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The Ministry of Entertainment was formed by two actors, Kate McNab and Joe Hobbs, to produce theatre based on oral histories from the era of the Second World War. They had met in 1997 during Bristol Old Vic’s premier run of Up the Feeder, Down the Mouth which was directed by Andy Hay and written by A.C.H. Smith about Bristol Docks from the stories of the dockers themselves. During the run Joe and Kate persuaded fellow performer Kit Morgan to be musical director for their new venture. more… As one theatregoer put it, | THE NAMES, THE NAMESA one-act show of scenes, songs and souvenirs from the hugely successful Bristol Old Vic Production ‘Up The Feeder, Down The Mouth’ together with previously unheard dockers’ stories. “At the Bristol Old Vic, Andy Hay commissioned Up The Feeder, Down The ‘Mouth as a play that would take account of the thousand-year history of the docks, but would focus on the industrial experience of dockers still living. Like a Bristolian Studs Terkel, I listened to about 50 old dockers and their wives and a few seamen, and wound up with a hundred close-typed pages of material, about five times as much as an evening on stage would need. The job, then, was selection, and shaping. People might think it an easy way to write a play, to base it on documentary material. It is not. Often I longed for the licence just to write a scene out of my head. Some linking parts were like that, but most of the scenes had to respect the human experience of the source. Even some of the songs arose from the research. An old seaman said to me, ‘Prince Street, look at it now, what have you got?’, and those words open the closing number.” ACH Smith The script for The Names,The Names also includes stories collected by Amy King during her docks oral history project. TICKETS: https://foccal.com/litfest-event/462
BERYL'S DAY OUTIt’s 1962 here at Bristol Zoo. Beryl is having a well-deserved day out…Away from her hectic salon in Weston-Super-Mare and not to mention those incessant blue rinses, Beryl wanders happily through the gorgeous gardens and enclosures. She daydreams about the excitement of trips here in her childhood when her whole family came on day trips. Nothing much has changed really. She recalls of the excitement of seeing those familiar animals right up close. Chatting to the staff, and the animals, heading for a Cona coffee in the restaurant, Beryl muses how perfectly calm and serene it is on this warm autumnal day. Meanwhile… behind the scenes, all sort of mayhem is breaking out. The queue is getting longer and longer at the entrance. Who is that woman? It’s mucking out time in the elephant enclosure and someone’s kicked the bucket. A camel called Betty has gone missing. Or is she a dromedary? How do you pick a poisonous snake up? Will the grumpy aye-aye attack Barry again? How on earth will he mend the gorilla’s cage door? Who is Johnny Morris anyway? Heading for the exit after the last fish has been thrown to the seals at 4.15, Beryl thinks she might just make it down to Broadmead in time to walk round that wonderful new Fairfax House. A perfect day out. Why not put this wonderful show for your event or theatre programme? Contact 07745 957 593 for all booking enquiries.
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