Alasdair Satchel

Conflux: Master Class in Tréteau 

30th Jan - 3rd Feb

Dancebase- Edinburgh

Tréteau is a dynamic form of theatre that places a group of actors on a 2 metre by 1 metre stage and asks them to tell the biggest story they possibly can, without ever leaving that stage.

How, using such a tiny space, can you tell the grandest tales: The life and death of Joan of Arc; the sinking of the Kursk; Cyrano de Bergerac’s trip to the moon; or the entirety of HBO’s The Sopranos?

The discipline that tréteau imposes on you is economy. Economy of space, economy of movement and economy of narrative. Economy with high return.

With up to 7 people on one tréteau we will explore the nature of space and imagination at play.

As a case study, the work of the masterclass will reference Bohumil Hrabal’s Too Loud A Solitude, in which a lone paper recycler muses on his life, solitude and the nature of language, learning and meaning. The work will be physical, and based around exploration and devising in a workshop situation.

At the end of this class participants will be better prepared to devise and present their own epic-scale work for intimate-scale settings…

CAST - Gaelic Film Project

January - March 2012

I'll be delivering film making workshops inspired by the work of Mitchell & Kenyon to Gaelic Medium Unit schools in Argyll & Bute throughout the start of 2012.  The films will be silent, one shot movies capturing an element of everyday life from each of the school's town life.

I will be working with BBC Young Musician finalist Rona Wilkie on the project.  Rona will work with the participants to create a unique  score for each film. 

CAST - Non Violent Communication

Secondary School Workshops

I'm delighted to be continuing on with the conception and delivery of more NVC workshops through out the secondary schools of Argyll and Bute. 

Mull Schools Gaelic Project

An exciting project running throughout 2012.  More information and external websites to follow soon.

Playwriting Workshops @ An Tobar

The playwrighting workshops are continuing on apace, and we're heading towards working on our final pieces. 

A sharing of our work will be held in February.

Playwriting Workshops @ An Tobar

Starting on October the 6th I will be running a series of 10 Playwriting workshops, in Tobermory at Ana Tobar, here on the island of Mull.

The workshops will be offered through Argyll & Bute's Community Education Office.

The workshops will look at how plays work, what makes something theatrical, how to craft and structure story and the balancing process of visual and linguistic interests in a play.

We'll work through classic exercises, improvisation, textual analysis and a hearty dose of watching examples from the world of theatre and film.

There will be a web page on this site to accompany the sessions, where participants can refer back to the materials used in class.

Gaelic on Mull Schools Project

Throughout this coming year I'm going to be working with schools on the islands of Mull & Iona to see what Gaelic language and culture means to the young people here and now. 

We're going to be working through the curriculum for excellence to investigate the past, present and future of Gaelic in our communities.

I'll post more information about the project as it develops, but if you're interested in what it may look like, please feel free to have a gander at this project outline:  Project Outline (pdf) 

CLOUD MAN
Made in Scotland Showcase - Edinburgh Fringe - August 2011

I'm delighted to announce that Cloud Man has received a place in Creative Scotland's Made In Scotland Festival, showcasing the best in Scottish theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe in August this year. 

We're delighted to be a part of the festival and in such distinguished company as Fish & Game, David Hughes Dance, Grid Iron and 13 other companies, hand picked to be part of this exciting initiative, now in it's third year.

For more info on Made in Scotland please click here.

For Cloud Man's page on the Made in Scotland site, click here.

Introduction to Gaelic 
Drama Workshops

Throughout June I'll be dotting around the Isle of Mull delivering Gaelic language workshops to primary schools through the medium of drama.

The workshops are offered through Fèis Muille / Fèisean nan Gàidheal.

Preparation for the Neutral Mask Workshop

On June the 8th I'll be delivering a workshop on preparing the body to work with the Neutral Mask for The Actor's Kitchen in Edinburgh.  If you'd like more info on the Actor's Kitchen please feel free to visit their site here.

Amid The Blaze Of Noon

by

The Village Orchestra

I'm pleased to tell you that an album on which I collaborated as a guitarist has just been released through Highpoint Lowlife.

The Village Orchestra and I are long time collaborators on various projects, theatrical and otherwise, including the sound experiment Accrual...

For more info on the album please click below:

Amid The Blaze of Noon

For more info on The Village Orchestra please click below:

The Village Orchestra

Cloud Man's adventures carry on!

Cloud Man could be coming to a theatre near you!  The show is part of the excellent Puppet Animation Festival touring across Scotland from March!

The tour dates are:

27/3	Edinburgh - Pleasance Theatre
7/4	Rutherglen - Town hall
8/4	Dunfermline - Carnegie Hall
10/4	Stracathro - Village Hall
12/4	Mull - Druimfin, Tobermory
14/4	Macrobert - Stirling
22/4	Edinburgh - Scottish Storytelling Centre
25/4	New Galloway - Catstrand

Cloud Man has successfully completed its first tour, taking in Glasgow's Mask & Puppet Centre, a couple of schools in the Clyde valley and an Imaginate event in Livingstone.  But have no fear, Cloudia and her little friend will be back out on the road in the Spring of 2011 as part of the Puppet Animation Festival, touring all over Scotland and then heading off on its own here and there.

I recently attended a Federation of Scottish Theatre event about artists working through the curriculum for excellence within Scottish schools and was very inspired by the hope that there is within the artist and school communities.

In the new year I will be delivering workshops for Argyll & Bute's CAST team in schools right around the county, looking at empathy and non-prejudicial means of communication.  It looks to be a wonderful project, and I'm very pleased to be working with drama therapist Rachael Rodgers and a team of highly skilled visual and dance artists in the delivery and creation of the workshops.

Planning has started for a large scale community project here in the North West corner of Mull, taking place in a local sculptural trail, which should hopefully reach fruition late in the summer of 2011.  Do feel free to drop back in and check out how it develops...

My work with Mull Film Club takes us out on the road in January with our annual tour, taking films to Creich in the Ross of Mull and Dervaig here, off of the Quinish Peninsula.  First though is the matter of Xmas and It's A Wonderful Life, which we're showing at An Tobar, Tobermory on the 23rd of December.

Regards of the season to you, where 'ere you be. 

I'm delighted to have been invited to direct Ailie Cohen's new play Cloud Man which will make it's premier at the Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre in Glasgow on the 23rd of October.

Cloud Man lives in the clouds. It is a very quiet life and a bit lonely sometimes. Cloudia is a cloud expert. Her life is quiet and a bit lonely sometimes too. One day they meet and an ordinary day becomes more colourful and chaotic than either thought possible. Adventure is just one little step away!

For more information please feel free to visit Ailie's site here.

Or the Scottish Mask & Puppet Centre's site here.

Amazon Book Shop 

I’ve launched an amazon A-Store.  It’s called Theatre Books For The Curious and can be found here:    Bookshop  on my site, or alternatively here on Amazon’s A Stores:

http://astore.amazon.co.uk/alsatchcom-21

The store features lots of books on and about theatre with my comments on them to help you select what you’re after.  It breaks down in to several sections, from Plays to Directors, Theory Books and many more beyond.

The shop is an ongoing project, so it will change quite a lot over the coming months, so do drop by to see what's changed now and again if you like.

Northern Scottish Touring Fund

Thursday my new project, based on GK Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday, has been short listed for the new Northern Scottish Touring Fund. 

A touring theatre piece, with an accompanying education programme, Thursday, will be a very entertaining and exciting piece.   More details to follow soon!

For more information have a look at the NSTF site on:

www.nstf.org

August sees me working as Movement Director with Youth Music Theatre in Edinburgh for their Summer Studio, devising a musical in a week with over 42 young people on stage.

The project, entitled Terminal, is directed by Eddie Latter with original music by Jodie Oliver.

Ulva Ferry Primary school, here on the Isle of Mull, invited me to come and join them for an afternoon to help out with their “Victorians” project.  This involves me shaving my beard off in to a very fetching pair of lamb chops, sporting braces and a tause. 

Neutral Mask Workshops

I'm running Neutral Mask workshops in Glasgow from Monday 29^th March until Friday the 2^nd of April.

The Neutral Mask is one of the most dynamic actor training tools, providing the corner stone of the Lecoq approach to making theatre.

The workshops will be practical in nature, building on the participants physicality, and based around their own stamina.

The workshops will be of use to actors, writers, directors, dancers & designers, people keen to learn more about physical theatre and anyone who wants to revitalise their creativity or top up their skills.

The masks we'll be using were created by Max Dana, please visit him on  www.mister-face.com

If you'd like any further information please feel free to drop me a line.
 

Cinderella

Neutral Mask Workshops

I'm intending to run some neutral mask workshops in Glasgow in April / May 2010.  If you'd like any further information please feel free to drop me a line.
 

November 2009

November sees me directing Johnny McKnight's Cinderella at Platform and on tour around various community centres in Glasgow.  Dates and details to come soon.
 

Argyll Workshops

I'm currently out on tour delivering workshops for Argyll & Bute in primary schools around the county, taking in the sights of our fine land, whilst listening to the finest progressive rock known to man.
 

Casting For Panto

As well as being on tour with Mull Theatre I’m currently doing a spot of casting for a panto that I’ll be directing at Platform, Easterhouse later in the year.

The panto in question is Johnny McKnight’s version of Cinderella, the contract is equity minimum / ITC and the project will run from the start of November until the 19^th of December.  It will be a touring production, rehearsed at Platform, touring to various community centres and spaces in Glasgow and the surrounds, then returning to Platform for a two week run leading up to the 19^th of December.

I’m looking for:

• 2 Ugly Sisters

• An Evil Stepmother

• A Buttons

If you would think you would be appropriate for any of the above roles please feel free to forward your CV on to me at info@alsatch.com

Many thanks

Alasdair

Island Nights Entertainments
Mull Theatre Tour Summer 2009

I'm now on tour with Mull Theatre's summer tour Island Nights Entertainments.

See photo gallery

Transform Moray
June 2009

I'm currently working as assistant director, focusing on movement and story telling on the National Theatre's Transform Moray project. 
 

It's a dark cabaret of fanciful urban legends, told in a comic style by some of the most talented teenage performers I've ever met.

Click here for Transform Moray website

The director is Graham McLaren, of Theatre Babel, Alan Penman is creating the original songs and music (www.alanpenman.co.uk) with the students and Jen Edgar is also working as assistant director.  

Tickets are free, but have to be booked in advance.

Hong Kong Microfest
April 2009

One Man Rant

receives 5 star review in Time Out Hong Kong click here for review