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Tewkesbury Arts & Drama Society |
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Once This Was A Poet
by Brenda Read-Brown
| Directed by: | Brenda Read-Brown |
| Production Dates: | Thursday 5 June 2008 Tuesday 14 October 2008 Saturday 7 March 2009 Saturday 18 April 2009 |
Description
This is a largely autobiographical play described as a Play with Poetry. It tell the story about what happens when Angie a performance poet meets Pete another performance poet. and the one year they had together before he dies. Surprisingly perhaps, given the subject matter, this is a very amusing if ultimately poignant play.
Its form is similar to a musical where the dialogue tells the story but instead of a big song and dance number to express the characters' emotions they take you quietly to one side and express their thoughts in a poem. A poem that was actually written by their character at about that time in the narrative.
GDA One Act Play Festival 2008
The play was performed at the GDA One Act Play Festival at the Kings Theatre, Gloucester on Thursday 5 June 2008.
| Angie | Paula Fancini-Hooper | |
| Pete | Ian Bishop | |
| Woman | Pam Jell | |
| Man | Joe Durrant | |
| Stage Manager | Hannah Moore | |
| Lighting & Sound Effects | Martin Oakes |
It won every award available to to be won!
| Best Play |  |
Once This Was A Poet |
| Best Original Play | |
Once This Was A Poet |
| Best Actress | |
Paula Fancini-Hooper |
| Best Actor | |
Ian Bishop |
| Best Performance in a Supporting Role | |
Pam Jell & Joe Durrant |
It also
won the GDA play writing competition. This is decided soley on the
script, before the play has been performed.
Reports and Comments
For a review and some background to the play and the people involved see this article in the Ledbury Portal by John Eager
Article from the Tewkesbury ObserverComment from Paul McKee (Cheltenham’s Arts
Development Officer):
"Brenda,
that was a stunningly wonderful theatrical experience last night!
Your
play was all the things drama should be - insightful,
challenging, moving and very funny. There was a rhythm and a
pace, driven
by your voice and the quality of your verse. We loved it.
Pictures
Brenda with the trophies © 2008
Tewkesbury Admag
The trophies during a celebratory meal
Cheltenham Literarature Festival - October 2008
After the success at the GDA One Act Play Festival, TADS were invited to perform it again at the Cheltenham Literature Festival. The cast and crew was the same as for the performance at Gloucester.
Poster from the
Cheltenham Literature Festival
As part of the Festival, BBC Radio Gloucestershire broadcast three 5 minute pieces about the background to the play.
WARNING These are very big at about 40MB each!
| Interview 1 | interview 2 | interview3 |
All England Theatre Festival
Western Area preliminary round - Mercia division - March 2009
This performance at The Playhouse Theatre, Cheltenham was for the first
round of the knock-out One Act Play competition. The cast was
slightly different from before:| Angie | Paula Fancini-Hooper | |
| Pete | Ian Bishop | |
| Woman | Pam Jell | |
| Man | Greg Aston | |
| Stage Manager | Hannah Moore | |
| Lighting & Sound Effects | Martin Oakes |
The performance won the Best Play award and thus went through to the next round of the competition. The awards won were:
| Best Play | |
Once This Was A Poet |
| Best Gloucestershire Play | |
Once This Was A Poet |
| Best Actress | |
Paula Fancini-Hooper |
It was also nominated for:
- Best Original Play
- Best Director
- Best Actor
Adjudication by Chris Jaeger GoDA
All England Theatre Festival
Western Area Quarter Final - April 2009
This performance was at the . Bouvery Hall, Pewsey The cast was the same as for the preliminary round at CheltenhamThe play was eliminated at this round.