Write-up on Aleastory

This is a pretty unique description of a Lucky Dogs meeting- it's written by the play...


A lucky dog.By Qfwfq. Filed in 'Qfwfq'

Last night I attended what might be bizzarly described as a panoptican of interpretation.
It was a writer’s group, with actors and actresses in attendance, eager to get their teeth into a fleshy script.

The evening started with the tooing-and-froing of witty marital banter, sharply decanting the subtle insecurities displayed in otherwise entirely ‘average’ conversation; punctuated by the lyrical spewing of a sleep deprived woman, chastising the human race for claiming everything for their own (Orion’s Belt, for example, stars recklessly named after a human invention to keep trousers around hips), and considering a sort of ‘philosophical dialectic’ in; “Caterpillar for eternity – butterfly for ten minutes…?” ["The Other Side of Everything" by Sally Beaumont]

Clearly, by this point, I was feeling nervous. I know it’s a cliche… but that was a tough act to follow; all the eager eyes in the room to immanently fall upon my laxidasical drivel, with the embryonic beauty of a well measured playscript fresh in their minds.

I explained myself, as a preface – or perhaps erecting a preemptive defense – to my unsuspecting predators:
the first bombshell; ‘There are no characters!’
The second; “Everyone can read, [who wants to read?]” – to which I received some anxious glances
another; “I am not a play”
“nor do I have structure, plot, linear-narrative”
…and I’m sure there were more, but by this point I was probably hyperventilating.

They performed me in the round, for ease of reading and to avoid (much) confusion. There were eleven of them; they took their time over the large portions and negotiated the staccato with consideration and attended to each of my facets without washing over any one moment.
They read parts of me that I have never heard, or in ways I had not expected; the numbers, for example, of the recipe (even when the actual recipe ceases, and the numbers protrude into other segments of text); the jumbled page where I recount the incident at the cash machine was read from top to bottom, rigorously, disregarding any column formation.

I have noticed that, particularly with actors, when a line is read incorrectly, or a word mispronnounced, as a matter of principle (or strict self-correction), the performer goes back, and tries again – often with an apology to accompany. And so I have become observant of precisely when this doesn’t happen – where self-correction doesn’t occurr, there is a good chance the performer has not noticed their error...

To read more about Aleastory visit http://www.aleastory.co.uk/

Many thanks to Will Wade for sharing Aleastory with us- all the Lucky Dogs wish you the best!

4 Star Review!!!

Review of Pint, Plate, Performance

"Food for body and soul"by Simon Dale for remotegoat on 02/10/09

Pint, Plate Performance at Central Station, King's Cross - all for £7? Surely not.

Three Person'd God, a monologue written by Craig Jordan Baker and performed by Sophie Talbot kicked off the evening. It was a philosophical examination of a woman, an actress, playing three roles - an activist, a barren woman (her label, not mine) and an actress - which increasingly bleed into one another so that she (and we) are left increasingly uncertain as to who the real person is, where one role stops and another begins: which is reality, which is performance.

Set in an unnamed dystopia, it also raises questions of state versus individual and the struggle of the human spirit in the face of sweeping state tyranny.

Performed with passion and fluency, Sophie Talbot's portrayal of the woman came alive most in the third section as she shifted from the stage to the wings of the audience and delivered her third role in which all roles blurred into one, evoking a powerful sense of personal dislocation and isolation.

Next up was Sally Beaumont with her piece The Other Side of Everything which, as with Craig Jordan Baker's short play, delighted in and revered the richness of language. The play mused upon language and communication, with particular focus on the inadequacy of language within relationships.

Sally Beaumont's character wrestles with the heights to which imagination and language can soar, and the very different reality when you let another into one's life or try to express oneself through words. Her monologue is punctuated by what we assume to be her memories - brought to life life with gusto by Helen Jessica Liggat and Matthew Betteridge whose humour and energy inhabited and gave crackle to the prosaic domestic exchanges, the type that happen regularly in most relationships (think woman talking, trying to engage the man in conversation, the man replying in monosyllables while he tries to read the paper), which were all too familiar to most couples in the audience! They were nice vignettes and a deft depiction of the divide between (in this case) genders and more widely, humans. Language can be as much a barrier as a tool for understanding.

Sally Beaumont delivered a strong and varied performance, wholly believable as a creative, impassioned individual struggling to bridge the gap between inner and outer life, oneself and one's different self in the context of a relationship and society.

Neither play offered a traditional narrative structure or conclusion, though this was deliberate rather than the result of fudgy writing or direction. Sometimes, though, you can be too esoteric at the expense of narrative, too wedded to the search for assonance, alliteration and rhyme, or reclaiming oft-neglected words; it can become to laboured, too self-conscious, weighing the writing down rather than letting it take flight. This wasn't the case here, but there was the odd moment I felt it was in danger of reaching that tipping point.

An elderly gentleman next to me confided that it wasn't his cup of tea, though he went on to say that he had thought it was drag act night at Central Station. I took his point, however, which was, as he explained, that he wanted something a bit more immediate, less intellectual. Unlike a previous incarnation of the evening I have seen from this company, Tuesday night was more experimental, less easy entertainment that the outright comedy I had seen before. His point was that in a pub atmosphere, a little background noise from surrounding venues now and then rearing its head, belly-laugh comedy is a more natural fit. I think there's room for both.So the evening gave food for thought and then some rousing traditional celtic folk music from The Northern Celts to round off the night.I didn't sample the actual food, as I had a dodgy tum (which didn't stop me sampling the pint, which I can report was very satisfactory), but judging from the empty plates around me it seemed to go down well. £7 for a pint, a plate and an evening of entertainment - hard to beat.

Keep your eyes out for more from the team, as Pint, Plate and Performance is set to become a monthly event - and one you should get yourself along to.The writers are part of The Lucky Dogs playwrights' collective.

Pint, Plate, Performance!

I'm delighted to announce the latest Lucky Dogs adventure: Pint, Plate, Performance!

Sophie Talbot has produced this fantastic evening of theatre, music and food at the Central Station in King's Cross- a unique venue for a unique evening.

Lucky Dogs Craig Jordon-Baker and Sally Beaumont have written two short plays, starring Sophie Talbot, Sally Beaumont, Helen Jessica Liggat and Mat Betteridge. The evening will be rounded off by the Northern Celts.

Our listing pages:

http://www.remotegoat.co.uk/event_view.php?uid=87774
(you’ll find links to our performers profiles here)

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=127705371828&ref=share

The blurb:

Pint, Plate, Performance

Tuesday 29th September, 7.30pm
The Central Station, King’s Cross, N1 9SD.

This monthly event brings together great new theatre, performance, music, beer and food into a cultural stew that will satisfy the stomach, eyes, ears and brain.A pint, a plate and three performances all for just £7!

This is a chance to see brand new short plays written by some of the UK's best new writers: the Lucky Dogs Collective. The Dogs were formed via the Royal Court's Young Writers' Programme and support each other to further develop their writing.

The on-the-door ticket price of £7 covers three performances, a feast of either carnivorous speciality or vegan delight and a pint of guesting real ale.

Sophie Talbot will be on stage in the first short play by Craig Jordan-Baker, playing a woman with three roles, trying to reconcile them all.

The second short play is written and performed by Sally Beaumont, up and coming coordinator of the Lucky Dogs and is a snappy, scrappy look at narcissism and self-help. It also features Helen Jessica Liggat and Mat Betteridge tearing each other to pieces…emotionally speaking.

The evening will be rounded off by a fantastic rootsy folk set from local band the Northern Celts.