Graduate Chris Ashby who has pretty much not had a day out of working as an actor has just been cast as the lead, Christopher Boone in the the National Theatre's tour of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time from December 2014 - November 2015!
After more than 30 years away, ALRA North Acting Technique tutor Paul Elsam returns to Manchester's live theatre scene next week when he directs David Tomlinson’s hour-long ‘Scary Rom-Com’ EQUAL PARTNERS at Salford’s King’s Arms venue. Paul graduated from Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre in 1983 before acting across the UK, including Olivier and BAFTA-nominated shows. While living in Manchester he witnessed “the theatrical event of my life” – seeing Sir Ben Kingsley’s Royal Exchange Theatre performance as Marlowe’s DOCTOR FAUSTUS. Years later Kingsley would write the Foreword for Paul’s bestselling Methuen handbook ACTING CHARACTERS.
Paul says: ‘Manchester was my training ground and my home for five years, so it’s an honour to be putting work back on the stage here. In fact it’s great to leave the classroom whenever you can and put your work in front of paying punters.'
The play is a taut yet moving comedy set on a cliff-top. Paul has been drafted in to direct by newly-launched Troublehouse Theatre Company, run by professional actors and ALRA graduates Rick Bithell and Heather Carroll. There are only three performances – at 7.30pm on Tue 29, Wed 30 and Thur 31 July – before the show starts booking dates outside the region. Tickets (priced at just £5) for this Greater Manchester Festival event can be bought online at http://www.kingsarmssalford.com/?id=9#07/29/2014 .
Natasha only graduated in June and already she has landed a part in Willy Russell’s ‘Our Day Out - The Musical’ directed by Kevin Shaw at Oldham Coliseum. The show will run from Friday 5th – Saturday 27th September.
Congratulations Tash, what a great way to start your professional career!
New theatre company to debut at Manchester Fringe Festival
Written by David Tomlinson, Equal Partners is the debut show from an exciting new, up and coming Northern theatre company: Troublehouse.
Equal Partners directed by Paul Elsam is set in Scarborough upon the cliffs at the Raven Hall Hotel. Local lad Graham (Rick Bithell) stands on the cliff edge, the bells from his own wedding still ringing in his ears, seeking comfort and guidance from the only thing familiar to him: a fibreglass pig of his own creation. On the same cliff edge, Jenny (Heather Carroll) seeks the comfort and protection of a nearby bush in an attempt to salvage her romantic weekend with the boss…and unexpectedly his wife! So join Graham and Jenny as they stand above a one hundred and fifty feet drop to discuss relationships, morals and fibreglass animals!
Equal Partners runs from the 29th to the 31st July at the Kings Arms, Salford. Tickets are priced at £5.
Rick Bithell and Heather Carroll trained together at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts North and graduated in 2012.
Upon graduation Rick and Heather moved to Greater Manchester and quickly became involved in its theatrical scene. Their passion for naturalistic performance led to the creation of Troublehouse theatre, a company that strives to bridge the gap between professional and fringe theatre in the North West. When asked what they wanted Troublehouse to achieve on the Manchester scene, Rick answered: "The aim is to provide our audiences with the same quality professional theatre experience that they’re now accustomed to in the North but at an affordable price and in venues other than those established theatre spaces”. Too which Heather added: “Not only that, we want to promote new writing and talent in the North. We're both proud Northerners who want to nurture the growing theatrical buzz that's in Manchester, and indeed the North, right now".
She isn’t even out the door yet and she’s already landed her first professional job… and what a job to get! Saffron Hocking who will be graduating from ALRA South on the 3 Year Acting Course has been cast in Max Stafford Clark’s new play Pitcairn! She went for a recall and was offered the part on the spot! Incredible work, that’s how you do it! Well done, Saffron!
Special £10 ticket offer on Thursday 26th June! Quote 'song' when booking.
France. 1096. Matthew, a young French Knight, sets out on the First Crusade. Behind him he leaves a broken family, a crumbling ancestral farm and a teenage sister who must save it all from ruin. From the fields of France to the churches of Antioch and the siege of Jerusalem, Enduring Song is a historical epic about love, hope and family.
Staged in the round with a cast of twenty and traditional Corsican polyphonic songs, Bear Trap Theatre Company return to Southwark Playhouse following their multi award-winning debut production ‘Bound’.
The multi-faceted 2006 graduate Edward Day has written and directed In The Surface Of A Bubble which will be on at The Blue Elephant, Southwark from 8th-12th July, moving to Swindon and then Derby before heading up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer.
In The Surface Of A Bubble is a whirlwind of a play; a new style of theatre where the fluidity of Brazilian capoeira breathes life into characters of metal and wood, catapulting them, spinning and free-wheeling in and out of each other’s way, battling for supremacy. In a reality wherepeople need only imagine something for it to come true, the girl with the most imagination falls in love with the boy with the least and together they transform their world into ours, where thoughts are locked inside our heads.
The fantastically talent Christopher Sawalha will be touring around the county with the Illyria Theatre Company playing George in George's Marvellous Medicine.You can see a list of tour dates here: http://www.illyria.co.uk/GEORGETourSchedule2014.htm
The wonderful Raj Bajaj has not only just finished filming an episode of Doctor Who which will air in the Autumn but has also been cast as Paris in a month long run of Romeo and Juliet at the brand new Home Theatre in Manchester. It will run from 10th September – 4th October and tickets and more info can be found here:http://homemcr.org/production/romeo-and-juliet/
Graduate Amrita Acharia who appeared as Irri in HBO’s Game of Thrones and award winning feature film, Jeg er Din has been nominated for ‘Best Lead Actress’ at the Amanda Awards in Norway! She is up alongside the likes of Juliette Binoche; such an amazing achievement. Well done, Amrita; we are rooting for you!
We can finally reveal… the little American fella, Brian the Robot from the Confused.com campaign; who no doubt you’ve seen on your screens, radios, sides of buses… basically everywhere is the voice of 2010 graduate, Jannik Archer! What a great job to get!
He has double good news in being cast as Caliban in The Tempest at the Courtyard Theatre; funnily enough directed by another ALRA graduate, Alice Sillett. The show will run from 15th July – 3rd August.
The wonderful Chiara who graduated from ALRA South on the BA Acting course in 2010 will be playing Sarah in award-winning theatre company Third Man Theatre's Mugs Arrows, a black comedy by Eddie Elks, directed by Ken McClymont. MUGS ARROWS delves in to a world that is on the change. It explores the depths of the human psyche, love, loss, friendship and darts, leading to hilarious, strange and ultimately disturbing results. Just your average night out down the local then... Game On!
"A deliciously constructed piece - the dark humour keeps us laughing, and the steadily unfolding narrative tightens its grip, so we are pulled deeper into the recesses of the psyche." **** Exeunt "Bonkers but in a good way!" Lyn Gardiner, The Guardian.
Old Red Lion Theatre3rd - 21st June 2014 Tuesday- Saturday at 7:30pm Saturday matinee at 3pm Sunday matinee at 2pm
Joe will be performing in Sandel which was a 5* smash hit at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Set in Oxford in the 1960s, it tells the story of a love affair between a 19 year old undergraduate, David Rogers, and a precocious Cathedral choirboy, Antony Sandel. When David is sent down after infringing college regulations, he is given a job as a teacher at the choir school - where Sandel is still a pupil. Add David’s Catholic friend Bruce, who is studying to be a priest, to the mix and the stage is set for a powerful showdown.
Even more controversial today than it was in the 60s, Sandel is nevertheless very funny, witty and light-hearted, a tale about what love can do in any age when it takes over your life. The uncompromising ending left Edinburgh audiences stunned in their seats. Sandel is bound to both delight and shock.
5*Sunday Express, Scotsgay, EdFringe Review
“A unnervingly vivid play that will go farther than the Fringe. I was gripped.” The Times
“The choirboy’s sexual awakening comes across brilliantly...Searing performances. A gem of a play”Sunday Express
“Lovingly adapted and skilfully directed by Glenn Chandler... Tender and uplifting” British Theatre Guide
“A very witty play. Incredibly watchable”EdFringe review
“Bound to delight thousands in its fringe run and beyond” Scotsgay Magazine
Graduate Chris Ashby who has pretty much not had a day out of working as an actor has just been cast as the lead, Christopher Boone in the the National Theatre's tour of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time from December 2014 - November 2015!
Natasha only graduated in June and already she has landed a part in Willy Russell’s ‘Our Day Out - The Musical’ directed by Kevin Shaw at Oldham Coliseum. The show will run from Friday 5th – Saturday 27th September.
She isn’t even out the door yet and she’s already landed her first professional job… and what a job to get! Saffron Hocking who will be graduating from ALRA South on the 3 Year Acting Course has been cast in Max Stafford Clark’s new play Pitcairn! She went for a recall and was offered the part on the spot! Incredible work, that’s how you do it! Well done, Saffron!
2010 
The multi-faceted 2006 graduate Edward Day has written and directed In The Surface Of A Bubble which will be on at The Blue Elephant, Southwark from 8th-12th July, moving to Swindon and then Derby before heading up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer.
The fantastically talent Christopher Sawalha will be touring around the county with the 
Graduate Amrita Acharia who appeared as Irri in HBO’s Game of Thrones and award winning feature film, Jeg er Din has been nominated for ‘Best Lead Actress’ at the Amanda Awards in Norway! She is up alongside the likes of Juliette Binoche; such an amazing achievement. Well done, Amrita; we are rooting for you! 
1992 graduate Paul McEwan is set to appear alongside Martin Freeman and Gina McKee in Richard III at Trafalgar Studios.
