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Sam (Will Hutchby) embraced by Will (Taran Knight) in Nigel Kneale's Wine of India
Photo: Shay Rowan |
2013's Greater Manchester Fringe was another hugely successful festival for the city with many shows such as
Hand Over Fist and
New Dawn Fades proving huge hits with both critics and audiences - not bad at all given that this year's Fringe faced competition from both the packed Manchester International Festival and the hottest summer weather for some years. Although it reached slightly smaller audiences than some shows in the festival, Scytheplays and Lass Productions'
Wine of India proved to be one of the most palpable critical hits with an array of four- and five-star reviews.
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Julie (Morag Peacock) troubled, with Nita (Gemma Ryan) and Jonna (Una Love) in the background.
Photo: Shay Rowan |
"Cerebral, dark and funny" (
the Fiction Stroker); "the actors make the entire concept believable" (
What's On Stage); "clever staging and direction" (
The Skinny); "a bold and intelligent piece of theatre" (
Viva Lifestyle Magazine); "it is the little touches that make all Scytheplays productions so special" (
The Good Review)... To read the full reviews just click on the links.
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Jonna with Mac (Liam Grunshaw)
Photo: Shay Rowan |
Co-director Daniel Thackeray says, "It's thrilling to think that the show has been so well-reviewed. The credit belongs to the late, great Nigel Kneale, of course, on whose coat-tails we all swing - but also to Ross Kelly for writing such a clever adaptation and to the cast who gave such flawless performances in very limiting circumstances. I am so pleased we were able to get the production on camera, so that those performances have been preserved to some extent - although of course a video can never fully replicate the experience of actually seeing a play first-hand - and that we can share the production on YouTube so that fans of Nigel Kneale everywhere can now see
Wine of India, instead of just reading and dreaming about it."
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| Dod (Tom Reed-Goodehall) and Sam (Will Hutchby) |
Accordingly the full performance video is available to view on YouTube
here. Daniel continues: "The recording is a combination of three different performances taken from three different angles, cut together. I have to say that filming the show was something of an afterthought and the hand-held footage was not always ideal. There are definitely some clunky moments. However, I tried to cut it in a way that reflects the way it might well have been shot in a multi-camera studio in 1970, and I'm quite pleased with the end result. I hope it stands as enjoyable viewing even if you didn't see one of the performances live."
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Russ (Luke Helly), Jonna and Bee (Carole Bardsley)
Photo: Shay Rowan |
The video will remain available to view via
Daniel's YouTube channel, which has just been updated with several other videos pertaining Scytheplays productions. As well as the original trailers for
Wine of India and
Together in Electric Dreams, there are performance clips from the latter play and from the original and revival versions of
The Ballad of Halo Jones, Together in Electric Dreams and our first Nigel Kneale adaptation,
The Year of the Sex Olympics.
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Adam (Quentin Knight)
Photo: Shay Rowan |
Meanwhile, the cast of
Wine of India have been busy on stages elsewhere. Almost simultaneously with playing Will, Taran Knight has won plaudits for his portrayal of Mic in Richard O'Neill's new play
Temper, premiered as part of the 24:7 Festival, while Morag Peacock and Luke Helly were acting in Lass Productions'
Rotten Apples (directed by
The Ballad of Halo Jones and
V for Vendetta's Sean Mason in between starring in
Suspended in Space directed by fellow
Halo actor Phil Dennison) within three hours of saying their last lines as Julie and Russ! Will Hutchby appeared in the closing play of the GM Fringe, Jack Rosenthal's
Big Sid, while his fellow Toby, Benjamin Patterson, starred in
Colin Connor's
Meanwhile, which has just transferred from the Lass O'Gowrie to the Bolton Octagon.
Sex Olympics' Coordinator Priest, Howard Whittock
, starred with
Together in Electric Dreams' latest Akiko, Jess Lee, in
The Ray Harryhausen Skeleton Orchestra. V for Vendetta's Michael Whittaker won acclaim (and sell-out audiences) for his performance as Joy Division's Ian Curtis in
New Dawn Fades (written by Peter Creedy himself, Brian Gorman and also featuring the ubiquitous Sean Mason) and his co-star as Evey (and sometime Rodice Olsun) Sinead Parker has just taken her comedy show
Norris and Parker: All Our Friends Are Dead to Edinburgh where she and comedy partner Katie Norris played to full houses and massive acclaim. Finally, Una Love has been cast in upcoming Manchester comedy-drama play
Women's Voices - tickets are available to book at the link!
