BY ADAPTED AND DIRECTED BY SAT 16 NOVEMBER 2019 – SAT 25 JANUARY 2020 CAST DAVID AHMAD THE HERO (MILES HENDON / MINSTREL) DANIELLE BIRD APPRENTICE HERO (EDWARD) NICHOLE BIRD APPRENTICE FOOL (TOM) KIERAN BUCKERIDGE PLAYER MANAGER (FIRST LORD OF EVERYTHING / MINSTREL) GARETH CASSIDY PLAYER QUEEN (MARY TUDOR / BEEFEATER) MATTHEW GANLEY FOOL (PA CANTY / MINSTREL) ELLIOT GOOCH APPRENTICE PLAYER (UNDERSTUDY / MINSTREL) JASMIN HINDS PLAYER PRINCESS (ELIZABETH I) SUFIA MANYA DAME (MA CANTY / MINSTREL) FAZ SHAH PLAYER (SHOW MUSICAL DIRECTOR / MINSTREL) TOM RICHARDSON PLAYER KING (HENRY VIII / BEEFEATER) MARGIT VAN DER ZWAN PLAYER (MINSTREL) BY JOSS WYRE APPRENTICE PLAYER (UNDERSTUDY) Set and made props by the New Vic Workshop WITH THANKS FOR THIS Costumes by the New Vic Costume Department PRODUCTION TO: Lighting and sound operated by Aaron Batley, Daniella Pippa Church for puppetry tuition Beattie, Alex Day, James Earls-Davis, Sam Eccles Roger Bartlett for associate Fight Direction and Peter Morgan Dave Culling for music direction for Summer School The New Vic’s production of The Prince and The Pauper opened on 16 November 2019 CREATIVE TEAM THERESA HESKINS ADAPTER AND DIRECTOR JAMES ATHERTON COMPOSER & MUSICAL DIRECTOR LAURA WILLSTEAD SET AND PUPPET DESIGNER LIS EVANS COSTUME DESIGNER DANIELLA BEATTIE LIGHTING DESIGNER BEVERLEY NORRIS-EDMUNDS CHOREOGRAPHER ALEX DAY CO-SOUND DESIGNER JAMES EARLS-DAVIS CO-SOUND DESIGNER PHILIP D'ORLÉANS FIGHT DIRECTOR ANJI CARROLL CDG CASTING ASSOCIATE DAN HUTTON ASSISTANT DIRECTOR ABIGAIL MIDDLETON ASSISTANT CHOREOGRAPHER STEVE HALL COMPANY STAGE MANAGER ASHLEIGH GERMAN DEPUTY STAGE MANAGER KAYLEIGH COOPER & TRACEY BOOTH ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS AARON BATLEY ASSISTANT STAGE TECHNICIAN YOUNG COMPANY TEAM FORTUNES ELLA BRADSHAW, ISOBEL BURKE, MOLLY CLEWES, CALLUM DAY, MOLLY FERNEYHOUGH, MARTHA GLOVER-EDGE, MAI MCGREGOR, ANYA SNAPE TEAM ROSES LILY BOWERS, BEATRICE BOWERY-TAYLOR, HOLLY EDWARDS, GEORGE FORSYTH, EVANGELINE GIANNITTO, JESSICA LELLO, MILES LESNIAK, EMILY MARSHALL ADAPTED AND DIRECTED BY TEAM SWANS THEA BAILEY, JACQUE BOWEN, OLIVIA CLIFFE, ETA CULLEN-CORNES, ELIZABETH DAILY-HUNT, MARIKA OAKES, JAROM SHERRARD, EMILIA WILDMAN CHAPERONES INTERPRETED PERFORMANCES: MARIA BOONE – LEAD CHAPERONE Sign Language Interpreted Performance: Thu 28 Nov 10.30am LOUISE GRATTAGE, WILL HENSHALL Audio Described: Wed 8 Jan 10.30am, Sat 11 Jan 2.15pm PATRICK JERVIS, MATT JONES Captioned: Tue 14 Jan 2.15pm, Sat 18 Jan 2.15pm PETER LOWE, MELANIE OSBOURNE Relaxed Performance: Mon 13 Jan 6.00pm GILL POLLARD IN REHEARSAL Photos by Andrew Billington A Note from the Director... I’ve written the New Vic’s festive show every year together the first rough draft, but some subjects are since 2009. It’s a huge privilege to make a production so big that you can find yourself drowning in research, that’s seen by the equivalent of 1 in 10 of the Potteries so doing it this way round allowed me to focus on population, with many of the audience being children solving problems and enhancing scenes. I needed to having their first ever trip to the theatre or families out know more about the historical characters themselves: for their Christmas treat. That’s quite a responsibility. Edward VI, Henry VIII, Mary Tudor, Elizabeth I. I read I start writing in January, and spend pretty much the up on banquets, including dishes of swan and peacock; whole year thinking of Christmas! Here’s how I go how Royalty would demonstrate their majesty to the about it. general public, in the form of processions and river pageants. I visited Westminster Abbey and the Globe One: the idea Theatre, and found Bruegel’s paintings Children’s Games I start by pondering what stories are brimming with and The Fight Between Carnival and Lent to be useful in Christmas spirit. Am I inspired to adapt a particular getting a sense of life for the poorer sort. story? What is on at a nearby theatre? How do teachers and schoolchildren respond when we consult The next two steps, four and five, are better the other them? These factors all contribute to the decision. way round, but I was busy transferring Around The World In 80 Days to New York and The Worst Witch to I knew the concept of The Prince and The Pauper well, the West End, so the design team had to do their work both from the BBC TV version in the mid-70s, starring before I could find time to complete the script. Nicholas Lyndhurst prior to Only Fools & Horses fame, but also from other films and versions that use the Four: the design process trope, from Trading Places through Blood Brothers to The Tudor period was new to us as a creative team. Mickey Mouse and even an episode of Blackadder. I visited Coventry’s Spon Street for inspiration: this More recently, Barbie has starred in her own movie, fascinating street is a collection of all the medieval The Princess and the Popstar; Sega created a console buildings that survived second world war bombing game; and Netflix’s The Princess Switch was a seasonal campaigns. It is especially well recorded in diagrams and movie. I knew it was a popular idea that can fuel a drawings, so we’ve been able to use it as our model compelling story. of a Tudor street. Set designer Laura Willstead went to research the structure of an Elizabethan playhouse, Two: the crash edit accompanying a tour group around London’s Globe But what would that story be? The novel, and the Errol Theatre (I enjoyed imagining her as the only person Flynn film, contain a lot of court intrigue. Whilst fur- bending down to take photos of how the walls sit robed men whispering in candlelit corridors can make upon their brick foundation so that she could replicate a thrilling Wolf Hall, I didn’t feel that would make the this in the set). With costume designer Lis Evans we cut for family audiences at the New Vic festive show. learned about the Sumptuary Laws which restricted I knew that I wanted to focus more on the adventure the wearing of certain types of cloth and fur to certain side of the story, and that I might replace characters ranks of nobility (with the notable exception of actors) like scheming Lord Hertford (played by Claude Rains and were dazzled by the accounts of the Master of in the ‘30s movie) with historical figures who are more the Revels, including itemisation of expenditure on widely known, yet who might serve a similar plot costumes for the players performing during coronation function. I felt that the repetitive nature of the prince’s pageants, which helped me resolve a plot wrinkle that journey outside the palace would need to be modified; I knew needed to be reached more satisfyingly than in and that the pauper’s experiences inside the palace Mark Twain’s original. would need to be equally important. Five: writing a detailed draft Three: a shed load of research This one was quite a remarkable experience, as it It seems counter-intuitive to do this after putting mainly took place whilst floating on a lilo in a Florida The Fight Between Carnival and Len by Pieter Bruegel the Elder pool. I stayed there for a holiday after opening Around it undergoes the next big change. The first day, when The World In 80 Days in Sarasota, and it’s only now that we sit in a big circle with all the craft and production I realise that quite a lot of the spirit of that production and marketing and education departments and read it has made its way into this one. aloud for the first time, is an anxious experience for us all. But then as the actors start to interrogate the text Another theatrical influence crept in at this point, too. and put it on its feet in the rehearsal room, the magic Mark Twain was massively inspired by Shakespeare, starts to happen. This is my favorite bit of the writing so perhaps it’s not surprising that I have been as process. It’s when the words really start to come well. Whether it be his exhortation to the audience to life: the characters become vivid, and the actors to use their imagination; his vivid interest in ghosts bring their special brand of charisma and energy and and witches; his focus on how clothes maketh the ingenuity to the play. man (or woman), and how easily they can provide an impenetrable disguise. And he can always be relied upon for a choice insult. Opening night! Finally, having been lost in the world of the play for Six: working with the Composer months, I get to see the play as if for the first time, all Composer James Atherton and I took a deep breath the moments where I’ve completely missed essential and delved into the world of hautboys, crumhorns pieces of plot; or a moment that’s potentially confusing and psalteries, listening to composers such as John but none of us had spotted. It’s also the moment Dowland, Thomas Tallis, Orlando Gibbons and even where the play gets to meet its most important Henry VIII himself, whose song book has inspired two character: the audience. of the songs in this production. We were delighted to Finally... stumble across the suggestion that the nursery rhyme Of course, I’m already thinking about what next year’s three blind mice had perhaps been inspired by Mary festive show will be, and plan to sit down and start Tudor. writing it just a few weeks from now… Seven: rehearsal Getting the play script into the rehearsal room is when By Artistic Director Theresa Heskins NEW VIC BUILDS TUDOR LONDON TOWN! Designer Laura Willstead’s stunning wrap-around line drawn on the card and a “cut” which will cut design of miniature Tudor houses looked striking on all the way through the card.