And The Nominees Are...

Matilda Zeigler – Best Actress (The Last Yankee)

Andy de la Tour – Best Actor (The Last Yankee)

Jamie Vartan – Set Design (The Last Yankee)

AND

Best Production – The Last Yankee!

Yes, The Print Room has been nominated for four Off West End Awards and we couldn't be happier.

Check out the full list of nominations HERE

The Best Theatre Beyond London's West End

It’s always interesting to see how people accept compliment, some shy and wilt others grow a few inches, you see it happen every night as the show end as he actors emerge from their dressing rooms leaving their characters behind and faced with the daunting task of being themselves again a barrage of compliments.

There are a number of techniques used for the recognition of a compliment, such as:

The Volley

Volley that compliment straight back.

“You were really wonderful!”

Oh do you think so?

“Yes such a beautiful performance.”

Oh really because I wasn't sure about the part in the middle.

“No it was all marvelous.”

This can go on for a while and is perfect for the person who enjoys praise and comes in the crafty guise of modesty.

The Transfer

This technique is used by the genuinely shy and is the perfect way to instantly take the spotlight off ones self.

“You were fabulous.”

Oh yes it really is a wonderfully little play isn’t it, the characters are all so great.

This transfers the compliment onto the writer, director or overall production; it also transforms the compliment into a conversation allowing a discussion of the play to immediately follow.

The Distasteful

This rather vulgar technique is commonly used by American reality stars and is certainly frowned upon by most the English.

“You were amazing.”

I know right?!

A tricky technique that shouldn't be used lightly, it should only ever be used between friends and only ever as a joke.  It is actually for the secretly shy, by turning the praise into a joke you avoid truly accepting the compliment all under the pretense of over confidence.

Today I came across a rather lovely compliment about The Print Room, we were added into Forbes Travel Guide’s The Best Theatres Beyond London’s West End, I know right?!

For the link to the page click HERE

And this is what they had to say about us:

“Another former warehouse now playing host to an impressive range of work is The Print Room. Theater, dance, concerts and art exhibitions make up the program at this old graphic design workshop tucked away in the area just north of Notting Hill Gate. Opened in September 2010, the venue has quickly become one of the most respected fringe theaters in the city, and is known for its intense, intimate productions of exciting new work. September sees the launch of the venue’s fall season, which opens with the first major London revival of Arthur Miller’s The Last Yankee(September 7th through October 5th). This dark drama is followed by a new production of The Dumb Waiter, Harold Pinter’s hilarious two-hander (October 23rd through November 23rd).”

And for this we will go with the surprising rare technique.

The Gracious

This is really lovely of Forbes, was a great start to a Friday morning, and we are all truly grateful.

Press Night!!

Critics – the people we love to hate, or hate to love?  I’m not sure which, maybe neither, maybe both?  But regardless a necessary part of the industry we accept and at times even rely on.

It’s a strange relationship, no dislike the one between a parent and a potential suitor for their children.  The Print Room is the parent, the creative team our children and nothing the critics say will ever be truly good enough for them.  Even when – as in the case with The Last Yankee – the play gets wonderful reviews I can’t help but feel the adjectives could be slightly more hyperbolic and why not give them 6 stars, just this once.

In honesty the reviews for The Last Yankee were beautiful and just so you don’t have to go looking for them here are a few highlights from across the board.

The Stage 

“The most powerful and moving – and most Miller-like – scenes are those in which the husbands and wives cannot escape hurting each other while attempting to communicate their love.”

“Strong and sensitive performances by the entire cast are energised by Matilda Ziegler as a woman giddy and frightened in equal parts by the unfamiliar clarity of facing life without tranquillisers for the first time in decades.”

Time out ****

"Miller's later, shorter works need something special if they're to be made to sing. But Cathal Cleary's revival offers just that, with a striking design by Jamie Vartan that pitches us into the middle of a state mental hospital"

“But the play’s other great feature is a fine cast.”

Fulham Chronicle ****

“Notting Hill’s Print Room is fast earning a reputation for unearthing lost classics by the giants of theatre, and The Last Yankee is no exception.”

“Miller’s densely layered script, with flashes of laugh out loud humour, is well handled by the strong cast.”

One Stop Arts *****

"The excellent cast negotiate the unfolding drama with precision and grace" 

Poetry @ The Print Room - Jean Sprackland

Poetry @ The Print Room continues on Thursday 10 October, 7.30pm, with acclaimed poets Jean Sprackland, Christopher Reid and Helen Mort.  This will be our third evening in our series of Poetry events.

In the upcoming weeks we will be explaining a little more about what you can expect from each poet, this week:

Jean Spackland and her new poetry collection Sleeping Keys

In 2007 Sprackland won the Costa Poetry Award, with her first collection, Tilt, in which she looks back at endings and beginnings: the end of a life, old homes lived in and left and new homes discovered.  The poems speak of the paralysis and bewilderment of knowing something is over, and of the strangely significant, almost votive nature of the things that are left behind.

Her new collection, Sleeping Keys is a book of transitions – domestic and emotional – and it explores how the experience of change is painful, disorientating, even catastrophic, but also profoundly necessary and revelatory.  Change brings with it the hope that love can be recovered out of the ruins; change, in fact, is a creative, healing force that shows us we have been living amoung ruins – that even in the face of grief and loss there are ‘spectral futures / we must stride the ditch to reach’.

Full of exact, vivid, clear-eyed observations of a world of failure and flux, Sleeping Keys also illuminates a future world beyond.  For every object left emptied of significance, bereft, Jean Sprackland shows us another that’s charged and radiant with possibility – the possibility of miracles.



‘When Sprackland opens her poems up…both to metaphorical possibility and responsibility, her lyric energies are uncompromised and resolutely shine’ - Guardian

As a little taster check out this video of Spackland talking about her award winning first collection, Tilt:

Rehearsal Photos...

As promised.

Here is a sneak peak into the early rehearsals of The Last Yankee, which opened TODAY!

[L to R:  Kika Markham, Andy de la Tour, Paul Hickey, Matilda Ziegler]

[Kika Markham]

[Director Cathal Cleery with Matilda Ziegler and Paul Hickey]

[Matilda Ziegler]

That Christmas Eve Feeling...

There comes a point in every production where all elements become simultaneously inches away from completion.  It is customary at this time for the people involved to get a little more stressed and a little more nervous, however this is paralleled with an almost tangible sense of excitement.  It’s like the sound of an orchestra warming up or the thudding of dancers rehearsing leaps behind the curtain, you know what’s coming but have no idea what to expect.  It’s the Christmas Eve feeling.

I have always be the kind of person who has already felt all the gifts under the Christmas tree, has found all the secret hiding places in the house and come Christmas Eve I am pretty sure what I will be opening.  Terrible? maybe, but it’s a trait that has never been shaken.  As such I would love reveal all that will be experienced in our upcoming production of The Last Yankee, especially the beautiful set design by Jamie Vartan, however I can’t and I won’t, for now all that I will say is that audience member will be using a new entrance to the auditorium.

Today music from the show was projected for the first time through The Print Room offices; everyone spoke in hushed voices as the actors completed final rehearsals and there was a very serious conversation about a Ping-Pong ball.  Also, regular guest to our theatre will be relieved to know that the fruit bowl has been replenished and the bucket is currently holding sweets rather than apples, thankfully that apparent health kick was fleeting.

The Last Yankee is set to be a very proud achievement of The Print Room and the company involved, with tickets selling at an unprecedented speed.  I’m already bracing for the many “I’m sorry we’re completely sold out, no, com…plet...ely sold out” conversations that are sure to happen within a couple of weeks.

Some sneaky rehearsal pictures to follow…

One for the Bedroom Wall..

Time to get the blue tac out for our latest Print Room Pin-Ups.