“The story was engaging, the costumes were great and the acting was fantastic.”

Last night, I have the opportunity to see One Flea Spare at the Old Red Lion.  As I mentioned in a previous post, the play is by Naomi Wallace and is set in London during the plague.  The story is about a wealthy couple who discover two strangers in their home which as been quarantined.  The first is a sailor and the second is a young orphan girl.  Their arrival stirs up tension between the couple and leads to many shocking revelations.  I don’t want to give the plot away but the play takes many dramatic twists and turns.  It gives you an idea of what its like to live in London during this tumultuous time.

Overall, I quite enjoyed the play.  The story was engaging, the costumes were great and the acting was fantastic. You may initially be a bit thrown by the costumes of the young girl and of the wealthy wife.  But as the story progresses, you’ll understand their symbolism.  I was also quite impressed by the dedication of the actors to their craft.  There is one point in which the sailor takes a swig of whiskey and spits it into the wealthy husband’s mouth.  I can’t say that I could stay in character for that.  But then again, I’m not an actor!

The theatre space is small.  The Old Red Lion has a pub downstairs and the play takes place in the theatre space above it.  However the intimacy of your surroundings adds to the atmosphere of the play.  You literally feel as though you are intruding on these people’s lives. Its also nice to see what fantastic things can be done with a small space.

If you’re a history buff, enjoy dramas or like to support fellow Americans (Naomi Wallace is from Kentucky!), then I would recommend that you see One Flea Spare. The play runs from 29 March until 16 April.  Tickets are £15.50 (£12.50 concessions) but on Thursdays you can pay what you can afford.

For more information about the show or to book tickets you can check out the play’s official website.

Americans living in London.

Press Night – Thursday 31st March.

So tonight is the night and it’s all very exciting…    We’ll all be on duty from 6.00pm in the Old Red.  Theatre critics have come under a lot of stick recently, but I personally think they are needed, of course.  They document the process and can archive reviews for future theatre goers to revisit…

The process of theatre is that it takes a tremendous amount of work to put on a show and then it all disappears again for ever in a flash…  quite an amazing thing. Photos and reviews are the only proof it ever happened and then we move on to making more…

It suits very much, someone like me who keeps having to move forward, constantly engaging in new and exciting things..

Maybe see you later on?

Gemma

The Opening night – Tuesday 29th March.

Having spent a good part of the afternoon distributing further flyers and posters to the very good people of Islington it was very satisfying to see healthy audience numbers for the opening night.

I have worked on two previous productions at The Old Red Lion and it was immensely satisfying to be back again in the magic space.  It really is that, steeped in history, relaxed, with an expectation for good theatre.

There is huge competition in London (of course), I have no idea how many plays are performed each night and of course we all think ours is the one that people should be seeing.

But hand on heart, I do think One Flea Spare is a production worth checking out.  If you do intend to come, do let us know.  Always great to be able to look out for people and I recommend you seek out a programme at the box office.  Martin Edwards had an exclusive interview with Naomi Wallace and it’s published in the programme, an amazing informative read.

Hope to see you soon.

Gemma

It’s been a pleasure to back in rehearsals with all the one flea spare cast and crew – and a testament to the production that everyone involved is back on board. I must admit I was a little apprehensive that there might have been a tendency to just repeat what we’d done last time but we’ve explored in great detail and found new depth and clarity. However I’ve also definitely found that the saying ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ is true as there are certain scenes or choices we made last time that just work. I have really enjoyed unearthing Morse again and have found that now the character is so deeply embedded I can go further in my development and really have fun with her. I am really looking forward to getting the production in front of a London audience – I think the intricacy and subtlety of the play and our production will go down really well.

Hope to see you there

I’ve only done it once before, when Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory’s Macbeth/Changeling spring season transferred to the Barbican in the Autumn. On that occasion we had two full weeks re-rehearsal, which was necessary & extremely useful.

My slight concern re coming back to OFS, was that, with only four sessions to get it back up to speed, it might become merely an exercise in can we remember what we did last time, without the time to rediscover it, or, more pertinently, recreate it so that it feels new. However, Sue & I think the rest of the company shared these reservations & as a consequence, has really worked on taking it further & playing with it anew so it feels like a new play, only one I have a deeper foreknowledge of…if that makes any sense whatsoever???

Red Dog’s One Flea Spare on utube

The pub in itself is one of the oldest in London, having first been built in 1415 in what was then the rural village of Islington in open countryside and fields. A house called Goose Farm and some nearby cattle pens (for herds being driven to Smithfield Market) were the only structures to adjoin it, and St John Street (then called Chester Road) was a country lane.

In the late 18th century Chester Road became notorious for highwaymen, with patrols being provided to protect those travelling along it at night. At this time descriptions state that the Old Red Lion was a small brick house with three trees in its forecourt, visited by William Hogarth (who portrayed it in the middle distance of his painting “Evening”, with the foreground being Sadler’s Wells), Samuel Johnson and Thomas Paine (who wrote The Rights of Man in the shade of the trees in its forecourt).

The Old Red Lion was rebuilt in 1899, adding two exits onto different streets. This gave the pub the nickname “the In and Out”, since taxicab passengers could avoid paying their fare by entering it through one door and disappearing through the other.

In 1979 a small studio theatre opened on the pub’s first floor, giving the pub its present name of the Old Red Lion Theatre Pub, the ORL, or Old Red. This is still in use for new and experimental dramatic work.

In 2011 One Flea Spare arrived.

The Old Red Lion (Islington, London) is the space for us.  One Flea Spare is going to be opening on Tuesday 29th March and will be running until Saturday 16th April 2011.

More news to follow shortly and looking forward to seeing you there.

“Red Dog Theatre Company’s production of One Flea Spare is one of the best I’ve seen, and in certain particulars, it is the best.  The show is sensual, gritty, inventive and intense.  What a joy it is to see my work produced to such high standards: impeccably acted, and directed with such vitality as to knock your socks off!”

“When I first walked into the small studio theatre I wasn’t sure I had the right place. The scene was set, in the centre of us lay a circular staging area and all there was to be seen was a blue dress. Upon the dress was projected a film. For a few brief minutes I was worried, was this all we were going to see for the nest few hours? But then WHAM; enter medieval chanting and the dress lifts up to reveal a young girl hiding underneath. One flea Spare had begun.

The story is set in medieval England at the time when the plague is tearing through the country. The two aristocrats Mr and Mrs Smellgrave have spent four long weeks in confinement and the day has finally come for the boards to come off and for them to embrace the outside world. However unbeknown to them two outsiders have snuck into their house, although they try to hide this from the authorities the new additions have not gone unnoticed. The Smellgraves plus the two newcomers Bunce and Morse are ordered to another four weeks within the walls of their homes. This takes up the remainder of the action. There are plenty of lies and deceit as the two sets of people from different classes have to live together in close proximity. One Flea Spare is full of interesting twists and turns combined with an interesting look at the history of medieval England.

Written by Naomi Wallace and directed by Sue Colvard, One Flea Spare is brought to us by Reddog, a professional theatre company based in Gloucestershire. The production holds an excellent cast with Victoria Bavister as the young girl Morse, Ian Gain as the pirate Bunce and Dan Maxwell and Kate Abraham as Mr and Mrs Smellgrave. Chris Donnelly plays the man on the outside, Kabe whose job it is to make sure the group stay within the walls of their confinement. Every member seems to truly embody their characters whole heartedly and performed as if the audience was made up of hundreds instead of a small crowd. It just shows you don’t have to be big to be brilliant. If you enjoy history then One Flea Spare is for you, even if you just want drama and a well written story then this is for you. However be warned there is strong language and scenes of a sexual nature throughout. This is defiantly not one to miss.”

Rebecca Shaw (Remotegoat)