A NEW DEVELOPMENT
TO MAKE UP A FULL EVENING’S THEATRICAL ENTERTAINMENT
A DOUBLE BILL
OFFERING A TALK, PLUS A PRESENTATION
Many years ago, when I was managing theatres in Scotland, local societies would invite me to speak to them: I called that first talk AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY PLAYS.
Return bookings demanded a second talk, this time about theatre as seen from the stage manager’s seat in the prompt corner - THE VIEW FROM THE WINGS.
My eight tours of the Indian sub-continent
led to a third, historical, talk WOMEN OF THE RAJ.
So far - Have Lectern; Will Travel.
Needing something that might suit theatres, arts centres and festivals I devised GEORGE BERNARD SHAW: PLAYING THE CLOWN - a humorous one-man presentation about the life, loves and writings of our second-greatest playwright.
Then it was - Have Lectern plus Furniture; Will Travel.
That worked so well I added another ‘presentation’,
CLARKSON ROSE: FIFTY YEARS OF SEASIDE ENTERTAINMENT
and it became Have Lectern plus Props and Costumes; Will Travel.
Apart from PLAYING THE CLOWN (anything from 45 to 75 minutes) my talks all last the regulation 45 minutes. The enterprising UNDER GROUND THEATRE in Eastbourne asked about a possible ‘full evening programme’ - perhaps a Double Bill with a Talk first, and a Presentation after the interval - and hosted the first of these on 3rd March 2017 (see below).
THE POLY in Falmouth has booked a VIEW FROM THE WINGS/PLAYING THE CLOWN
double bill for November 2017, and we hope to interest other small theatres and arts centres.
My latest book MEANDERINGS: A RIVER AND A LIFE is now available, and a DOUBLE BILL involving the illustrated presentation A TRIP DOWN THE RIVER CHARENTE (the river)
coupled with THE VIEW FROM THE WINGS (the life) should work as a book promotion.
This combination is booked for the MERE LITERARY FESTIVAL on October 13th.
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IT WOULDN’T BE EASTBOURNE WITHOUT A LIVE SHOW
For years Eastbourne has enjoyed more ‘live’ performances than almost any other seaside resort. The Pier had its own theatre. The Devonshire Park Theatre catered to the ‘smart set’. Lighter entertainment packed the Hippodrome. Great musicals filled the Congress.
Now another - unusual - theatre is booming: the Under Ground,
which is beneath the Library, opposite the railway station.
The Under Ground is not, as some assume, in receipt of grants from a benevolent Council. The truth is the opposite: enthusiastic amateurs pay a substantial annual rental to the East Sussex County Council. And the quality of what goes on there is entirely dependent on the folk who get involved: happily there is considerable expertise among those who give of their time.
On Friday 3rd March it all came magically together. BRIAN FREELAND was, for decades, deeply involved in the theatre world. He was at Nottingham Playhouse in its greatest days, under director Stuart Burge, and has experienced everything from variety to grand opera. He spent time with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Ballet., and has toured extensively abroad - all remembered in his biography MEANDERINGS: A RIVER AND A LIFE.
Brian divided his Under Ground presentation into two parts. For forty minutes he shared some of the highlights from his theatrical past. We, the audience, hung on his every word. After the break he took us through 50 YEARS OF SEASIDE ENTERTAINMENT through the life story of Clarkson Rose whose show ‘TWINKLE’ so often entertained our town during those 50 years.
If questioned, Brian denies being an actor. That response was entirely disproved
as he had us all falling off our seats with laughter time and time again.
He even had us singing Clarkie’s chorus
“A live, a live show. A live, a live show
It wouldn’t be Eastbourne without a live show”.
His timing, his clever props, his ability to switch moods on demand showed him to be a real ‘man of the theatre’. The applause went on so long that the vote of thanks was given only
after several minutes. Perfect fare for a chilly March day!
Robin Gregory.
