Welcome to our annual newsletter for Volunteers, Supporters and Member Playwrights.
Hitting the Road – The Travelling Plays >>> Our Replay Production in March featuring Ben Moor as ‘Third Man’ and a fabulous team of volunteers was an absolute triumph and was glowingly reviewed by theatre critic Michael Coveney (see ‘What people said about us’).
<<< Stage One Scene & Heard volunteers Gordon Peaston and Sophie Russell ran this popular workshop weekend which introduces our Member Playwrights to the fun of performing. Nine young people worked alongside adult mentors to create nine hilarious short performance pieces presented at Basil Jellicoe Hall in May.
Slick Tricks – The Flawless Plays >>> Our Summer Playmaking One production featured nine glorious plays with a crazy mix of characters including a Willopotomus who’s fed up running a boring pub in the jungle and a pagoda ‘made of superbricks and cement and height’ who makes friends with a fly-butter.
What people said about us in 2013: <<< Side by Side Playback, our fifth course, combines all of the skills learned in previous courses and this year was an “The kids had written duologues, and all girl extravaganza, ably taught by Oliver Senton. then expanded them to three-handers Eight of our older Member Playwrights took time with the intervention of a bizarre or out from their overwhelming studying and exam unlikely character played in all ten schedules to create theatre both as writers and plays by the sublimely clownish and performers working alongside professional actors, comically elongated Ben Moor, an writers and directors. actor who can animate an inanimate object with more feeling than a Schubert song…Costumes, made by Best Foot Forward – The Bold Plays (The final production of 2013) Lizzie Bardwell and Julia Bunce, as This is in rehearsal as we go to print but we have ten fantastic plays soon to be remarkable and inventive as anything brought to life by another winning team of volunteer theatre professionals. you will see on the West End stage this or any other week” 15 years old Michael Coveney What’s On Stage 2014 is our 15th Anniversary. We would like to hear your stories about Scene & Heard; your favourite play, or best memory, the funniest line, the “The plays were remarkable. More magical moments. Let us know and we will collate them. Send your memories surreal than Dali and Ionesco, far to [email protected] funnier than Fawlty Towers and more touching than EastEnders, the genius Thank you to all the volunteers: actors, writers, dramaturgs, of childhood shone through… directors, composers, and prop makers and to our wonderful All the playwrights live in one of the technicians and designers for a truly FABULOUS year. toughest wards in London. Several are second-generation immigrants. All of There are always so many people to thank for their contributions to our work but them stood taller when they took their special mention this year must go to volunteer Neil Edmond who has designed bow. That’s real education.” the wonderful images for all of our flyers in 2013. Chris Bryant The Independent Dear Volunteers, Supporters and Member Playwrights, 2013 has been a busy and successful year for Scene & Heard. We have Our Patrons run five courses, been on two theatre trips, gone live with our new website Scene & Heard’s patrons outdid featuring our popular resource pack for teachers, launched a range of Scene themselves this year, supporting and & Heard merchandise, and begun our Major Donor Campaign. promoting our work. A huge thank Our work has been seen by more people than ever and glowingly reviewed you to them all. by Michael Coveney and Chris Bryant (see front page). Hugh Bonneville, Tom Goodman-Hill, It was a real treat to take a group of our older Member Playwrights to Max Hill, Roger Lloyd Pack, Michael The Almeida Theatre in March of this year to see The Turn of the Screw. Sheen and Samuel West (the latter They were delighted and frightened in equal measure, and were genuinely two pictured top) hosted the launch of astonished at the power of live theatre to tell a spooky ghost story. our Major Donor Campaign at a first Mousetrap Theatre Projects sponsored our second theatre trip of the year night Gala performance of Slick Tricks as we took a group of boys to The Southbank Centre to see Groove on Down - The Flawless Plays. Hugh introduced the Road by ZooNation; a vibrant hip hop musical that had us dancing all the the evening in his inimitable style and way back to Somers Town. Samuel made the closing speech. For me one of the absolute highlights of the year has been to welcome back a group of our older Member Playwrights to take our bi-annual fifth course, In July Hugh Bonneville (pictured Playback. I first worked with this particular cohort of girls when they were bottom, with Roz and Simma) played just nine years old. Now aged between 14 and 16, they are growing into God in Spamalot, donating his fee to confident, intelligent young women, they are funny and clever and it has been Scene & Heard. He even sang and my pride and joy to see them back on stage at Scene & Heard this term. danced at the curtain call. Many thanks to him and to The Ambassador Thank you EVERYONE for your contributions to our work, in whatever Theatre Group, who shook buckets for capacity: from artists, playwrights, patrons and funders to marathon runners, us after the performances. audience members and supporters. You make us the successful and award- winning charity that we are and we couldn’t do it without you. Samuel West stretched the brains of a room full of volunteers at a quiz in support of Alan Park’s Berlin Marathon in September. The questions were tricky and often witty – the chocolate tasting round was a firm favourite. Artistic Director Fittingly, Alan’s team won the quiz.
Anna Chancellor, Damian Lewis and Helen McCrory attended Vodafone World of Difference performances at Theatro Technis For the fourth consecutive year we this year, taking time out from their received a grant from Vodafone schedules to introduce friends and to employ a volunteer on a part colleagues to our work. Reviewer time basis to work on a specific Michael Coveney was impressed with project for Scene & Heard. This the high-flying audience: year we were delighted to have Carys Williams as our Community Liaison Co-ordinator. Carys worked “I was squashed among Damian Lewis, to forge better relationships with Helen McCrory, Anna Chancellor the secondary schools our Member and director Jonathan Kent… The Playwrights attend and tracked resultant theatre is sheer surreal fun down some 24 children with whom and nonsense, with no recourse to we had lost touch. historical reference and no worries for the audience about matching She did a fantastic job meeting with the acting to real people we’ve seen representatives from a number of and read about. This means that schools, updating our records and every performance is definitive and making sure that we can find our complete.” Member Playwrights in order to invite them back to Scene & Heard to do more courses with us. Carys managed to do all of this just in As with all of our volunteers, we time before her beautiful baby Lyra couldn’t do it without them. arrived in July. A huge thank you and enormous congratulations to Carys from all at Scene & Heard. Fundraising news Our Funders Audience donations are vital to our funding, thank you to all who put money into those buckets! Quiz 2013 Merchandise Quizmaster extraordinaire Jez Worsnip Do you have your Scene & Heard Many thanks to our funders in 2013: created a tricky and entertaining annual t-shirt? Do you drink your morning Arts Council England, BBC Children quiz. It was the year of the “threepeat”, cappuccino from a Scene & Heard in Need, British Transport Police, The with Gyuri Sarossy’s team winning for the mug? Is your washing up greatly Francis Crick Institute, Columbia third year in a row! Bring a team to this eased by the use of your Scene & Foundation Fund of the London year’s quiz and see if you can beat them. Heard Tea Towel? Have you given Community Foundation, Deutsche such lovely gifts to your family and Bank in partnership with the London friends for Christmas, birthdays, etc? Community Foundation, Help a Capital Alan Park runs away You can now also purchase Scene Child, John Lyon’s Charity, The Alan & Alan Park ran the Berlin Marathon in & Heard pens, pencils and pencil Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust, The support of Scene & Heard. He ran in sharpeners generously donated Boris Karloff Charitable Foundation, 4 hours and 31 minutes – leaving the by communication consultants, The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, The office breathless. THANK YOU to Quietroom (www.quietroom.co.uk). Goldsmiths’ Company, The Sir James everyone who sponsored - as we go Merchandise is available at every Roll Charitable Trust, The Worshipful to press he’s reached his target and performance…don’t miss out! Company of Grocers, Tom’s Trust, The raised £2022. Tudor Trust, The Unity Theatre Trust, Wednesday’s Child and Vodafone Our next London Marathon place World of Difference. will be in April 2015 – if you’d like We are wholly indebted to an to run and believe you can raise anonymous trust that funded the significant funds, contact entire Replay course in 2013. [email protected]
Teachers Pack success Lives in London Our Teachers Pack Playwriting the Staff and volunteers were Scene & Heard Way has proved delighted to attend the hugely successful both on our own launch of Taseen Khan’s book website and on the Times Educational Lives in London 2012. Taseen Supplement website. It has received has completed four courses excellent five star reviews, thousands with us and is one of our older of hits and hundreds of downloads. Member Playwrights. His mother We have had an overwhelmingly Councillor Samata Khatoon has positive response from teachers More thank yous collected his plays written at Scene and theatre practitioners all delighted Several volunteers and supporters & Heard and his short stories about with the resource. In particular a assisted our fundraising this year – a the life of a lad growing up in London version of our Teachers Pack has been round of applause to each of you! and published them in this charming piloted in a school in Enfield, with book. Taseen and his mother have very impoverished children in Mumbai • Althea Stewart’s Quaker Meeting generously donated all funds from the and is soon to be trialled in Peru. donated £100 sale of the book to Scene & Heard. Our Teachers Pack helps us share • Jim Patterson donated a speaking fee You can buy a copy in the foyer at our our experiences and demonstrate • James Albrecht and the St James next production. best practice to a wider audience Theatre donated prizes for our across the globe. annual quiz Congratulations • Angus Lindsay helped with our We would like to extend a warm In Kind donations: fundraising campaign welcome to Rachel Nicholson’s son Huge thanks to our lovely IT support • Louisa Gummer supported our Fergus, Jamie Glassman’s daughter company The Final Step who look after social media efforts Esmee, John Lightbody’s daughter all our IT needs and this year helped • Neil Bull, Suzie Foster, Jasmine Martha, Carys Williams’ daughter Lyra Kai upgrade his PC. Rowe, Hannah Stokely and Susie and Suze Robertson’s daughter Skye. www.thefinalstep.co.uk Trayling went above and beyond the Supporter Jim Paterson (who ran 12 call to take tickets, stage manage marathons for Scene & Heard in 2012) The immensely talented Joe Ewart and serve food and drink at our Gala married Zoe on August 31st. A Scene of Society continues to donate his evening in July & Heard wedding weekend in October considerable talents and expertise • Roger Lawrence took the pictures at featured volunteers Charlotte Weston designing our flyers and programmes. the Gala and Bob Wolstenholme marrying each He designed Scene & Heard’s first full other and Natasha Byrne marrying her colour programme for our Gala in July If you’d like to help next year - email partner Steve. Kate Copeland also tied as well as the invitation. [email protected] the knot in 2013 As a supporter of Scene & Heard, you know the power ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: of something small to create Rosalind Paul something wonderful. Our HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT: Eyes & Ears Supporters Simma Gershenson scheme is a vital part of our OFFICE MANAGER: funding, and this year we Kai Simmons want to increase the income it brings us to £20,000 a PATRONS: year. Please join Eyes & Ears Max Hill QC and help make sure we can Damian Lewis continue our amazing work Emily Watson in Somers Town. Go to Samuel West our website to download a HONORARY PATRONS: form - and don’t forget to Hugh Bonneville tick the giftaid box if you’re Anna Chancellor Jennie Darnell eligible, it will add 25% to Tom Goodman-Hill your donation. For more Roger Lloyd Pack information please email Helen McCrory Bill Nighy [email protected] Michael Sheen or call 0845 0090775 Cathy Tyson Zoë Wanamaker Richard Wilson
FOUNDERS: Sophie Boyack Kate Coleman
Theatro Technis 26 Crowndale Road London NW1 1TT • Spread the word about Scene & Heard - Actors and Directors, please Office: 0845 009 0775 include your volunteering with Scene Box Office: 020 7388 9008 & Heard in your biographies for 2014 – the year ahead programmes etc: “[name] is proud [email protected] to be one of many arts professionals Friday 7th February www.sceneandheard.org who volunteer their time and talents The Counting House to the renowned children’s mentoring Anniversary Quiz Registered Charity No. 1077836 theatre charity, Scene & Heard” 20th – 23rd March Newsletter design by Edie Mullen • Calling all Actors and Directors - Are Going for Gold you in a show that we could bring a - The Ambitious Plays group of our Member Playwrights to? A Replay Production Perhaps we could meet the actors or have a backstage tour! Please let us 10th – 13th July know if you may be able to help. Who Said That? The Unnerving Plays • Keep in touch: Please remember to A Playmaking One Production tell us if your contact details change. 30th – 31st October • Saturday nights are Member Perfect Pairings Playwrights nights, come along to any A One-on-One Production Saturday performance. 4th - 7th December Top Hat & Tails - The Well-dressed Plays A Playmaking One Production