Come and see me Acting Up
For anyone within a 5,000-mile radius of Sheffield (I think that counts you out Guy) who I didn’t email this to last night, below are some details of my upcoming performance. Oh, and for the one person whose company’s email profanity filter would not allow this piece of filth through, what I actually meant to say was “there’ll be plenty of opportunities to see me male hen things up”.
As some of you have already heard, I am making my return to the stage after an 18-year absence.
I shall be appearing (perhaps even starring) in Nikolai Gogol’s play “Marriage” at the University of Sheffield Drama Studio, from 27th to 30th October. Tickets are an astoundingly reasonable £5, or £3.50 for concessions.
The play is more than a little amusing, and will no doubt be made even funnier (in either a good or a bad way, only time will tell) by my acting. It is, in the words of our press release:
“A true comic classic � slapstick, cowardice, romance, all with the whiff of revolution in the air � it’s Bridget Jones meets Doctor Zhivago. Come in your best hat and remind yourself why being single may not be so ghastly after all…” (more blurb at the end, if you’re interested)
I play Kochkaryov, an unscrupulous character who spends the entire play cajoling, bullying, persuading, lying and generally doing anything within my power to try and bring my evil plans to fruition. In a break from my previous roles (such as “man in crowd” and “third Nazi soldier on the left”) I will actually be on stage for most of the performance, and somehow seem to have ended up with more lines than anyone else, so there’ll be plenty of opportunities to see me cock things up. Am I persuading you yet?
Gill & I shall be making our floor available to all and sundry non-Sheffield inhabitants for the duration, bring a sleeping bag or a hotel booking.
So, I’m sure you’re all dying to book tickets (if not, why not?)… here’s everything you need to know about the booking process:
- We need to know a name, telephone number, which night (27th, 28th, 29th or 30th October) and number of tickets (full price and/or concessions)
- Payment can be by cheque (made payable to ZOE ENGLISH) or by cash (on the night) - although we’d prefer you to have your tickets beforehand.
- Please provide an SAE if tickets require posting (or I can hold on to them, if you trust me not to lose them. Not much to choose between me and the Post Office, I guess).
- Tickets are £5 (and £3.50 for students, OAPs and children).
- Curtain up is at 7.30. Please arrive at least 15 minutes beforehand.
- There will be an interval where teas, coffees and cold drinks will be served. The whole thing should be over in less than two painless hours.
- Any enquiries, you can leave a message on the Next Best Ticket Line on 07981 685 131 or speak to Will or Zoe on 0114 268 7328. Or me.
Or of course you can contact me direct with your enquiries, monies, bookings, whatever. I promise not to take your money off to Rio with me <insert evil cackle here. Sorry, just getting into character>
In the meantime, if anyone’s available to help test me on my lines, it’d be much appreciated as my family prefer to “keep it a surprise”.
OK, below is the rest of the blurb that I promised you… more details appearing soon on www.nextbestthingproductions.com as soon as I pull my finger out and get the website built.
Love you all,
Dan Sumption
www.sumption.orgTHE PLOT
“MARRIAGE” was first performed in December 1842. It is set in St Petersburg, where the bachelors of the city are literally falling over themselves for the hand of one Agafya Tikhonovna, the orphaned daughter of a merchant, now living with her aunt, Arina. One such bachelor is Ivan Podkolyosin, a minor civil servant. He has been agonising over marriage for some time and a few months before had employed the services of a professional matchmaker, Fyokla Ivanovna, who is also working for Agafya in the same capacity. On the day Fyokla is to introduce Agafya to Podkolyosin and the other suitors she has selected, Podkolyosin’s best friend, Kochkaryov, decides to take matters into his own hands. Already (unhappily) married � thanks to Fyolkla � he plans to introduce Podkolyosin to Agafya himself. Kochkaryov knows how indecisive and weak-minded his friend is and plans to be with him every step of the way until he is walking down that aisle. Agafya meanwhile, is a neurotic, unworldly girl in her late twenties, her anxieties hardly alleviated by her superstitious nature and her reliance on a deck of cards to tell her what to do. All Arina can do is try and persuade her to marry the nice shopkeeper Mr Starikov, but her niece will hear none of it � her violent father was merely a merchant and she’ll settle for nothing less than a gentleman. To the consternation of Arina, Agayfa has instructed Fyokla to find her a gentleman, and on this very afternoon, four turn up at her door. How can she decide? How can Podkolyosin hope to compete? Has Kochkaryov really already ordered the cake and booked a church before the potential bride and groom have actually met? Prepare for some surprises and plenty of laughs on the road to wedded bliss…
THE AUTHOR
NIKOLAI GOGOL was no romantic. Far from it. A talented comic actor in his youth he moved from the Ukraine to the then Russian capital St Petersburg to write. “Marriage” came after the play for which he is now most remembered - the satire “The Government Inspector”, a play which Gogol distanced himself from as he took against the audience laughing so much on the opening night � he’d written it as a savage social commentary, not a farce. Gogol was also one of the great short-story writers of all time and his absurd tales of everyday Russian life are still as hilarious and provocative as ever. “Marriage” was his last foray into comedy before he embarked on a new dramatic phase of his career � the unfinished novel “Dead Souls”. Originally planned as an epic triptych of stories, only the first third was ever published, yet it is still regarded as one of the most influential works of Russian fiction � inspiring such great novelists as Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky and Nabakov. Gogol tragically never understood his own greatness, and for the rest of his life became obsessed with religion, travelling to Rome and the Holy Land on a lonely pilgrimage and becoming increasingly distanced from the social injusticies of his motherland he’d once sought to expose. His final writings effectively disowned the work that had made his name and confused a Russian audience that had fallen for his absurdist take on their lives. He returned to a Russia he no longer understood and died horrifically aged only 43 after fatally fasting himself to skin and bone. Like so many comic geniuses before and since he was never able to grasp the true extraordinary gift he had of making people laugh.
THE COMPANY
NEXT BEST THING PRODUCTIONS was established in 1994 in Norwich. It was the brainchild of Will Bird and Richard Jones, two graduates of the University of East Anglia, who had produced a number of plays for the University Drama Society and were keen to continue their work in the theatre. Thanks to the support of a talented team of actors and backstage crew the next year saw the company put on two epic modern-dress productions at the newly completed UEA Drama Studio: “The Merchant of Venice” by William Shakespeare and “The Country Wife” by William Wycherley. Elsewhere in the city we produced an intense and claustrophobic version of Ibsen’s “The Master Builder” at the Norwich Arts Centre, and a riotous and satirical swipe at the tabloid press in a brave updating of Sheridan’s “The School for Scandal”, which pulled in the crowds at the Norwich Theatre in the Parks Festival. The company then dispersed to pursue other projects but reformed two years later with some new blood for the Summer 1997 production of Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure”. Again for the Theatre in the Parks Festival the company performed in a variety of historic settings for free. A plan to take Congreve’s “Love for Love” to the 1999 Edinburgh Fringe hit the buffers, but now the philosophy of classic plays performed by an enthusiastic cast, with flair, wit and a dash of irreverence is back, just in time for our tenth anniversary. We aim to bring to Sheffield a wide range of plays with a dynamic combination of experienced actors and promising newcomers We have auditioned people from all ages and walks of life and the result is a company of unsurpassed talent.
THE ACTOR
DAN SUMPTION is returning to the stage after an 18-year sabbatical. He was previously with Hampton Court’s Youth Action Theatre, where he performed many classic roles including “Man in Crowd”, “Third SS Officer” and “Angry Hungarian Strongman”. He relocated to Sheffield from London with his wife and two daughters five years ago, a move which he claims was well worthwhile, even taking into account the hills. He spends most of his time building websites in a dark office in his basement, and is fortunate to have his dog, Gizmo the lurcher, on hand to remind him to come up for air.