Thrasher
Special Offer: Z-arts, Hulme – Saturday 20th April 2013
Get two full price tickets for £14 (normal price £8 each) when you quote THUNDERBOLT.
Get two concessionaire tickets for £8 (normal price £5 each) when you quote LIGHTNING.
Offer available in person at box office or by calling 0161 226 1912.
NEW SHOW ADDED – Z-arts, Manchester 20th April 2013
Thrasher – Reviews and Pictures
‘completely compelling …a slick, interesting and very entertaining piece of theatre’ -
The Public Reviews
‘a clever, comic and touching drama’ – Manchester Evening News
Thrasher Rehearsal Pictures by Tracey Gibbs: http://tinyurl.com/69rgq2h
Tracey Gibbs website: http://www.traceygibbs.co.uk
Eflyer design by Ric Gibbs: http://ricgibbs.com/
Thrasher 4.5 Stars in THE PUBLIC REVIEWS
Following the success of Burnt, which debuted at the Contact last year, Conor McKee returns to Manchester with his new play, Thrasher. A complete sell-out at the Royal Exchange Studio, hopes are clearly high. Thrasher revolves around the lives of six very different people one night in Manchester. We have Lee and Jenny, whose relationship is on its last legs, as Lee scavenges around to save it and scrape himself out of debt. There’s typical lad Colin, his horrible manipulative, venomous girlfriend Vic, and her “best friend” God-bothering Chloe, who Colin seems to have a less-than-innocent interest in. And finally there’s Frank, a lonely middle-aged man, who is a little bit of a mystery.
It’s a wonderful ensemble cast, with great performances. The chemistry between all the actors is fantastic. Former Hollyoaks actor Darren John Langford injects real humour into the role of Colin; his scene with Vic in the call centre has some brilliant, scathing lines. The desperation displayed by Ryan Greaves’ Lee is entirely believable, and despite the character being a self-confesssed “scumbag”, the audience can’t help but warm to him. But the real star of this show is Cathy Shiel, who embodies pure evil is the horribly unlikable Vic. Vic’s vitriol infects nearly every character, and she has absolutely no sense of remorse; it is only as the play progresses that we learn how far this awful woman is prepared to go to get what she wants. Cathy Shiel’s delivery and movement is so carefully crafted and considered; she makes Vic repulsive but completely compelling.
The minimalist set reflects the fast moving nature of the script, and the cast make great use of vast stage space of The Studio. The play itself has some great dialogue, and some really revealing monologues… a slick, interesting and very entertaining piece of theatre.
Runs until 1st October. Playing in Camden People’s Theatre, London, 7th – 8th October.
Thrasher – Extra Show and Sharing of Attachment Scheme – Sat 1st Oct
Thrasher has sold out its initial allocation of tickets at The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. An additional show has been added on Saturday 1st October at 4pm. Tickets are on sale now.
The matinee will be followed by a sharing of the results of the company’s attachment scheme. The sharing is FREE to all ticketholders for Thrasher and £3.50 otherwise.
Attachment Scheme
Local writers Adam Lowe and Joanne Sherryden are currently writing ten minute plays in response to a rehearsal of Thrasher. These will be workshopped by director Wyllie Longmore and writer Conor McKee along with directors on attachment Ekua Bayuna and Mairi MacFarlane.
Ekua and Mairi have watched and participated in the rehearsals of Thrasher and received one on one mentorship from director Wyllie Longmore as part of the scheme. The writers will have mentorship from Conor as they write their plays. Once the plays are ready, they will be workshopped by the group, using the company’s method of actor driven script enquiry.
The results will be shared with the public on Saturday 1st October at 6pm in The Studio, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.
The sharing will be accompanied by a Q&A with cast, writers, directors plus Wyllie and Conor. A chance for theatregoers and professionals to get an understanding of how the company’s process works and how they may use it for themselves.
Click ‘About’ for more information on the writer, the director’s website is www.wyllielongmore.co.uk
Thrasher – Royal Exchange Theatre & Camden People’s Theatre
Thrasher – New Tour for 2011
Following the successful tour of Burnt in 2010 our company’s new play, Thrasher, is being performed at the Royal Exchange Studio, Manchester in September 2011.
Thrasher was written by Conor McKee and director Wyllie Longmore will once again be at the helm.
Follow us on twitter: @conorthemckee - for behind the scenes info and production diary
PLUS look out for our weblaunch next week - video and audio clips – new look website – news, reviews & feedback - and a whole lot more.
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Thrasher
Thrasher is a fast paced multiplot drama, set over a single night in the urban sprawl of Manchester. Six people are pushed to breaking point as events spiral beyond control in a blackly comic journey to the dark heart of the city.
Performances of Thrasher can be accompanied by a new writing seminar or a Q&A session with the cast and creative team. Thrasher is available for booking as a touring show throughout October and November of this year, email conor@conormckee.com for details.
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Burnt toured to venues in the North West of England, Yorkshire and London (see post below). Internationally acclaimed composer Michael Cretu, who wrote and performed the music for Burnt, will also be composing for Thrasher.
Reviews and statements of support for the company are posted on this site, or click these links to for the video trailer and musical overture for Burnt.
Conor McKee
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Statement of Support: Richard Morgan, Royal Exchange Theatre
The Royal Exchange will be supporting the development and realisation of Thrasher in the Autumn of 2011. Conor McKee’s progress as a writer is well known to us and Thrasher had its first scratch performance as part of our BLUE Festival in 2007. This was well received and showed great potential.
Thrasher will consolidate Conor’s partnership with Director Wyllie Longmore, established through their successful production and tour of Burnt in 2010. The partnership allows Conor to fully test his ideas and be challenged as a playwright.
The Studio has a good track record of supporting and developing some of the North West’s most imaginative artists and we look forward to realising the full production later in the year with Conor and Wyllie.
Richard Morgan, Producer, The Royal Exchange
News
British Theatre Guide – Review – Thrasher 2013
Thrasher
Conor McKee
Conor McKee Productions
The Continental, Preston
Review by David Upton
Forget the ‘aspiration nation’; here instead are six characters hanging on to the margins of society, aspiring just to survive.
Their intersecting stories are the subject of this hard-boiled 90-minute drama by young Manchester-based playwright Conor McKee. It’s gradually developed out of an extract at that city’s Royal Exchange theatre back in 2006 and is now embarked on a nine-date national tour, directed by the highly-experienced Wyllie Longmore.
In a play with a beginning, a middle, and a beginning, there are bound to be some comparisons to Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde, but in his gritty characterisation and sometimes shocking language McKee manages to get beneath the skin of what might be regarded, at first, as stock modern-drama stereotypes.
There’s Vic (Justine Elizabeth Bailey) who freely understands her main commodity is her looks; Lee (Ryan Greaves) who can’t seem to even sell his drugs at a profit; Colin (Darren John Longford) used to taking what he wants; Chloe (Katie McArdle) taking whatever God might allow; Frank (Richard Sails) pining for intimacy; while Jenny (Lauren Thomas) recoils from the memory.
Living on their wits they are propped up by sex, drugs, faith, reminiscence and payday loans.
It’s all bleakly cynical, but nonetheless believable and engaging, and its writer, producer—and, on this night, programme seller as well—gifts several of his creations with some starkly realistic speeches, especially Vic’s shocking soliloquy to her make-up mirror.
The production may not necessarily have been seen at its best here, in the ersatz stage setting that is half of the floor of the ‘Conti’ theatre space, but it has slickly arranged lighting, and a detached kind of score from Michael Cretu that aids the necessary intimacy and atmosphere.
On this showing you would look forward to McKee’s subsequent work.
Burnt Eflyer 2010 Tour
Burnt Tour Dates 2010
BURNT TOUR 2010
eflyer: www.heaven.co.uk/stuff/pixels/Burnt2eFlyer.jpg
Original Music: http://tiny.cc/8drih (Overture from the score)
SQUARE CHAPEL, HALIFAX, Sat 6th Nov, 7.30pm Tickets: £10, £8.Square Road, Halifax, W.Yorks, HX1 1Q. FREE New Writing Session, 5.45pm – 6.30pm. Q&A and Classical Performance by Composer post show.
www.squarechapel.co.uk / 01422 349 422.
THE CONTINENTAL, PRESTON - Thu 11th, Fri 12th Nov, 8pmTickets: £7, £5 concessions (First 25 Advance tickets, £5). South Meadow Lane, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 8JP. FREE Pre-Show New Writing Seminar. 6.15-7pm. Post Show Discussion and Solo Classical Performance by Composer.
www.newcontinental.net / 01772 499 425
SALFORD ARTS THEATRE - Wed 17th-Sat 20th Nov, 7.45pmTickets: £7, £6 concessions. Kemsing Walk (off Liverpool St), Salford, M5 4BS. FREE New Writing Seminar 6.15-7pm, Wed 17th, Thu 18th Nov FREE Post Show Q&A plus Solo Performance by Composer all shows.
www.salfordartstheatre.co.uk / 0161 925 0111
TARA ARTS, LONDON SW18 – Wed 24th & Thu 25th Nov, 7.30pmTickets: £9.50/ £7 concessions. 356, Garratt Lane, London, SW18 4ES (Just Outside Earlsfield Rail Station). FREE New Writing Seminar Wed 24th 5.45-6.30pm. Post Show Discussion and Solo Classical Performance by Composer. Thu 25th.
www.tara-arts.com / 020 8333 4457
THE LANTERN, LIVERPOOL - Sat 27th Nov, 7.45pm Tickets: £8, £6 concessions. 57 Blundell Street, L1 0AJ (opposite Queen’s Dock). FREE New Writing Seminar 6.15-7pm, Post Show Discussion and Solo Classical Performance by Composer. Free parking on Street.
www.thelanterntheatre.co.uk / 0151 703 0000
THE BRINDLEY, RUNCORN - Fri 3rd December, 8pm Tickets: £8, £6 concessions. The Brindley, High Street, Runcorn, Cheshire, WA7 1BG. FREE New Writing Seminar 6.15-7pm, Post Show Discussion and Solo Classical Performance by Composer.
www.thebrindley.org.uk / 0151 907 8360.
eFlyer for BURNT at Contact
Word on the street