A Woman of No Importance… Or Somewhat Little Importance Anyhow | Theatre Listing

A new play by Katherine Rodden

Directed by Cat Robey

Unrestricted View

Hen & Chickens Theatre
109 St. Pauls Road
London
N1 2NA

5th – 23rd February 2013
Tues-Sat 7.00pm, Sat 3pm

A Comedy of Manners – Noel Coward Style!
A farcical, witty comedy that observes just how insane families really are behind closed doors – even ones that love each other to bits!

The Show
Lauren, an emotionally unstable actress in her late twenties is having a career crisis, a mental breakdown, an unhealthy relationship with alcohol and an even less healthy relationship with her parents! When her mother turns up at her door Lauren is forced to play middleman in her parents’ relationship. As an unlikely day of events unfold we see Lauren reach her breaking point.
The show is written by and stars Paradigm Artistic Associate Katherine Rodden, who most recently toured Europe and Japan playing Bianca in ‘The Taming of the Shrew’. Press for Rodden’s work includes:
“Katherine Rodden showed great talent playing both the roles of Bianca and Grumio. Bianca was delightful and had the audience in laughter and the tough Grumio was urecognisable as the same actress.” (www.lokalkompass.de, ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, 2012)
“Leventon was of course excellent and Rodden had no trouble whatsoever in standing up to the challenge of shining opposite such an established pro.” (***** RemoteGoat, Paradigm Benefit Show, 2012)
The director, Cat Robey, is Paradigm’s Resident Director and has been working freelance since graduating from Goldsmith’s university eighteen months ago. Nominated Best Director by the Off West End Awards for ‘Ondine’ in early 2012, she most recently directed “Freedom, Books, Flowers, and the Moon” with Paradigm at the Waterloo East Theatre. Press for Robey’s work includes:
“Cat Robey’s direction really flourishes here. The relationships and the connections were magnificent to watch.”(***** RemoteGoat, ‘Freedom, Books, Flowers, and the Moon’, 2012)
“What was explored was done so with excellent wit and insight and director Cat Robey manoeuvred the cast of actors through this complex maze of emotions with a beautiful subtlety.” (Suite 101, ‘The Inappropriateness of Love’, 2012)

“A play is only as good as its director, and Cat Robey must take a large amount of credit for this magical piece of theatre.” (Frost Magazine, ‘Ondine’, 2012)

“Cat Robey’s direction encouraged high stakes, and a gradual build towards a thoroughly gripping climax.” (Frost Magazine, ‘As Fate Would Have It…’ 2011)

Cast & Crew

The cast includes Paradigm Artistic Associate Katherine Rodden. From outside of Paradigm, the cast includes Alan Booty, Rachel Dobell, Matt Houlihan, Patrick Neyman, and Keith Wallis.

The production team includes Paradigm Artistic Associates Adam Foley (Lighting, Sound & Projection), Hollie Perniskie (Costume Design), and Paradigm’s Artistic Director Sarah E. Pitard (Set Design). Resident Director Cat Robey directs.

The Company
Paradigm Theatre Company, created in January 2012, is the only fringe repertory company in London. Besides producing 4 shows per season, Paradigm pulls from the same body of actors, directors and writers (Artistic Associates) in order to produce each piece. Paradigm also holds yearly season auditions where we bring in cast members from outside of the company. The ethos behind this is that none of us in the company will ever go more than a year without any artistic work, something that has become quite common for artists in the current economy, whilst also providing a platform for other emerging talent.
Paradigm recently produced a benefit show, staring Sylvia Syms, Annabel Leventon, and Dudley Sutton:
“A brilliant evening of entertainment with acting, directing and writing that displayed absolute class. The honourable ethos of offering a creative platform is simply not ambitious enough. This isn’t just a platform, it is a new and exciting theatre company that offers an opportunity for audiences to be thoroughly entertained.” (***** Remote Goat, 2012)
Paradigm was founded by Artistic Director and Resident Playwright Sarah E. Pitard, who most recently wrote ‘The Inappropriateness of Love’ and ‘Freedom, Books, Flowers, and the Moon’ for Paradigm. Press for Pitard’s work includes:
“Pitard’s dialogue has a remarkable ear for Wilde’s nuances… it is difficult to distinguish between repurposed text from the stories and Pitard’s work. It’s elegant, subtle and perfectly suited to the stories.” (Views From the Gods, ‘Freedom, Books, Flowers, and the Moon’, 2012)
“Sarah E Pitard’s specialty is in her dialogue, which is heightened (as it ought to be in comedy) without sacrificing much in realism.” (The Londonist, ‘The Inappropriateness of Love’, 2012)
The company produces 4 shows a year: 1 classical and 3 new writing pieces (one of which is an adaptation). ‘A Woman of No Importance… Or Somewhat Little Importance Anyhow’ is the 3rd show of the current season. The theme of this season is ‘The Many Faces of Love’ exploring all different types of love, whether it’s love and attraction or love in its purest, most unconditional form. Each play will bring to the audience a glimpse of what it means to live for love, be deceived by love, be disgusted by love, and love with so mighty a heart that even death can’t destroy it.
The 1st production of the season, ‘The Inappropriateness of Love’ by Sarah E. Pitard, ran at the Hen & Chickens Theatre for the month of September 2012 and enjoyed rave reviews:
“The Inappropriateness of Love exposes the vulnerability of the heart through thoroughly convincing acting and scenes… It’s well worth seeing” (Frost Magazine)
“This theatre company could soon surprise and indeed come to occupy the stage of London’s Royal Court.”(PlaysToSee)
‘Freedom, Books, Flowers, and the Moon’, our 2nd show of the season by Sarah E. Pitard, played at the Waterloo East Theatre in November 2012, also to rave reviews:
“The performances were exceptional, Cat Robey’s direction once again excelled itself and Pitard’s writing never ceases to enthrall … deeply moving, very real and incredibly enjoyable.” (***** RemoteGoat)
“We are faced with the awful and disturbing question – how does one measure love – and are forced to question ourselves and our selfless gestures in this world.” (***** Last Minute Theatre Tickets)
 The Theatre 
The Hen & Chickens Theatre is a beautiful intimate venue with 54 individual raked seats in a black box end on space. It is upstairs in the cosy Victorian pub the Hen & Chickens Theatre Bar on Highbury corner.

This wonderful venue has been established for over 30 years and has an excellent reputation for new writing and comedy. Unrestricted View, the resident Production Company has been producing shows and programming visiting companies for the last thirteen years. Unrestricted View is run by actors for actors, to provide a supportive artistic environment to explore and create.

Escape the ‘Blue Monday’ Blues and Head to the Sunshine State

After the festive holiday celebrations end, looking forward to starting a New Year in January can seem a dim prospect. In fact, Monday, 21 January is scientifically proven to be the unhappiest day of the year for the majority of Brits and has been aptly dubbed ‘Blue Monday’.

But as the festive cheer wanes, sunny prospects await. With year-round sunshine, all new attractions and abundant deals throughout the destination, there’s no better time to plan a holiday to Orlando, the World Capital of Smiles. In addition, Visit Orlando has launched a brand new Orlando Holiday Planning Tool, helping Blue Monday daydreams turn from a fantasy to reality.

The website, orlandoholidayplanning.com, offers a wealth of ‘need to know before you go’ planning tips for visitors.

Win a Copy of Hysteria on DVD

Frost Magazine has teamed up with  Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in the UK and are giving away copies of Hysteria on DVD.

The film is a fun romantic comedy starring the lovely Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rupert Everett and Sheridan Smith, set in Victorian England and telling the story of the accidental invention of the electro-mechanical vibrator. This film would be a great addition to your DVD collection and if you have any old DVDs that you never watch anymore, trade them in by visiting musicmagpie.com

To win just follow @Frostmag on Twitter, or Frost’s editor, @Balavage and Tweet: “I want to win Hysteria DVD with @Frostmag”. Or sign up for our newsletter.

This competition is open to UK residents only.

HYSTERIA is out on DVD January 14th, courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Copyright: © 2011 Hysteria Films Limited, Arte France Cinema and By Alternative Pictures S.A.R.L. All Rights Reserved.

New Year, New You, New House! – Part 4:

So, it seems that I’m still loving this whole “New Year, New You” series of mine – I keep thinking of more things to write about! Well, in this series (which I think is part 4 – however, I have lost count a little bit…), I’ve decided to write a little chapter for those who are deciding to build their own houses in 2013. After all, taking the decision to build your own home can be an exceptionally daunting prospect for most, so it’s always nice to have a little helping hand along the way.

Part of the problem of building your own home is actually knowing where to start; how do you know what design to choose? How do you go about choosing the best sub-contractors? How do you source the right materials for the right price? With all of these questions, it’s easy to get lost in the self-build-construction-jungle.

Well, in order to help you along a little bit, a good place to start is with the actual structure of your future home; from the bricks, to the walls, to the roof. Surely it’s just as simple as a few bricks and tiles, right? Wrong. Because, the key to a well built home lies with a strong and sturdy well built frame.

You’ve been looking at the range of options available to start with this all-important structure, but with so many choices available, you feel like you’re back at square one with all the confusing questions and decisions. However, in your desperate hunt to find one, you have come across one that sounds quite interesting; timber frames.

But, how do you know if timber frames are the right option to exactly meet the requirements the planned structure you hope to build? Well, this run-down of these benefits may just help you decide:

1. Highly Adaptable

Timber frames are the perfect option for all kinds of building design needs; whether you’re looking to self-build communal buildings, flats or housing, as they can be altered and adapted to fit any structure. As well as providing the highest quality supports for your build, they also boast high environmental performance, energy efficiency and the ability to meet top sustainability targets.

2. Reduce Building Times and Costs

Timber frames also dramatically reduce building times – in fact, timber frame construction requires 20% fewer on-site labor days than traditional methods. So, that means 20% fewer days your sub-constructors have to be on-site, and therefore, 20% less time that you have to pay them for! Sounds like a good option, right? And what’s more; timber frames also save up to 5% in building costs compared to traditional brick and block construction – so you can save your money for other aspects of your home build process.

3. Environmentally-Friendly

Another key advantage of using a timber frame, such as those available from http://www.eco-dam.com/, in a self-build project, is it’s ability to help cut onside waste into the environment. So if you’re looking to help the environment and are particularly conscious about being ec-ofriendly throughout the entirety of the construction process, then a timber frame structure will be the perfect option for you!

The Wright Wing

Disclaimer: While this man has an A-Level in Government & Politics (and a degree but it’s in Film so no one really cares) his opinions should essentially be ignored. By everyone. Always. His views are his own and not the opinion of Frost Magazine who like to use logic and reason to form their conclusions. Richard has a natural logic and reason avoidance technique he’s cultivated over the years and now his opinions are largely not worth the air they use to come out of his mouth. Enjoy.

 

Hello. My name is Richard Wright and let’s take a walk with the news.

 

I was talking to a very middle class girl the other day who got a bit upset talking about the colour of the new paint on her bedroom walls….yeah it was totes emulsh!

 

Speaking of bad jokes the Government has announced plans that Obese people on Benefits will have them cut if they refuse exercise. Define exercise please because one of the best ways to lose weight is to walk. And you walk all the time. So are we talking serious exercise? Which isn’t walking while listening to the 1983 Labour Party manifesto. No. That’s very dull exercise. Under the scheme it would be Doctors telling them how to exercise, which I suppose is better then someone who works for the DSS but it’s still not great. The reason this has me quite wound up is I am “technically” obese. I say “technically” I am also obese in reality. I have in the past been obese while claiming benefits. My life right now is changing because i have gallstones so I am on a diet, I am losing weight, at what point could I claim benefits? Is that going to be a dietary goal now? Turn up to weightwatchers and they’ll tell you that you can now claim heating allowance but you’re still a half stone off help with your council tax? I knew there was benefits to working out but this might be taking that idea a little too literally. But hey I’ll take this idea as seriously as Eric Pickles does. Yeah. We all know what I mean by that without having to lower this to the point of Eric Pickles is a tubby tubby man jokes.

 

In other news David Cameron’s attempt to successfully re-boot the Thatcherite franchise of Government seems to be coming into full effect as we are once again at odds with Argentina over the Falklands. Now The Sun, and you know anything can be helped by the addition of the carefully thought out and reasoned approach of The Sun, have weighed in with a rather helpful advertisement in an Argentinean newspaper telling Argentina in a diplomatic and well thought out way to get their “hands off” the Falklands. One of the things Argentina is bringing up in their renewed panties in a twist over the Falklands is a UN Resolution from 1965 saying that we should resolve the dispute. I’m not a diplomatic expert but you might have wanted to have brought that up a bit sooner really. It’s almost as if it’s not really about the UN resolution. It’s almost as if that doesn’t really play a factor and is something to help legitimise their claim. Again, I’m not a diplomatic expert.

 

Just in case it looks like I am only kicking The Conservative Party I am always amazed whenever Nick Clegg decides to “take a stand” on something. It’s like a tiny voiced child shouting from the back of a crowded bar fight that surely fighting isn’t the answer but yet not leaving the bar but handing the people having the bar fight chairs to hit each other with. Being admonished by Nick Clegg is a like when you get told off by a toddler. It’s cute and amusing but you know you can pretty much just ignore it. Nick Clegg has the moral authority of a custard cream. No that’s not quite right. Of a rich tea biscuit. I like custard creams.

 

As for Labour they have said they would offer the long term unemployed, whatever that means, a guaranteed 6 month job if they were in power. That sounds like a great vote winning policy. But wait, don’t go screaming Ed Miliband’s name in passion quite yet. They have also said they could not commit to the scheme if they won the 2015 general election. So this is basically the opposition’s  New Year’s resolution. No one should pay any real notice to it as it would clearly never happen. Just like that gym membership you say you’ll get just in case you loose your job. Apparently this is Labour setting out their idea for what should happen. This is the drunk uncle style of policy making. You know the Uncle who knows exactly how your life should be run. It’s very difficult to take anything Labour do or say seriously as you always get the impression that Ed Miliband is like a temp leader. Like he’s never sure when his contract will be terminated and so therefore isn’t taking the job as seriously as he might do. He also kind of comes across as a work experience leader. As soon as Harriet Harman signs his letter for school he’ll be out of there. Overall I would say the leader of the opposition isn’t really much of a leader but that’s he’s perfect for the current political climate because Labour aren’t really much of an opposition

 

 

That’s it. See you next week when I will be laying out my thoughts for how the story of John Major could be turned into a serious motion picture with Peter Capaldi as John Major, Helena Bonham Carter as Edwina Currie, Rowan Atkinson as John Redwood, Benedict Cumberbatch as Peter Lilley and Stephen Fry as Ken Clarke. More cast details next week. Sadly I wouldn’t be able to use my working title for the John Major film of “Where’s wally?”

 

Disclaimer: He’s rubbish at sticking with these things so you never know you might see him real soon and you might not. Let’s find out.

Suits Season Two Preview

Suits was a legal drama that lived up to the hype when it premiered last year. The tale of two lawyers, one experienced and one a drop out who blags his way into a firm that only takes Harvard graduates, was entertaining and smart. So there is no surprise that Suits is back for season two.

The Suits series 2 premiere (from Thursday 24th January, 9pm ) is a strong start into the new season.

Spoiler Alert.

Jessica finds out that Mike did not go to Harvard and lied to get into the firm. She tells Harvey to fire him but he can’t. Will his job be saved?

Elsewhere in the episode a women who has had her book idea stolen goes up against Mike, who decided to help her.

Their is a great relationship between Harvey and his secretary, Donna.

Rachel drunk dialed Mike after they kissed but he did not get the message because it was deleted. As Rachel tells Donna, it was a ‘kiss good enough to drunk dial’. Will they get together?

Some top quotes from the episode:

Are you mad at me? Good. If you are mad it means you are not panicking.

We are at a funeral and you are quoting Highlander? Yeah, a lot of people die in it. It seemed appropriate.

Brilliant college drop-out, Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) continues to live a lie in the highly-anticipated second series of the excellent legal drama. Guided by his cocky and confident boss, Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), Mike continues to fool those around him that he is a fully-qualified lawyer.

Suits is still on form. Great entertainment.

Jessica knows about Mike. She lets Harvey know that she knows too and puts pressure on Harvey to get rid of him before he hurts the company. While Harvey must decide whether or not to keep Mike on staff, the firm’s co-founder, Daniel Hardman (recurring guest star, David Costabile) returns after a prolonged absence following the death of his wife. Despite claiming to be a changed man, it is clear there is no love lost between Daniel and Jessica and Harvey must choose sides.

Argan 5 + Softening Body Polish Review

I love exfoliating. Nothing else really makes your skin as super soft. Apparently Elle MacPherson exfoliates every single day, morning and night. Mostly with a soft exfoliator but also with a harder one for a few days. If anyone has seen how amazing the 49-year-old supermodel looks in a bikini they will see that exfoliating is an important part of any beauty regime. Elle says, “It’s the only way to keep skin soft, smooth and glowing,”

So what did I think of Argan 5 + Softening Body Polish? Well, it is possibly my favourite exfoliator ever. It has the perfect ‘grit’. It is hard enough to do the job but does not damage or tear the skin. It has one of the biggest beauty ingredients of the moment: argan oil. It leaves my skin so soft I can forgo moisturiser. A little amount goes a long way so the tube lasts. It also smells great and leaves skin glowing. What more could you ask for?

Would I buy it? Yes, in bulk.

What they say: crushed olive stones and pumice combined with the unique Argan+ Synergy help remove dead skin cells to restore healthy skin radiance and softness. Skin is left refreshed, reinvigorated and glowing with radiance.

Argan oil, sometimes known as ‘liquid gold’ due to its’ amazing transformational properties, is a prized ingredient in skincare. It has been used for centuries by the Berber tribe in Morocco and is highly valued by skin specialists. Rich in omega fatty acids and antioxidants, Argan oil helps to protect the skin’s oil barrier, shield against free radicals, improve elasticity and protect against skin ageing.

Argan + Synergy

Argan + Synergy is an all-natural 100% blend of precious Moroccan Argan oil with 4 other amazing oils: Baobab, Kukui, Moringa and Sacha Inci, all selected for their restorative, regenerating and nourishing properties.

Argan Oil – with Vitamin E, Carotene (antioxidants) and Omega 6 and 9

Baobab Oil – with Vitamins A, D, E and F as well as Omega 3, 6, and 9

Kukui Seed Oil – Rich in Linoleic and Linolenic acid (essential fatty acids)

Moringa Oil – Rich in antioxidants plus Vitamins A and C

Sacha Inci Oil – Contains extremely high levels of Omega 3 and 6 plus Vitamin A

300ml costs £12.99