Robert Crighton: Storyteller

Monday, 21 November 2011

The Natural History of Trolls Programme

Most programmes for shows come in paper form. Ours is no exception. Though we also publish it online, in advance, for those who would like to come along. Box Office is open - book your tickets now!

Tuesday 29^th November to Friday 23^rd December 2011

Tickets £12 / £10 concessions

Tuesday to Saturday starts at 7.30pm – doors open 7.15pm. Sunday at 7pm, doors open 6.45pm.

Box Office: 020 8932 4747

Barons Court Theatre, “The Curtain’s Up”, 28A Comeragh Road W14

Nearest Tube: Barons Court (Piccadilly/District Lines)

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Milk Bottle Productions Presents...

Robert Crighton:

STORYTELLER

The Natural History of Trolls

Written and Performed by Robert Crighton

Plus Special Guests: Georgina Blackledge & Sophie Morris-Sheppard
Three stories covering 150 years of history, two Queens, orange Penguins and the fairy kingdom. Midst this is the story of an ordinary commute gone wrong, when a troll-like tramp on the Underground turns out to REALLY be a Troll.

At the Quay Theatre - Sunday 20th November 2011
At the Barons Court Theatre - Tuesday 29th November to Friday 23rd December 2011.
Running Time: Eighty minutes approximately without an interval.

THE CAST:

Robert Crighton - Writer and Performer

Robert Crighton is an award-winning storyteller, writer and performer, whose last big project was performing every Sherlock Holmes story back-to-back over the Christmas season. He is only entrant in the 25 year history of the Lost One-Act Festival to win three awards in successive years and is sadly no longer eligible to win anymore. With Milk Bottle he has produced a mix of work, from classical drama to new plays, swapping roles from production to production. Recent productions include: Blind Spots, Shoes That Angels Fear To Wear, Cuckold’s Fair, Teaching Gods & Other Stories at the Barons Court Theatre.
For Video Blogs of the making of Storyteller go to TheRobertCrighton Channel on YouTube.

Georgina Blackledge - Performer
Having decided to swap a sterile theatre for a dusty one, Georgie has thrown herself head first into the acting world. Her most recent work includes 'Excess Deductible' with So It Goes Theatre and filming Emma Peel in ‘The Avengers Return’, of which a pilot series in is development with Gin and Tonic Productions. Other film work includes 'The Fiddler', Faith Productions; ‘Africa in her blood’, Nightpiece Media; ‘An act of loyalty’, Evergreen media; ‘Define Crazy’, Ravensbourne Films; ‘Two Birds One Stone’, JAM films; ‘The Cabinet’, Mad Ninja Films. Theatre includes ‘Noises Off’, The Company and ‘The Rover’, The Company. After stumbling upon the audition, Georgie is extremely excited to be making her return to 'Trolls'.

Sophie Morris-Sheppard - Performer
Sophie has recently finished filming a short film. She has made many appearances as part of the Play to Stage new writing initiative at The Jackson Lane Theatre which is where she originally met Robert Crighton - and subsequently became involved in this Milk Bottle Production. Sophie originally attended the Oxford School of Drama. Her first job was as an ASM at Southwold Summer Theatre for Jill Freud. She went from here to work on several productions at the Kings Head, the Old Fire Station, Oxford, The Wolsey, Ipswich, The Duke of York’s Theatre and The Haymarket Theatre, London. She has had a variety of supporting roles on both TV and film and has appeared in many commercials, as well as doing intermittent voiceover work.
Stints as a milliner and assisting making theatrical costumes, amongst many other things, have kept her busy in between acting.

To watch an interview with the Cast go to TheRobertCrighton Channel on YouTube - 'Meet the Cast'

AUTHORS NOTE:
At has been a long process writing and producing these stories. Normally I work very quickly, producing a dozen or shows a year. After the epic task of performing all the Sherlock Holmes stories last year, I decided to slow down and present the process of creating this years run online. If you're interesting in finding out how this show came together check out my blog and my vlogs. The blog covers the more... shall we say cerebral processes of writing a show, the vlogs (video blogs) are a little more... silly. It wasn't all silliness - there are some telling moments in the vlogs mid April when the final drafts for Trolls were coming together that I didn't look my best.
I hope you enjoy tonight's story and come again in the future for more. To join our mailing list and be kept up to date with future shows just email us at contact@milkbottleproductions.co.uk

THANK YOUS:
Milk Bottle would like to thank the people at the New Wimbledon Studio, the Lavenham Guildhall, the Angel Pub in Glemsford, the Billericay Arts Centre, The Quay Theatre (Nicki and Joe) and Barons Court Theatre (Ron and Chris) for their assistance. We'd also like to thank our occasional photographers this year Holly Nicoll and Matthew Vile and our website designer Keith Atkinson.
We'd also like to thank the original company at the New Wimbledon production - sorry we couldn't take you
along for the whole ride: Charlotte Hunter, Philippa Tatham, Simon Nader, Jessica Moore, Emma Burn, Sally Gilfillan, Ailsa Ilott, Richard Ward, Sophie Carmichael, Denys Gaskill, Jessica Tobert, Josie Bloom, Kate Steel, Matthew Harrison-James, Elizabeth Jee, Jamie Addlet, Gillian Horgan, Elizabeth Quinn, Elizabeth
Nicholson, Colin Emerson & Pamela Flanagan.
And, of course, we must thank the Imaginary Duck and Bagpuss for all they have done for the company.

To keep up to date with Milk Bottle join our mailing list – just email: contact@milkbottleproductions.co.uk
Or... Follow Robert Crighton: Storyteller on Twitter or Milk Bottle Productions on Facebook
Crighton Channel on YouTube
Or... Subscribe to the Robert Crighton: Storyteller blog - http://robertcrightonstoryteller.blogspot.com
Or... Keep checking our website: www.milkbottleproductions.co.uk
Or... Nope, run out of ors. As the pander said to the Bishop. We’ll stop now.

Production Photos taken at the Quay Theatre, Sunday 20th November 2011.

Robert Crighton with Georgina Blackledge

Georgina Blackledge

Sophie Morris-Sheppard with Georgina Blackledge

The Cast - Left to Right: Sophie Morris-Sheppard, Georgina Blackledge & Robert Crighton

The Long Weekend

Friday 18th November 2011:
It is a GhoStoryteller night in Billericay and the news from the front isn't good. The advance audience numbers are very small, there are some fears that Children In Need has taken the wind out of sales. I arrive at The Fold a little later than planned, traffic was fairly slow, and set up. The lovely staff show me the room I'll be performing in, help set up and offer me a constant flow of tea. The tea is good.
As it turns out the room was full and the show went very well, except for the moment when I managed to knock my glass of water onto the floor. (It was a tall glass, it would have been fine if it were a tumbler. Buy a tumbler.)

Here is an unhelpful video of the event.

Saturday 19th November 2011:
First day of the big Troll weekend. Sophie and Georgina (see blog post, Meet the Cast) are arriving for rehearsal at the Quay Theatre for midday. It's the first full cast rehearsal we've had since July, I've been working one-to-one with them. It was an even fuller cast as Sophie brought Tinkerbell with her - a mostly well behaved dog until a run of my opening speech, which was punctuated with barks. (Everyone's a critic.) We started the day going over the basic blocking, then looked at the sound effects and music we wanted to layer into the story. I'd been shopping for weird noise making devices the other week so we had lots to play with. We finish rehearsing a bit before nine, completely shattered, but with a real sense of where this version of the show was going. The unlive sound cues however took forever to burn onto CD and, with all the other little admin tasks, meant I didn't get to bed until well past three in the morning.

Sunday 20th November 2011: But that's alright, as we weren't starting again till 12pm. Started the day with a bit of a fry up and headed off to the Quay. We dressed the set, did a run and went through various bits and bobs before the tech and the show. Which went very well. People laughed, were silent and - I think this is a good indicator - at the end of the show, as the light faded to a blackout, just before the applause, from the audience was clearly heard the phrase: "wasn't it good" whispered loudly from one audiant to another.
I, of course, being made that way, have to say... well, there's a lot still to do. Barons Court is a very different space to the Quay and some of our effects will not work as well there - though some will work better. So I'm gearing myself for another long get-in where hundreds of tiny changes occur to keep the magic in place.
I did say in an old blog I wanted more magic. I think we found a little.

Tomorrow I'll blog again with some photos we took during the tech.
Robx

Milk Bottle Productions Presents...

Robert Crighton:

STORYTELLER

Written and Performed by Robert Crighton

Plus Special Guests: Georgina Blackledge & Sophie Morris-Sheppard

Multi-Awarding Winning Storyteller Robert Crighton is returning to his roots with a new collection of stories for 2011. Featuring his trademark wit and dark humour, Storyteller will draw you into unusual worlds and introduce you to people you’d not normally meet.

The Natural History of Trolls

Tuesday 29^th November to Friday 23^rd December 2011

“Whatever you do, don’t think about orange penguins!”

This first collection is called The Natural History of Trolls, three stories covering a hundred and fifty years of history, two Queens and their subjects in the fairy kingdom. Midst this epic timeline is the story of an ordinary commute gone wrong, when a troll-like tramp in an Underground carriage turns out to REALLY be a Troll.

Funny, thoughtful and with occasional attempts at wisdom, let Robert Crighton and his team of storytellers lead you through a world like ours – just a little off centre.

15+ age guidance. Not suitable for young children.