actorstouruguay.com

STOP PRESS: A2U is looking for an actor with existing plans to travel to South America in November 2012, who would like a week's free luxury accommodation for two in Uruguay in exchange for doing a free one-person show lasting about 50 minutes. Write to vozinglesa@gmail.com

Welcome to actorstouruguay.com, a non-profit fund which exists in order to bring professional British shows to Uruguay and other countries in Latin America's southern cone. If you've looked at the site before, it now begins with news of The Feather Pillow in March 2012, to follow Brief Encounters by Lighthouse Theatre in 2011, Sarum Voices with the Ugly Baby in 2010 and The Drama of the River Plate in 2009. The plan for 2013, if sponsors can be found, is to stage a condensed version of Oliver Goldsmith's delightful 18th-century comedy, She Stoops to Conquer.

Actorstouruguay is a non-profit fund designed to attract professional British performers to the temperate south of South America in March or April each year by giving them a working holiday on the beaches of Uruguay. Return economy flights from Heathrow to Montevideo are reimbursed in full on arrival, and local non-leisure travel is provided free along with accommodation (sometimes quite luxurious!) for the period of rehearsals, the run itself and an extra week's relaxation. Performances so far have been in Montevideo, Punta del Este and Buenos Aires. In 2009 three UK actors came in early March and left at the end of the month after rehearsing and performing a new show from scratch. In March 2010 an 11-strong choir came for ten days and performed in five venues with little or no rehearsal. In 2011 three actors from Wales came with a pre-established touring show of two short plays by Noel Coward. They also ran two workshops on Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas. 2012 saw the premiere of a play with music called The Feather Pillow, about South America's most famous horror story and the extraordinary life of its author, Horacio Quiroga. See photos below. For a new translation of the story see the foot of this page.

Sheila Grant and Chris Anderton in The Feather Pillow

Hugo Halbrich as Quiroga

Below is what the actors did on their visit - longer than most because of the rehearsals involved. Four sets of hosts were kind enough to give each actor a room for both stays in Montevideo.

All the actors had a great time. The two young UK visitors arrived with their lines learnt for rehearsals in Montevideo on the stage of the Anglo's Millington-Drake Theatre. Between rehearsals they tried South American steak, wine, sweetbreads and cream cakes, had tea on the Ambassador's lawn, sang at a supper, did a car tour of Montevideo, went to a funfair, travelled by jetfoil to Buenos Aires, learned to tango, did the show, returned to Montevideo, appeared on radio and TV, did two schools' workshops, played croquet, were invited to an Italian and French restaurant, swam in their hosts' pool, did the show and ended up relaxing for a few days on the 20th floor of a Philippe Starck building in Punta del Este, with spa, sauna, cinema, restaurant and gymnasium. Chris Anderton later wrote:

'My trip to South America exceeded my expectations in every way possible and was a once in a life time opportunity that I shall never forget. I was treated like a king from the moment I arrived, and was lucky enough to stay in some beautiful properties and locations whilst rehearsing and performing in Montevideo, and when relaxing in Punta Del Este. The theatres we performed in in Montevideo and Buenos Aries were great spaces to both rehearse and perform. Aside from rehearsing and performing we were also given quite a lot of spare time which enabled us to explore both capital cities, along with get some very much needed rest time from what was, as is the case with any stage play, a very busy rehearsal schedule. We were treated to many a delicious meal, and a number of great tours. We managed to explore everything both cities had to offer.
It was a trip I shall never forget. I met many a person that has become a good friend, and I had many great experiences that shall never leave me. To avoid a cliché, the trip truly was a once in a life time opportunity and I was sad to say goodbye.'

Sheila echoed this, saying 'I would also agree that it was one of the highlights of my career so far, as well as a memorable life experience. I have taken away many happy memories from the time we spent in Uruguay and Buenos Aires'. She also took two kilos of dulce de leche!

Here is the press release from before the show:

SHOCK HORROR DRAMA: VISITING UK ACTORS PREMIER VAMPIRE BUG PLAY

South America’s most famous horror story, The Feather Pillow, will be given a shake-up at the Anglo’s Millington-Drake Theatre on 21 to 23 March, when the UK’s London Touring Theatre Company stage a new play with music about the story’s author, Horacio Quiroga, and his gruesome tales. Tickets for the one-hour show in English by Jonathan Lamb, called ‘The Feather Pillow, a story of Horacio Quiroga’, will be available after 1 February from RED UTS or the Anglo box office at $450, or $350 if bought before 29 February. Group rates can be negotiated.
Author of some of the best-known short stories in the Spanish language, Horacio Quiroga was born in Uruguay in 1878. His life was almost as macabre as his works. Those around him who died in tragic circumstances include his father, his stepfather, Quiroga’s best friend (whom he killed in a shooting accident), his brother, one of his sisters, his first wife – who swallowed disinfectant – and their two children. Quiroga himself took poison in 1937. He was a complex character but also a brave man, a chillingly effective storyteller and a gifted naturalist who understood the jungle and its creatures.
The play interweaves episodes from Quiroga’s life with scenes from his stories, in particular an expanded version of The Feather Pillow (‘El Almohadón de Pluma’) about a neglected bride and the thing that lives in her pillow. The play is not for children under 13, but there is plenty to enjoy for older theatregoers: villains in top hats, ghoulish sound effects, live music, magic and dance. The UK visitors include Christopher Anderton, once a football player with West Bromwich Albion, and Sheila Grant, below. An unexpected star of the show may turn out to be the extraordinary pillow monster created by Uruguayan mask designer Jorge Añon.
While they are in Uruguay the actors will be doing several dance workshops for schools, sponsored by the British Embassy.
Technical details of the production will be available in due course. For further information see www.actorstouruguay.com or contact Jonathan Lamb on 099 55 43 65.

Horacio Quiroga
© Archivo General de la Nación Argentina

Hugo Halbrich

Sheila Grant

Chris Anderton

Jack Sprigings

PAST SHOWS

2011: Brief Encounters

A Brief Encounter with the Southern Cone
by Adrian Metcalfe of Lighthouse Theatre

            On March 20th, three actors from Swansea got on the train at High Street Station about to travel to South America; filled with excitement, anticipation and not a little nervousness.
            Two years ago, having been commissioned by the Dylan Thomas Centre, Tour de Force Theatre premiered an adaptation of Noel Coward's Still Life, the play that became the film Brief Encounter. Twenty-two months later, following a successful run in The Grand Theatre and a tour of Wales and Yorkshire, we were about to embark on our greatest adventure yet. An adventure tinged with a little sadness, as this was to be our last performance as Tour de Force, before we changed to Lighthouse Theatre Ltd.
            The itinerary alone made for amazing reading: flight to Buenos Aires, boat to Montevideo, three performances there, a workshop and performance with locals on Under Milk Wood, return to Buenos Aires, three more performances, another workshop, then a flight to Patagonia, a community show in Esquel, and then return...The visit to Patagonia was arranged because of our Welsh roots, and getting there alone was difficult enough; it certainly brought to mind what the settlers on the Mimosa had to go through almost 150 years ago.
            We were invited to go to South America having been chosen from many other small-scale touring companies by Jonathan Lamb of Actors to Uruguay, the sort of enthusiastic visionary that theatre needs in the present climate of cuts and closures. Driven by a desire to supply native English language theatre to South American audiences, he has cajoled, encouraged and inspired organisations to fund British companies to go out for the last three years, not least the British Embassy in Montevideo, the Birchman Group, the Anglo Institute in Uruguay and the British Arts Centre in Argentina. Jonathan and Jack Sprigings, two Montevidean residents organised their side of things faultlessly (not the least of which was finding an English speaking Rusian pianist who could play the Rachmaninov for us beautifully!); the theatres were great, the audiences keen and the hospitality overwhelming.
            The morning following our arrival in Montevideo, I had one of the most surreal experiences of my career, standing in a TV studio, watching one of our company, Sonia Beck, giving a live interview in Spanish on Uruguay's equivalent of Breakfast TV, ‘Buen Dia Uruguay!’ In Spanish that delighted the interviewer because of its 'Spanishness', she chatted about the show and Noel Coward, and this was followed by a moving performance of Ar Lan y Mor by our other actress, Llinos Daniel. The cameramen were spellbound.
            The first packed performance in Montevideo was attended by the British Ambassador to Uruguay, Patrick Mullee, and his wife; who invited us to tea at the Embassy the following afternoon. Cake, parrots and a cup of Earl Grey - a great experience. The show was well-received by a knowledgeable and appreciative audience – some of whose English put ours to shame! A review followed in the British Society Newsletter, and the news got out. Within a few days, we had been told that the shows in Buenos Aires had sold out, and that there was a reserved list of 65 clamouring for us to put on an extra show. We could not refuse and so our Friday evening in Buenos Aires consisted of shows at 7.00pm and 9.00pm (although the chances of starting at those times were non-existent, as everything that we'd heard about South American time-keeping proved to be true!).
            Perhaps artistically our most rewarding experiences were the workshops we led in both Montevideo and Buenos Aires. Over forty people (some ex-pats but predominantly locals) came to them in order to learn about Dylan Thomas, listen to the rhythm and music of his words, and finally to perform an hour-long version of Under Milk Wood. The energy, commitment and sheer guts of these people (not all of whom were performers) was impressive, and listening to the piece being spoken in an equally musical but unfamiliar accent proved yet again what a masterpiece the work is. We discovered that Thomas didn’t just belong to Wales or to Swansea and that longing, nostalgia and the love of community are without time or place. ‘You just wait! I’ll sin till I blow up!’ could have come from Lorca, or Mary Ann Sailors joyful ‘It is Spring in Llaregub in the sun in my old age and this is the chosen land’….  straight from Chekov. And was there ever a funnier reading than the Argentinian ‘Call me Dolores, like they do in the stories’?!
            On the 4th April, we flew from Buenos Aires to Bariloche and then drove 250 miles to visit two towns in Welsh Patagonia, Esquel and Trevelin. Meeting us was Jeremy Wood, a passionate and tireless supporter of the Welsh Community who runs Welsh Patagonia, a tour company dedicated to raising the profile of the community in Argentina and the world. Jeremy is a one man band – his knowledge and enthusiasm are boundless and anyone who wants to visit or know more should visit www.welshpatagonia.com or contact him direct at jeremywood@welshpatagonia.com A Rolls Royce experience awaits…
            Landing in the dust of Bariloche it is surreal how far you feel from the humidity and urban chaos of Buenos Aires. Everything in Patagonia is on a grand scale; the Andes, the lakes, the distances, the deserts and the skies. We learned that it took John Daniel Evans and his Rifleros (Riflemen) almost five months to make it across the 700 kms from East to West Patagonia, but even so, the amazing fertility and beauty of the place inspires the same response as it did all those years ago from Richard Jones: 'Dyma Cwm Hyfryd' ('This is the beautiful valley). These men armed with little more than passion, determination, love for their language and people, and a cart load of ‘true grit’ trecked through some of the harshest conditions on earth and created what does indeed look like the promised land. Abundent fields lie below the crystal lakes, glaciers, rainforest and the richest biosphere known to man. And what’s more they did it without bloodshed  - negotiating and trading with the indigenous population .
            Trevelin is a great town complete with a Welsh museum, the most Welsh tea room outside the principality (Nain Maggie), a love-spoon manufacturer called Jones, and the inspirational Ysgol Gymraeg Yr Andes. This wonderful early 20th Century schoolhouse still houses an active Welsh language medium school. When we arrived, there was a class just finishing and we were able to talk in Welsh to the students and the teacher – a non-Welsh descended lady from Bariloche called Laura.

            That evening a cultural event had been arranged by Jeremy in Esquel, at which we were to present a programme in Welsh, Spanish and English, and members of the local community were asked to perform as well. We were treated to Welsh poetry, Spanish and Welsh songs: an 82 year old melodion player called Vicente Evans, Arturo Lowndes, an accordion player, and a Welsh Gaucho called Alejandro Jones, who sang two Spanish love songs and then Yfory in beautiful Welsh in a tenor voice that brought tears to the eyes. In return we sang Welsh folk songs and performed extracts from Dylan Thomas in both Spanish and Welsh. We met many characters, including a Native American Indian called Pablo who began learning Welsh some years ago after joining the choir in Esquel; all in all, a very humbling evening.
            As you can imagine this last three weeks has been the highlight of our careers, and I cannot begin to thank enough all the people who helped to make it happen: David Robertson of Theatre Of The Dales (our inspirational director), Jonathan Lamb and Jack Sprigings in Montevideo for setting everything up so faultlessly, Jeremy Wood for getting us to Patagonia, our hosts in Montevideo Ian and Leonor Stanton, the Anglo and the BBC. It would also be impossible not to mention the Dylan Thomas Centre and the Theatre, and finally all the people in Swansea that contributed so generously to help us get there.
            Everywhere we went the communities were keen to have us back. For our part, we met artists that it would be wonderful to have perform here in Swansea. Rest assured, we will be looking to make both of those things happen. This was a memorable way to mark the end of Tour de Force, and the birth of Lighthouse Theatre.

2010: SARUM VOICES WITH THE UGLY BABY

From the blurb: Sarum Voices are a young and up-and-coming choir from the south of England, with seven CD's and several European tours to their name. Formed in the early 1990's by organist and composer Ben Lamb, an ex-organ scholar from Salisbury Cathedral who is now Alto Lay Vicar at Lichfield Cathedral (where his wife Cathy plays the organ), Sarum Voices now comprise a pool of around 90 singers, both professional and amateur. In full choir format or as a barber's shop quartet called Clean Cut, they perform regularly at concerts and functions around the country. For several years they were much in demand for their 'song and verse' concerts at the Salisbury Festival with Ben's errant uncle, an ex-diplomat, actor and playwright named Jonathan Lamb. Now living in Uruguay, where he organises a fund for bringing sponsored UK shows once a year, Jonathan has published nine books of comic performance poetry: The Ugly Baby brings them all together into one volume, as read on the CD Lamb Couplets by actors like Prunella Scales, Robert Hardy, Imelda Staunton and Timothy West. Both book and CD are obtainable online from www.jclamb.com, or by e-mail to lambfam@adinet.com.uy. World-famous novelist Alexander McCall Smith has described Jonathan as 'probably the funniest poet writing in the English language today'. Sarum Voice's own website is www.sarumvoices.co.uk, but they can be heard at www.jclamb.com singing some unusual words to Beethoven's Pathétique.

The schedule for South America's first exposure to Sarum Voices with the Ugly Baby was as follows:

Fri 19 March, 9pm: British Arts Centre, Suipacha 1333, Buenos Aires, $40 (concs $30), tel 43932004

Sat 20 March, 9pm: British Arts Centre, Suipacha 1333, Buenos Aires, $40 (concs $30), tel 43932004

Wed 24 March, 8pm: Millington-Drake Theatre, Anglo Centro, San Jose 1426, Montevideo (tickets $225 from RED UTS)

Thu 25 March, 7.30pm: Millington-Drake Theatre, Anglo Centro, San Jose 1426, Montevideo (tickets $225 from RED UTS)

Fri 26 March: Mozarteum, Hotel L'Auberge, Punta del Este.

The tour was possible thanks to generous sponsorship from the British Embassy Montevideo, the Asociación Argentina de Cultura Inglesa (AACI) in Buenos Aires, the Anglo in Uruguay, the theatre company Italia Fausta and the Mozarteum Foundation. For use with language students, a free Teacher's Resource Pack was available at http://www.anglo.edu.uy.

REPORT

At the British Ambassador's Residence

The young British choir Sarum Voices came to sing in Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Punta del Este in March 2010. None of them had been to the Southern Cone before. There were eleven singers, mostly ex-choristers and musical students in their twenties and thirties. Apart from their scheduled concerts at the Anglo and Mozarteum, they busked in the Recoleta in B.A., sang on the stairs at the Residence (the British Embassy Montevideo were kindly sponsoring, as were the Anglo), did a TV and radio spot to thank their sponsors, serenaded the Portuguese Ambassador over dinner in the Auberge and offered their services free to cathedrals on both sides of the river. At the concerts they sang a mixture of ancient and modern music, a capella. They were obviously enjoying themselves. There was much frolicking on beaches, and a general appreciation of both Malbec and Tannat. They carried away alfajores (rudely mispronounced), Betty biscuits and caramelized pecans from Tienda Inglesa, and pots of dulce de leche to put on digestive biscuits with mashed banana back in the UK. Various kind members of the Community hosted them, and said it was a real pleasure. Comments on the shows ranged from ‘fantastic’ to ‘brilliant’. Discussions have been mooted for Sarum Voices or their excellent barber’s shop quartet Clean Cut to return on a commercial basis one summer. Meanwhile the non-profit host organisation www.actorstouruguay.com is looking for a touring show for next March, eg from a London drama school.

After a dip in the infinity pool chez Gus Musto

ACTORSTOURUGUAY: THE BACKGROUND

Robert Ashton as Langsdorff, Robert Rowe as the Judge and Jack Sprigings as Patrick Dove in The Drama of the River Plate (Photo: Alejandro Mirande)

www.actorstouruguay.com came into being in early 2008 as an experimental venture. The success of Uruguay’s only English-speaking drama group, the Montevideo Players, had suggested that there was an abiding interest in British theatre in the country.

Apart from the traditional Anglo-Uruguayan community, more and more Americans and Europeans were realising the advantages of coming to live in such a pleasant part of the world, and the growing global use of English ensured that the Players’ excellent amateur productions attracted a keen audience from Montevideo’s numerous language institutes.

Montevideo


At the time when the project was taking shape, it was clear that many English-speaking Uruguayans would welcome the chance to go to London and enjoy a show in the glittering lights of the West End. The cost of the journey, however - let alone the US$100 price tag of a decent London theatre ticket – deterred them. In the past, it had been possible for the West End to come to Uruguay, in the form of visiting professional companies supported by organisations like the British Council. Twenty years after the event, people still talked about an extraordinary production of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, on a bare stage at the Anglo-Uruguayan Cultural Institute, by Declan Donellan and Nick Ormerod’s ground-breaking company ‘Cheek by Jowl’. For many theatregoers, even habitués of London and Stratford, that production was the best professional Shakespeare they had ever seen.

A Uruguayan sunset


The British Council's priorities changed, however, and few - if any - professional British theatre groups now made it from the UK to the Southern Cone. This seemed a shame. To fill the gap, if only once a year, a project was devised which would offer professional British actors the chance to take a holiday on the beaches of Uruguay in the month of March, when the weather was still fine but the country was back at work. The idea was for the actors to arrive with lines learnt, have a week's holiday, then intensively rehearse an easy-to-stage show to run for three nights in a hired Montevideo theatre. Any profits would be ploughed back into the scheme for the following year. The group of actors would have their accommodation paid and their return flight from London to Montevideo.




Uruguay's Atlantic coast

And so, after much touching of wood, it actually came to be. The first production was staged in Montevideo in March 2009. Starring Robert Ashton, Robert Rowe, Jack Sprigings and Andrew Wall, with a cameo performance by the author and director, it was a courtroom drama based on the Battle of the River Plate, 70 years after the battle. In the play, history questions Hans Langsdorff, the gallant but troubled captain of the German pocket battleship Graf Spee, with testimony from Henry Harwood of the Royal Navy and Sir Eugen Millington-Drake, envoy to Montevideo. The venue was the aptly-named Millington-Drake Theatre at the country´s largest English teaching institute, the Anglo; and the resident theatre group, Italia Fausta, not only stood aside to let the production happen but sponsored it for good measure. At first the plan was to run the show for three nights, Thursday to Saturday, with an overflow on Sunday in case of need.

What happened next took the whole production team by surprise. Every seat at every performance in Montevideo and Buenos Aires sold out, extra shows had to be organized, and there was a media feeding frenzy on the play, the idea behind it, the actors, and most of all the historical story of the Graf Spee. The final report on the show came out after the actors had departed (one of them commenting 'I don´t think I´ve ever been in a play that attracted so much publicity´.) The report read as follows:

‘THE DRAMA OF THE RIVER PLATE’, MARCH - APRIL 2009: FINAL REPORT

Summary

All performances of a play in English about the Battle of the River Plate, the first touring theatre production by non-profit fund www.actorstouruguay.com, sell out in Montevideo and Buenos Aires. Heavy media coverage reflects interest in the Battle and in visiting UK shows. Value of input from Imelda Staunton and other film celebrities. Hopefully the takings will pay part of the air fares for a visiting choir in 2010, with sponsors providing the rest.

Detail

(Photo: El Pais)

Three professional British actors made their first visit to the Southern Cone in March 2009 to rehearse and stage a new play by Jonathan Lamb called ‘The Drama of the River Plate’, 70 years after the battle. Set in an imaginary courtroom of history, the play used flashbacks to revisit the final days of the pocket battleship Graf Spee and of her gallant but doomed captain, Hans Langsdorff. Why did Langsdorff attack three British cruisers on the morning of 13 December 1939? Why did he turn tail and seek refuge in Uruguay instead of Argentina? Why did he scuttle his ship? Why, several nights later, did he shoot himself in Buenos Aires on the ensign from the Graf Spee? In seven performances in Montevideo, Punta del Este and Buenos Aires lasting just over an hour, with five actors (the three visitors plus two locals) and excellent voiceovers kindly recorded for the occasion by film stars Imelda Staunton, Martin Jarvis and Jim Carter, the play attempted to answer these questions to the satisfaction of theatregoers, historians, tourists and students of English.

(Photo: Alejandro Mirande)

Everybody involved in the production was surprised at the public’s response. There had never been a play about the battle before, but the author, while doing guided tours of Montevideo, had noticed how interested tourists were in the events of December 1939, and he had received financial backing for the venture from Lloyds TSB and Lloyds Private Banking. Buquebus ferries donated free tickets. Local theatre groups and the ‘Anglo’ cultural/EFL institutes in Montevideo and Buenos Aires provided publicity and excellent theatres, 280 and 170 seats respectively. Within days, all six scheduled performances in the capitals sold out, no doubt helped by the celebrity voiceovers; so did an extra matinee for schools; and some 400 people attended a second additional performance hosted by the tourism department of Punta del Este. The total attendance at the eight shows was over 2000.

One of those most surprised was the author himself. By the end of the run he had done sixteen interviews: seven for the radio, four for television and five for the press. The show made the cover of the entertainments supplement in the English-language daily the Buenos Aires Herald, and the cover of the newspaper itself. It seemed that the story of the Graf Spee was of unusual interest.

So, what next? The long-term aim of ‘The Drama of the River Plate’ was to prime the pump of www.actorstouruguay.com, a fund for bringing an annual UK show to Uruguay in the absence of the British Council. Planned for 2010 is a tour by Sarum Voices, a highly-regarded choir from the south of England, for a mixture of a capella music and comedy. It would be good if this tour could also include Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Santiago de Chile. About half of the choir’s fares have been covered by takings from The Drama of the River Plate, but sponsors are still needed. In the meantime the actors will be looking to tour the show in the UK, the script will be translated into Spanish, and the author will offer it to the BBC as a radio play while seeing if a shortened version could be staged in Uruguay for tourists from cruise ships.

The following review of the play by Verity Mulkeen appeared in The Argentimes:

This year is the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the River Plate, and as such, The London Touring Theatre Company decided to commemorate the date with this play, based around the trial of the German’s ship captain, Hans Langsdorff, played by Robert Ashton. The show has been performed in Uruguay at two separate venues and this weekend arrives in Buenos Aires.

In December 1939, a German war ship engaged three British ships in battle in the Southern Atlantic. The German ship sustained severe losses, both human and in terms of damage to the ship and had to dock in Montevideo for repairs, at which point, the British planned to block them in the estuary and force them into surrender. Langsdorff took extraordinary measures to save the lives of his crew and prevent the British from benefiting from the use of their weapons and other equipment.