The Brussels United Theatre Technician Awards were organised by Martin Kirk to celebrate the 2008-2009 season of amateur English-language theatre in Brussels.
Continue readingSeasons
buttie 08-09 nominees
And the nominees are …
With voting over and the final tally of all your votes completed (with no hanging chads I promise) here the shortlisted nominees for all twenty of the 2008-2009 BUTT awards in alphabetic order of award and then nominee. One of these in each category will receive a shiny Buttie on Saturday! See you there!
Actor – nominees (alphabetical order)
BALDWIN, John [Gerry, Michael’s father, Dancing at Lughnasa; Sidney Hopcraft, Absurd Person Singular]FOXTON, Richard [Sir Jabez Grinley, Diana of Dobsons; Scrooge, Christmas Carol; Ronald Brewster-Wright, Absurd Person Singular; Henry Gow, Fumed Oak – 100 Not Out] KHALLI, Mehran [Othello, A Christian Moor & General of the Armies, Othello] SPITERI, Marc [Hockstader, The Best Man] STEPHENSON, Patrick [Russell, The Best Man; Fred, Riverside Drive]
Actress – nominees (alphabetical order)
BARRY, Hilary [Diana Massingberd, Diana of Dobsons; Marion Brewster-Wright, Absurd Person Singular; Irene, The Dresser – 100 Not Out] ELLWANGER, Carrie [Mabel Cantwell, The Best Man; Various, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged] ENGLAND, Ruth [Various, Oscar and the Pink Lady] FORSYTH, Alma [Miss Pringle, Diana of Dobsons; Alice, An Evening Shared with Friends; Eva Jackson, Absurd Person Singular]
Alan Kenway Perserverance award – nominees (alphabetical order)
Barbara BLACKWELL Sue BOTTERELL Paul & Di GRAY Jim McKENNA
Audience Prize – – nominees (alphabetical order)
An Evening Shared with Friends – three dotty aunts Dancing at Lughnasa – Dancing on table Complete Works – Nick Plummer spitting Othello – Desdemona death scene
Best Show – nominees (alphabetical order)
Absurd Person Singular (ECC)Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged (ATC)Dancing at Lughnasa (ITG)Diana of Dobsons (ECC)The Best Man (ATC)
Costumes – nominees (alphabetical order of show)
Dancing at Lughnasa [Pat White]Diana of Dobsons [Iona Hamilton] Fiddler on the Roof [Barbara Campbell, Shelia Hewitt, Louise Lang, Sophie Mersch]Love’s Labour’s Lost [Shelia Hewitt, Deborah Griffith, Catriona White] The Best Man [Iona Hamilton]
Director – nominees (alphabetical order)
Challens, Steve [Compleat Works, Delyria]Morton-Hooper-Deeks, Diana [Absurd Person Singular]Toft, Conrad [Diana of Dobsons, 84 Charing Cross Road – 100 Not Out]Ryan, Tracie [Othello]
Front of House / Box Office – nominees (alphabetical order of show)
Christmas Carol (Sally Gillard & team)Dancing at Lughnasa (Catriona O’Neil)FEATS 2009 (Carrie Caunce, Miram Cooper & team)Othello (Janet Middleton)
Golden BUTT (for anything) – nominees (alphabetical order)
Sue Botterell – for putting up with us all Steve Challens – for unflagging energy FEATS 2009 organising team – for a fabulous FEATS Conrad Toft – for doing every job on or off stage
Lighting– nominees (alphabetical order of show)
Dancing at Lughnasa [Carsten Koester]Fiddler on the Roof [Jim McKenna, Richard Maddern] Riverside Drive [Lyn Wainwright] The Best Man [Barbara Daw, Jim McKenna]
Make up and Hair – nominees (alphabetical order of show)
Diana of Dobsons [Suzy Wild, Agnes Andrews]Fiddler on the Roof [Marion Bennett, Sarah Foley, Marjolein Gabel, Diane Gray, Paul Gray, Amanda Hicks, Solveig Jaspert, Maria Scott, Sara Skaerlund]Othello [Ruth Ivory, Tracie Ryan]The Best Man [Michelle Mildiner, Lisa Troch]
Musical Moment – nominees (alphabetical order – new award this season)
Absurd Person Singular – Crazed dancing at endCompleat Works – Moon songDelyria – Enchanted forestFiddler on the Roof – the fiddler on the roof
Newcomer award – nominees (alphabetical order)
Hilary BARRY Kevin BULLED Robin JEZAK Mehran KHALLI
Producer – nominees (alphabetical order)
CAUNCE, Carrie [Othello] LYDON, Kerry [The Best Man] MIDDLETON, Janet [Will and the Ghosts]SUTTON, Eileen [Dancing at Lughnasa]
Props– nominees (alphabetical order of show)
Absurd Person Singular [Eileen Sutton] Dancing at Lughnasa [Hilary Barry] Love’s Labour’s Lost [Andrea Theinert, Sherry Vosburgh] The Best Man [Rachel Holmes, Heidi Larsen]
Publicity Design– nominees (alphabetical order of show)
Absurd Person Singular [John Baldwin, Diana M-H Deeks, Harriet Mancy-Barratt, Conrad Toft] Compleat Works of Shakespeare [Conrad Toft]Diana of Dobsons [Conrad Toft]The Best Man [Freddy Colson, Lilian Eilers,]
Set design and/or construction – nominees (alphabetical order of show)
Absurd Person Singular [Philip Deeks, Marie Horner]Christmas Carol [Kevin Bulled, Steve Challens, Philip Deeks, Paul Gray, Christine Marchand, Conrad Toft]Diana of Dobsons [Roger Axford, Philip Deeks, Sacha Medak-Versavel, Conrad Toft]The Best Man [Ron Aston, Lucy Beaumont, Sue Botterell, Jackie Godfrey, Simeon Holdship, Christine Marchand, Pat Robinson, Joe Tancredi, Andrea Theinert, Glenn Vaughan]
Sound – nominees (alphabetical order of show)
Absurd Person Singular [Malcolm Hiseman] Christmas Carol [Anna Sparre] Compleat Works of William Shakespeare [Kevin Bulled & Malcolm Hiseman] Dancing at Lughnasa [Carsten Koester]Delyria [Steve Challens] Fiddler on the Roof [Richard Maddern]The Best Man [Hywell Jones]
Stage Management – nominees (alphabetical order)
Botterell, Sue [Diana of Dobsons, Absurd Person Singular & Loves Labours Lost (ASM)]Hiseman, Malcolm [The Best Man, Othello (Joint SM)] Ing, Andy [Compleat Works Shakespeare, FEATS 09]Kirk, Martin [Diana of Dobsons (ASM), Othello (Joint SM)]
Teamwork – nominees (alphabetical order)
Absurd Person SingularDelyriaDiana of DobsonsFEATS 2009 teamOthelloThe Best Man
ECC: Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me (22-26 Sept. ’09)
There’s an Englishman, an Irishman and an American being held hostage in the Lebanon… Not the start of a joke, but the premise behind Frank McGuinness’s modern classic.
Colum Hatchell, Patrick Stephenson and Craig Simpson star in this dark, surprisingly funny and thought-provoking play which describes the trials, tribulations and inner strengths of the hostages, exposing their uneasy friendship and petty rivalries, and revealing to us the depths of the human condition.
The show is on at The Warehouse Studio Theatre from 22 to 26 September 2009 and will then be reprised in Bedford, UK from 2-3 October 2009.
ETCetera: Fin de Siècle (29 Sep – 3 Oct 2009)
ETCetera Fin de SiècleStudio
29 Sept-3 Oct 2009 at 20.00
ETCetera presents a multilingual evening of 3 European one-act comedies, from around 1900: The Bear by Chekhov (in English), Mañana de Sol by Alvarez Quintero (in Spanish) and L’Anglais tel qu’on le parle by Tristan Bernard (in French ). All 3 plays will have surtitles in the other 2 languages; fittingly, all humorously explore issues of communication.
Tickets: www.europeantheatreclub.eu or 0492 641 660
ATC: The Yellow Wallpaper (20-24 Oct 2009)
ATC The Yellow Wallpaper
Studio 20–24 October 2009 at 8pm
A classic American short story from the late 19th century, The Yellow Wallpaper provides “the detailed and chilling accounts of one woman’s entrapment, defeat, and movement toward madness [or otherness]….” This newly adapted stage version takes inspiration from the story’s diary entry format, rich post-Gothic vernacular, and the many issues resonating through the tale that continue today to form and challenge notions of self and society.
ECC/Swan: My Mother Never Said I Should (30-31 Oct ’09)
ECC & Bedford Swan Theatre Company present
Studio 30—31 October 2009 at 20.00
The ECC is delighted to host Bedford on their 5th visit to Brussels. Swan will be performing My Mother Said I Never Should, Charlotte Keatley’s critically acclaimed play exploring the lives and relationships of four generations of women – Doris, Margaret, Jackie and Rosie – and how different generations strive to break free from the traditions and culture of their parents.
BSS: Julius Caesar (9-14 Nov ’09)
BSS Julius Caesar
Studio 9-14 November 2009 at 8pm
Shakespeare’s savage exposé of the effect of power upon its seekers has only been performed once in Brussels in the last 30 years. This all-female production will not pontificate on gender politics: it will try to create a a slanted look at a great and quotable play. The cast has many fine actresses, so come along, do!
arcFAM: Castle (17-20 Nov ’09)
Château – Vár – Castle Theatre Productions presents a multilingual evening of Hungarian plays.
Performed in English, French and Hungarian with subtitles in each.
Performed in English, French and Hungarian with subtitles in each.
The Play is the Thing by Ferenc Molnár
Adapted by P.G. Wodehouse
Adapted by P.G. Wodehouse
Directed by Conrad Toft
A romantic farce without the usual door-slamming and comic entrances and exits.
Instead, the play combines beautifully formed characters with an exquisite text to provide a wonderful evening’s entertainment.
Instead, the play combines beautifully formed characters with an exquisite text to provide a wonderful evening’s entertainment.
Heads for King Ferdinand
by Gábor Görgey
by Gábor Görgey
Directed by Bernard Antoine
An absurd economic comedy. Whether it is the philosophy or the mischief that fascinates you, this unusual play will charm you.
Performance Dates: 17-20 November 2010 at 19:30, 20 November 2010 at 13:30
Performance Dates: 17-20 November 2010 at 19:30, 20 November 2010 at 13:30
Venue: Espace Senghor, 366, Chaussée de Wavre, (Place Jourdan), 1040 Etterbeek
‘ITG: Four Beckett Plays (24-28 Nov ’09)
ECC: The Cherry Orchard (8-12 Dec ’09)
Petit Theatre Mercelis
8-12 Dec 2009 at 8pm, 12 Dec 2009 at 3pm
Lyuba Ranevskaya returns after 5 years in Paris to her family estate in the Russian countryside, where financial straits are leading inexorably to the sale of its famous cherry orchard. Chekhov’s last play, comic, ironic and melancholic by turns, presents a group of characters struggling in different ways to rise to the challenges of changing times. Despite its Russian setting, this play may have something to say to us all.
ATC: Oscar and the Lady in Pink (19-30 Jan 2010)
Oscar and the Lady in Pink
The Warehouse Studio Theatre, Rue Waelhem 69A, 1030 Brussels
19-23 & 26-30 Jan 2010 at 8pm
This poignant and funny story follows the friendship between Oscar, a 10-year old leukemia patient who lives in a hospital, and “Pink Lady” Granny Rose, former lady wrestler and hospital volunteer. The course of their friendship, including Granny Rose’s wrestling reminiscences and her advice to Oscar about his relations with hospital friends, forms the substance of Oscar and the Lady in Pink. Originally a short novel by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, prolific French author and playwright, the text was transformed into a long monologue for the theatre several years ago, and is currently being made into a film.
Following the BATS production in Antwerp last March, by popular request the ATC now brings Oscar to Brussels, directed by Malinda Coleman and performed as a monologue, a veritable tour-de-force, by Ruth England.
BSS: A Chaste Maid in Cheapside (9-13 Feb ’10)
A Chaste Maid in Cheapside
by Thomas Middleton
directed by Jonathon Sawdon
9-13 February 2010 at 8pm
9-13 February 2010 at 8pm
Directed by Jonathon Sawdon, best known for his performances for the BSS as Hamlet and Henry V. Jonathon writes that this play is about:
“Corruption, money, sex! Deception, greed, gluttony, money, sex! Cruelty, infidelity, betrayal, money, sex! Pepentance, marnage, money and er…sex!
A Chaste Maid In Cheapside, containing “much humour though very little chastity” is Thomas Middleton’s darkly comic masterpiece. Written c. 1613, though long neglected until the 2Oth century, this Jacobean satire audaciously intertwines ribaldry and profanity to leave you laughing and squirming in equal measure.”
Join the BSS for a night of “bed and bawd”!
ECC: Three Tall Women (9-13 March ’10)
An elderly woman surprises her carer and a young visitor with a revelation from her past – but it is when she falls into a coma that so much more is revealed.
This dark comedy is about any(wo)man: who we are, why we are, how we are. It looks at life with a 360-degree view. It is about living life and the inevitability of death.
Warning: This play contains explicit sexual references
This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Josef Weinberger Ltd.
Tickets are €14 (€12 for 9-13members; groups of 10 or more on Tuesday to Thursday).
Some thoughts from the Director:
How to begin explaining why Three Tall Women is so good?
Well, to summarise: Albee’s words are wonderfully written, humorous, emotive and wise. His sense of humour dark and dry. And the simple but clever device that is Act 2 gives the audience a whole new view of the first act.
In 1994 Three Tall Women won Edward Albee his third Pulitzer Prize for Drama, some years after he had been written off as creatively ‘dried up’: it was quite a come-back!
His “characters” are self-absorbed and on the whole unlovable, and several reviewers have written “If you stick around for Act 2 …” They have a point!
Three women, one of them slightly demented, squabbling with each other over unpaid bills, grammar, diction, the day of the week and incontinence. An old lady reminiscing about horses and the unhappiness of her sex life. Where on earth is this play going? It is going towards the inevitable, and on the way it will address many of life’s issues.
If you already know this play you will smile at my reticence to say more, and will I hope be amongst the first to book your seats to see this wonderful piece brought to life by the excellent cast of Lyn Wainwright, Rachel Cuff and Charlotte Owen.
If you don’t know the play, you can of course read a summary on Wikipedia – but I would urge you not to: I hope that your first experience of Three Tall Women will be as breathtaking as mine was, that you will enjoy the questioning and the examining, and that you will leave the theatre reflecting on the life issues Albee raises.
ATC: Cafe Theatre (15-17 April 2010)
Jules Feiffer is an American cartoonist who has also written a great number of plays, screenplays, novels and children‟s books. He has won many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize.
Hold Me! was first published in New York in 1977. This sketch play, based on his comic strip with the same title, is about the confusions, identity crises and relationship issues of people who live in modern cities. The language is simple, the tone is warm, humorous, witty and at times a little sad. In short, the play is about the essence of life.
ECC: The Red Death (24 April ’10)
The Red Death
The English Comedy Club is proud to present its entry for the 2010 Feats competition at the International School of Brussels on 24 April 2010 at 8pm. Based on the short story “The Red Masquerade” by Edgar Allen Poe this an original adaptation dramatised for stage by the English Comedy Club in Brussels.
This is the only performance in Brussels, the production will then be taken to Bad Homburg, Germany, in May to compete in the Festival of European Anglophone Theatrical Societies, so don’t miss your only chance to see the show if you can’t attend FEATS.
V. Monologues (23-24 April ’10)
The award-winning play, to be performed at the Warehouse Theatre as part of V-Day 2010, is based on V-Day Founder/playwright Eve Ensler’s interviews with more than 200 women. With humor and grace the piece celebrates women’s sexuality and strength. Through this play and the liberation of this one word, countless women throughout the world have taken control of their bodies and their lives. For more than twelve years, it has given voice to experiences and feelings not previously exposed in public.
Welsh Soc: Under Milk Wood (2-5 June 2010)
BSS: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (18-20 June ’10)
BUTT Awards 2009-10
ECC: Savage/Love & The Dumb Waiter (21-25 Sept ’10)
BATS: Don’t Dress For Dinner (9-10 Oct ’10)
“Hurtling along at the speed of light, this breathtaking farce is a near faultless piece of theatrical invention.” – London Guardian
“A nifty comedy about double adultery and gourmet cooking….” London Sunday Times
Bernard is planning a weekend with his mistress. He has hired a gourmet cook, is packing his wife Jacqueline off to her mother’s, and has invited his best friend, Robert, to provide an alibi. It is foolproof. What could possibly go wrong? Suppose Robert doesn’t know why he has been invited? Suppose Robert and Jacqueline are secret lovers? What happens if the cook is mistaken for the mistress and the mistress can’t cook? Mix these ingredients and you have the recipe for an evening of hilarious confusion…where nothing can go right!
STARRING: Peter Martin – Zena Waters – Adrian Veale Inge Hodl – Melanie Willow – Graham Duthie
Tickets: Adult €13 / Student €10
Website: http://www.batsantwerp.be
ATC: All My Sons (12-16 Oct 2010)
The ATC is pleased to announce
its first production for the new season,
a great American classic by Arthur Miller,
All My Sons
October 12 to 16, 2010 at 8pm
Bozar Studio theatre
While Joe Keller made a fortune during World War II, he is facing substantial personal losses. One son, Larry, remains missing and another, Chris, is lost
amongst his own thoughts about money, war and love. Meanwhile Mrs Keller is consumed by the longing for her son Larry’s return and battles to cope with the idea of Chris falling in love with his brother’s girl. This classic Arthur Miller drama from 1947 examines the dissonance between theAmerican Dream and the harsh realities of war and capitalism, a subject which is particularly worth reconsidering in the context of the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The show, directed by Carrie Ellwanger, has an All-Star cast made up of both old and new ATC members.
Joe Keller – Ted Fletcher
Chris Keller – Christopher Flores
Kate Keller – Janet Wishnetsky
Ann Deever – Sarah Watts
George Deever – Daniel Prior
Sue Bayliss – Simone Ellul
Jim Bayliss – Charif Wehbe
Frank Lubey – Henri Colens
Lydia Lubey – Aoife O’Grady
ETC: Absurd, absurd! (12-16 Oct ’10)
Absurd, absurd!
12th-16th October at 20.00.
Studio Theatre, rue Waelhem 69a, 1030 Brussels
ETCetera’s next multilingual production after “Fin de Siècle” in 2009 is an evening of 3 plays dedicated to classic writers of the Absurd movement: unreal and real at the same time, and very funny.
Pic-Nic, by Fernando Arrabal in Spanish, is set in the First World War trenches; Victoria Station, by Harold Pinter in English, is about a London minicab “dispatcher” and his driver; while La Cantatrice Chauve, by Eugène Ionesco in French, is set in the English suburbs in the 1950’s.
Each will have “surtitles” in the other 2 languages.
The plays are directed by 3 of Brussels’ most experienced directors (see over), and include some very established actors such as Eduardo Aladro-Vico, Martin Whitworth, Christine Marchand, and Brian Holland.
