Theatre, Poetry and Prose by Simon Paul: skazography

Theatre Photography

For theatre groups, Simon offers a reasonably priced attendance at rehearsals and performances. Getting some good pictures for publicity purposes is essential. You may also want stock pictures of your actors and back stage staff. You will be provided with a one-off disc or USB stick for you to choose to print whichever you please when you please. Special rates for amateur groups who can benefit from making money selling prints to cast, friends etc.
http://www.skazmanagement.co.uk/skazography
http://www.skazography.blogspot.com

skazography is a trading name of Simon Paul

Grid#Productions Up-date - Gothic Themes

Things are moving slowly with Grid#Productions but better to be cautious and come up with some real quality than to steer the whole thing on to the rocks.
The strategy will be to focus on productions based on Gothic and macabre tales inspired by the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley and more. The origins of Gothic horror are said to be steeped in Horace Walpole's 'The Castle of Otranto' written in 1764. However, we can probably go back a lot further to unpublished tales, often handed down through the generations in poetic form. However, Walpole's tale was the first published story that spawned a new and exciting genre.
The focus on these tales is because they lend themselves so brilliantly to the dramatic form. With moments of drama, suspense, romance and sometimes eroticism, it is a genre that that has been explored many time, especially in film but perhaps less so in theatre. However, whilst not wanting to jump on the back of the recent production of Frankenstein, audiences are attracted to themes and plot lines that appear to dwell on legend, myth and unexplained circumstances.
Please go to the Grid#Productions site and follow it for up dates as and when they are available.

Pantomime season is looming...

With pantomime season looming, now's the time to start searching for a script.
The Production Scripts web site has a good choice of original scripts, including two of mine. The first is a simple version of Cinderella which was written for the Southfields Theatre Group when it first formed. The script was written on the basis that the group was new and that most of the founding members had never done any acting, at least since school. It is a very simple production but also very funny.
The second script I have written is Ali the Barber and the Forty Thieves. As yet unperformed, it again has been written with amateur groups in mind.
If you do not care for either of my scripts, you will find a good choice of others at Production Scripts. A good function of the site is that you can purchase reasonably priced read through copies of scripts before you go on to buy performance licences.

RolePlay by Alan Ayckbourn - Latest News

The first night of Southfields Theatre Group's production of Sir Alan Ayckbourn's RolePlay was a rip-roaring success.
Audience comments included: 'brilliant', 'fabulous', 'the group's best production yet'.
Tickets are still available for tonight, Friday 15th July and tomorrow: http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/14633
Or you can call the box office hotline on 07535 117 169. Alternatively there should be a few tickets available on the door. Be a part of our latest success!

RolePlay by Alan Ayckbourn

With less than two weeks to curtain up, tickets for RolePlay by Alan Ayckbourn, directed by someone called Simon Paul are selling fast.
The production happens at St Barnabus Church, Lavenham Road, London SW18 on 14th, 15th and 16th July at 7:30pm. The play is the third part of a trilogy themed along the lines of damsels in distress. The action takes place in a Docklands flat where a young couple have arranged a dinner party for their respective parents to meet for the first time. Their best laid plans start to go awry when one of their neighbours literally drops in. All good fun.
Go to the Southfields Theatre Group web site for more information: http://www.southfieldstheatregroup.org.uk

Pantomime season is looming...

Now is the time that many groups will be considering their pantomime production for the coming winter season. To help you with your choice, here are a couple of suggestions. Cinderella was first performed by the Southfields Theatre Group in January 2009. It received very good reviews and played to a total audience of around 500. It is a fairly traditional take on the story and was written specifically for amateur groups on a tight budget.
Ali the Barber and the Forty Thieves has yet to be performed so why not be the first group to give it a try? It too can be done on a fairly tight budget and it is a very humorous script. In each case, as the author, I will be happy to advise on any aspects of the production of either pantomime and to do any rewrites that might help to produce the show to your needs.

Edgar Alan Poe

There was an interesting documentary with dramatic inserts about the loves of Edgar Alan Poe this evening. It is available to view on BBC i-player until 20:59, Sunday 12th June. The link is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00vfhhp/Edgar_Allan_Poe_Love_Death_and_Women/

The programme is presented very well by crime author Denise Mina. It examines Poe's relationships with key women in his life and how they may have influenced his writings. What is obviously poignant for me is my current work in progress for Grid#Productions, a stage adaptation of one of Poe's poems. You'll have to wait and see which one and in the meantime speculate as to which one (or more) of his women inspired the work.

Creating an exciting piece of theatre...

My own experience of writing for the theatre is to think this way. First of all, come up with a clear vision of what the finished production will look like. This is what I am doing for the first show that will be produced through Grid#Productions.
I used the same process with my first piece, Cinderella. Okay, so the story is very familiar. However, I wanted it to be a simple show that could be produced by an amateur theatre group on a very tight budget. In fact most shows can be produced very simply.
Once the vision is there, the rest sort of falls in to place. It is a matter of introducing the various characters and ensuring a good plot line that has a beginning, middle and an end. This is all rather similar when starting a business - putting on my hat as a business adviser for a moment. It's all about that vision of where you want to be. At the end of the day, if you can see the big picture, the detail will fall into place much more easily.

New ideas for JK Rowling...

On the way back from dropping the boy off at this year's Rutsfest, my nine year old daughter (an avid Potter fan) and I came up with some new potential book titles for Ms Rowling. Here are some of our favourites:
Harry Potter and the Curse of the Spotted Sloth
Harry Potter Loses his Shoelaces
Harry Potter Shaves his Owl
Harry Potter and the Strange Haircut
Harry Potter and the Lollipop of Doom
Harry Potter Makes a New Wand from Jelly

Well, anyway, they made us laugh, along with about fifty others. I wonder whether any of them will ever get written?

Another technology interlude...

Has anyone tried Microsoft Office 365 yet?
Don't bother!
I received a message saying that my account was set up along with my user ID. I had assumed that the password I thought I used to register would have been the one that would let me into this amazing (really) product. But no. Additionally, there is no way of resetting your password unless you are logged in in the first place - wonderful! There is no way of contacting Microsoft and the user forum posts that might give an indication of what to do, do not allow you to post anything - probably because I cannot log in.
My overall impression of Microsoft Office 365 Beta - don't bother with the proper version if you can't thin k through some basics in the first place. Points out of ten - zero! I'll stick to Google.

Grid#Productions

I am setting up Grid#Productions to produce exciting and sometimes different theatrical productions. The first show will be an adaptation of an Edgar Alan Poe poem. The script is still a work in progress but just needs actually putting to paper. Poe was the master of the macabre and this script will take the relevant poem and explore the characters in more depth. The aim is to produce the first show by the end of next Spring.
Further scripts are planned, again based on classic stories, either directly or as a theme. The challenge comes in turning incredible imagery into an entertaining (and hopefully chilling) piece of theatre.
Watch this space or the Grid#Productions site for up dates.

Favourite Video on The Onion

This has to be my favourite video on The Onion: http://www.theonion.com/video/sony-releases-new-stupid-piece-of-shit-that-doesnt,14309/
Once, you've endured the cool car ad, it's brilliant A bit like, if you know of it, the hi-fi salesman on one the old National Lampoon records. This time though, it's a spoof Sony ad. It's brilliant in terms of content, script, pace - everything in fact.
There's loads more videos on The Onion, many very American in humour as you would expect. As a Brit, this one has much wider appeal. See what you think.

Musical Interlude

Great news for vinyl lovers. A good friend of mine is bringing back high quality, collectable vinyl records through his business Simply Vinyl.
The business is re-issuing classic and compilation albums from favourite artists such as Derek and the Dominoes, Al Green and T-Rex. If you are a hi-fi enthusiast with a penchant for vinyl, then bookmark www.simplyvinyl.com and look out for new releases coming soon. Apparently the plan is to have around fifty releases by then end of the year.

Ali the Barber and the Forty Thieves by Simon Paul

You can now purchase a review copy of Ali the Barber and the Forty Thieves direct from me here:

Cinderella by Simon Paul

You can now purchase a review copy of Cinderella direct from me in pdf format here:

Southfields Theatre Group now on Facebook

Yes! You can now find the Southfields Theatre Group on Facebook. You can keep up to date with news and events of the Group. Alternatively, you can just check out the new look web site at: http://www.southfieldstheatregroup.org.uk
Profiles of members are gradually being up loaded. Details of the forthcoming show, RolePlay by Alan Ayckbourn and directed by Simon Paul can also be found including booking information.

RolePlay by Alan Ayckbourn

The next Southfields Theatre Group production will be Alan Ayckbourn's RolePlay. The third in a trilogy of plays exploring damsels in distress, it is a very funny play set in the Docklands flat of Justin who, with his fiancé Julie-Ann is about to announce their engagement to their parents. However, some unexpected visitors throw their carefully planned evening into disarray.
The production will take place in July at St Barnabas Church in Southfields. It will be directed by someone called Simon Paul. 

British Theatre

Joined and set up a profile at British Theatre today.
It's a great site for networking with actors, directors and others involved in theatre. Also a great place to publicise events such as the Southfields Theatre Group's forthcoming revue, Hang Out the Flags.

Time Travel

On the BBC site today, there's a wonderful story of how a film maker from Belfast has discovered a clip in a film from 1928 of the Hollywood premier of The Circus with what seems to be a woman walking down the street talking into a mobile phone: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11646933
Unsurprisingly, a short video made by the originator of the story has been a massive hit on Youtube.
Whilst it is a delightful story, there are a couple of moot points. Firstly, if someone has (at some point in the past or the future) travelled back in time to 1928 and was talking on a mobile phone, who were they talking to? Secondly, to use a mobile phone, there has to be some form of infrastructure in order to relay the signal to and from the phone, to and from a network that would then enable that person to speak to someone else. As, in 1928, no mobile network existed, it therefore follows that she could not possibly have been making a mobile phone call.
There is probably a perfectly innocent explanation for this. Either that or some wag somewhere has doctored the original footage and added the woman in order to create this story in the first place. Who knows?