An actor’s life for me! Erm…

Well.

Oh my.

I’ve been promoted. Sort of. In any case I’m going to have a lot more work to do! Our illustrious company founder and artistic director has taken leave of her senses and elevated me to the dizzy heights of assistant producer on Metamorphoses: Fables from Ovid.

After parading around my house feel all requisite and significant for half an hour, the reality of my new position began to dawn on me. No longer is my sole responsibility learning my lines and turning up on time. Some of the delicate threads that are woven together to produce the high calibre of work presented by Hecate are now in my hands. Oh Lord.

Not that I’m scared you understand, a little daunted perhaps, incredibly excited for sure but nonetheless I have now crossed that scary line from actor to production team. I’ve even been trusted with the company passwords. (You can ask me what they are but I’m not telling)After only one day of sitting in my new seat, I suddenly appreciate all the work the Producer has previously carried out alone. Example:

The Edinburgh Fringe website has comprehensive documents covering all that you need to know about taking your show to your fringe. Great! These documents are each about 17 pages long. Oh… gosh. That’s … thorough. There’s a least 6 of them to read and digest in great detail. Oh. My.

So as I prepare to kill a few trees and print these guides off (don’t worry I’m an avid recycler) I can’t help being torn between being grateful I never had to do any of this before and excited that I now have the opportunity to help promote the company I’m so proud of…

Oh come on. We all know that I’m loving this. Bring on the work. Bring on the late nights and the energy drinks and the stress.
After all, as a wise blogger once implied… what’s life without a challenge?

I went for an audition a few days ago for a company that regularly performs the works of the Bard to great critical acclaim. The audition was relatively straight forward. Chat to the director, then perform one Shakespeare, one contemporary and then work one of the speeches with the director. All this I have done before. Bear with me; I am getting to my point… In the space of five short minutes under the instruction of this particular director, I was forced to re-evaluate my whole approach to the text, with the upshot being a performance I never could have achieved on my own. I left the room hoping very much to work with this director again, but thinking – whatever the outcome – that I had learned something important in that little room. Thanking him for the experience I left the room excited and with a real bounce to my step… On the bus journey home it dawned on me: challenge. That is what has been missing from my working life.

I have harped on about Metamorphoses in many of my blogs, because that play was special for many reasons. It has taken me until now to identify that one of the reasons that the play was so exciting, was because the work was inherently challenging. The subject matter was both delicate and brutal, the quality of performance from the other cast members continually forced me to ‘up my game’ and the director had a clear insight into the text and what she expected. It was rarely easy but it was always frustrating, fascinating and fantastic by turns.

The dictionary definition of challenge in this context is as follows:

Challenge: (noun) a test of one’s abilities or resources in a demanding but stimulating undertaking.

The key word here is stimulating. As an actor, it’s very easy to become complacent about your craft, to settle into comfortable parts, to stay within your comfort zone. Years ago as a student, I never understood why I would wish to step out of that safe zone; after all I knew what I was doing there… not so now.

Being safe is DULL. But being challenged? Well, as I demonstrated earlier, that can cause you to produce work you never thought was in your capabilities… And that is why I love Hecate. Like the goddess the company derives its name from, nothing is ever serene or predictable; the pieces are always challenging and unique and because of this, always rewarding.

So! Now that I’ve realised I need a challenge, I just have to find one!

All offers and suggestions are welcome…

Watch out, festival-goers – this August 13th-25th, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival will be graced by the rather twisted presence of Hecate Theatre’s “Metamorphoses: Fables from Ovid.” The sell-out show will perform for two weeks with The Space UK @ The Surgeons Hall (more details on the events page).

We’re now officially registered with the Fringe (tickets will be available soon), have booked our gorgeous accommodation and are raring to go! Roll on, August!

What better way to kick-start 2012 than with a live, onstage radio play? “The Graveyard Slot” opens on January 24th at The Little Black Box and tickets are on sale now.

Happy new year from all at Hecate Theatre!

Hecate Theatre Co. have just received a Thank You card from CoppaFeel, our chosen charity, telling us that Hecate Theatre have donated £779.65 to the breast cancer awareness charity in 2011! We’re thrilled to have raised this amount for such a worthy cause – and we’ve had a fabulous time doing so throughout the year.

Thank you very much to everyone who took part in our shows, and to our fantastic audience members, for helping us “get more young people coppin’ a feel and save many more lives.”

Merry Christmas and all the best for 2012!

Hecate Theatre Co. finally has a Facebook page! We’re not sure why it has taken us so long to create one – but at last you can finally ‘Like’ Hecate Theatre on Facebook and receive updates from Bristol’s finest all-female theatre company straight to your news feed. Kind of like Twitter, but with photos.

Find us on Facebook.

Just a little thought this one….

For those that don’t know, the Triple Threat refers to performers who can sing, act and dance, making them more versatile performers, capable of tackling all different types of roles. However, those Triple Threat performers are being over taken by an emerging breed….

The Quadruple Threat: actors who sing, act, dance and play an instrument to a Grade 8 standard or higher. Or, as I prefer to think of these thoroughly accomplished people, Super Humans.

In an industry hard hit by the recession where funding is rapidly disappearing, producers are finding that casting actors who play instruments not only creates an exciting piece of theatre (which in turn draws greater audiences), but also allows money saving on orchestra costs. In the last 12 – 18 months I have seen countless jobs that I am unable to apply for because I gave up flute at the age of 14 and piano at the age of 17. (Should have listened to my father and persevered!)

I can’t help but be impressed by those performers who have mastered all these four disciplines and through my jealous haze I have a lot of respect for them. The concern is, are casting directors and producers asking too much of performers? Well, judging by the success of several of these shows (in particular the John Doyle directed 2004 production of Sweeney Todd, which could be credited with sparking off this trend) and the high calibre of the performers involved…. Well, it looks like the answer could be no. Clearly the performers are out there and now being a Triple Threat is simply not enough if you are to compete with your all singing, all dancing, Stanislavsky trained, cello playing neighbour.

So, should performing arts institutions be encouraging students to dust off their musical instruments and practise their way back to performance level? Or does it fall to the individual to enhance their skill base?

Personally I know what I think – and I’d love to debate this more, but I’ve got 10 years of practising to catch up on!

For more madness from Nicola’s world, visit www.nicolafoxfield.co.uk

Tickets now on sale for Hecate Theatre Co.’s Christmas extravaganza – “Stockings by the Fire: A Vaudeville Christmas Cabaret.” Expect a rather twisted, mischievous take on the festive season with plenty of music, some circus tricks, physical theatre and storytelling galore. Not to be missed.

www.hecatetheatre.co.uk/events

Hecate Theatre are pleased to announce the title of their onstage radio extravaganza to be performed in January – “The Graveyard Slot.” Inspired by the term used for a late-night/early morning radio show, Hecate’s “The Graveyard Slot” should prove to be the opposite of its title’s origins: a riotous, crackpot comedy featuring murder, mystery and a smorgasbord of silly voices. See www.hecatetheatre.co.uk/events for more. 24th-28th January 2012 at The Little Black Box theatre.

Breaking news: Regretfully, Hecate Theatre will no longer be performing Nick Shelton’s “Deathline” at the Little Black Box next January. The decision not to move forward with the play, despite a cast and crew being in place, mainly concerned a feeling that the play didn’t quite gel with Hecate’s idiosyncratic style of show-making. No fault on either side (from the writer or Hecate), simply the fact that the team at Hecate felt they would have to adapt the play too much in their own interests and wouldn’t do justice to the writer’s original vision. We wish Nick the best of luck with any future performances of “Deathline.”

In the meantime, the space at The Little Black Box will be filled with a new show: a comic radio play that will be performed live before the audience! Keep an eye on the Events page for more details.