Flight

Flight by Jonathan Dove

Director: William Kerley

Conductor: Timothy Dean

Designer: Tom Rogers

Lighting Design: Mark Lovell

Production Manager: Davy O’Neill

Saturday 24, Monday 26, Wednesday 27

& Friday 30 June 2006, 7.15pm

NEW ATHENAEUM THEATRE

2 intervals of 15 minutes.

Cast List

Refugee Reno Troilus

Flight Controller Carla Caramujo*/Elizabeth Traill**

Bill Chris Elliott*/Matthew Marriott**

Tina Helene Dahlberg*/Alexa Mason**

Older Woman Louise Collett

Steward Anders Östberg

Stewardess Susan Boyd

Minskman James Arthur*/Whitaker Mills**

Minskwoman Alexandra Cassidy

Immigration Officer Aaron McAuley

• Saturday 24 & Wednesday 28 June
  • Monday 26 & Friday 30 June

Assistant Conductor: Michael Bawtree (conducting the performance on Wednesday 28 June)

From RSAMD YouthWorks Drama

Cabin Crew / Runway Staff

Harriet Heath

Fiona Holt-Guthrie

Aimee Mclean

Rebecca Murphy

Vicky Semple

Synopsis

ACT I

It is dawn. The controller sits in her tower. She is content: the airport is empty – except for the Refugee: he has nowhere else to go. People start to arrive, people for the Refugee to befriend. A married couple, Bill and Tina, are going on holiday in an attempt to rediscover romance. The Older Woman is meeting a young man whom she met in Mallorca, her fiancé; she would dearly like to remain inconspicuous, but…. The Steward and Stewardess go brightly about their business – some of the time. Another married couple arrive, almost late for their flight to Minsk: they are emigrating. The Minskwoman is heavily pregnant. At the last moment she refuses to board the plane and her husband leaves without her. She is left stranded, mortified. The Refugee offers her a magic stone to comfort her.

The Immigration Officer passes through the concourse: he is always a danger to the – illegal – Refugee. The latter, warned by the Controller, manages to avoid notice, this time. The travellers are preparing to depart when the Controller announces that, because of electrical storms, all flights are indefinitely delayed.

ACT II

Night has fallen and still the storm is raging. Worries beset those who are waiting. The storm has even upset the Controller’s equilibrium – she leaves her tower and wanders about outside. Everyone in the concourse tries fitfully to sleep, but, in pairs or alone, they secretly approach the Refugee, fascinated by his magic stone. He gives them all what they believe to be the unique stone, and they make wishes. Bill is still restless and seeks out the Stewardess. In the dark he makes a mistake and finds the Steward instead: they go off to explore the control tower. The women and the Refugee decide to get drunk, and, as they become more garrulous, the women discover that each of them has ‘the’ stone. They vent their anger, with dire consequences for the Refugee. The consequences of Bill and the Steward’s explorations are less dire but no less cataclysmic. The Controller remains outside as the storm rages yet more fiercely.

ACT III

Dawn breaks and the storm has abated. Flights are being resumed. But there are many surprises in store. The Minskman returns: he could not bear to be separated from his wife. Bill and the Steward have a surprise for the women. The Minskwoman has a surprise for everyone. The Immigration Officer returns to discover the Refugee, but when the Refugee tells his story, even the Officer has a surprising reaction. Flights are called; people leave; under the Controller’s watchful eye, the airport will return to normal … perhaps.

Orchestra

VIOLIN I Emily Carr

Willem Mathlener

Anna Kelemen

Katie Stone

Miriam McFadyen

Alan John

Gemma Grant

Catherine Robertson

VIOLIN II Shona Dysart

Anna Hansen

Elaine Sexton

Claire Poxton

Nicola Connell

Kay Stephen

VIOLA Emma Stevenson

Rebecca Gilbert

Emma Peebles

Joanne Miller

CELLO Ying-Ying Han

Johanna Stein

Abigail Hayward

Barbara Misiewicz

DOUBLE BASS

Ed Lucas

Christine Cooper

Lesley Ann Smith

FLUTE Catherine Coulter

Kia Bennett

OBOE Sarah Turner

Louisa MacPherson

CLARINET Ashley Bray

Nicola Turner

BASSOON Fraser Gordon

Eanna Monaghan

HORN Craig MacDonald

Samantha McShane

TRUMPET Andrew Petrie

Mandy Murphy

TROMBONE Kenneth Letham

Michael Owers

TUBA David Hamilton

TIMPANI Christopher Edwards

PERCUSSION

James Swan

Kenny Carlyle

Cairistiona Swainson

Louis Abbott

HARP Hannah Phillips

PIANOFORTE/CELESTE Ian Ryan

Student Production Team

Stage Manager Fiona Johnston

Deputy Stage Manager Johanna Farwer

Assistant Stage Managers Dan Birch, Graeme Mackie

Assistant Production Manager Liz Stark

Assistant Designer Caroline Stanton

Technical Stage Manager Roy Fairhead

Deputy Technical Stage Managers Ken Petrie, Elizabeth A Slucas

Stage Technicians Mhairi Begg, Laura Montgomery

Lighting Designer Mark Lovell

Production Electrician William Potts

Deputy Production Electrician Jennifer Earl

Assistant Electrician/Board Op Danielle Flecher-Herd

Set Construction Ross McMillan

Elizabeth A Slucas

Alistair Arthur

Gallia Semach

Mark Carry

Emma Mckie

Andrew Smart

Steven Wylie

Susan McCarroll

Scenic Manager Kimberley Soep

Scenic Artists Alastair Law

Graham Fleming

Benjamin Owens

Shelley Scott

Assistant Scenic Artists Mark Carry

Danielle Flecher-Herd

Susan Beattie

Allan Kimmett

Stephanie Todd

Callum Howie

Suzanne Goldberg

Props Makers Mika Handley

Benjamin Owens

Linsey Johnstone

Libby Nagle

Ashleigh Riley

Fiona Crawford

Assistant Props Makers Andrew Smart

Emma Mckie

Kirsty McCabe

Mhairi Begg

Peter Strain

Steven Wiley

Alan Kimmett

Costume Maker Natasha Jiggins

Hector Daniel Bonarelli

Wardrobe Assistants Natasha Falconer

Kirsty McCabe

Amy Cummings

Francesca Rose

Kirsten Hogg

Emma Hullin

William Kerley Director

William is a freelance director of opera and theatre. For the RSAMD he has directed Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites and Massenet’s Manon.

Recent theatre work includes: the world premiere of The God Botherers by Richard Bean at The Bush Theatre, Exotic Matter by Judy Upton and Dan Morton-Smith at the Hampstead Theatre, Hanging Around and Letters of War - original devised theatre pieces for the National Youth Theatre. His award-winning first production of Gill Adams’ play Jump to Cow Heaven was First of the Fringe Firsts at the Edinburgh Festival.

Recent opera work includes the fiftieth anniversary production of Britten’s Gloriana at the Snape Maltings and a new production of Let’s Make an Opera at the Jubilee Hall for the Aldeburgh Festival, the world premiere of The Embalmer by Giorgio Battistelli starring Ian McDiarmid (an RSAMD alumnus) for Almeida Opera, Mozart’s La Finta Semplice at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Mozart’s Il re Pastore for the Classical Opera Company at the Linbury Studio of the Royal Opera House and a UK tour.

He has worked as assistant and associate director for Scottish Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Opera North, Welsh National Opera, The Royal Opera House, the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre and the Almeida Theatre assisting directors including Tim Albery, Bill Alexander, Jonathan Kent, Phllida Lloyd, Jonathan Miller, Graham Vick and Matthew Warchus.

William trained at Dartington, is co-founder of Actiontrack Performance Company, a registered charity which creates original music-theatre work with young offenders and in both mainstream and special-needs education. He is an associate director for the National Youth Theatre. He has written for The Guardian and Independent newspapers and is a regular ‘columnist’ on BBC Radio 4’s Home Truths programme.

Future engagements include Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin for British Youth Opera, The Dinner Engagement / The Long Christmas Dinner – a Berkeley/Hindemith double-bill for the GSMD and Flute and Broomstick, a newly commissioned children’s opera at The Wigmore Hall, London.

Tom Rogers Designer

Training: Motley, 2003-2004 Opera credits: Let’s Make An Opera/ The Little Sweep Aldeburgh, To The Edge The Steiner Theatre, Baker Street, La Finta Semplice, GSMD Theatre credits: The Chimes Southwark Playhouse, Death and The Maiden The New Wolsey, Ipswich, The Man Who The Orange Tree, Richmond, Phaedra’s Love, Sheppey and Protection Arts Ed, Chiswick, Letters Of War National Youth Theatre, Laughing Gas Theatre Royal Plymouth and South West tour, The Librarian’s Joke Pleasance London and National tour, Tale Of Two Cities GSMD Future plans: Eugene Onegin British Youth Opera (Sept 2006), The Long Christmas Dinner / The Dinner Engagement GSMD (Nov 2006) Tom was a finalist in the 2005 Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design and was shortlisted for the Jocelyn Herbert Award.

Caroline Stanton Assistant Designer

Caroline Stanton is a third year Technical and Production Arts mature student, graduating in July 2006. She came to the RSAMD from a varied background including prop and costume making for various theatres and performing arts groups, including The Royal Shakespeare Company and Tribe Dance Company Bristol. In the last three years as well as working full-time on Academy productions she has also worked for The National Theatre London, The Edinburgh Festival Theatre, and The Citizen’s Theatre Glasgow. On graduating Caroline hopes to forge a career as a Scenographer, and is currently working on a show for Tramway 1, and a project with the National Theatre of Scotland.

Mark Lovell Lighting Designer

Mark is a final year BA Technical & Production Arts student. During his time at the Academy, he has worked on many productions including Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Handel’s Acis & Galatea, Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas, two pantomimes, Barker’s Bite of the Night and Liz Lochhead’s version of Molière’s Tartuffe. Recently Mark has enjoyed the challenges presented by Here Comes a Chopper in the Chandler Studio (Production Electrician), What the Butler Saw (Lighting Designer), Cendrillon (Technical Stage Manager) and Heritage (Sound Designer). Forthcoming projects include lighting design for RSAMD Youthworks’ Giacomo’s Circus of the Fantastic! Mark is an accomplished double bass player, and a keen photographer. He hopes to pursue a career in touring rep when he graduates.

Michael Bawtree Assistant Conductor

Michael was born in Devon and studied at Christ’s College, Cambridge University, graduating in 1997 with a degree in music; in the same year Michael became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, winning three prizes as a result of the examinations.

For five years Michael was Assistant Director of Music at St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Suffolk. With the Cathedral Choir he broadcast frequently on BBC Radio, toured to America and made three CD recordings. Whilst in Suffolk he was also active as a choral trainer, running two choirs and working with the Bury St Edmunds Festival Chorus and the Britten-Pears Chamber Choir. Solo organ recital engagements have taken Michael to over twenty British cathedrals as well as to New England, California, Bermuda and Switzerland. In March 2006 he undertook a five-concert tour to the USA which included a recital at Washington National Cathedral. He is also one half of the Busch-Bawtree piano duo, a collaboration born in 2000 with American composer Richard Busch which has included annual duet recitals both sides of the Atlantic.

In September 2004, Michael moved to Glasgow to take up a two-year postgraduate scholarship at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama studying orchestral conducting. In addition to his studies with Dr Alasdair Mitchell at the RSAMD, he has worked with Joseph Swensen, Christopher Adey, Lutz Köhler, Martyn Brabbins and Ilan Volkov. He has conducted the Suffolk Sinfonia, the Sinfonia of Birmingham, the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, orchestras at Cambridge, Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities and all the RSAMD orchestras. In addition to his work on Flight, he has been Assistant Conductor for Falstaff, Cendrillon and Judith Weir’s The Vanishing Bridegroom. In July 2005, he travelled to India for a month to work with the Calcutta Chamber Orchestra, a trip sponsored by the British Council. He has conducted a number of first performances this year: Julian Wagstaff’s Symphony for Chamber Orchestra with the Edinburgh University Chamber Orchestra, Gareth Williams’s one-act opera Love in the Blue Corner and most recently Dominic Floyd’s Three Cloud pieces with the Edinburgh University String Orchestra in Orkney. He is currently Music Director of the Glasgow Chamber Choir and Chorus Director of the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union. Future plans include work with Scottish Ballet this autumn and directing Albert Herring with Edinburgh Studio Opera next year.

James Arthur (Minksman) James was born in Essex and was awarded a music scholarship to Ampleforth College in 1993 where he studied singing under Richard Hill. During a gap year he sang as a choral scholar at Guildford Cathedral before reading music at Durham University. Whilst at Durham he was a cathedral choral scholar and was also awarded the Sir Thomas Beecham scholarship for performance. Since 2002 he has been studying with Peter Alexander Wilson at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD). He has completed a Postgraduate Diploma and a Masters in Performance and is currently on the MMus Opera course.

Whilst at the RSAMD James has sung the roles of Antonio in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, the Doctor and Policeman in Judith Weir’s The Vanishing Bridegroom and Pandolfe in Massenet’s Cendrillon, which was performed with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera. He has performed in an opera gala with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and last year appeared in Britten’s Curlew River at the Edinburgh International Festival. He has also been awarded the Florence Veitch Ibler prize for Oratorio. James is in regular demand throughout the UK as a concert soloist and sings a wide range of repertoire from Bach to music of the present day.