| Cumbernauld Youth Theatre | home |
 |
| Archive
|
||
|
||
THE CRISP POKE EFFECT
October 1996
Bosses at a Lenziemill firm are
help to save Cumbernauld from ecological disaster.
Brian Miller, writer of Cumbernauld Theatre’s futuristic community play
“The Crisp Poke Effect”, said: “AssidDoman is such a forward thinking
company their products are going to be used to make a time machine!”
The packaging firm has supplied cardboard which will be transformed by local
schools into a time machine and a chaos analyser, both vital to the plot of the play.
Pupils’ handiwork will be unveiled when the show, involving community and drama groups from all over the area, opens at Cumbernauld Theatre on in October. “The Crisp Poke Effect” runs until October 19
COMMUNITY PLAY CREATES A FUTURE
CUMBERNAULD
A futuristic adventure story, set
in a possible Cumbernauld of tomorrow, is the theme for the latest in a highly successful
line of community plays to be staged at Cumbernauld Theatre.
THE CRISP POKE EFFECT by Brain J.
Miller, which opens at the Theatre on Wednesday 16 October for a four-night run,
involves a cast of over a hundred, ranging in age from primary school kinds to pensioners.
In THE CRISP POKE EFFECT,
the dropping of an empty crisp poke is the trigger for a storm of environmental pollution
that irretrievably alters the world. Global warming results in the flooding of the A80 and
the development of warring gangs based in the high rise towers which are now the only
things visible above a sea of black, polluted water. People’s lifestyles are dictated
by the two big supermarket chains, who demand absolute loyalty from their customers.
Companion robots in each household take the place of human friendship and society.
Disaster looms and only Benny the engineer can save the world, with his amazing Time
Machine, constructed from the things people throw away.
Evelyn Wallace, of Cumbernauld
Theatre’s Community Drama Department, who, along with author Brian Miller, is
directing the show, says:
“The whole play is
biodegradable! Costumes and set are made from throwaway items and things we’ve
recycled – card, paper and the contents of people’s litter bins. Pupils in nine
local schools, helped by the generosity of Cumbernauld based packaging company Assi Doman,
are in the process of making Benny’s Amazing Time Machine.”
The cast is drawn mainly from
Cumbernauld’s thriving amateur companies; including the Theatre’s own Youth
Theatre Groups. Also involved are the One In a Hundred Theatre Group, composed of people
from the town’s Adult Training Centres, who first appeared on stage in the 1995
Community Play Neebours.
This is BRIAN J. MILLER’s
second Community Play for Cumbernauld Theatre. His first was Gryme Eagle in 1990,
which too a look back into Cumbernauld’s past at the time of the Romans. Brian has
been writing play s and short stories for many years. Several of his plays have been
broadcast on radio and he was runner up to Alan Spence a few years ago in Scotland On
Sunday’s Macallan Short Story Competition.
THE CRISP POKE EFFECT can be seen at Cumbernauld Theatre from Wednesday 16 – Saturday 19 October at 7.45pm each evening.
1 | 2 | 3 | Top
A Cast of over 100 take the wraps
off an epic possible future tonight (Wednesday).
Cumbernauld Theatre’s futuristic community play “The Crisp Poke
Effect” runs until Saturday.
The show’s four-night run is the culmination of months of hard work and
careful planning which has united large section of the community.
Schools, businesses, special needs groups and drama groups have all joined forces
to make the sci-fi spectacular a show to remember.
Written by new town playwright Brian Miller “The Crisp Poke Effect” mixes
robots, DNA, theft, time travel and chaos theory into its environmentally friendly plot.
In Brian’s vision of the future, the world has been transformed by ecological
disasters – and Cumbernauld turned into an island by floodwater from the melted polar
ice caps.
A band of adventures searching for a solution to these disasters discovers the only
hope may lie in their past - and our present…
The show gives Brian, who wrote the 1987’s community play “Gryme
Eagle” which was set in Cumbernauld during the time of the Roman occupation, a chance
to set his sights a little further forward.
He said: “The strange thing is that, all the way through the writing of the
play and on into production, things I had written about kept happening in real life.
“Every few days you would pick up the papers and read about new kinds of
robots, new research into DNA or new ecological problems. Now we have the volcano and
melting glaciers in Iceland. It’s been a struggle to keep it a step ahead of
reality.”
Ambitious ideas
Brian and co-director Evelyn Wallace, Cumbernauld Theatre’s community drama
worker have worked closely to bring “The Crisp Poke Effect” to life, overseeing
every aspect of the show’s production, from casting and rehearsals to designing and
building the main props.
Having come up with a host of ambitious ideas, including a tornado of litter, a
stranded whale and high-tech machinery like a chaos analyser and a time machine, the next
challenge was to realise them on stage.
New town firms like Assi Doman Packaging, Asda and Pearce Signs gave invaluable
aid, and the town’s primary school were given the key role of designing panels for
the chaos analyser and time machine, as well as creating artwork.
Each school came up with six panels full of dials, digits and readouts which were
the put together by Brain and Evelyn to create the finished gadgets.
The response from the community has delighted both directors.
Brian said: “I was amazed particularly since Evelyn is now the Theatre’s
only community drama worker.
“When I did ‘Gryme Eagle’ there was a full team of six drama
workers. Working on her own, Evelyn has managed to reach so many sections of the
community.”
“The Crisp Poke Effect” features performers from Cumbernauld Junior Youth
Theatre, Cumbernauld Youth Theatre and No Mean Company, as well as newcomers to the stage
and members of the “One in a Hundred” drama group for adults with special needs.
Evelyn said: “One of the big pleasures for me has been bringing all these
groups together. I’ve worked with them all separately, so it’s been great to see
how they all interact.”
Interaction has been the name of the game for the actors playing the show’s
main character, Benny, Max and Nita. Since all three have to age through the play, each
character is played by three different actors at different stages. Paul McWard, Craig
Gallacher and David Jenkins Play Benny; Crain Hutton, David McKay and Owen Costello play
Max; and Naomi Traynor, Jennifer Fox and Liz Ingram play Nita.
“We’ve asked the people playing these characters to watch each other in
rehearsals,” said Evelyn. “The lovely thing is that the two young Benny’s
have become pals. During breaks you’ll see tem sitting together with their spanners,
talking away.”
Simon’s salute to great effort
For
Simon Sharkey, Cumbernauld Theatre’s artistic director, “The Crisp Poke
Effect” is a demonstration of everything the theatre stands for.
He said:
“It’s a new piece of writing from a Cumbernauld writer. It’s about
Cumbernauld and it involves the community of the town. It is a real community event.
“The
commitment that everyone has put in has been absolutely tremendous. The faith that has
been placed in Brian and Evelyn has paid off ten times more that I expected.”
He added: “The number of people that this single project has touch is phenomenal. In terms of the enthusiasm and dedication it’s already a huge success – and the icing on ht e cake is that they will also create a great show. I can’t wait to see it.
Cumbernauld News October 23 1996 –
“Crisp and entertaining poke at the future today” 1 | 2 | 3 | Top
The Crisp Poke Effect, Cumbernauld
Theatre’s community play, was packed with good points it might be easier to
begin by dealing with the show’s bad points.
Like:
Maybe last week’s four-night run at the theatre wasn’t enough for a show so
jam-packed with funny lines, inventive ideas and great performances, writes Paul Carnahan.
Or:
Maybe there was a money-making scan behind the decision to fill the futuristic show so
full of good stuff the only way to take it all in would be to see it twice – or more.
Whatever,
The Crisp Poke Effect, written by Brian Miller and directed by Miller and Evelyn Wallace,
was a sparkling sci-fi success.
Beginning
in present-day Cumbernauld, the show followed the town’s path into the not-so-distant
future, a future of ecological catastrophes, ever-expanding world-controlling
conglomerates, genetic robberies, biblical flood and robotic companies.
Heavy?
No. This is a cunning mix of big laughs, high drama and green awareness in fast-moving
entertainment keeping its cast of 100 busy.
Stating
that “science fiction doesn’t tell you about the future – it distils
what’s happening in the present”, it made pertinent and funny points about
Cumbernauld, big business, pollution and modern life on the way to a sudden, but
satisfying conclusion.
With
such a wide canvas to cover, characterisation was, of necessity, minimal. It’s to the
credit of the large cast that so many of them made strong impressions in the briefest of
appearances.
Ross
Gunn and Cheryl Miller were appropriately insincere as slick TV presents Nash and Delena,
while Gerry Campbell, Dorothy Roberts and Katrina Gallacher impressed in their recurring
roles as a trio of shoppers.
Peter
Capaldi and Mary McMillan were a scream as Gerry and Myra, and Charlie Friell made an
engaging appearance as a mysterious rag and bone man.
Liz
Ingram play Nita, one of the play’s few featured characters, with understated
strength. Playing Nita at earlier ages were Naomi Traynor and Jennifer Fox. David Jenkins,
one of Cumbernauld Youth Theatre’s finest performers, was on top form as Benny (also
played by Paul MacWard and Craig Gallacher).
Top-rated
villainy was provided by Owen Costello (plus Craig Hutton and David McKay as earlier
versions) as scientist Max and hench person Domino (Karen Gunn with nasty Germanic
accent). One of the show’s chief delights was the appearance of members of the One In
A Hundred theatre group, playing supermarket staff.
Among
the many other joys were a phalanx of boiler suited robots singing rock ‘n’
roll, the tail and hump of a trapped whale swimming across the stage, Alison Cowan’s
dazzling choreography and the energy of the dancers, Rangers and Celtic (and Oasis songs!)
being take over by conglomerates, a gang of children singing “Kingston Bridge is
falling down” and more, much, much, more.
The
Crisp Poke Effect was community theatre as its best: imaginative, engaging, thought
provoking and entertaining. In the future, all plays will be this much fun.
