Here's the Programme Note from Presumption in Sheffield last week, plus some brand new production shots by Technical Manager and Photographer Martin Fuller:
It’s not, technically, a
revival. We never took Presumption
out of repertoire. It’s always been available for touring. It’s just that we
haven’t performed it, we realised in rehearsal last week, for six years.
Lucy
says that usually, when you stop doing a show after a long run, it’s like
taking a piece of furniture out of your living room. You miss it at first, but
gradually the indentations in the carpet fade. With Presumption, she says, the indentations have never completely gone.
We made Presumption in early 2006, and presented it for a week here in the
Crucible Studio, performed by Rachael and Chris. The following year, Rachael
redirected the show with Lucy in her role, and the piece went on tour in the
UK, and to the Intercity Festival in Florence, before a week at the Edinburgh
Fringe as part of the British Council Showcase in August 2007. This in turn led
more international bookings, and over the next 18 months Presumption became our most performed show with gigs in Brussels,
Barcelona, Clonmell, Moscow, Yerevan, Mannheim and Lisbon, before returning for
runs in London and Leicester.
A
show grows and matures over a tour like that, so it’s a real pleasure to bring
the show back to Sheffield in the version that toured so extensively.
Since we made Presumption, we’ve all made many other
shows, as Third Angel and outside of it. We’ve been busier than ever with UK
and international touring (most noticeably with What I Heard About the World).
When
we gathered in the Lyceum rehearsal room last week, we just had a go at it.
Chris and Lucy found that a great deal of the show was still in there, in their
heads. A quick re-read of the text and a second run through and we had the
whole thing back surprisingly quickly.
Coming
back to it after all this time, we were surprised how recent, how familiar, it
still feels. We’ve carried on with our lives, of course, and all our family
lives are different to when we made the show, and the world is very different,
in some ways, to when we were touring it. But we’ve resisted the temptation to
‘update’ the show, or rather, the references it makes to the world beyond its
walls. The conversation they’re having remains current.
Finally, this not-revival of Presumption is being staged as one of
the events to mark Third Angel’s 20th Anniversary as a company. That
achievement would not have been possible without the support of many people – especially
you, our Sheffield audience. We are constantly grateful for your interest in
the work, and the conversations we get to have with you about it. Thank you.
Alexander Kelly & Rachael Walton, October 2015
Third Angel presents
PRESUMPTION
Crucible Studio Theatre,
Sheffield
6 - 10 October 2015
Devised & Created by the Company
Lucy Ellinson Performer
Martin Fuller Technical Manager & Relight
James Harrison Lighting Designer
Alexander Kelly Designer / Director / Writer
David Mitchell Composer / Sound Designer
Chris Thorpe Performer / Writer
Rachael Walton Director / Designer / Writer
Hilary Foster General Manager
Liz Johnson Admin & Production Trainee
With Special Thanks to:
Helen Fagelman; Kati Hind, Phil Baines, all of the tech team, and indeed all of the staff, at Sheffield Theatres.
www.thirdangel.co.uk
Twitter: @thirdangeluk
facebook.com/thirdangeluk
Third Angel is a Resident Company at Sheffield Theatres.
Supported using public money from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
