Edinburgh 2013

I have just come back from an excellent trip to The Edinburgh Festival, gathering inspiration, ideas and new plays for Stage2 and having a lot of fun watching new and exciting theatre, dance, comedy and art pieces. 

While I was there I saw Stage2 ex-member Charlie Reilly perform in Birmingham University Footnotes Disagree (in a cave) I really enjoyed the show and Charlie was excellent in a really funny great devised sketch show.











I also saw Philip Ridleys new play Dark Vanilla Jungle which is a very upsetting and brilliantly performed one woman show. Charlie, Emma, my mum and I were totally captivated throughout. We noticed parallels between this show and Towerblock Trio and it felt very special to see something else by a writer we have come to know so well.






We also saw a Steven Berkoff play An Actor's Lament, all about the acting industry. I was reminded that last time Stage2 saw a Berkoff play in Edinburgh he gave us special permission to do the premier performance of Requiem for Ground Zero. An Actors Lament  is an excellent play and will definitely be sneaking in to our LAMDA  and Drama School repertoire.





Finally I went to see Claire Dowie perform 2 one woman shows H to He and Why is John Lennon Wearing a Skirt? and although I have seen Claire perform both of these pieces before and know both plays well, it was great to see her performing her own words and using the audience and the text in a way that is so typical of her style and bringing such character and life to these brilliant plays. I am really looking forward to Stage2 producing Why is John Lennon Wearing a Skirt? in the spring term and can't wait for more Stage2 members to get to work with Claire when she comes in in October. I also did an excellent workshop with Colin Watkeys (Claire Dowie's Director) while in Edinburgh on An Introdution to Solo Theatre. Look out for my one woman show...

This all reminded me just how lucky we are to have Stage2, the variety of work we produce is  out standing and the performers, writers, directors and practitioners your eyes are opened to is remarkable. When were you last reminded of Stage2?

I hope to go back to Edinburgh soon. Lucy Bailey-Wright

August at Stage2

View this email in your browser Happy Summer Stage2 Supporters! Thank you to everyone who came to see Towerblock Trio it was great to get such positive feedback! We really enjoyed production week and although tickets sales were not as high as we would like we still enjoyed performing this premiere. Stage2 Summer School - Masks and Movement 10am-4pm  26th-30th August@Millennium Point  just £75 (Plus a Sharing on Friday evening and a performance in Kings Heath Square onSaturday 31st August) Each day we will explore a different style of mask work, by playing games doing exercises and putting together performances. Anyone can take part in this fantastic week long course. Visit www.stage2.org to book your place! If you can  not make the Monday because you are away over the bank holiday please let us know as there may still be places to join on the Tuesday. So... BOOK NOW Facebook Twitter Website Email Stage2  Autumn Term Stage2 starts back on 21st September at 9.30am.  Stage1 starts back on 28th September at 1.30pm. We still have spaces for both groups www.Stage2.org has all the details!  We have 5 great options to choose from A Chorus of Disapproval General Drama Technical Theatre Musical Theatre  Stage1 Choose more than one option at no extra cost. **STOP PRESS** A Chorus of Disapproval  Jan 8-11 2014 is on sale NOW! Book your tickets  PLEASE HELP Birmingham's free arts festival - Artsfest - has been cancelled. It has been an excellent promotional and performance opportunity for Stage2.  So this month we are asking you to help us let everyone know about Stage2!  We usually recruit 50 new members per year through Artsfest. We need to get as close as we can to these numbers to maintain the diversity and range of options available to our members.If you know of any alternative events please let us knowinfo@stage2.org.

Top Ten Reasons to see Towerblock Trio

1. This is the first and probably only time these three shows will be performed as a single, combined play with involvement from Philip Ridley himself.

2. The show deals with contemporary issues ranging from racism to broken families to schoolyard politics and popularity.

3. It's a hugely inventive show containing comedy, romance and loads of emotional content.

4. There are amazing and varied chorus scenes that contribute fantastically to the experience.

5. It's accessible to all kinds of audience through its use of storytelling.

6. Philip Ridley is studied on many drama syllabuses, and the issues within the play are relevant to several other fields of study such as sociology.

7. There's an absolutely incredible amount of talent and dedication put into this show, from the cast to the technical team to the direction.

8. The set, music and costumes all work perfectly to create the right atmosphere

9. The three plays are all unique and different, yet all three are beautifully written with some truly poignant moments.

10. It's important to support all of your friends involved in the show!

I’m honoured to have been able to see one of the show’s midterm runs, which was brilliant, yet I’m gutted that due to absence I won’t be able to watch the finished product complete with polishing, lighting and set. However, I’d urge anyone who can to come and see the show, which, if it’s anything like the run I saw, will be an amazing and worthwhile experience. And if I haven’t managed to convince you, I’d encourage you to watch the brand new and fantastic trailer to see a sample of what I’ve been talking about!

Meg Luesley 14 Stage2 Member  who came to see the midterm run of TBT

The Mentorvent in Pictures!

Stage2 Summer Bonanza!!!

Stage2’s Towerblock Trio

Stage2’s Towerblock Trio

By Philip Ridley

Wed 17th - Sat 20th July 2013 at 7.30pm
at The Crescent Theatre, Brindleyplace, Birmingham B16 8AE

After a swift changeover from Stage2’s The Tempest, (‘an exceptional piece of theatre.’ Behind the Arras), Birmingham’s busiest youth theatre is now working on an exciting new project - Towerblock Trio by Philip Ridley (‘the master of modern myth.’ The Guardian), where fairytales come to life before our eyes. 

This is the first time that these three plays from The Storyteller Sequence will be performed together, intertwining and interweaving throughout the evening! The three plays - Sparkleshark, Fairytaleheart and Moonfleece - all centre around young people in East London who find storytelling an escapist route to project their true selves.

Rewritten and reworked especially for Stage2 in conjunction with Philip Ridley himself, this production will be a powerful piece of theatre about and for the next generation. Ridley’s writing is powerful and hard-hitting and this will be a blisteringly contemporary piece. 

‘The best British Playwright of the last twenty years.’
Aleks Sierz Author of In-Yer-Face Theatre
Stage2 prides itself on the range of plays that we stage, though always with consistently high production values and standards. For any member who stays with us for a while, their varied experience is unparalleled! For more info on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, please see over.

‘Forget this is youth theatre, forget it is an amateur production this is first class theatre full of fine performances with not a single weak link…’ Behind the Arras on Jim Cartwright’s ROAD, 2012

Tickets are £9 on sale now.

Box office: 0121 643 5868 Online: www.crescent-theatre.co.uk

Please contact info@stage2.org or visit www.stage2.org or @Stage2YT

Autumn Production Announced!

Stage2 presents

A Chorus of Disapproval

By Alan Ayckbourn

Wed 8^th – Sat 11^th January 2014

At 7.45pm (+ Sat 2pm)

The Crescent Studio, Brindleyplace, Birmingham B16 8AE

Nothing if not ambitious, the Pendon Amateur Light Operatic Society (PALOS) is taking on The Beggar’s Opera.  And The Beggar’s Opera is definitely winning . . . until, that is, a personable but shy widower, Guy Jones, joins the team . . .

Despite being an instant hit with the company’s energetic, excitable director, Dafydd Llewellyn, and an even bigger hit with PALOS’s female members  (including, unfortunately Dafydd’s wife, Hannah) the inexperienced Guy seems destined for a spot in the chorus. But then a series of casting mishaps propel him up the PALOS ladder - on and off the stage. Everyone wants to get to know him but ulterior motives abound. As he climbs closer and closer to the top, from part to part and actress to actress, Guy - a man all too susceptible to wine, women and song - discovers that there are definite downsides to being a big fish in a small pond . . .

‘..a serious comic masterpiece: brilliantly constructed, ruthlessly observant,

hilarious and hard as nails.’ The Sunday Times

After epic Shakespeare (The Tempest), stylized physical theatre (Steven Berkoff’s Graft) and    pioneering premieres (Philip Ridley’s Towerblock Trio) we now present an amateur theatre company, performing standard repertoire, in a studio theatre… The Crescent space will be used to the max, with scenes happening anywhere in the audience’s earshot, as the rehearsal process is brutally exposed.

‘Deliriously funny. Director Liz Light makes ingenious use of the Bedlam Theatre space.’

The Scotsman on Stage2’s previous production of this play at The Edinburgh Festival 1997

One of Britain’s most acclaimed playwrights, Ayckbourn is renowned for his hilarious observations of human idiosyncrasies and here he excels himself with a blistering expose on the world of amateur dramatics.

‘It is delightfully done. The evening's success is due to Ayckbourn, whom we consistently underestimate. He is as funny as any of the classic comedy writers and, in this early piece, showed how prolonged misunderstanding can become a source of painful truth.’

Michael Billington The Guardian, on Relatively Speaking at Wyndhams Theatre Summer 2013

Tickets £9      crescent-theatre.co.uk      0121 643 5858

For further information on Stage2 www.stage2.org        info@stage2.org        07961 018841

Towerblock Trio

Stage2 invite YOU to…

Towerblock Trio

Wed 17^th – Sat 20^th July 2013 at 7:30pm

@ The Crescent Theatre, Brindleyplace, Birmingham, B16 8AE

Towerblock Trio combines one act plays written by the highly acclaimed playwright Philip Ridley. With special permission from the writer himself, the young dynamic company puts a brand new spin on Fairytale Heart, Sparkleshark and Moonfleece! All set in East London, they use of fairy tales to help the characters express their true feelings and desires.

The play follows the lives of characters living on an inner city estate. There are a wide variety of contemporary themes explored through hilarious action sequences and ‘blistering’ subtext. Stage2’s exciting and energetic cast bring life and dynamism to each play and will leave the audience feeling entranced, enthralled and amazed by this brand new and unique piece of theatre.

Stage2 has rolled three incredible one act plays into one, so there’s a chance you could miss something the first time… So why not take advantage of our 2 for 1 offer on tickets and come twice (or bring a friend and compare notes!) -  the offer ends 1^st June so hurry! This show is not to be missed!

Tickets for this brand new production are £9 and are on sale NOW!

The Crescent box office: 0121 643 5858

For more information on Stage2,

Visit us                       www.stage2.org,

Email us                    info@stage2.org

Call us                       07961 018841

Follow us                  @Stage2YT

‘If anyone can do it, Birmingham’s Stage2 can!’ - Birmingham Post