10 Reasons why you should join a local theatre group

In 2008 I joined YAT (Youth Action Theatre) - a local youth theatre group based in Teddington/Hampton Hill, Surrey.  The main reason was because one of my ambitions (an item on my Bucket List, if you like) was to perform in a play, so I Googled 'theatre groups in Teddington' and here I am!  I often tell people it's one of the best things I ever did, and here's why:

1 - I wasn't sure I could do it...

The first play I did with YAT was The Royal Hunt of the Sun and I bagged a great part - Miguel Estete the Royal Veedor - quite a few lines to learn, and I had to move like a man!  Going on stage in front of an audience for the first time and remembering all my lines and not screwing up was an amazing feeling!

2 - I made some amazing friends:

I've kept in touch with more people from YAT than I have with people from Uni!  Sometimes there's a break of 3 months or so in between plays, but when we see each other again it's always good fun!

3 - I've tested my skills to the limit (and beyond...):

When I was asked if I could paint a 16x20 foot painting of Carnaby Street at the back of the stage, I couldn't exactly say no... So I just did it, and now I've done loads of set painting!

4 - There's so much more to theatre than (just) acting:

Acting is fabulous fun - but maybe that's not for you? Depending on which group you join, you can get involved in all sorts, from sourcing props and scenery, painting sets, lighting and costume - and the great thing about amateur theatre is no-one expects you to have 2+ years experience with a known designer - you can just muck in and help, and build up your portfolio in the process!

5 - It's only as amateur/awesome [delete as applicable] as you allow it to be:

I think the words "Amateur Theatre" should be changed to "Low Budget Theatre" or "Hobby Theatre" as the word "Amateur" does put a few people off.  No matter what the budget, you can still put on a great production, you just have to know your limits.  If you have an amazing script and the cast and crew work really hard, there's no reason why you shouldn't move and inspire your audience.

6 - Release your inhibitions!

I've done things on stage I would never dream of doing in normal life - dancing, singing, prancing around like an idiot - being able to switch off the fear of looking stupid is such a useful skill, and can help you in real life situations, such as a job interview or a first date!  Plus, acting is such a confidence booster, because in learning how to be other people, you feel more at home with being yourself.

7 - You never know what it might lead to...

I got some storyboarding work through a friend from my YAT, and got some work experience through another!  Although this shouldn't be a reason for joining, it's definitely an added bonus!

8 - You could get to go somewhere amazing!

If you're lucky your group might go on Tour!  Two years ago YAT went to the Edinburgh Fringe with The Duchess of Malfi!  They're going again this year (although without me this time) and will undoubtedly have an amazing time again!

9 - You might win a shiny award!

Ok - obviously I can't promise anything, but most areas have arts council awards, and if you're very lucky and work very hard, you may get your own very lovely award!  YAT won the Swan Award last year for Best Design, and the Wild Swan.

10 - Watch out for those cast parties!

Now obviously I'm not condoning drinking vast amounts of alcohol, especially if you are under 18 (!), but when a group of people have worked very hard and had no social life or sleep for the past 3 months can finally let loose - well that's a very special time...

Ok - I didn't say it was our most beautiful time now did I?

All of these photos (except the storyboard frame) are from productions or of people in YAT.  If you would like to learn more about YAT or join, visit the website and click on the contact tab.

Theatre Design - Peter Pan: The Musical

Peter Pan: The Musical at the Hampton Hill Playhouse
Teddington Theatre Club
Saturday 3rd to Saturday 10th December
Directed by Dawn Lacey

There was a lot to do in this production - the orignal plan was to paint the whole of Neverland on the flats for some of the scenes, but we just weren't going to have enough time to do it, since there was only one person doing it (ie: me).  So we decided to have Neverland as projections and lighting, and for me to concentrate on only doing the victorian panelling for the house scenes, Nana's kennel, the Wendy-house (which unfortunately I have no decent pictures of), the totem-pole, St Paul's, and the wardrobe/hold.  I like the use of the word only there.  Luckily we had Alan's daughter Laura drafted in to do the crocodile, which was fantastic, and got a big laugh from the audience!  Here's the flyer below, and some pictures of the stuff I worked on.

The flyer

The totem pole - made by Alan Corbett and painted by me.

Peter Pan flies!  I did the scenic painting for this, painting the flats to look like victorian panelling, and painting the wardrobe built by Alan to look real and aged.  I also painted the silhouette of St Paul's that you can just see above the pillars.

Parts of the set opened out or turned around to reveal white flats on the other side, which could be projected onto.

In the Indian scene, gauze came down, onto which was projected a scene of the Indian camp.  I created an image in Photoshop to be projected onto the gauze.  I also painted the totem pole which was brought on stage by the actors and built up (see top).

 Another scene was the pirate ship.  Parts of the victorian panelling remained, whilst other parts were taken away to reveal what looks like the deck of a ship, complete with the wheel at the top (originally covered with St Paul's.  The wardrobe was turned around to reveal the entrance to the hold.

The Armoury and Creature Shop

..At Camp Silver Beach Summer 2010

It works like this:

1) Ross Barnes has a vision of the most amazing Evening Programme (basically evening game/activity for the kids) ever at Camp Silver Beach.

2) We both work on the principle of if you're going to do a thing you might as well do it properly.

3) Most of our evenings and weekends (in fact pretty much all) are spent in making costumes for one night. (Well two nights really, because we had a Harry Potter EP which is what the Dementors were for, and then the medieval fantasy EP which is what all the armour and stuff was for...)

Enjoy.

Dementor Masks for the Harry Potter EP:

The Dementors are described in the books as being clammy things made of rotting flesh and not really having a face - although a mouth is needed to suck out a person's soul. So the vision I had in my head started from the mouth and worked backwards.
These masks are made by first covering a load of balloons in papier mache, using tissue instead of newspaper to achieve the wrinkled, rotting skin effect. The balloons deflated slightly in the drying process, which actually added to the effect. I had to put eyes in so that the person wearing them could see, but I used gauze so that once they were painted they would be as invisible as possible. I then used lumps of glue-soaked tissue to build the features of the face, starting with the round area for the mouth and working backwards with cheekbones etc.
I finally used my drybrushing method of painting them to enhance the wrinkled texture, and varnished them to make them look wet and clammy. I also made hooded cloaks from black sheets, and made them tatty, and dragged them through dust outside to weather them.

Here are the different variety of hats we made!

To paint them up we mostly used spray paint and then I dry-brushed with a darker colour and used a cloth to rub the paint off in order to get that tarnished metal feel.

The helmets, swords, and shields for the Templar Knights - there were four in total.

They also wore 'chainmail' (large knitted jumpers spray painted silver) and white tabards with the red cross on the front.

Ross's own special helmet!

The "Claymore" - A 5ft Broadsword

I used string wound around the handle for added realism, and gems for decoration. The spray paint on slightly wet glue produced an interesting 'patination' effect.

The Dark knight's helmets and Shields - there were four in total. They also wore dark cloaks.

We realised at the very last minute that we needed a crown - I didn't have time to make a real looking one so I made a fairy-tale one - It was only seen from quite far away anyway.

A small dagger made for one of the characters:

A piece of armour made for the character of the 'Golden Angel' - the costume also included gold shin pads, gold arm pads, and a gold jewelled leather-effect 'skirt' made from pointed strips of foam-board bent to make them more flexible and stapled to a fabric belt.

My costume for the EP - made even more at the last minute than the crown (literally about 5 minutes before we started!) It consisted of a large beige sheet with a hole in the middle for my head, a piece of white sheet made tatty with scissors and dragged through mud and dust, a piece of white sheet for the bandage around my eyes, a stick with some rags tied to it, and lots of white and black face paint.

Theatre Work - Relative Values

Noel Coward's Relative Values

TTC - Hampton Hill Playhouse

July 2009

The set in this play consisted of a library in a large house and the design was naturalistic. I was asked to help create the bookcases by painting up ready-made vacuum formed shelves of books (just the bookends really!) to look like real books so that they could be put into a framework for the bookshelves which lined the room.

As there were a lot of bookshelves to do and limited time, I worked light over dark using the dry-brushing technique which is both effective and efficient for time. I then used a small brush with metallic enamels and paints to bring out some of the details such as titles and bands on the spines.

I had fun adding little details that no-one in the audience would notice...

"The Bumper Book of Fun by C.M. Atkinson Vol's XXIV-XXVIII"

"A History of Madness by R.U. Nutts"

"Painting by C. Atkinson" (really just the equivalent of a cheeky signature here!)

Anyway here are some pictures of the final bookshelves in their entirety - Alan Corbett - the guy who built the framework - cleverly made them so that they fold up with the books on the inside, as the theatre were so impressed with them that they wanted to keep them for future productions and/or to hire them out to other theatre groups! The Bookshelves were used again in the TTC production of James McDonald's Something's Afoot, February 2010.

The bookshelf wall also included a secret door which was to be an entrance or exit in one of the scenes.

Sisters of the Deep

An old poem and picture I found that I wrote/painted ages ago:


Sisters Of The Deep

Cold as ice we are,
But you can warm our hearts.
Listen to our song,
Whilst Eros draws his darts.
Bathe in our green waters,
Kiss our ruby lips,
Worry not about the ghosts,
That haunt forgotten ships.
And when the night is over,
The sun will make his dawn.
Go down to join the sleeping ones,
Once more to be reborn.

Digital Painting

Since I got my first Graphics Tablet about a year and a half ago, I've done a lot more digital paintings than 'real' ones - I don't feel guilty though as it's lots of fun, they look great, and they have the advantage of being able to be lazy and leave them fore ages without all the colours you've mixed going dry! Here are a few examples of what I've been up to:

"Susan Sto Helit" - a character from Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series.

"Magrat Garlick" - another character from Pratchett's Discworld.

"Santa and God" - a christmas card born from a conversation between my housemate and myself - how amusing would it be if Santa and God were flatmates?


"Edmund Meets the Queen" - a scene from the beginning of The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis.

"The Sword and the Mirror" - Cover design for my Dad's novel available online here