Acting and Me, Karen McCaffrey

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My one Woman Play Acting and Me, was inspired following a workshop with the Eastenders casting director Rowland Beckley. After the workshop I was sharing the experience with my singing teacher Bridget de Courcy. We have always laughed so much during our lessons, as I have always used my humour to keep myself sane in this crazy world of show business. Bridget suggested that I write a one-woman show about my experiences, as there have been so many funny incidences that she thought I could use.

This really struck a cord with me. For the last twenty-five years I had actually been thinking about writing a one-woman show. Back then this idea was just a glimmer but I was fascinated by Edith Piaf, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and all the great jazz singers from the 1920s onwards. I was always looking for the right subject, it had just never come together.

Time moved on and I had my daughter. When she was younger I took some writing courses to keep my creative soul sane. This was the catalyst I needed and I went on to write a play, several short films, two half novels and half a feature film. Also In feeding the flame of my creativity I joined a memoir-writing course to help me finish my autobiographical novel.

So coming full circle and from laughing in my singing lessons I realised that I was my own subject. I could tell my own story and if it entertained an audience as much as it had Bridget and I, I was onto a winner.

Acting and Me is about telling my story. I wanted to use my singing voice and there is one song which is relevant to the tale.

So now the nerves are really kicking in. The 28th of May will be the first time an audience has experienced Acting and Me. What will they think of it? The début crowd will be made up of theatregoers, friends and family alike, many of whom have never seen me on stage before. Will they like it? What will it bring? Who knows? I just hope it is the beginning of new horizons.

Rogues on the Road

 
Wednesday 1 July 2015
8pm
Tickets £5.
Blowers and Backers are back with Rogues on the Road – a brand new show crammed full of even more wonderful (and occasionally outrageous) reminiscences and anecdotes from two extensive careers spent broadcasting around the globe.
Bastions of the beloved Test Match Special with over 80 years in the commentary box and touring the world with the programme between them, Henry and Peter have some tales to tell. And the fun, the games and outlandish characters, from Ian Fleming to Noel Coward, spread well beyond the confines of any cricket ground or studio.
2015 sees a completely fresh set of outrageous stories, after three years of playing to packed houses across the UK, including two successful seasons at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, earning rave reviews and captivating audiences of all ages.

 

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Dial Medicine For Murder

 
Thursday 18 June 2015
8pm
Tickets £5.

Emma Brünjes Productions is proud to present the world premiere of Dial Medicine For Murder presented by Dr Harry Brünjes and Dr Andrew Johns – a fascinating hour spent dissecting the notorious careers of the two most infamous physicians of the twentieth century.

John Bodkin Adams and Harold Frederick Shipman were both British doctors.  They were also both serial killers

Shipman was found guilty of 15 murders on 31st January 2000 (a later inquiry went on to find that he was actually one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history). Bodkin Adams was never convicted of murder in his lifetime and died a free man aged 84 when complications set in after a fall whilst out shooting. Shipman hung himself in his prison cell in January 2004 just one day before his 58th birthday.

Dr Harry Brünjes and Dr Andrew Johns met when they were both medical students at Guy’s Hospital.  Harry then spent sixteen years as a clinician before transferring effectively to the City whilst Andrew became one of the leading forensic psychiatrists in the UK and has given evidence at least 100 times in murder trials including the Harold Shipman enquiry.

Bizarrely Harry was a junior doctor at Eastbourne Hospital when Bodkin Adams was an in patient and where he died in 1983. Bodkin Adams was also a frequent visitor to Folkington Manor in the 1950s where Harry now lives.  .

 

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Dial Medicine For Murder – front page

Dial Medicine For Murder
Thursday 18 June, 8pm

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Rogues on the Road – front page

Blofeld and Baxter – Rogues on the Road
Wednesday 1 July, 8pm

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Project W.O.L.F

 
Saturday 1 August 2015
 7 pm (doors open 6.45 pm)
Tickets £15 / £13 (concessions)
For one night only, the Project W.O.L.F festival takes over the London Theatre Workshop. A micro-festival of emerging performers, writers and creators exploring and celebrating original feminist performance.
A rehearsed reading of an epic new space play, Toward The Unknown, a musical collaboration between Doireann Mac Mahon & Faye Ventre and the premier of Old Sole’s one-act protest play, W.O.L.F

Toward The Unknown by Ingunn Lara Kristjansdottir

“In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.”

W.O.L.F by James Neale & the company

“5 women. 4 letters. 1 mission. Control. Under cover of darkness, they fight injustice, protect the vulnerable and will stop at nothing to combat the insidious forces that threaten womankind.”

Featuring: Abigail Snow, Ebba Sig, Emily Toomey, Hebe Renard, Kate Radford

Project W.O.L.F Creative Team:

Director: James Neale

Producer: Jon Parry

Stage Manager: Kayleigh Alstin

Sound Design: Alex Goddard

Poster Design: Adem Kaan & MJ Ashton

Photography: Ellamae Cieslik

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Project Wolf – front page

Project W.O.L.F
Saturday 1 August, 7pm

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After We Danced – front page

After We Danced
28 and 29 July, 8pm

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After We Danced

 
Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 July 2015
 8 pm (doors open 7.45 pm)
Tickets £10 / £7.50 (concessions)

Summer 1952. Finn has just completed national service, Fran is living with an overly protective father. Both of them are dreaming of a brighter future, and worrying that it will never happen.

When they meet on a beach, it is the start of a relationship that will define their lives. What they don’t realise is that it will only last one summer, and it will be sixty years until they meet again.

When they do meet, not only are they are still in love, they also decide to get married. But what was the secret that caused them to split up?

NoLogoProductions preview their new play before heading to Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

 

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Bebe + Luna Present…The Cabaret Farce

 
Tuesday 21st, Wednesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd July
 7.30 pm
Tickets £10
 Bebe van der Belt (a glamorous American) and Miss Luna Peach (a cheeky Brit) conspire to host the most divinely decadent evening you’ve ever seen. However, everything spirals into spectacular pandemonium, chaos and catastrophe! Come for
the songs, stay for the shenanigans. Featuring a live band, lashings of sequins, an accordion and – of course – a kazoo. (There will also be a drinking game or two.)
Join Bebe+Luna for a ravishing night of raucous delight!

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