Scytheplays Ltd: V rocks the Sci-Fi Weekender... and souvenirs are available!

10 Mar 2013

V rocks the Sci-Fi Weekender... and souvenirs are available!

Evey and V in the Main Void. Photo: Karen Berry Photography

The Sci-Fi Weekender - Britain's annual Mecca for cult entertainment across all media - hit the Hafan y Mor Holiday Park, Pwllheli, Wales last week, and Scytheplays and Lass O'Gowrie Productions were there with V for Vendetta. Here are some photos from the ten-minute preview scene, performed in the Main Void - the event's central performance space - during the convention's opening cabaret on Friday night, March 1st. The preview featured Sinead Parker as Evey and Creedy actor Brian Gorman filling in for the temporarily indisposed Stuart Hudson as 'the Man', who threatens Evey before V (Daniel Thackeray) appears to save the day.

Evey entrapped, as V looks on. Photo: the Fiction Stroker

Thanks to the technical support of the Weekender's entertainment providers, Area 51, and the lighting of Peter M George, V has never looked more spectacular, and an audience of several hundred greeted the preview scene with rapturous applause. It's fair to say that the following night's performance of the full play in the jam-packed Spaceport venue - with Stuart Hudson back in place - was not without sound problems, but nevertheless the enthusiasm of the audience remained high with applause following almost every scene, and feedback was extremely positive. It was a great adventure for the V for Vendetta team, who were able to return to the Main Void afterwards to dance the night away to Craig Charles' funk and soul!

It's to be hoped that Lass O'Gowrie Productions and Scytheplays will be able to mount further performances at similar events in future. In the meantime a limited number of programmes and posters from the Weekender event - signed by cast members and featuring unique artwork - are available at £2 for posters and £1 for programmes. Please e-mail guiltedge@hotmail.com for details.

Evey and V survey 'the opening night'. Photo: Lee Howard/CelebExposed

For more from the photographers go to the Karen Berry Photography, Fiction Stroker and CelebExposed websites.

About the company

Scytheplays is a theatre company specialising in (but not limited to) the adaptation of literary science fiction for the stage.

Its first production was Kevin Cuffe's original black comedy play, The Say Can Blues, in July 2011, and it then produced an adaptation of the classic 2000AD comic book written by Alan Moore and drawn by Ian Gibson, The Ballad of Halo Jones. Both shows were staged at the Lass O'Gowrie in Manchester and Scytheplays has an on-going relationship with Lass Productions, going on to co-produce a new piece inspired by the true-life meeting between Sir Clive Sinclair and Alan Sugar, Together in Electric Dreams, an adaptation of Nigel Kneale's classic television play The Year of the Sex Olympics, the Leeds revival of Halo Jones, and the highly-acclaimed V for Vendetta and Wine of India. Scytheplays also collaborated with Lass Productions and Yer Maun Productions to co-found the Greater Manchester Horror Fringe Festival, which will be returning in October 2015.

Scytheplays works with a loose (and ever-expanding) pool of acting and production people, being keen to build on and strengthen the bonds within Manchester's creative community, and also to help new talent to emerge. The company's creative director is Daniel Thackeray and associated directors include Ross Kelly and Fi Hudson.

For more information please contact Daniel via guiltedge@hotmail.com or find us on Twitter (@ScytheplaysLtd). Proposals for new productions are encouraged, but we ask that any writers wishing to submit scripts send an enquiry e-mail in the first instance to ask if we are currently reading script submissions (as our reading team is small). Please be aware that the company aims in the main to produce plays that are either adapted from the science-fiction or fantasy of other media (literature/comics/TV), or original works that are concerned with real science and its history.

Scytheplays Ltd is a limited company, Companies House registration number 09041817.