Looking back at…London Pride

London Pride by Katie McCullough

7-17th May 2013 The Selkirk Upstairs

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Public Reviews

In Shelly’s rundown pub dreams are revived, hope falters and someone’s looking for a fight.

A new arrival sends ripples through Shelly’s humdrum life and riles Joe, a regular determined to defend his territory.

Back in 2013 we staged London Pride as part of a double bill at the Wandsworth Arts Fringe, with Audience with the Ghostfinder. Katie McCullough’s honest take on little England through the eyes of a pub landlord was filled with humour and pathos, all of which was expertly delivered by the cast.  

…a rare chance to see some outstanding new writing…both plays on the double bill are brilliantly written and superbly acted, with ingenious staging.

Public Reviews

CAST

MARTIN BEHRMAN Joe

FIONA SKINNER Shelly 

TOM SLATTER Pavel 

Ellie Pitkin matches her taut direction with strong casting throughout the evening…you can’t help but come away from the evening feeling that this is a company who really care

Public Reviews

CREATIVES

ELLIE PITKIN Director

TUTKU BARBAROS Assistant Director

LIZZIE COOPER Stage Manager & Lights Operator

DAVID TURNBULL Sound Designer

SHERRY COENEN Lighting Designer

ZAHRA MANSOURI Set & Costume Designer

MICHELLE BRISTOW Costume Assistant

PETRA HJORTSBERG Props Maker

MIRANDA MARVIN Assistant Stage Manager

ANDREW CRANE Sound Operator

BARNEY BARRON Publicity, PR and Marketing

HELEN JOHNSON Publicity, PR and Marketing

COLE CAMPBELL Publicity, PR and Marketing

NICK TATCHELL Assistant Events Manager

VIKKI WESTON Education Manager

RICHARD STRATTON IT and Website Manager

NIVINE KEATING (MORRIGHAN IMAGES) Rehearsal Photography

Blackshaw Education: ‘London Pride’ Workshop with Battersea Park School

On the 9th May the Blackshaw Education team went to Battersea Park School and ran a workshop with the GCSE Drama students, based on Katie McCullough’s new play, London Pride, which was performed this year at the Wandsworth Arts Festival. We were lucky enough to be joined by Katie on the day. We handed out sample scenes from the play and Katie led a discussion on issues of immigration and citizenship, both key themes of London Pride. Reading through such scenes aloud, we asked the students to assess characters of the play and realise that one line said by a character can have a number of meanings behind it. As well as covering many issues of the play, we also focused a lot on playwrighting. We introduced key terms such as events and subtext. The students then had to read through a scene from Katie’s play and find examples of these terms. The object exercise was a memorable one. We brought with us a big bag full of random objects and each student had to pick one out. When it comes to playwrighting, ideas can come from the most simple of inspirations and grow into something much bigger. Each student had to write a character analysis for their object – whether it was a pair of glasses or a postcard. It was wonderful to see how every student threw themselves into this exercise and committed completely, so much so that some really interesting and unique characters were created. The whole workshop was a lot of fun. It was inspiring to work with such talented and dedicated students. The experience has only made me more motivated to run a lot more workshops with Blackshaw in the future! Watch this space!

– Sophie

Ghost Finder and London Pride – Backstage Photos

Some lovely backstage shots of our theatrical double bill – Audience with the Ghost Finder and London Pride.

WAFF Double Bill Reviews so far

I’m thrilled with the reviews we’ve had so far for our double bill of London Pride and Audience with the Ghost Finder.  Rehearsals were brilliant fun and we were really pleased with the work, but you just never know quite how it’s going to feel for an audience.  You can have a looky look here and here to see what Stage to Page and The Public Reviews thought of the show.

Have you seen the production yet?  Let us know your brain thoughts on here, or facebook/twitter!

Tickets are still available for Weds 15th and Thurs 16th May via TicketWeb.

– Ellie

London Pride Rehearsal Photos

 

 

Rehearsal photos for Katie McCullough’s play, London Pride.

Find out more about our theatrical double bill at the Wandsworth Arts Festival + Fringe here.

Photos by Morrighan Images