3felt it was effective, and today Richard has been sweating over the copy – on his 5th draft by the time I left for home.
Bob Frith's VEIL BLOG OCTOBER 2007
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14.10
It's ironic that since we heard the news that Veil has been given a Grants for the Arts award, work on the show has almost stopped. When our first application was turned down 6 months ago we offered 'In The Shadow of Trees' to promoters who had booked Veil so as to not leave them without a show. This week is when Veil was originally planned to start touring, with a production week at The Dukes in Lancaster. Instead 'ISOT' has taken its place - rehearsing and otherwise preparing for that has meant Veil has been packed away and our space given over to 'ISOT'.
But now we'll start getting back into working on Veil. Tomorrow auditions start (4 days of them) to find 4 performers - 2 male; 2 female. Tess Hills will take on the Tour Manager role, and Julie Parker the Technical Manager work. Julie will start getting things ready for technical rehearsals the week after next - trying out film and video ideas; looking at the staging; getting an overview of lighting and sound requirements. Katherina will be back then too, working on costumes in the main. We're hoping to start looking at some of the masks and puppets too, but we're really behind schedule on these. Alison will need to continue some work on 'ISOT' as it has yet to go to the International Mask Festival in Stourbridge, and a Christmas run at Lawrence Batley in Huddersfield - so there's particular pressure on her time.
3.10
Alison is directing a (partly) new cast for ‘In the Shadow of Trees’; Richard is juggling the management of Veil with ‘ISOT’, plus a new project being discussed with a publisher. Busy times. These other projects were brought forward because of the doubts around Veil, but now we’ve got the go-ahead we’re running parallel on three very active projects in addition to getting the first season of The Boo off the ground.
Meanwhile I’m focusing on Veil. Timetabling the technical rehearsal period; looking at who to ask to manage the tour; putting the team together to get the making jobs done on time; finagling the shrinking production budget….and, in between, getting on with making jobs.
READ AN INTERVIEW WITH BOB FRITH ABOUT VEIL HERE.
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CONTACT BOB FRITH bob@horseandbamboo.org
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
BOB FRITH: The Artistic Director of Horse + Bamboo Theatre, and writer and director of Veil. Started developing the project in December 2005, inspired by Jacques Brel's 'Regarde Bien Petit'.
KATHERINA RADEVA: The designer for Veil, which is her first commission from H+B. She is Bulgarian, based in London was shortlisted for the Linbury Design award in 2006 and devises and creates her own performance pieces.
LOZ KAYE: Musical Director, a long-term collaborator with H+B. based in Aarhus, Denmark. A specialist in writing music for theatre, and responsible for the music in most of H+B's recent touring productions.
ALISON DUDDLE: Maker and Associate Director, has worked with H+B for 7 years and will share the directing, mask and puppet-making with BOB FRITH.
ERIK KNUDSEN: A film maker from a Ghanaian/Danish background, responsible for creating the video footage and sections of Veil, with teaching commitments in Havana, Ghana - and Salford.
FALIHA KADHIM: An Iraqi painter who left Baghdad in 1992, now living in Lancashire. Advising on the Iraqi storyline and detail for Veil.
DAVID EDMUNDS: The Producer - of David Edmunds Projects - helping everyone by selling Veil to theatres throughout the UK, and supporting the artistic team.
RICHARD HALL: Executive Producer at H+B, responsible for marketing Veil and managing the tour.
HELEN JACKSON: the CEO from May 2007. GEORGE HARRIS wrote the initial grant application but left in January. ROSE CUTHBERSTON then worked as Acting CEO and did the first rewrite of the application.
RICHARD OWEN: Technical Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, who will undertake the lighting design.
FARHA PATEL, SADIA MAHMOOD, GHAZALA AHMED, TANZEELA JAVED: Advisory group with reference to islamic custom and belief.
HALIMA CASSELL, PARMINDER KAUR, GAZ KADHIM: Storyline advisors.
VEIL - THE BACKGROUND
HORSE + BAMBOO THEATRE is a touring company. Veil has been developed by H+B's Artistic Director to tour in Autumn 2007 and in 2008. Although H+B are already funded by the Arts Council, the company will also need a National Touring Grant to undertake this tour.
The story of Veil is rich and epic. It deals with the lives of two young women, caught up in the long and violent relationship between Europe and the Middle East. The 'veil' is not only the abaya of Iraqi womens dress, but also describes the lies and secrets of this history - as well as the physical screens and cloths of the staging.
