Monday 5 May 2014

Anthos Arts Students meet for a Final Rehearsal of "Wings in the Way" Opening at Cygnet New Theatre Friday 9 May 2014


Anthos Arts
David Johnson: Composition
Victoria Fullick: Assistant Director
Harry Kingscott: Voice & Movement
Melissa Barrett: Photography & Publicity
Bryony Reynolds: Arts Award Assistant Manager
Emme-Rose Payne: Artistic Director
Hannah Bradley: Advertising and Marketing

Emma-Rose Payne
Artistic Director
meet the students
for a rehearsal of
"Wings in the Way"
St Luke's College
Saturday 3 May
As Vicky Fullick discussed on Tuesday's "Classical Journey", twenty students enrolled in Anthos Arts' "Wings in the Way" programme in January.

They come from many parts of Devon, and meet regularly for rehearsals where they develop drama, movement, and music skills while creating their own theatre production.

Dan McNiell has provided a few sample videos on 'Facebook' to give an idea of the progress so far. This is perhaps appropriate, as theme that has emerged in rehearsals is - the worries young people have when presented with the complex modern social media, like Facebook.


The anxieties of an adolescent
are expressed in dance
The boys and girls perform together and indivudually, exploring, through dance moves, different ways of expressing the difficulties they face. Despite recent advances in technology, it all seems unnervingly familiar.

Some of the performance is in the form of classical dance, which is beautiful, but carries a challenging message. At other times the students act out scenes of antagonism and anger, mutely but with determined and expressive body language.

One student stands out
from the crowd
A production team, headed by Emma-Rose Payne, oversees the creative process. Vicky Fullick is Emma's assistant and composition work for the accompanying music is shared between Emma, Luke Lane and David Johnson.

Laura McNiell is the Project Manager and her husband Dan is in charge of Marketing and Promotion. Dan McNiell is a well known figure at Exeter University where he has worked with the Exeter University Theatre Company (EUTCo) - notably "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess, which Dan co-directed with Harry Kingscott. (Dan and Harry appeared on "Mighty Book" on 26 Feb 2013.)

The movements are intricate
Harry is involved in "Wings in the Way" too. He helps the students with voice and movement. (There is no dialogue, but poetry and sound-bites from daily life are recited by the students during the performance.)

Publicity and photography are managed by Mellissa Barrett, With Hannah Lee in charge of advertising and marketing. The company's publicity photos can be seen on the Anthos Arts Website.

and strenuous
Students taking part in the project are eligible to work towards Arts Awards, and bursaries are available. Bryony Reynolds supports each student through the Arts Award process.

Most important of all, the creative work, of developing themes and ideas into a complete production, is taken on by the students themselves.

The group are now reaching the culmination of all their hard work. They will be appearing on stage for the first time this Friday at the Cygnet New Theatre in Friars Gate in Exeter.

The make-up assistant
adorns each student
with henna wings
(That's dedication!)



Cygnet, being a training theatre, will welcome the Anthos students to develop their skills further, controlling light and sound from the stage manager's booth.

Three more performances are planned. The production will move to Totnes Civic Centre on Sunday. The following week they will be at Honiton on Saturday (17th) and Sidmouth on Sunday (18th).

Very best wishes to the cast and crew, for a brilliant debut performance. Listen out on This Tuesday's "Classical Journey" for interviews with members of the cast.



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