Black Shuck: An interview with Rachel Nott

UPDATE: See Rachel in the transfer at the London Horror Festival.

You can see Rachel Nott in the role of ‘Martha’ in Black Shuck by Duncan Hands, as part of the Wandsworth Arts Fringe 2016, 11-14th & 18-19th May at the Bedford, Balham – £10-12. Book your tickets now!

Ahead of rehearsals starting, we had a chat with Rachel –

What are the particular challenges of this play?

Working with Alex, obviously… That aside, there’s a heck of a lot to learn! And the older I get, the worse my memory gets…

Have you done similar projects to this before?

Playing a smuggler? Can’t say I have. I’ve not been in a full-length two-hander before either, so I’m really looking forward to that.

What are you looking forward to at rehearsals?

We are definitely going to be doing a lot of laughing – to the point that we will need to make sure we actually rehearse the play. I also really love playing around with the characters in a rehearsal process – approaching situations differently and seeing what works. Often what you saw was one thing in the initial read-through can become something completely different after rehearsals.

Who are your favourite comic actors?

Hmmm… Steve Coogan, Kathy Burke, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Julia Davis, Mackenzie Crook, Kenneth Williams, Jack Lemmon (old school), Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Catherine O’Hara, Steve Carrell, Will Ferrell, Sandra Bullock… It’s a really long list. I feel bad for leaving people out.

You can see Rachel Nott in the role of ‘Martha’ in Black Shuck by Duncan Hands, as part of the Wandsworth Arts Fringe 2016, 11-14th & 18-19th May at the Bedford, Balham – £10-12. Book your tickets now!

 

 

 

Black Shuck: An interview with Alexander Pankhurst

UPDATE: See Alexander in the transfer at the London Horror Festival.

You can see Alexander Pankhurst in the role of ‘Art’ in Black Shuck by Duncan Hands, as part of the Wandsworth Arts Fringe 2016, 11-14th & 18-19th May at the Bedford, Balham – £10-12. Book your tickets now!

Ahead of rehearsals starting, we had a chat with Alex –

Alex’s first answers…

What are the particular challenges of this play?

Working with Rachel Nott

Have you done similar projects to this before?

Yes. With Rachel Nott.

What are you looking forward to at rehearsals?

Rachel Nott.

Who are your favourite comic actors?

Rachel Nott. And Rowan Atkinson.

 

Alex’s revised answers…

What are the particular challenges of this play?

I think that the main issue doing this play (from my perspective) will be varying the pace. Because it’s quite a static piece (only set in one place) and there are only two of us, there is a danger that it could become monotonous for the audience. But I think that Blackshaw are well up to the challenge

Have you done similar projects to this before?

I have done a two hander before (An Audience with the Ghostfinder by M. J. Starling) so that’s familiar ground but every project is different so I’m just looking forward to seeing how this one pans out.

What are you looking forward to at rehearsals?

Absolutely. Working the Ellie and Rachel is always really good fun and they will inevitably have me in stitches.

Who are your favourite comic actors?

There’s so many to choose from, Rowan Atkinson has to be up there along with Julie Walters and Mark Heap but the list is almost endless!

You can see Alex in the role of ‘Art’ in Black Shuck by Duncan Hands, as part of the Wandsworth Arts Fringe 2016, 11-14th & 18-19th May at the Bedford, Balham – £10-12. Book your tickets now!

 

Wild Whitstable: Black Shuck Photo Shoot

Here’s a little backstage glimpse of those who suffered for their art on the shore of the north Kent coast.

Wild and windswept, the actors Alexander Pankhurst and Rachel Nott posed perfectly in character as Art and Martha. We only stopped briefly; to rescue Rachel’s scarf from a dog weeing on it, to shoo away other dogs checking out said wee and to give my arm a rest from my role as a human lighting stand.

Despite the 40mph winds and the various acts canine vandalism, Robin Savage executed a professional photo shoot with excellent results (keep your eyes peeled for the photos on our Twitter, Facebook etc very soon!).

If you’re a fan of schadenfreude, you’ll like this – in my attempt (two days prior to the shoot) to inflate a yellow buoy. My misadventure began when I came home from an evening work event, with the bright idea of inflating the buoy with my bicycle pump. With nothing to eat or drink since lunch, and the extreme effort I had to employ to even slightly inflate it, I promptly passed out, hitting my head on the coffee table on the way down. Not my finest moment, but I would like to think it displays some commitment and dedication to my work for Blackshaw.

 

By Nick Tatchell (Blackshaw’s Funding & Partnerships Manager)