A great festival in a lovely little theatre.  Thanks to Emily for inviting us!  If you were there please tell us what you think.  Next step is to develop the piece to be shown next year. Good to meet other performers and companies including Little Axe, Uncanny Theatre, Worklight and Tom Marshman.

Martin Lewton as Edward

Theatre North had a great week in Glasgow performing Billy Budd Sailor in the Brunswick Hotel by invitation of Glasgay.  Ten performances were given in the penthouse suite of this fashionable hotel to audiences of up to ten.

Mary Brennan, critic of the Glasgow Herald gave us an excellent four star review

Seven of us are watching Martin Lewton take a bath.  He’s arrived, glass of wine in hand, unabashedly dropped his towel and settled his naked frame into the suds of a steamy tub.  He begins his story based on the unfinished Herman Melville novella Billy Budd Sailor, and you want to giggle; the 18th century warship, HMS Bellipotent, is a plastic galleon that resembles Captain Pugwash’s boat, the crew that Billy is press-ganged into are little yellow ducks.  By the time Lewton has finished his narrative, the bath water gurgling away like a hanging man’s last rasps, it’s hard to hold back unforeseen tears.

The bones of Melville’s story can be starkly relayed.  A handsome, good-natured lad, Billy Budd, falls foul of a master-at-arms for reasons that are never spelled out, but can be guessed at in this Glasgay! production.  Pushed to breaking point, Budd unintentionally kills the man and hangs for it. As Lewton soaps himself, the homo-erotic undercurrents in Melville’s writing surface in the rituals he introduces.  The whimsical bath toys are replaced by a secret stash of gay porn, but any intended arousal stalls under the harrowing developments so vividly evoked by the richly nuanced text.

Secret desires, careful ambiguities, an immersion in solitary sensualities: all these strands whisper through the astute details of Lewton’s thoughtful and thought-provoking performance, imaginatively staged by Andrew McKinnon for Theatre North.

We are planning to tour this award winning show to small and middle scale venues in Spring 2012.  If you are interested in discussing the possibility of Theatre North coming to your venue please contact Sarah  theatrenorth@googlemail.com  07974 328977   for further details or leave a comment below.

Luke from Todd Creative Services, ably assisted by our associate producer Sarah and BBS director, Andrew, did a great job of filming Billy Budd Sailor in the bathroom today. 

 As soon as we have the video, Sarah and Sophie will be going all out to book venues for a Spring Tour.  If you programme a venue or know of a suitable space near you for this award winning show let us know!

Toby and Troy at Trigger Solutions in Brighton have come up with a great new site.  Please let us know what you think!