FROME’S Merlin theatre is looking forward to this year’s predicted Indian summer as it prepares to host its final outdoor event of the season, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
Performed by the UK’s longest-running professional open air touring company, Illyria, this story is famed for Malvolio’s hilarious yellow, cross-gartered scene, and on 3rd September, the Frome audience will also be treated to Illyria’s new, vibrant interpretation of an old tale.
As shows return to the indoor auditorium and the venue makes plans for its upcoming autumn/winter programme, having a laugh is definitely on the menu with Frome being treated to some of the best live comedy around.
Award-winning stand-up, Alfie Brown, brings his show Red Flags Galore in October and BBC Mock The Week regular, the pun-tastic Mark Simmons, adds the Merlin to his tour in November.
However, the Merlin Theatre offers a lot more than the joy of sitting and watching others. A spokesperson for the theatre said, “It is already a much-loved stage and training ground of many budding young actors, putting on regular community shows as well as hosting weekly youth theatre, musical theatre and drama clubs for children and young people, in term time.
“The theatre is also proud to host Drama Direct’s workshops for adult actors, both professional and non-professional. Performers and theatre enthusiasts are regularly offered the chance to train in specialised stagecraft and screencraft workshops with well-known professional film director, writer and Olivier-nominated actor Mark McGann.
And now, to open the autumn season director Claudia Pepler, welcomes a new series of workshops for writers and directors.
Taking place on Tuesdays, starting in the first week of September, Directing For The Stage will comprise a five-session exploration of the skills needed to stage a piece of theatre, including how to work with actors, designers, writers and devisers. Writing For The Stage will be a five-session programme that covers the main areas of writing for the stage: motivation and ideas, research and development, story and plot, character and dialogue, structure, formatting, and drafting.
These new offerings will be led by multi award winning professional playwright, theatre director, and teacher for the past 40 years, Anthony Clark. “These workshops will be about giving dramatic form to your tastes, your interests and your experiences,” he said. “In short for writers, they’ll be about finding ‘your voice’, and for directors your ‘signature’.”
Anthony Clark’s career has included work for Contact Theatre in Manchester, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Hampstead Theatre as well as the National Theatre and the RSC.
Now a Frome resident for almost a decade, Anthony considers he has been lucky to do work he is passionate about and these new writing and directing workshops at the Merlin are an opportunity to offer his support to others to do the same with their work.
He said, “I welcome this opportunity to share my knowledge and gain from the experience of others in series of skills workshops at the Merlin. Frome is a hive of artistic endeavour, with a flourishing theatre scene, and I’m thrilled to be contributing to that in whatever way I can.”
Those wishing to join either, or both, of the new Writing For The Stage or Directing For The Stage series should make contact directly with Anthony at Theatre Accord; full details of how to apply for a place on adult or children’s workshops as well as timings, pricing etc. are on the Merlin Theatre’s website www.merlintheatre.co.uk
