Countdown to Eden

October 13, 2010 :: Related project: Not My Fault

The countdown to Eden is on, with our full cast and crew for ‘State of Nature’ on board and ready to start rehearsals on Monday.

The past two months have seen ‘State of Nature’ by Simon Turley, and the three short pieces by young writers - our ‘pocket-sized plays - finalised for publication. They are being published together in one volume by Parthian, and will be ready for sale at the Eden Project during the performances in November. You can also pre-order now on Amazon.co.uk

Development of the other two ‘Not My Fault’ plays continues, with input from leading clinicians in their fields. Selma Dimitrijevic is in discussion with Emma Newall, an education consultant with a background in genetic counselling; the second draft of Selma’s play ‘Extremely Brief and Violent’ will soon be ready, and we will be staging a reading of an extract of the play during the launch event at the Eden Project.

Alison Falconer’s play about Huntington’s Disease is now called ‘50/50’ and is being developed in association with Dr Peter Turnpenny of the Clinical Genetics Department of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. An extract from Alison’s play will also be read at the Eden Project launch event.

September saw an intense period of auditions and interviews, from which we have appointed a full cast and production team, who are ready to start rehearsals in London on 18th October. Our newly appointed production team includes a Press Officer and Production Assistant, both of whom are making a great contribution to the communications plan.

The relationship with the Eden Project has been really positive, with the team making a number of visits over the past three months to confirm location, design, technical arrangements, sales and marketing.  Despite facing the challenge of a change of location during the design process, we are still on schedule, and on 5th October the final design was presented to eight members of Eden Staff from across all departments, to a warm response. 

In addition to performances every day 17th – 25th November (except 22nd), we are staging a Launch Event on Saturday 20th November. As well as having the opportunity to see ‘State of Nature’ and the young writers’ plays, attendees will be invited to a reception event, with a reading of Selma’s play and a panel discussion addressing the themes of ‘State of Nature’.  This forms an important part of our public engagement activity, as members of the public will be able to ask questions about the development of the work, provide personal insight into how the issues have affected them, and, as always, provide inspiration for future initiatives!  For those who are interested but not able to attend, we will be making a recording of the play; this will be available to download as a podcast via our website.

Throughout rehearsals we will be uploading interviews with cast and crew on our website, and sending out regular updates through our social networks. Follow us on facebook and twitter for all the backstage news!

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