Admiration Theatre

Galleries (2002)

Galleries is a series of dramatic vignettes which presents different voices as though they are works in an art gallery.

Many of the characters recur throughout the piece, or are part of a sequence, or stand alone. The play advocates the creation of structure through language and theme rather than individual action, exploring differing dramatic techniques with comparison to the world of visual art. The unconventional structure is designed to explore this break with traditional theatre.

Cast

Theresa - Shalonne Lee
Mark - Philip Oakland
Mrs Julien - Vera Jakob
James - Paul Henshall
Wayne - Peter Cadwell

Performed at the Jerwood Space, London, June 2002

Galleries was conceived as a collection of visual poems. It was inspired by the discovery that a crucial development in theatre occurred in France in the Middle Ages with the invention of the scene, originally a cart on which an individual tableau vivant (living picture) would be staged. Although the "scene" had existed since ancient Greek times, used to designate a part of the theatre, it was only this new development in France and new usage of the word that created the modern conception of the scene, and from the outset it was linked with the concept of an individual image. The medieval plays consisted of a series of such tableaux, one cart following another - i.e. a number of scenes.

Inspired by this, Galleries dispensed with conventional narrative character journeys, and presented a series of interlocking poems, each based around a fundamental image.

The characters and situations of Theresa, Mark, Mrs Julien and others were created in the autumn of 2001 and demonstrated twice in informal readings with actors at that time. Galleries was workshopped at the Riverside Studios in March 2002 and again at the Diorama Arts Centre and Jerwood Space in June 2002.

Admiration would like to acknowledge the generous support of Awards for All and the Jerwood Space towards the production of Galleries.


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Galleries (2002) Galleries is a series of dramatic vignettes which presents different voices as though they are works in an art gallery. Many of the characters recur throughout the piece, or are part of a sequence, or stand alone. The play advocates the creation of structure through language and theme rather than individual action, exploring differing dramatic techniques with comparison to the world of visual art. The unconventional structure is designed to explore this break with traditional theatre. Cast Theresa - Shalonne Lee Mark - Philip Oakland Mrs Julien - Vera Jakob James - Paul Henshall Wayne - Peter Cadwell Performed at the Jerwood Space, London, June 2002 Galleries was conceived as a collection of visual poems. It was inspired by the discovery that a crucial development in theatre occurred in France in the Middle Ages with the invention of the scene, originally a cart on which an individual tableau vivant (living picture) would be staged. Although the "scene" had existed since ancient Greek times, used to designate a part of the theatre, it was only this new development in France and new usage of the word that created the modern conception of the scene, and from the outset it was linked with the concept of an individual image. The medieval plays consisted of a series of such tableaux, one cart following another - i.e. a number of scenes. Inspired by this, Galleries dispensed with conventional narrative character journeys, and presented a series of interlocking poems, each based around a fundamental image. The characters and situations of Theresa, Mark, Mrs Julien and others were created in the autumn of 2001 and demonstrated twice in informal readings with actors at that time. Galleries was workshopped at the Riverside Studios in March 2002 and again at the Diorama Arts Centre and Jerwood Space in June 2002. Admiration would like to acknowledge the generous support of Awards for All and the Jerwood Space towards the production of Galleries.
Company No 4221389		© Admiration 2005