Producing
I have produced three new plays for Tangent Theatre Company (you can find more details on Tangent Theatre’s website). This is a company interested in writing which looks at experiences from an unusual angle - hence the name!
Criminology 303 played a sell-out run on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2016
This new play was originally about an old American backwoodsman, but we transported it to modern-day Scotland where the protagonist, a female DCI giving the lecture of the title, is haunted by her only unsolved case. It explored themes of sexism, racism and technophobia but at its heart, it was a ghost story.
“Jilly Bond and Julian Gartside do a very clever thing. They scare me ... this is a ghost story ... reflections of what happened, coupled with the video onscreen, cemented by the bangs, shudders and a creepy tech guy - like they don’t exist -take you onto the edge of your seat. This is assured theatre ... a difficult idea to sell to your audience is done particularly well ... a tremendous piece of theatre.”
“makes use of remarkably entertaining methods … to capture our attention and suspend our disbelief. The casting of the audience in the role of Criminology students is a clever move ... draws chuckles from a packed auditorium ... filmed material and multimedia help flashbacks and introduce an uneasy feeling … important in the overall effect”
The Most Gorgeous Lady Blessington played for one gala performance at the Wallace Collection in London in 2012
It was specially commissioned from renowned radio playwright Martyn Wade, to examine the truth behind the portrait which hangs in the Wallace Collection. Lady Marguerite Blessington was born a penniless lrish peasant and rose to be the feted hostess of infamous soirees attended by the likes of Charles Dickens, Benjamin Disraeli and Franz Liszt. Until she was financially ruined and disgraced by her lover, Count D'Orsay.
Audience Reviews
"What a great performance! We really felt we got to know Lady Blessington ... the setting was marvellous. Perfect for the story."
“Wonderful, so apt for the task. What a novel way of creating a story, spread through such a time span and peopling it with such a plethora of characters through (Oliver’s) versatility. And the music, just enough to set the scene not drown the voices.”
“It felt very special, having it in that space.”
“Delightful…beautifully performed. I really felt drawn into the story and the world of Lady Blessington.”
Glasshouse played at the Tobacco Factory, Bristol in 2009
This was the first Tangent Theatre Company production, produced jointly with the playwright Peter Kesterton. Ahead of its time and seen by some as a play about ‘climate change denial’, it was actually about the faking of scientific data, and whether the ends ever justify the means. About personal integrity and how the past impinges on the present.
“A thought provoking piece of theatre”
“Fine young actors…fluid, charismatic performers.”
“admirable panache and a confident swagger ... the issue Kate raises - the gap between talk and action on climate change - is very pressing.”