Friday 29, Saturday 30 November, Monday 2, Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4 December, 7.30pm Monday 2, Wednesday 4 December, 2pmSilk Street Theatre

Provok’d A Restoration

Written and devised by the Company

Jamie Bradley directorVicki Igbokwe associate director and choreographerJess Curtis designer Matt Daw lighting designer Peter Buffery sound designer

Guildhall School of Music & DramaFounded in 1880 by the City of London Corporation

Chairman of the Board of GovernorsVivienne Littlechild

PrincipalLynne Williams

Vice-Principal & Director of Drama Orla O’Loughlin

Vice-Principal & Director of Production ArtsBen Sumner

Please visit our website at gsmd.ac.uk

Refreshments are available in the bar. Only drinks in plastic containers are allowed in the auditorium. We are working towards a sustainable alternative across all venues.

Please ensure that mobile phones, digital watch alarms and pagers are switched off during the performance. The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever is strictly prohibited.

In accordance with licensing requirements, persons shall not be permitted to stand or sit in any of the gangways intersecting the seating.

Guildhall School is provided by the City of London Corporation as part of its contribution to the cultural life of London and the nation

Guildhall School is part of Culture Mile: culturemile.london

Cover image: Calvin Lupiya via unsplash.comRehearsal photography: Em Davis

Photographs of the final year acting company are by: David Buttle (Deborah Bahi, Cory Hippolyte, Martyn Hodge, Chirag Benedict Lobo), Sam Irons (David Buttle, Chandler James), Ori Jones Photography (Anele Mahamba), Wolf Marloh (Connor Finch, Mackenzie Heynes), Phil Sharp (Brandon Bassir, Emily Fairn, Lottie Fraser, Louis Landau, Bella Maclean, Lucy Mabbitt, Joe Pitts, Paula Reumer, Phia Saban), Faye Thomas (Daniel Adeosun, Sophie Doyle, Shaka Kalokoh, Erin Mullen, Anya Murphy, Emanuel Vuso), Michael Wharley (Jasmine Thomas)

Provok’d A RestorationWritten and devised by the Company

Jamie Bradley director Vicki Igbokwe associate director and choreographer Jess Curtis designer Matt Daw lighting designer Peter Buffery sound designer

Friday 29, Saturday 30 November, Monday 2, Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4 December 2019

Silk Street Theatre

#GuildhallDrama

The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever is strictly prohibited

Provok’d: The idea

Jamie Bradley, Director of Provok’d, explains the inspiration and process behind the work:

The initial idea for Provok’d was sparked by two experiences: a gig at London’s O2, and remembering a Fellini film (Orchestra Rehearsal) I’d initially found rather baffling.

Many of the best concerts I’ve been to have been happy accidents. I only saw Kendrick Lamar because my friend got tickets to see James Blake, who was supporting him that night.

I’ve always thought the O2 can feel super clinical but on arrival the crowd were buzzy and hyped; packed together in heated anticipation of seeing rap’s thoughtful

superstar for the first time in London, after the release of his 2017 album DAMN, and the much anticipated soundtrack to Marvel’s Black Panther.

As a new convert I felt a bit fraudulent (as well as a bit old) amongst the throng of Kendrick’s super-fans. Any anxiety was immediately dissipated when his organ-tingling opening track DNA burst into the space. Straight away the huge crowd was drawn in by his electric presence, the achingly loud bass lines and the stark simplicity of the show; mostly him ‘spitting’ alone or with a solitary dancer, surrounded by elaborate projections, moving screens and gigantic bursts of real fire.

It was during one of his most heated but stripped-back raps that I began to notice the relevance between what we were witnessing on stage, to that of Restoration comedy. Obvious things occurred: a live-or-die court culture related to wit and word-play and a reputation totally dependent on spoken perfection and virtuoso performance. However, other connections to broader rap culture became apparent: an elite world of the super-rich, constant sexual references and relentless objectification of women.

The most striking thing, however was the power of an ultimate performer with a unique voice directly touching an audience. I was enthralled. Could Restoration texts ever be this exciting? Could rap help us act the scenes?

Orchestra Rehearsal is a weird and wonderful film I stumbled across years ago that has stayed with me. All the Fellini films I’ve seen are a disconcerting experience somehow and this one is no different; by turns genius and tedious which, (for some reason) I find a winning combination! The film depicts the resistance of a group of orchestral performers reacting against a conductor’s iron fisted, perfectionist control. We watch

as the rehearsal chaos escalates from minor irritations to the kind of anarchy that includes a riot, a death and an unexplained wrecking ball part-destroying the building! Via all the madness, Fellini is ultimately questioning why artists do what they do. In his ending the musicians return to the rehearsal, despite all their differences, playing on simply for playing’s sake.

For Provok’d this triggered an interest in what the equivalent would be if the hierarchy in the room was removed, so a group of actors have to grapple with issues and questions together and decide which stories they want to continue to tell. When rehearsal chaos builds, where does it take us?

Notes by Jamie BradleyKendrick Lamar at the O2 – the gig that sparked Jamie’s idea for Provok’d

all of the beats and melodies being made from within, and we miraculously had professional-level drums, vocals, keys and guitar in the mix. I remember thinking Brandon was very good at melodies – it was only after the project was finished that he modestly told me he was Grammy nominated for song writing!

I remember thinking we were making so much noise in the Studio Theatre that someone was bound to come in and check everyone was alright. I wish I’d filmed the session, as the physical reaction they had to each other’s work was totally off the scale! Shaka was so excited he actually ran out of the room and ran back in again and some of the screaming went on for minutes.

Anyway, after that session, the pressure was really on: the idea clearly had legs so we just needed to find a way to shape scenes, structure raps and build commentaries – together as a group of 25... in three weeks. Easy?

Extract from Jamie Bradley’s rehearsal diary when workshopping the show in 2018: Day 2, 27 September 2018

Provok’d: The workshop

We’d already talked about our experience of rap (or lack of it) on the first day so I’d asked the actors to write a rap from the perspective of their character and bring it into rehearsals. We’d chosen some beats and riffs to write to (Missy Elliot and Kendrick Lamar) so they could improvise raps in groups.

I was very keen to test whether it was even possible to generate rap material together. It was make or break because the whole premise of the idea depended on them being able to do that. No pressure.

Rapping is REALLY exposing, and I was aware that sharing your own writing added another level of risk. It had occurred to me there might be some wobbles.

Turns out, I needn’t have worried. The level of support and love the group gave each other was phenomenal. The first group really went for it and, to be honest, everyone just went absolutely crazy. Then the other two groups just picked it up and raised the bar even higher. Lots of those original raps are still in the show; brilliant and witty insights written from the Restoration character’s viewpoints. There were tentative moments and breaks in the rapping as obviously it was a first try, but this only highlighted how difficult it was and how effortless it seemed when it worked.

We also totally lucked out with the musical knowledge and skill within the group –

1973 It all began on 11 August 1973 at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, an apartment in the West Bronx neighbourhood of Morris Heights in New York. Here DJ Kool Herc (né Clive Campbell) invited guests and threw hip-hop’s first party. His friend Coke La Rock started talking over a beat he was spinning and he became the first known MC.

1974 After seeing DJ Kool Herc perform at block parties, Grandmaster Caz, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa start playing at parties all over the Bronx neighbourhoods. Around this time, DJ/MC/Crowd Pleaser Lovebug Starski starts referring to this culture as ‘hip-hop’.

1982 African American rapper Kool Moe Dee humiliates Busy Bee in a spontaneous rap battle. Since then, MC battling has become a quintessential part of hip-hop/ rap culture. Today this tradition is kept alive through GRM Daily’s Daily Duppy segment, BBC Radio 1’s Fire in the Booth and BET’s hip-hop award cyphers and live battles on Nick Cannon’s Wild ’n Out, amongst many others globally.

1994 Twenty-year-old Nas releases Illmatic, dubbed ‘the most anticipated debut in hip-hop history’. It was classified gold and is widely regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever.

1995 SP-1200 is introduced – the drum machine and sampler combo which gained legendary status among 90s hip-hop artists. This sampler was used to isolate sounds and stretch them out, as well as alter tempo and add percussion. You had to have one.

1996 The Score, a fusion of conscious lyrics with reggae-tinged soul sonics, becomes American hip-hop group The Fugees’ biggest album. The album debuts at No. 1 and grabs two Grammys. The Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards are launched in the UK and The Fugees walk away with two trophies.

1997 Missy ‘Misdemeanour’ Elliot redefines hip-hop and R&B with her first album Supa Dupa Fly. Having broken barriers as a successful female producer, Missy would go on to become the highest selling female rapper of all time.

1998 The solo debut album from Lauryn Hill (from Fugees fame),

History of Hip Hop

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, scores her 11 Grammy nominations and five wins; including Album of the Year and Best New Artist.

2006 Super producer J Dilla dies from lupus complications in February 2006. He was dubbed ‘The Mozart of hip-hop’ after he rose to fame in the mid 90s as a member of the group Slum Village.

2008 Jay-Z becomes the first rapper to headline Glastonbury, the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world.

2010 Nicki Minaj ushers in a new era of women in hip-hop with her album Pink Friday.

2015 Lin-Manuel Miranda creates Hamilton: An American Musical. The show, which is a retelling of the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton primarily using hip-hop, won 11 Tony Awards including Best Musical, a Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album. J Hus has the strongest claim to pioneering the current UK Afrobeats/rap hybrid. His 2015 breakout track Dem Boy Paigon was a road map to London’s new sound.

2017 Cardi B announces her arrival with her debut album Bodak Yellow. The Bronx-born rapper became only the second female rapper, after Lauryn Hill, to top the Billboard Hot 100, where the song spent three weeks at No. 1.

2018 Beautifully crafted and steeped in African musical traditions, hip-hop provided the beat for the biggest solo superhero film of all time, Black Panther. Fitting for its cultural importance, Kendrick Lamar – this era’s major voice – was chosen to craft the soundtrack.

2019 Rapper Dave releases his debut album Psychodrama in March 2019. The No. 1 critically acclaimed album is regarded as ‘the boldest and best British rap album in a generation.’

Essential UK Rap/Grime Playlist

Ms Dynamite Miss. DY-NA-MI-TEE

Estelle 1980

Bashy Black Boys

Dizzee Rascal Stand up Tall

Kano Class of Deja

Skepta Shutdown

JME Man don’t care

Giggs Talkin The Hardest

Little Simz Venom

Dave Professor X

Jhus Did you See

Stormzy Blinded by your Grace

AJ Tracey Ladbroke Grove

Timeline by Deborah Bahi

Lauryn Hill at the beginning of her career

From Restoration to modern day

The design process for this production has been a luxurious one, in that Jamie and I have had a couple of months in which to talk, exchange ideas and hunch over the model imagining the space.

We wanted the audience to feel like they were coming into a room that is in transition, and the space that we created to feel like one of the re-purposed places that actors often spend time rehearsing in – populated temporarily by the people, props and clothes that stand in for the real things they will use in performance.

Our aim was for the audience to be let into the alchemy of rehearsals and given a glimpse of the process of play that has created this piece.

The main job of the design in this context is to hold the process and respond to it. Our set has the potential to be anything we need it to be – it doesn’t recreate the architecture of the Restoration, but it uses elements of Restoration theatre in very bare terms; raised presentation spaces, spaces from which you can observe (balconies or niches) and promenade spaces. We rely on the audience’s imagination to provide opulent chandeliers, painted walls and elegant gardens.

The way we approached the costumes plays a similar game. We looked at lots of images of contemporary and Restoration men and women and charted the similarities between them. A bare shoulder, the power of big hair, the elegance of a shapely calf, voluminous skirts – all things celebrated in the 17th century. We’ve seen them again in the Bardot top that Meghan Markle, The Duchess of Sussex, has revived; in the big dress energy of this spring/summer season; and in the migration of sportswear into mainstream fashion. The fashion for wearing compression tights under long shorts or tapered tracksuit bottoms, this creates the same silhouette that breeches and silk stockings did for a Restoration fop.

Our actors move from their contemporary selves, dressed in the kind of clothing that feels sympathetic, becoming more and more elaborate in their dress and taking on layers of garments as they get deeper into the Restoration texts on which they’re working.

Despite a lot of the design work happening before actors are even cast, it is important to leave room for them in your vision – doubly so when there are characters still being created in rehearsals. I made quick drawings about the actors’ journey with their character, so that we had an initial starting point to work from. We have had to think carefully about how to allow the space for this alongside the tyranny of the time it takes to gather, fit, alter and otherwise prepare costumes.

Design process by Jess Curtis

Finding the similarities between Restoration and contemporary clothing

Final year actors 2019/20

Daniel Adeosun

Emily Fairn

Martyn Hodge

Deborah Bahi

Connor Finch

Chandler James

Brandon Bassir

Lottie Fraser

Shaka Kalokoh

David Buttle

Mackenzie Heynes

Louis Landau

Sophie Doyle

Cory Hippolyte

Chirag Benedict Lobo

Lucy Mabbitt

Joe Pitts

Bella Maclean

Paula Reumer

Anele Mahamba

Phia Saban

Erin Mullen

Jasmine Thomas

Anya Murphy

Emanuel Vuso

The history of re-invention runs deep in theatre.

You only have to look at the various stages of London today to see the weight of history being mixed with the creativity of the future. In the past year, London has played host to revitalised Greek tragedy; with live video feeds and countdown clocks, energised and gender-flipped Shakespeare, and Ibsen relocated to colonial India, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

This re-invention, while being exciting and progressive, is nothing new. Theatre is a reactionary art from, a shape shifter that serves as a mirror to the society within which it exists. With every new generation new ideas are shared, plays are revitalised and theatre makers push the boundaries further.

Restoration Comedy, as a genre, is one that shares a whole lot with the comedy of today. Mistaken identity is always popular; love triangles and courtship in general is still in good health as a narrative device and the collision of characters from wildly different backgrounds still proves fertile ground. However, the more troubling and unpleasant tropes of not only the plays but also their style and production is long overdue a revamp and reconsideration. Take The Country Wife as an example. The central ‘joke’ is a man tricking his way into bed with as many women as he possibly can. By spreading the stone-cold and flat-out lie that he is impotent.

I mean…

There is a man who needs re-assessing.

“It’s historical!” claim the purists.

There is behaviour that needs re-examination.

“It’s of the time!” say the traditionalists.

There is a genre that needs to be looked at from a different angle for it to be worthy of reproduction.

“It’s good old-fashioned fun!” splutters someone.

It is fair to say that reconsideration is necessary for these works. The counter argument for leaving them as they are is resistant to the forces that have shaped theatre over hundreds of years. Restoration Comedy in its heyday went to town on the Greeks and Shakespeare, stealing the best bits and leaving behind the stuff that didn’t work. That’s what we need to do today. Own the work, address the issues, revive and update the genuine quality of these pieces.

Going further, if we can utilise art forms from today, to intensify that change and make manifest what divides as well as what unites the eras, then so much the better. In life we collaborate, we grow, we combine, we contribute and we experiment. In theatre, and definitely in the rehearsal room, we should do the same.

Theatre is an art form that provides the creatives of the day a chance to reassess, to rebalance, to retrospectively consider. It is not frozen in time like films, or novels, or paintings – it can all be changed.

Provok’d attempts just that. Change in motion. History being reframed, reconsidered and revived.

Programme Notes by Andy McNamee

Re-invention in theatre

Daniel Adeosun MelvinDeborah Bahi MikaiBrandon Bassir SamiDavid Buttle JamesSophie Doyle EmmaEmily Fairn JennyConnor Finch DonnyMackenzie Heynes LloydCory Hippolyte NateMartyn Hodge PhillipShaka Kalokoh ChibuzorChirag Benedict Lobo VenkateshwarLucy Mabbitt SamBella Maclean IslaAnele Mahamba VenusAnya Murphy RheaJoe Pitts AlexJasmine Thomas Alex NEmanuel Vuso Eriggo

Company

A listing of CVs for Guildhall School Final Year Actors may be viewed on the School’s website: gsmd.ac.uk/finalyearactors

Construction ManagerGrace Wines

Assistant CarpentersRose Bailey Sami Barqawi Fiona Newton

Costume AssistantsLaura Alexander-Smith Alice Dearman Thomas Dixon

Production Electrician & Technical ManagerLiam Sayer

Assistant Lighting DesignerSofia Di Lorenzo

Lighting ProgrammersJoshua Collins Eilidh Mackenzie

Production ManagerJessica Troy

Production AssistantsRose Dayan Aled Roberts

Prop MakerAster Meerding

Assistant Prop MakersTara Boland Max Rodriguez-Thorp Naomi Wright

Scenic Art Co-ordinatorTabitha Streater

Scenic ArtistCarter Gardenier

Assistant Scenic ArtistsDanielle Da Costa Anna Withington

Head of Sound Production EngineerSam Levy

Sound OperatorNatalya Scase

Video Assistant & Associate Video DesignerNathan Sparrow

Video Assistants/Video OperatorsRin Akiyama Finlay Anderson Matt Shraga

Stage ManagerMay Curtiss

Deputy Stage ManagerColin Greatbatch

Assistant Stage ManagersSarah Albritton Chloe Jones Samantha Liquorish Adam Woodhouse

Additional Production Staff

Costume SupervisorKyriaki Bouska

Production Manager Bob Holmes

Production Team

A listing of CVs for Guildhall School Final Year Production Arts students may be viewed on the School’s website: gsmd.ac.uk/finalyearPA

Biographies

Jamie Bradley director

Jamie is a director, actor and artist.

He studied acting at Guildhall School of Music & Drama and fine art at Chelsea College of Arts.

Recent directing work includes Crackpot (Living Words, Folkestone Quarterhouse), Matt (CEJI, Brussels) Women of Troy (FONACT at Theatre Municipal de Fontainbleau, co-directed with Laurent de Montalembert), Life Songs and My Voice In Me (Guildhall, devised with Dinah Stabb and BA singers), The Country Wife (LAMDA), as well as multiple projects with Guildhall actors including Now or Later, The Faith Machine, Measure for Measure, Hamlet, Fen and original devised work Smithfield.

His short film the The Full Cup was part of the official selection of the Mexico Film Festival, 2015.

As an actor he has extensive experience in theatre, television and film and has performed with companies such as Complicité, Kneehigh, Transport and Fevered Sleep, as well as several productions at the National Theatre, most recently in Ella Hickson’s ANNA in 2019.

Vicki Igbokwe associate director and choreographer

Vicki Igbokwe trained at Middlesex University, graduating with a BA in Community Dance, and has a Masters in Cultural Leadership from City University. She is the Creative Director and Choreographer for Uchenna Dance and is founder of the Company.

Independently, she works as a Movement Director, Choreographer, Mass Movement Choreographer (Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies), Associate Director and Facilitator. She is a Trustee for One Dance UK, the sector support organisation for dance, a Work Place artist at The Place (Associate Artist) the UK’s premiere centre for contemporary dance, and a facilitator for the Future Innovators East London Dance (Fi.ELD) programme, developing the future innovators of dance.

She works throughout the UK and abroad with dance/theatre companies and organisations, dance institutions, individuals and venues. Past and present clients include Kingston University, Middlesex University, Wac Arts, University of East London, Rafael Bonachela, Luca Silvestrini, Jeanefer Jean-Charles, Dawn Walton, Sadler’s Wells, Southbank Centre, New Adventures, Tanzhaus Nrw Düsseldorf, Nike UK, Ireland and Europe, Jack Morton Worldwide, Five Currents and World Wide Shows, Royal Court, Eclipse Theatre, Diverse City, National Theatre of Scotland, Pentabus Theatre and Kiln Theatre.

Jess Curtis designer

Jess Curtis trained at the Motley Theatre Design Course.

Recent work includes Genesis Inc. (Hampstead Theatre), Loosing Venice (The Orange Tree Theatre), Uncle Vanya (Almeida Theatre), Villette and Dangerous Corner (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Kiss Me Quickstep and Haunting Julia (Queen’s Theatre), One for the Road, Glass Cage and Follies (Royal and Derngate, Northampton), The Holy Rosenbergs (National Theatre), Hotel Cerise (Theatre Royal, Stratford East) Another Door Closed (Theatre Royal Bath), Endgame (Liverpool Everyman), Dangerous Corner (West Yorkshire Playhouse/West End), Frankenstein (Frantic Assembly, Northampton), Burial At Thebes (Nottingham Playhouse/Barbican/US Tour) Rhapsody and Fantasy (Royal Opera House).

Jess designed the Grosvenor Park Open Air Season 2013–2016, the opening season for Storyhouse and bar interiors for Underbelly Festival at the South Bank, Hyde Park and Leicester Square.

She was nominated for Design at the UK Theatre Design Awards 2018 for A Little Night Music.

Matt Daw lighting designer

Recent theatre credits include The Snow Queen (Co-Design with Bruno Poet at Royal Danish Theatre), Troilus and Cressida (Royal Shakespeare Company), Memoirs of a Sailor and Black and White (National Theatre of Kuwait), St Nicholas (Donmar Warehouse and Goodman Theatre Chicago), The Last Ship (Northern Stage, Princess of Wales, Toronto and UK/US Tour), The Rink (Southwark Playhouse), The Shadow Factory (Nuffield Theatre), In the Night Garden: Live, Bing Live (UK Tour), Rapunzel (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Rules for Living (English Touring Theatre), The Hartlepool Monkey (Gyre and Gimble), City of Glass (HOME Manchester and The Lyric Hammersmith), Death takes a Holiday (Charing Cross Theatre), Wasted (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Beacons (Park Theatre) and The Elephantom (National Theatre and West End).

Matt’s work in live music includes; The xx (2018 European and US tours), Damian Rice’s My Favourite Faded Fantasy world tour, Sigur Rós’s Kveikur and Valtari world tours (with Bruno Poet) and Björk’s Biophilia world tour. Work for film includes The French Dispatch directed by Wes Anderson and Pride directed by Matthew Warchus.

Peter Buffery sound designer

Peter Buffery is a London-based sound designer and composer working primarily in theatre. He studied Music Technology at Kingston University graduating in 2012 and achieved a distinction in MA Collaborative Theatre Production and Design from Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 2019, Peter is delighted to return to the School to design sound for Provok’d.

Previous credits include: Iphigenia, What the Storm Brought and London (Guildhall School) the latter of which was in collaboration with four professional circus performers at the Centre de Création. Peter wrote, recorded and produced the soundtrack.

Other credits include: A Journey (Dir. Jo Mcinnes & Chris Kelham, Guildhall School and Central Academy of Drama, Beijing) and Beowulf (dir. Sam Gibbs, Autojeu Theatre).

Peter is currently working as a freelance sound engineer, operating for live music and theatre events, and is the volunteer coordinator for Barnstaple’s Fringe TheatreFest.

Forthcoming events

31 January – 11 February 2020 Milton Court Studio Theatre

GutWritten by Frances Poet

Kate Budgen director Louie Whitmore designer Nick Peel lighting designer Andy Taylor sound designer

For Maddy and Rory, devoted parents to three-year-old Joshua, life is good.

But when their son is left with his grandmother for a weekend, suddenly everything changes. From a seemingly innocuous event, paranoia, fear and doubt grows, pushing them to the very edge.

Winner of Best Play at the 2019 Writers’ Guild Awards and shortlisted for the 2015 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, Frances Poet’s Gut is a psychological thriller that asks if anyone can truly be trusted with our children.

Tickets: £10 (£5 concessions), available from Barbican Box Office: 020 7638 8891 barbican.org.uk. Priority Booking for Guildhall Circle members from 2 December.

3–13 February 2020 Milton Court Studio Theatre

The RoyaleWritten by Marco Ramirez

Ameera Conrad director Louie Whitmore designer Tom Lishman sound designer Samuel Harris lighting designer*

Becoming the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion of the world is Jay ‘The Sport’ Jackson’s ultimate dream. But, in the segregated United States of 1905, he doesn’t stand a chance.

Inspired by the little known true story of Jack Johnson, The Royale tells the incredible tale of the African-American boxer who, in demanding the fight he deserved, also had to take on history.

This extraordinary play by award- winning writer Marco Ramirez (Sons of Anarchy, Orange is the New Black) is set in a boxing ring and told in six heart-stopping rounds.

Tickets: £10 (£5 concessions), available from Barbican Box Office: 020 7638 8891 barbican.org.uk. Priority Booking for Guildhall Circle members from 2 December.

* Student on BA (Hons) Technical Theatre Arts programme

10–15 February 2020 Milton Court Theatre

Earthquakes in LondonWritten by Mike Bartlett

Abigail Graham director Sarah Beaton designer Anna Clock sound designer Sofia Di Lorenzo lighting designer*

An all-pervasive fear of the future and a guilty pleasure in the excesses of the present drive this epic rollercoaster of a play from 1968 to 2525 and back again.

Earthquakes in London follows three sisters as they attempt to navigate their dislocated lives and loves while their dysfunctional father, a brilliant scientist, predicts global catastrophe.

From localised social breakdown to worldwide paranoia, Mike Bartlett’s fast and furious play explores the domestic and the epic effects of climate change on us all.

Tickets: £10 (£5 concessions), available from Barbican Box Office: 020 7638 8891 barbican.org.uk. Priority Booking for Guildhall Circle members from 2 December.

* Student on BA (Hons) Technical Theatre Arts programme

20–25 March 2020 Silk Street Theatre

Antigone Written by Stef Smith

Orla O’Loughlin director Kai Fisher designer Michael John McCarthy composer and sound designer

A contemporary retelling of the story of Antigone, her siblings and her city, specially commissioned for Guildhall School.

This epic and lyrical reimagining of the classic Greek tragedy mixes ancient legend with modern perspective, resulting in a powerful exploration of generational damage, sisterly devotion and how we find hope in the most desperate of places.

Written by Olivier Award winner Stef Smith, Antigone is Guildhall’s first production directed by the School’s multi-award winning new Vice-Principal & Director of Drama, Orla O’Loughlin.

Tickets: £10 (£5 concessions), available from Barbican Box Office: 020 7638 8891 barbican.org.uk. Priority Booking for Guildhall Circle members from 2 December.

Guildhall School Scholarships Fund

Each year the Scholarships Fund enables talented young actors, musicians and production artists to take up their places or continue their studies at Guildhall School. We are extremely grateful to many trusts, foundations, businesses, City livery companies and individuals who make annual donations to the Scholarships Fund, and to those people who make provision for legacy donations in support of the School in their wills. Students involved with our 2019/20 productions who have received support from the Scholarships Fund and from external donors are as follows:

Acting

Guildhall ScholarsDeborah BahiEmily FairnLottie FraserCory HippolyteChandler JamesShaka KalokohLucy MabbittAnele MahambaErin MullenJoe PittsPhia SabanEmanuel Vuso

The Damian Lewis Finishing Fund ScholarMartyn Hodge*

Josephine Hart ScholarConnor Finch

The Essie Amar ScholarDavid Buttle**

Fishmongers’ Ben Travers ScholarChirag Benedict Lobo

Leathersellers’ ScholarJasmine Thomas***

The Stanley Picker Trust ScholarMartyn Hodge

*also supporteddirectly by The Lilian Baylis Award

**also supporteddirectly by The Sir John Gielgud Charitable Trust

***also supporteddirectly by The Lionel Bart Foundation

Production Arts

Guildhall ScholarsRin AkiyamaSarah AlbrittonDanielle Da CostaEm DavisSamuel DawsonEm Dethick-JonesMatthew FreemanCarter GardenierColin GreatbatchPoppy HarnettPippa HighamOlivia Hilton-FosterAlex HobbsMatthew HockleyJordan HubbleAndrás JacobsDevon James-BowenPeter LawrenceSamantha LiquorishEilidh MackenzieHope MarshallLuke MasonViktor MileikaEmily NellisPete ReaveyMaisie RobertsRosie RobertsLiam SayerMatt ShragaJosh Smith

Nathan SparrowChloe Stally-GibsonJack StevensKate StockwellLiam StrongNina ThoeneJessica TroyJamie WebbOphir WestmanGrace Wines

Leathersellers’ ScholarLaura Alexander-

Smith

Tallow Chandlers’ ScholarSam Levy

Skinners’ Lawrence Atwell ScholarAster Meerding

B&T ScholarsTara BolandCharlie Vince-

Crowhurst

Leverhulme Arts ScholarsNatalya ScaseAdam WoodhouseNaomi Wright

Guildhall School Scholarships Fund

“My goal for my first year was to soak up everything the School has to offer, and thanks to my scholarship I was able to do that. For that, I thank you all so much”Tara Tijani, BA Acting

The School has experienced a considerable increase in demand on its scholarships fund with the cost of living in London continuing to be a major hurdle for many students.

Scholarships are more vital than ever before, ensuring that anyone with the talent and ambition to excel is not constrained by personal circumstances.

For more information about supporting scholarships, please contact the Development Office on 020 7382 7179, visit our website gsmd.ac.uk/support or email development@gsmd.ac.uk

The Guildhall School Trust is a Registered Charity No. 1082472

Join the Guildhall PatronsEmpower our students to light up stages and concert halls around the world

Your support will preserve the School’s specialist training of international musicians, actors and production artists and provide expert masterclasses, strands of specialist teaching and the equipment essential to maintaining Guildhall School as a world-leading conservatoire.

As a Patron you will be richly rewarded with performances across the breadth of the School’s artistic disciplines. We invite you to witness artists in training and enjoy a fulfilling rapport with Guildhall staff, students and fellow supporters.

For more information about becoming a Patron, please contact: Emily McNeillis, Regular Giving Officer, emily.mcneillis@gsmd.ac.uk