Oleanna

Monday 28 March

Freelance journalist Moira Petty came up from London to interview Alistair McGowan for a long piece in the Daily Mail which should be published in the Saturday 9 April issue – so keep your eyes peeled.

Tuesday 29 March

Today Alistair and Clare did their first stagger through of all three acts. It was great to see everything together and to get a feeling for the whole piece. The dramatic arc for both characters is really starting to take shape.

After rehearsals Kev Castle from Nottingham Hospitals Radio came to interview Clare Foster. Hopefully you won’t find yourself in hospital to hear it but Kev asked Clare for her top 6 songs and chatted to her about previous theatre shows she has been in as well as what’s in store in Oleanna.

Wednesday 30 March

Director Paul Benzing came in this afternoon to work on some of the more physical parts of the play. It was very useful to get a new perspective of these scenes from someone who has an eye for movement.

Designer Laura McEwen and Production and Design Assistant Dean Sudron went on the search for EVEN MORE books and office furniture. Their fantastic negotiating skills have resulted in several boxes of library books – many thanks West Bridgford Library – and some great furniture that was destined for the skip! We can always make use of things other people are getting rid of!

A splendid start to the day – breakfast pastries from The Dorchester in London where Alistair had a charity engagement last night! Thanks Alistair, what a treat!

In my previous blog post ‘Dogs, Books and the 400 Metres’ I mentioned that during the play a number of phone calls are received by John and that we only hear his side of that conversation on stage. Well…after drafting the other side of the conversation (approximately 2000 words) on Tuesday the team took this morning out to record the other side of the telephone conversations down a telephone line to the sound designer Damian Coldwell, in London! These will be used to help with learning the phone calls and may also be used in the show – but we can’t tell you about that yet!

The VERY squeaky office chair, which will be used in the show, got a lot of attention from a can of WD40 but it hasn’t made an ounce of difference! Maybe it will soak in over night? We can but hope!

Today Alistair and Clare compared performing Oleanna to running the 400 metres! They explained that with the 800 metres you start off at a good pace and then speed up and sprint to the finish, whereas the 400 metres you just have to go fast from the very beginning. This is very true – Oleanna is like the 400 metres – it’s a sprint from the very beginning!

Designer Laura McEwen and Production and Design Assistant Dean Sudron have been on the hunt for old text books for set dressing around the various University campuses – they’ve come back with three big boxes – score!

The team had their first production meeting this morning to make sure everything is getting done and that everyone is “singing from the same hymn sheet” as it were!

Clare is becoming increasingly more distracted by cute dogs that keep running past the window to the rehearsal room. That’s the nature of working in a venue based on a lovely green campus with a lake! I’ll have to ask her more about her love of dogs, I wonder whether she has one and if so, who is looking after it?

In Oleanna a number of phone calls are received by John – the teacher and of course we just hear one side of that conversation. This afternoon the team spent some time filling in the other half of the conversation (the one we don’t hear) so that they know what’s going on when they are rehearsing.

David Baird from Left Lion came by on Thursday 17 March to take some rehearsal photos of Oleanna to accompany an article in their next issue. Very excited, can’t wait to see it!

Thank you to Nottingham Tourist Information Centre for displaying our Oleanna poster & powerpoint slide - looks great!

Lakeside technician Alyssa Watts showed actors Alistair McGowan and  Clare Foster around Lakeside, and included the theatre, dressing rooms, administration office etc on her grand tour. They were then joined by the rest of the Creative Team and Director Matt Aston for a brief look at the VISITOR exhibition in the Djanogly Art Gallery.

At 12.30pm the cast and creative team were joined by Lakeside staff for a meet and greet with a cup of tea and some caramel chocolate shortbread! Emphasis on the sweet treats!

We all introduced ourselves and said what our roles were at Lakeside and then we mingled and chatted to Clare and Alistair – lovely lovely people! This is going to be a lot of fun!

At 2pm there was a read through of the script. We sat in a circle with Clare, Alistair, the creative team and Lakeside and Engine House Marketing teams.

The read through was amazing and they are just sitting down at this point! So much energy and emotion and this is just day one. Clare was brilliant with her tears on demand and Alistair played the perfect arrogant lecturer. A truly invigorating and inspiring 65 minutes!

Following the read through we had a model box sharing where designer Laura McEwen introduced her set design and character costumes. Very exciting – check out the photos…

Starring Alistair McGowan & Clare Foster

Friday 8  - Saturday 23 April

OLEANNA is often referred to as Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet’s most controversial drama. Electrifying dialogue and blazing emotion create a riveting play in which a college professor and his female student become embroiled in a war of words that takes a dangerous turn.

This powerful drama explores the destructiveness of miscommunication and excessive political correctness. It is a play about academic politics, student/teacher relationships and sexual harassment. As the power perilously shifts in this intelligent, vitriolic two-hander, language is used as both a tool and a weapon. Expect fierce debate about the use of power in academic circles.

“Mamet continues his exploration of male-female conflicts. John & Carol go to it with hand to hand combat that amounts to a primal struggle for power. The vehicle for that combat is crackling, highly distilled dialogue unencumbered by literary frills or phony theatrical ones” - Frank Rich, International Herald Tribune

Signed Performance
Thursday 14 April 8pm

Audio Described Performance
Thursday 21 April 8pm
with touch tour at 7.15pm

Thursday 14 April
6.30 - 7.15pm
Oleanna - Manipulation, (Mis)understanding and (Mis)communication
Initially Mamet creates what appear to be clear identities which the characters and audience believe they understand; but then, with consummate skill, he facilitates the power-shift which underpins the controversy. Dr Sarah Grandage, Teaching Associate in English Studies at the University of Nottingham explores the use and misuse of language at play in Oleanna.

Tuesday 19 April
Post-show Discussion
Hosted by Jeremy Lewis, Editor of Nottinghamshire Today and former Nottingham Post Features Editor, with Alistair McGowan, Clare Foster and director Matt Aston.

Wednesday 20 April
6.30pm - 7.15pm
Mamet and His Contemporaries: American Theatre at the End of the Twentieth Century
An introduction to David Mamet and some of his favourite playwrights, by Dr Lucie Sutherland, Lecturer in Drama and Performance, University of Nottingham.

Thursday 21 April
6.30 - 7.15pm
Learning to Fight: Violence and Education in Oleanna
Sam Haddow, Post Graduate Teaching Fellow, English Studies, looks at how the two characters embody the roles of teacher and pupil, and the overarching purpose of the kinds of education they are both subjected to.