar Woman/Death, she is looking forward to being less creepy overall. She has also been in shows such as Metamorphoses, The Cripple of Inishmaan and Clybourne Park to name a few plays. She is heavily involved in Musical Theatre as well, having recently been in A Chorus Line where she played Kristine. She hopes you enjoy the show and looks forward to her next foray onto the stage and/or screen.
Father – Jimi Odell
Jimi spent his innocent years performing with The St Albans Youth Music Theatre where he learnt to crack his knuckles, knit a scarf, and hide behind synchronised dancers. Now in his wild years, he can be found singing and playing guitar in various musical collectives. A scriptwriter and occasional online columnist, he has written articles as diverse as ‘The Top Twelve Non-Existent Sequels’ and ‘How To Get Rid of a Badger’. Blood Wedding is his third KDC outing, having previously acted in Dracula and written a script for the recent Halloween 2013 plays.
Bride – Valerie Antwi
Valerie is delighted to be joining the wonderful cast of Blood Wedding for her first production with KDC.
Valerie has performed in a variety of productions, most recently she could be seen as ‘Soldier (behind tree)’ and ‘Soldier (who rapidly dies)’ in Macbeth for SEDOS. Some past favourites include Duckling in Our Country’s Good (TBTL), Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (Salisbury Playhouse Studio) and Karolka in Jenufa (Arcola Theatre).
Second Girl – Manisha Hirani
After graduating with a Law degree in 2010, I decided to follow my dreams and pursue my passion in acting. I have been in 2 feature films (only small roles) and completed a number of short films and commercials. I also love sports and adrenaline and have taken part in a triathlon and a half marathon in the past 3 years – and would love to face more challenges in the future (and hopefully not break my legs or my back doing so). I hope to continue carrying on with my work and move on to bigger projects in the next few years, and being in Blood Wedding is definitely a stepping stone in my career.
Guest – Darren Evans
Ever since I was a teenager, people have often said that I had a very vivid imagination and I should go into drama. I did not believe it at the time, as I thought they just appreciated the joke or impersonation that I did. In 2009 I decided to do Beginners Acting at the City Academy. I received so much genuine encouragement that I continued with City Academy to do the intermediate course. My favourite actor of all time has to be Morgan Freeman, and my favourite type of film – outside the comedy genre – is a film that makes you think. When I was at school, I didn’t really know what I wanted to be or what I was good at. Twelve years on and I am finally realising what I am naturally good at. Better late than never.
First Youth – Graeme Thompson
Graeme is pleased to be back with KDC after an absence of 4 years, spent sunning himself in Belfast, though strangely he never got as tanned as most of the locals. This is his first experience of Lorca, and of dancing in front of people who have to watch; Graeme would like to apologise to each of you.
Blood Wedding Tickets
‘Let’s go to some dark hiding-place where I can always love you …’
‘And I shall sleep at your feet to watch over your dreams.’
Love is patient. Love is not kind. It burns, it sears, it whispers in the blood. It waits, it breathes, it haunts. Through a passionate play that explores love lost, love won and love that refuses to die, KDC Theatre cordially invites you to Blood Wedding. In the heat of a Spanish summer, in the depths of the darkest forest of them all … till death do us part.
Keeping In Touch With Temptation Tickets
The future of social media is here #shareyourlife
Tweets are done. Vlogs are dead. Why just watch others when you can live, see, hear, smell, touch and taste along with them? With Sharing™ you can do just that. Become a Sharer™ and share your life with the world. Your Fans will watch you, if you can entice them. Your Fans will support you, if you do what they say. Your Fans will love you, so long as you never say no. Log in. Start your feed. Live your life. Earn your rewards.
KDC Theatre presents a new play about the future of social media, how it will change our lives and how it will change us.
Contains scenes of a sexual nature, explicit language, stylised violence and references to substance abuse.
An Ideal Husband Tickets
Lord Goring is a wastrel and philandering socialite. His closest friend is a young and well-regarded politician who is considered to be a humanitarian, and even more, an ideal husband. When a new and unwelcome character comes into his life however, Robert Chiltern, the politician in question, finds the dark secrets of his earlier days at risk of being exposed. As the events unfold Goring, finds himself in the middle of the crisis, called on for help from all sides, whilst trying to consider what makes a person truly ideal.
This production will be a modernisation of ‘An Ideal Husband’, relocated in contemporary Russian high society – long coats and fur hats, but still full of all the witticisms you’d hope for from Oscar Wilde, whose own secrets and struggles with the “high moral tone” expected of him live on through Lord Goring.
Director Pitches – Summer 2014
Closing date: 23rd February 2014
Attention! Attention! This is your Artistic Director speaking (typing)
In Summer 2014 we’ll be performing at the Rosemary Branch in Islington from 17-28 June. We intend to embrace the season with some sunshine and light-heartedness, by giving some new writing the opportunity to get staged, AS WELL as a slot in which we would like to revisit a classic.
For our new writing week, our New Writing Coordinator, Matthew Partridge has been taking care of all our inbound scripts in our new writing bank. The plays come from friends and members of KDC Theatre. They have been read at our Round Table Readings (such as the ones we will have this season), and this slot gives directors the opportunity to get these new scripts on their feet, potentially even working with the writers. The New Writing arm of KDC Theatre is something that has been up and running for close to 10 years now, and is something that we really love to put our support behind.
A synopsis of the plays will be available on request to anyone interested in learning more, and following that, we will be able to email you any scripts you have an interest in.
For our second week, we would like to put on a classic. Something over 100 years old. Something familiar that you as a director, and KDC Theatre as a company, can put your own personal stamp on. In the past year alone, we have had a female Hamlet and Richard III, an all female production of Electra, and relocated a Wilde play to contemporary Russia. We would love to hear your pitches for the classic plays that you love, as well as what you want to do with them (whether it’s something very different or a classic interpretation).
Don’t feel that you have to stop at Shakespeare, Wilde or the Greeks through! There are so many more writers to choose from. Just remember that we are aiming to keep our season light-hearted! (Titus Andronicus will have to wait for another day)
If you would like to pitch, or write to us to tell us you have an intention to pitch, please email me at artistic@kdctheatre.com
Our pitching process will close on 23 February 2014, so please contact us by, or before, that date.
Keeping In Touch With Temptation Cast List
The cast of Keeping in Touch with Temptation, directed by Richard Williams:
Brad Johnson
Cathal Power
Emma Saunders
Franki Greorghiou
Holly Partridge
Lucy Callen
Niamh Shiggins
Stephen Ball
Tad Zindi
Tanya Jewth
Victoria Harrison
Blood Wedding Cast List
Here is the cast list for Blood Wedding, directed by Kate Moore:
Bride – Valerie Antwi
Guest – Darren Evans
Bridegroom – Mark Ewins
Servant – Ade Gbinigie
Second Girl – Manisha Hirani
Leonardo – Govind Hodgson
Mother-in-Law – Helen Jackson
Mother – Emma Knott
Wife – Asma Mani
Father – Jimi Odell
First Girl – Ciara Robley
Beggar Woman – Ami Sawran
First Youth – Graeme Thompson
Neighbour – Su Vigus
Assistant Director – Nick Edwards