CRASAC FILM DAY November 1st

CALLING ALL CRASAC ACTORS!!!

The next and probably final shoot of the Crasac Video will be on November 1st in Flushing from 9am.

We will need Jen, Rhiannon and Carrie plus Rachel. I'll need to check on the boys' parts but their scene may well be filmed that day too or the following week.

I'll be in touch shortly to finalize this and we'll see about meeting up for a script read through prior to the shoot.

I don't have an exact location yet (Flushing is kinda small though so shouldn't be too hard to find lol) but I have heard rumours of a 9am start! Just giving you advance notice.

A good session!

Just a quick post to thank you for a great session last night. It's been a while since we've had a session where we've got so much done and that is v encouraging.

With regard to the CRASAC dvd, we have a film date of July 28th. I need confirmation ASAP that you can attend wherever the shoot might be (it'll be local, just don't have a precise location yet) on the 28th.

Please phone or comment to let me know. Thanks, Rich

If you think you have the solution...

... to trafffic noise and air pollution! Why not join KYSPA and show Penryn how its done? Who's up for putting on The Motormalgamation for the Penryn Town Fair in August? Answers by email or as a comment please! Hopefully you've not forgotten your lines! Rich.

Sunday Rehearsal

In addition to Brooks, Nicholls & Kapok Kid, Could I have Vallery & Tyndall if you're around please? 3.00pm - 4.30pm. If you can't make it, please call - it's a long walk from Mawnan Smith! ta muchly.

Sunday Rehearsal 13th January

FULL CAST from 3pm - 5pm at St Gluvias Church Hall.

BRING YOUR SCRIPTS PLEASE!!!!

Lets get this show ready! Much work still to do.

Advance Notice!

Emboldened by the evident wealth of acting ability at my disposal, I am tempted to re-visit HMS Ulysses in April or thereabouts.

A challenging play which I didn't quite pull off last time though the acting was fine. I intend to re-work the script, develop a more kinetic style and rehearse more thoroughly this time around.

HMS Ulysses has a core of 10 characters in its present form with 8 additional slightly smaller parts. Multiple roles are possible, combining smaller roles together.

Prior preparation will be critical if you'd like a main part in this play. First, take some time to read the book! Available on Amazon or bookshops, prob even Ebay.

HMS Ulysses by Alistair MacLean

A good additional option, before reading the book, is to watch "The Cruel Sea" a PG rated black and white war film that contains elements directly relevant to the parts you'd be playing. You can borrow this DVD from me (so long as I get it back). This will help make sense of some of the "technical" aspects of the book (ASDIC for example).

Tuesday 18th December

FULL PANTO RUN THROUGH tonight!

PLEASE bring scripts and I need a FULL CAST turnout please!

We will run through the entire play, start to finish as if for a performance. I'll need your patiencce and cooperation AND your concentration!

See you there, 6.30pm. Rich.

Snow White Rehearsals

With the KYSPA camera now back in action, here's a few rehearsal pics!

Jenny Wen, Prince Peasemold & Scott Watt perform "The Establishment Song"

Snow accepts an apple from Queenie; silly girl!

PP would like a kiss but, on the whole, Snow would rather not!

Who is the fairest of them all? Mirror's answer has Queenie fuming, but Mirror has had enough of Queenie. It's going to end in tears!

Tuesday 11th December

6.30 - 7.30 7 Children, Cind, Snow, PP Watt & Wen

7.30pm - 8.30pm Dyllan, Snow, Mirror, PP

Tuesday 4th December

6.30 - 7.30 7 children & Snow White & Cinderella please! (and Sam) Scenes 8, 11, 12, 13

7.30 - 8.30 FULL CAST for scenes 12 & 13.

PLEASE cooperate tonight. Scenes 12 & 13 are going to be the hardest to get right. You're going to have to be patient and stay focussed. Cheers.

Also, could you check with parents if you are available any Sunday Afternoons please? Time is running away with us & we need to step up the rehearsal rate now.

Tuesday 20th November

Split rehearsals tonight please! Dress warmly!

6.30pm - 8.30pm Queenie, Snow, Mirror, Dyllan, Watt, Wen, Peasemold (Sam & Estelle too please)

7.30pm - 8.30pm OMF, 7 Children, Cinderella & Princesses

Any new people will have to read in/take standby parts and help manage props etc.

Hopefully I'll have got photocopies of the script by tonight. Queenie now has two henchpeople of her own (Sam & Estelle) called Craven & Ghoul! They're VERY nasty, evil witch type characters who put nasty ideas into Queenie's head!

I have beefed up the Princesses parts a bit too. See you all tonight

Successful Auditions

Thank you to everyone who auditioned successfully last night. I will do some script editing this week to increase the size of some of your parts in line with the very high standard of acting displayed by everyone.

From here on in, KYSPA sessions will be split into two rehearsal segments of an hour each. We will rehearse scenes in chunks (eg. 7 children scenes, Snow & Dyllan Scenes, Mirror and Queenie etc.)

I need to stress again that just because you are not actually on stage at a given point during the session does not mean that you can misbehave. If not acting you need to be quietly reading through lines or, better still, watching your fellow performers and offering feedback.

KYSPA is about aquiring skills and confidence. A key aspect of this is learning to sit back and watch other performers. See from the audience's perspective what works and what does not. It's not just about acting; you have the opportunity to develop your directing and feedback skills. These in turn help you improve your own performance.

Sitting and watching others is not boring and it is not a waste of time. For one thing, there is always something to learn from watching other people act. everyone's style is different, each character interpretation offers something new.

Secondly, you can contribute to making this show as professional as possible. Panto may be fun, but good comedy is the most demanding type of drama, requiring good timing and intuitive interaction between characters. If you can perform good comedy, you can perform just about anything. This can only be achieved if we work together and pick up on good things (to keep in our performances) and identify things to put right.

I need everyone to pull together now. We have a strong cast. Don't let yourselves down by missing a great opportunity! I want my group back on track, with a clear focus on establishing ourselves as credible performers.

PS. PLEASE do not meddle with the Imac's settings! Our incredibly expensive PC is not a toy, but an editing tool. Respect it or you'll be staying home on Tuesday nights.

Tuesday 29th October

NO KYSPA tonight (in case you forgot) due to the school holidays. Adverts have been placed in the local press for Snow White auditions to be held over the first two weeks of the next half term.

We need to get stuck right in with serious rehearsals straight away. Christmas is-a-coming!

Plans for a show move ahead

Since we were unable to perform The Motormalgamation at the Penryn Town Fair, we have decided to incorporate it into a show for young families. In addition to The Motormalgamation, we will perform a version of The Lay of Thrym and a couple of other short drama and dance pieces.

We've started on the props for Motormalgamation and it seems that we can add painting to the artistic talents of our members!

For The Lay of Thrym, Thor's magic hammer needed creating & Sam volunteered for the job!

We're beyond just prop making though! The three MM narrators and "Carl" read through the script together in a first rehearsal.

This week, the first cast members for The Lay of Thrym read through an initial draft of the script. This will be reworked (the original dates from 1991 when I was still studying "A" Levels) and lengthened for next week.

From the left, "Loki", "Thor" and "Freja" with "Thrym" and his servant.

Unfortunately for Thrym, Freja is not the least bit interested in marriage!

Tuesday 28th August

Hi, KYSPA is ON tonight, more painting of cars etc, so please wear clothes that wash easily! Our paints don't stain if washed fairly quickly.

The Motormalgamation by itself isn't long enough to warrent an evening performance. We will therefore add a few more short performances over the next few weeks with a view to putting on a "family" show. We need to stage a performance ahead of Snow White that will actually generate revenue. We need the money, folks!

The Trial of Miss Gunn & Mr Factory

On the evening of the 26th March, KYSPA staged a piece of improvised courtroom drama at Penryn Town Hall. The criminal case centered around former war hero Miss Cordelia Gunn VC, a war hero from a fictional "five year war". During the war, Miss Gunn performed outstanding acts of leadership and bravery. After the war, however, she was honourably discharged from the commandos still being owed quite a bit of money. The loss of all her close family and friends, no money and post traumatic stress led her to a life of homelessness and alcohol dependence.

On the first anniversary of the war's end, despite having made advances with her alcoholism and mental health, Miss Gunn again turned to drink. She stole a car and crashed it at speed on the wrong side of the M5 hitting a minibus full of orphan children on their day out (no-one was seriously hurt).

By chance, the driver of that bus was Mr Factory. The industrial mogul whose factories had supplied the armed forces with all their needs during the war - making him a multi billionaire in the process. What the public had never been told, until now, was that Mr Factory's products were of scandalously poor quality and faulty guns and equipment resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of our forces.

Miss Gunn secured the services of a leading MOD lawyer for the case. Rather than pleaing guilty to the charge of "Driving in a manner likely to endanger life" Miss Gunn enters an "Not Guilty" plea. Her defence is that her post traumatic stress was to blame for her actions and that the cause of her illness is none other than Mr Factory himself whose charitable works with orphan children since the war's end cannot absolve him of blame for his actions during the war.

The performance was organised into two "teams" essentially defence (Miss Gunn, Lawyer & witnesses) and prosecution (Mr Factory, Lawyer & Witnesses). Each team prepared questions and statements but didn't meet until the night of the trial. Neither side knew for sure what line of questioning the other side would take. They had just three weeks (approx four hours in total) to prepare for the performance.

To add spice to the occasion, we invited a guest jury with no prior knowledge of the case to listen to arguments and present a verdict at the close of the evening.

The KYSPA actors put on an excellent performance with plenty of atmosphere. When the Jury retired the audience were kept in suspense as they seemed to have trouble reaching a verdict. Eventually, howwever, they filed in and, one at a time, announced unanimously that they felt Miss Gunn was GUILTY. Many jurors took the unusual step of appealing directly to the Judge for a lenient sentence on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The sense of victory for the prosecution team was short-lived. The Judge passed a setence of 150 hours community service and directed the police to investigate Mr Factory for corporate negligence/manslaughter! So, despite failing to prevent a guilty verdict, the defence team succeeded in putting right an injustice whilst the prosecution successfully prevented the defence from moving all of the blame away from Miss Gunn.

Pictures Blelow: Miss Gunn & her lawyer, The Defence team on the night, Mr Factory & his lawyer & the prosecution team on the night.