Welcome to our newest associate artists

We are very pleased to welcome our newest associate artists to the Zoo. Sophia Kelly and Danni Shepherd have joined us recently to be part of the cast for our Spring/Summer 2014 tour of Hard Times. As well as being weavers in the production, Danni will take over the role of Louisa Gradgrind, and Sophia is playing Mrs Pegler and Stephen Blackpool's wife. Both Danni and Sophia are currently studying Performing Arts at Bradford College, and have shown themselves to be very talented and reliable members of the course.

Sophia Kelly

Sophia is in the final year of her HND in Performing Arts, and has been at the College for almost five years. In that time she has taken part in numerous productions both on stage and on screen with the British Youth Film Academy. Her youthful appearance means that she has often been cast to play parts younger than her actual age, for instance, Sophia has appeared with The Touring Consortium's productions of 'Kes' in 2009, and 'To Sir, With Love' at The Alhambra Theatre as part of the national tours of those shows. Sophia has been involved in feature-length and short films with the BYFA, including 'Richard II', 'Faust's Growth', 'The Rochdale Pioneers', and 'Cache' (due to be premiered at The National Media Museum in April) Sophia has just completed her first directing project in which she staged an extract from Tennessee Williams' play 'A Streetcar Named Desire'. We are sure that she will continue to develop her artistic and theatrical vision, and we are delighted to be working with her on Hard Times.

Danni Shepherd

Danni is about to complete her Level 3 Extended Diploma in Performing Arts with the maximum marks of D*D*D* and has impressed everyone with her natural ability and dedication throughout the two years she has been at Bradford College. Danni is much in demand as an actress, and has gained a lot of experience over the last year or so, performing in numerous productions and short-films. Danni is in the process of auditioning for drama school and other training opportunities. She has an audition coming up with the excellent Fourth Monkey Theatre Company ensemble, and we wish her the best of luck with this. Hopefully, Sophia and Danni will enjoy working with us on Hard Times and we may even be able to encourage them to write a post or two about the production process.

Catching Up With The Zoo Creatures

Things may have gone quiet on here for a while, for too long probably, but don't be deceived, the Zoo creatures have not been in hibernation. Whilst the Company as a whole took a rest from mid-September once the Hard Times tour was over, the individual members of the Company have been keeping busy with other projects and activities. The next couple of blog posts will be dedicated to catching up with what people have been up to. After that, we will be bringing you news and views from the Zoo about current productions. Thanks for your patience so far...

The first of the catch up pieces concerns Paper Zoo founder member, David Peel, and the very busy time he has had in the last few months.

After his cameo appearance in Clio Barnard's brilliant British film, The Selfish Giant, Dave was recently cast as a BT engineer in the forthcoming feature film, Altar, which was shot on location in the village of Minskip near Knaresborough. The film, which has a supernatural theme, was written and directed by Nick Willing, and features Olivia Williams (best known for her role opposite Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense) and Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket, Birdy etc.)
Apparently, Dave's audition tape caught the attention of the film's producer who immediately saw the charisma and character that Paper Zoo audiences have known and loved in all of his stage appearances. So much so that Dave was offered the role in a matter of days! Dave was not so sure that it had all gone so well,

"To be honest, when I left the audition, I thought I'd blown it because I was rabbiting on at Nick Willing and the others in the room (among them the film's editor, and renowned casting agent Amy Hubbard) I called my agent and said so but within days I had the part! I was so overjoyed at the news. Whatever it was that I did, I must do again!"

Dave has since been on to take on a rather different role, this time that of First Assistant Director on the shoot of a pilot for a new sit-com called 'School on Report'. The project which was directed and co-written by Bradford actor Lee Otway, is aiming to be commissioned for a full series. The four-day shoot took place in two local schools. The first, Thornhill Community School, was used to having cameras on site as it recently featured in the recent hit Channel 4 series, 'Educating Yorkshire'. The second school was Ralph Thoresby in Leeds. The cast is made up of some impressive names given that this is Lee's first directing project. Well-known character actors John Henshaw and Mark Benton were both involved, along with a young cast of talented local teenagers.

"When Lee asked me to help out, my first thought was 'do I want to?' I'm an actor and I know nothing about being an AD. But as soon as the project began I utterly, utterly loved it! It has to be said that it was made easier by everyone on set being just brilliant and understanding of my mistakes. It is another string to my bow, and now all fingers and toes are crossed for Lee and his co-writer Ross Marshall for them to get the commission that they truly deserve and have earned."

As if this were not enough, Dave has also been working with Bradford-based Freedom Studios again. He had previously been part of the small group of actors who had performed the new works in the Street Voices 4 season last year. The company's artistic director, Deborah Dickinson, asked Dave to come and read, along with other local actors, a script by local writer Chris Wilson. The play is about the famous Batley Variety Club and has the makings of a brilliant play. Chris is a talented writer and Freedom Studios are very generous with their time and support for local writers, directors and performers.

You can find out more about Freedom Studios here

David and The Selfish Giant

Founder member of Paper Zoo Theatre Company, David J Peel, has built a reputation for himself as a fine character actor with a flair for both comic and dramatic roles. with memorable turns on-stage with the Zoo as Dogberry in 'Much Ado About Nothing'; Jacob Marley in 'A Christmas Carol'; and a menacing Squealer in 'Animal Farm' amongst many others, David has also taken roles on screen. He has worked on short films with students from the Northern Film School; on television in two of the major soaps; and appeared as a harrassed bus driver in the movie Wild Child.

His most recent screen credit, though, is as Mega Scrap Yard Man in Clio Barnard's acclaimed new movie, 'The Selfish Giant'.

"I play a cold-hearted scrap merchant who refuses to let young Arbor Fenton through the gates with his horse despite him having come to Huddersfield all the way from Bradford."

Although only a small role, David's portrayal of the character raises one of the few laughs in the whole movie, providing some welcome light relief.

"I think that the role represents the colder side of life when things just aren't going for you at all" he adds.

The film tells the story of two Bradford lads, Arbor and Swifty, who are both excluded from school and  get involved in the shady world of 'scrapping' - acquiring items of scrap metal and selling them on to the big scrap dealers.

"It was only a small cameo role but I feel proud to have been involved in such a brilliant and powerful film...it was a fantastic experience for me, and one that I hope to repeat"

The film was awarded the Europa Cinemas Label as Best European film at The Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, and has had rave reviews since its general release.

Eight Years in the Zoo

Paper Zoo Theatre Company will be eight years old in September 2013. Hard Times is our sixteenth production. Not a bad work rate to say that most of us are either in full-time employment, full-time students, semi-retired or, in the case of Julia, a part-time lecturer, full-time mum and home educator of two lively girls. 

The company was formed by the students of a BTEC National Award in Acting course that ran, one evening a week, at Bradford College. The initial intake on the course was twenty two; by the end of the course there were eighteen students, and of those eight had formed the core group that became Paper Zoo. During the course, those Thursday evening sessions became a really special time in the week. The students - most of whom were in their twenties or thirties - came with varying levels of experience, confidence, and knowledge of theatre and acting, but we all learned together and had a great time doing so. 

It seems unlikely that such a group could form in the current climate. The cutting back of adult and community education means that many of the courses like ours have been axed. The fees for those courses that do remain are beyond the financial capabilities of the people who might benefit most from the chance to express themselves, discover their talents and find a voice. We were lucky; the right people got together in the right place at the right time. I think that is one of the reasons that Paper Zoo Theatre Company is so special to us. Working together, in various combinations, is built on the trust and comfort of working with people who have shared the journey so far, and for whom the Company is an emotional investment.

So, we were founded in an educational context. Four of the active company members are teachers with a passion for theatre and the arts. Several of us have had relevant professional experience as actors, directors, dancers, and workshop leaders. We know the industry and have lots of links with people who work regularly in it  we also know, from experience, how difficult it is to get that first job, to gain the initial practical experience, to get your foot onto the ladder.

The Company ethos is one of giving young (and not so young) people the opportunity to gain the experience, and to take some risks at the beginning of their careers. Each of our productions has students involved in some capacity. It may be as associate actors, stage management, technicians or designers, but they work as our colleagues, to a professional standard. In the eight years since 2005 we have worked with more than twenty students. We receive no funding for this (we are totally self-funded) but we have great support from Bradford College, The Bradford Branch of the National Union of Teachers, and, in the past, The National Media Museum. Some of our associates have gone on to drama school: Laura Milnes completed her degree in Contemporary Theatre Practice from The Central School of Speech and Drama in 2010; Emily Thornton has just finished her first year at Italia Conti. Others work in theatres, or have gone on to study at Universities such as Huddersfield, Manchester Metropolitan, and Salford. 

For those of us who teach this is hugely rewarding. The Company gives us the opportunity to develop our own creative practice, to keep up with current issues in the performing arts, and to put theory into practice. To share a stage with our students enriches both parties - per-show nerves are a great leveller - we get to see them develop as performers and the students get to see that we do not ask them to do anything that we are not prepared to do ourselves. 

So that is why, eight years in, the Zoo is still going strong. 

Director's Notes

Here, Stuart Davies, the director of our show, offers an insight into how and why we chose to work on Hard Times

At the beginning of our adaptation of Hard Times, Sarah, a weaver, invites the audience into Josiah Bounderby’s cotton mill in Coketown.

“Coketown, 1850. In the dark heart of the industrial north-west of England. Halifax (or Bradford, or Leeds, or Bury, or Settle) 2013. Things have changed a lot in 160 years haven’t they? The relations between the classes, the gulf between rich and poor, ideas about education, they’ve altered out of all recognition haven’t they? Well haven’t they? And in 1850 the government was made up entirely of very rich men. That must be different in your day”.

People sometimes ask how we choose which plays to do.

Last summer Paper Zoo was doing just that. We call it planning the future programme and the process largely involves sitting in someone’s front room and saying “What shall we do next?” Then we fix the date of the next meeting and go home.  But somewhere in between the seed of creating a play linking past and present lives had been planted.

It was during this period of reflection that I found myself shouting at the radio. Do you ever do that? I do it quite often. I should probably see someone about it. I was doing it one evening after listening to a politician explaining why it was necessary for poor people to pay for the deficit. Then later that night I was playing music (to calm down!) and by chance put on an old Steeleye Span album when I was struck by the title of a traditional song, Hard Times of Old England. The politician on the radio came back to mind - Hard Times for some, but not for the likes of you, mate.

And of course, Hard Times is a novel by Dickens. It’s about an educational philosophy which concentrates on factual knowledge and crushes imagination. Secretary of State Michael Gove has obviously read it and got the wrong end of the stick. It’s also about economic hardship and working people forever paying the price. The link between past and present lives.

The next step was to write a script, based on the book. Dickens provided one or two quite good lines. Our play is an adaptation so if you know the book you will spot the differences. We hope you enjoy it.

Thanks, Stu

Hard Times at the Saltaire Festival

We are pleased to announce that we will be performing Hard Times as part of this year's Saltaire Festival.

The show is pencilled in for the 19th of September and will be performed at the Caroline Street Social Club.

Further details, ticket prices and box office contacts will be confirmed as soon as possible.

Until then, many thanks to the organisers of this great local festival for inviting us to take part.

The Times Seem To Be Getting Harder

As we move into the final six weeks or so of our rehearsal period, the underlying themes of Hard Times seem to be ever more apposite. In the last week we have heard several speeches from Government ministers on the current state of our nation. Each of them have used 'facts' to demonise those members of society who rely on welfare and state benefits.

Chancellor George Osborne delivered such a speech to workers at a branch of Morrison's in which he explicitly equated those who work as doing 'the right thing' and those who do not work as doing 'the wrong thing'!

There is evidently no understanding of the challenges that ordinary people face in daily life. But what can we expect from someone who has never faced those challenges? An inherited fortune must take the sting out of being poor!

With the welfare 'reforms' being pushed through Parliament with indecent haste, it won't be long before the harsh realities of life for people in 2013 are the same as those of the mill workers and weavers in Bounderby's mill. How's that for progress?