This is Bath
When most aspiring actors bemoan the lack of opportunity to perform on stage, they might sojourn to the local pub to drown their sorrows.
But a group of young thespians from Bath decided to do something about it – and set up a theatre of their own in the pub itself.
They formed a new group, the Dark Moon Theatre Company, and gained the support of actor Mark Rylance.
And Sam Blake and his friends also managed to persuade three of the nation’s most cherished theatre figures – Dame Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi and playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn to part with some cash to help set up their venture.
The group turn a room at the Beau Nash pub in Bath into a fully-functioning theatre with stage, lights, curtain and props every Saturday, and put on two different plays twice each over six hours in the afternoon.
Called The Bath Shorts, the new shows are taking the city by storm, and according to Sam Blake, who wrote, directed and produced the plays, are intended to be a ‘quick dose of excellent entertainment’ for Saturday shoppers and drinkers to take a short break from their afternoon.
The new theatre company has taken a leaf out of Shakespeare’s book, with those involved writing the short plays each week and then performing them – just as the Bard famously did with his Kingsmen theatre company at The Globe 400 years ago.
And just as young Will Shakespeare had the support of some of the leading lights of Elizabethan theatre, young Sam Blake is being mentored by Mark Rylance, whose portrayal of Wiltshire anti-hero Rooster Byron in Jerusalem won him a Tony Award on Broadway earlier this year.
“The two plays have the same cast of five actors, who weave seamless character changes into the bare-bones productions,” said Sam. “Mark Rylance has been supporting the project and says it is an excellent idea.
“We’re being supported and advised by Mark, he’s been really helpful for us. We just thought we would get out there and do things ourselves rather than just sitting waiting for something to happen.
“So far it’s going really well. It’s creating something of a buzz and people kind of get what we’re trying to do. It’s a rather unusual place to set something up, but actually it’s traditionally where theatre began,” he added.
Currently, the two plays shown twice each Saturday afternoon are Hidden Treasure, a dark tragedy set in Old World Spain that follows the clashes of a small band of thieves and a close-knit Gypsy family, and Antique Antics, an outrageous bawdy comedy that intertwines the various agendas of a despotic king, his fool, a ragged brother and sister, and many others.
But a group of young thespians from Bath decided to do something about it – and set up a theatre of their own in the pub itself.
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Dark Moon Theatre Company -
Beau Nash Pub
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And Sam Blake and his friends also managed to persuade three of the nation’s most cherished theatre figures – Dame Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi and playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn to part with some cash to help set up their venture.
The group turn a room at the Beau Nash pub in Bath into a fully-functioning theatre with stage, lights, curtain and props every Saturday, and put on two different plays twice each over six hours in the afternoon.
Called The Bath Shorts, the new shows are taking the city by storm, and according to Sam Blake, who wrote, directed and produced the plays, are intended to be a ‘quick dose of excellent entertainment’ for Saturday shoppers and drinkers to take a short break from their afternoon.
The new theatre company has taken a leaf out of Shakespeare’s book, with those involved writing the short plays each week and then performing them – just as the Bard famously did with his Kingsmen theatre company at The Globe 400 years ago.
And just as young Will Shakespeare had the support of some of the leading lights of Elizabethan theatre, young Sam Blake is being mentored by Mark Rylance, whose portrayal of Wiltshire anti-hero Rooster Byron in Jerusalem won him a Tony Award on Broadway earlier this year.
“The two plays have the same cast of five actors, who weave seamless character changes into the bare-bones productions,” said Sam. “Mark Rylance has been supporting the project and says it is an excellent idea.
“We’re being supported and advised by Mark, he’s been really helpful for us. We just thought we would get out there and do things ourselves rather than just sitting waiting for something to happen.
“So far it’s going really well. It’s creating something of a buzz and people kind of get what we’re trying to do. It’s a rather unusual place to set something up, but actually it’s traditionally where theatre began,” he added.
Currently, the two plays shown twice each Saturday afternoon are Hidden Treasure, a dark tragedy set in Old World Spain that follows the clashes of a small band of thieves and a close-knit Gypsy family, and Antique Antics, an outrageous bawdy comedy that intertwines the various agendas of a despotic king, his fool, a ragged brother and sister, and many others.
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