Will is a shy, but ambitious twenty one year old who has left his wife Anne at home in Stratford to raise their three children as he tries to make a name for himself in London. By day he attends a part-time screen-writing course in Southwark College, by night he works in John Falstaff's pub "The Dirty Duck" in the East End. As he waits at tables and pulls pints behind the bar he meets up with strange and interesting characters that all seem rather familiar...
In February 2012, Mere Players will be putting on a Shakespeare production that mixes both traditional and contemporary performances. There will be two parts to the evening, each lasting about 45 minutes:
- A Midsummer Night's Dream - Louise Rourke is working with Diss High School on a production that condenses the original play and links original text with modern English and will tell you more about this exciting partnership;
- The Dirty Duck - An original ensemble piece that builds on actor improvisation in workshops from October to February. It is a fantastic opportunity to be involved with Mere Players without the usual full-on commitment normally required - so you can save yourself for Little Shop! Within the framework story of Will trying to make a career for himself as a playwright in London, you can be involved in anything from a short scene through to the whole performance - taking the works of Shakespeare as your inspiration.
As with all Mere Players productions there is always plenty to do - both off and on stage - so we are keen to see as many people at the presentation as possible. We are especially interested in anyone that help us with the more technical aspects of this show as we will be mixing traditional stage elements (stage, props, sound light) with modern multimedia techniques such as video back projection. Just to give you a flavour of The Dirty Duck we will treat you to a short scene during the presentation...
Workshops for The Dirty Duck will begin towards the end of October, with the performance itself running Thursday 16 - Saturday 18 February 2012.
