Matthew Bulgo's Posts - National Theatre Wales Community2024-03-29T06:46:45ZMatthew Bulgohttps://community.nationaltheatrewales.org/profile/MatthewBulgohttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8555185462?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://community.nationaltheatrewales.org/profiles/blog/feed?user=285d84laz7y10&xn_auth=noLast Christmas - 4 starstag:community.nationaltheatrewales.org,2014-08-05:3152760:BlogPost:2026482014-08-05T07:54:11.000ZMatthew Bulgohttps://community.nationaltheatrewales.org/profile/MatthewBulgo
The first review is in for Dirty Protest's LAST CHRISTMAS.<br />
<br />
Read it here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://edfringereview.com/r/U19mXAP8T_mM9geTXDx6yg">http://edfringereview.com/r/U19mXAP8T_mM9geTXDx6yg</a>
The first review is in for Dirty Protest's LAST CHRISTMAS.<br />
<br />
Read it here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://edfringereview.com/r/U19mXAP8T_mM9geTXDx6yg">http://edfringereview.com/r/U19mXAP8T_mM9geTXDx6yg</a>Edinburgh Day #1 - THE FUTURE FOR BEGINNERStag:community.nationaltheatrewales.org,2014-08-02:3152760:BlogPost:2024252014-08-02T13:00:27.000ZMatthew Bulgohttps://community.nationaltheatrewales.org/profile/MatthewBulgo
Well, we have arrived at the Edinburgh Fringe and what a long journey it’s been…and I’m not just talking about the 12 hour van-journey that Alan and Martin did on Wednesday.<br />
<br />
We first started developing THE FUTURE FOR BEGINNERS a good few years ago and the Wales Millennium Centre has been with us every step of the way. This is my 2nd WMC Edinburgh (I performed in I’M WITH THE BAND at the Traverse last year which was a co-production) and every time I’ve worked with them I’ve been amazed and…
Well, we have arrived at the Edinburgh Fringe and what a long journey it’s been…and I’m not just talking about the 12 hour van-journey that Alan and Martin did on Wednesday.<br />
<br />
We first started developing THE FUTURE FOR BEGINNERS a good few years ago and the Wales Millennium Centre has been with us every step of the way. This is my 2nd WMC Edinburgh (I performed in I’M WITH THE BAND at the Traverse last year which was a co-production) and every time I’ve worked with them I’ve been amazed and delighted by the amount of freedom they give their supported artists in expressing themselves and creating new work.<br />
<br />
This is very much true of TFFB – part play and part opera. It’s a true mash-up of text, music and physicality. Oh, and it’s got ukeleles in it.<br />
<br />
When people have asked what the show is like I’ve looked pensive for a few seconds and said “Just come and see it!”…so just come and see it.Sherman Swingerstag:community.nationaltheatrewales.org,2012-07-16:3152760:BlogPost:1283132012-07-16T22:23:15.000ZMatthew Bulgohttps://community.nationaltheatrewales.org/profile/MatthewBulgo
<p>I've started compiling a list of what I need to pack for this Friday's little adventure...</p>
<p>Torch</p>
<p>Spare Torch</p>
<p>Batteries</p>
<p>Spare Batteries</p>
<p>1 x Plastic Carrier Bag (you never know when one is going to come in useful)</p>
<p>Sensible Walking Shoes</p>
<p>A Multitude of Snacks</p>
<p>Swiss Army Knife</p>
<p>Matches</p>
<p>Camping Stove</p>
<p>Sleeping Bag</p>
<p>Hatchet</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maybe I'm being a little bit over overcautious...</p>
<p>In case you hadn't…</p>
<p>I've started compiling a list of what I need to pack for this Friday's little adventure...</p>
<p>Torch</p>
<p>Spare Torch</p>
<p>Batteries</p>
<p>Spare Batteries</p>
<p>1 x Plastic Carrier Bag (you never know when one is going to come in useful)</p>
<p>Sensible Walking Shoes</p>
<p>A Multitude of Snacks</p>
<p>Swiss Army Knife</p>
<p>Matches</p>
<p>Camping Stove</p>
<p>Sleeping Bag</p>
<p>Hatchet</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maybe I'm being a little bit over overcautious...</p>
<p>In case you hadn't heard, Sherman Cymru have invited (or should that be coerced) a group of 20 writers to take part in a project this coming weekend entitled 'Sherman Swingers'. Those of you who are fearing that the following paragraphs might be a little too racy for you, please do read on – it's just a clever title. And those of you thinking “This sounds like my kind of event...”, don't get <em>too</em> excited. It's not <em>that</em> sort of a night. Sorry to disappoint.</p>
<p>'Sherman Swingers' is the brainchild of recently appointed Associate Director at Sherman Cymru, Roisin McBrinn, and the project will see 20 writers, 10 directors and around 40 actors collaborating over one weekend to create an evening of short, sharp and responsive theatre that is set to take over the entire Sherman building.</p>
<p>From what I gather, the masses will gather at Sherman Cymru on Friday night to launch the project. There'll be a bowl of keys (hence the 'Swingers' label), 1 for each writer which will open a room somewhere in the building. (I think) We'll also be paired up with a director and some actors and at the end of the night, they'll all return to their cosy beds at home, maybe a little sozzled. However, 19 other writers and I will have a night of hard graft ahead of us. We will be ensconced somewhere in the bowels of the Sherman building, filled to the very brim with as much caffeine as we can bear, and by 9am the next morning we will need to each deliver a (very) responsive short play to be performed in the room that fits our key. This is where my earlier list comes into play.</p>
<p>When Roisin first mentioned the project to me at the start of the year, I jumped at the chance to be involved. The disproportion between the number of jobbing playwrights in Wales and the number of production opportunities available to them has always made for grim reading, so any project that gets 20 writers' plays (albeit short ones) realised gets a massive double thumbs up from me. However, once the idea started to sink in of spending a whole night in a massive, dark, possibly-haunted building with 19 other caffeined-crazed, unpredictable, creative sorts...I did have few pangs of anxiety. The Shining is one of my favourite films and I have a very active imagination. Maybe I'll scratch the hatchet of my provisions list...I wouldn't want it getting into the wrong hands.</p>
<p>In all seriousness, there are a few items that I never write without, which I'll need to cram into my overnight bag – my lucky pen (I'm a write-then-type sorta guy, I have to admit), a hardy jumper (I find being cold is always a major distraction to me getting any work done), my workbook (a journal of snippets, clipping, photos, overheard phrases, postcards – always a source of provocation should the dreaded 'block' take hold), something fizzy and caffeinated, some veggie Haribo and...well, I'll leave you to guess the other contents. I always like to leave a bit of an enigma.</p>
<p>I'm really excited to have been included in the 20 writers selected to take part in 'Sherman Swingers' (“some of the hottest talent in Welsh theatre” - lifted from their blurb, their words not mine). Many of the writers I consider very good friends, and the others I have admired from afar (I'm sure we'll get to know each other a helluva lot better come Friday). I've had the pleasure of working on plays by many of them during my time with Dirty Protest over the past year, and a select bunch I would probably hold responsible for making me want to write in the first place...so if my piece is rubbish, I guess, technically, it's their fault.</p>
<p>Should we make it through the night, our pieces will then be rehearsed throughout Saturday and Sunday and will culminate in a walking-tour of one-night only performances set to take over the entire Sherman Cymru building – a mini festival of responsive playlets, a micro Latitude dedicated solely to theatre and sans mud (my kind of festival, I've never been a big fan of camping). I, like a lot of writers involved I'm sure, always find it easier to work towards a definite deadline but this really does take the biscuit. I'll be doing my damnedest to get in as much beauty sleep this week as I possibly can and I hopefully won't be having too many anxiety dreams (a reoccuring one features me dressed in dungarees riding a child's tricycle around the corridors of the Sherman, whilst being pursued by a bloodthirsty, axe-wielding Alan Harris).</p>
<p>Suffice to say, I'm mildly terrified, thoroughly excited, absolutely petrified and hugely looking forward to being part of 'Sherman Swingers' this weekend.</p>
<p>Details can be found here: <a href="http://www.shermancymru.co.uk/performance/theatre/shermanswingers/">http://www.shermancymru.co.uk/performance/theatre/shermanswingers/</a></p>
<p>Hope to see some of you there. Please be nice – we won't have slept much.</p>Clytemnestra - Up and Running!tag:community.nationaltheatrewales.org,2012-04-24:3152760:BlogPost:1196572012-04-24T14:02:01.000ZMatthew Bulgohttps://community.nationaltheatrewales.org/profile/MatthewBulgo
<p> </p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Well, it was 6 weeks ago that we embarked on rehearsals for Sherman Cymru's production of Clytemnestra, adapted by former National Poet of Wales, Gwyneth Lewis.</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">After our readthrough on the first day, which clocked in at a far-from-mammoth 45 minutes, I think a few of us maybe questioned whether we were going to need 5 and a half week…</p>
<p> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western">Well, it was 6 weeks ago that we embarked on rehearsals for Sherman Cymru's production of Clytemnestra, adapted by former National Poet of Wales, Gwyneth Lewis.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western"></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western">After our readthrough on the first day, which clocked in at a far-from-mammoth 45 minutes, I think a few of us maybe questioned whether we were going to need 5 and a half week rehearsal process. How wrong we were. We've needed every possible minute!</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western"></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western">The rehearsal process has very much felt like trying to keep lots of plates spinning simultaneously. Obviously, our main focus has been trying to do justice to Gwyneth's very visceral and muscular text and help create Amy's vision for the overall piece but there have been many other layers that we've had to explore along the way. In creating the world of the play, we've had to create a physical language for the production and we've been very much put through our paces by our choreographer, Dr. Johan Stjernholm (who we affectionately refer to as Dr. Dance). A large amount of the rehearsal process has also focused on the sonic asks of the play – Simon Thorn has created a very haunting and brutal soundscape for the piece which is augmented by live sound created by the cast (both on and offstage) which works within very definite parameters but which differs every night as it feeds from the action that is happening onstage.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western"></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western">It wasn't until we reached production week, that we realised that when we got those three plates spinning (Gwyneth's text along with the movement language and an almost constant underscore) some very special things happen on stage and suddenly three very different facets of performance harmonise.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western"></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western">And I haven't even mentioned takis' bold design for the production, which is an absolute pleasure to perform on and Lee Curran's utterly exquisite lighting – one cast member quite rightly said during tech “:He's <i>really</i> <span style="font-style: normal;">good</span><i>.</i> <span style="font-style: normal;">He doesn't just make the set look beautiful. He makes us look pretty good too!”. And I wholeheartedly agree.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western"></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western">We've only added 30 minutes onto the piece since our first readthrough (that's right – a rather lithe 75 minute Greek tragedy) but trust me when I say that it is jam-packed with 6 weeks of blood, sweat and tears.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western"></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western">Now that the pressures of previews and press night are out of the way, the show is really starting to breathe and grow and we are starting to find some very exciting new resonances and nuances in it.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western"></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western">Oh, and I haven't even mentioned by mesh toga-cum-onesie.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western"></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western">We all hope you're able to make it along to a performance – here's what some audience members have had to say about it so far...</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western"></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western"><a href="http://www.shermancymru.co.uk/performance/theatre/clytemnestra/">http://www.shermancymru.co.uk/performance/theatre/clytemnestra/</a></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western"></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western">We run Monday to Saturday until May 5<sup>th</sup>, and tonight and tomorrow there is a 2-for-1 Ticket Offer for NTW Community Member. Just quote the offer when calling to book tickets on 029 2064 6900</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western"></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western">Ooo, and the Sherman Cymru Cafe Bar is doing a special 'Greek Mezze Menu' for the duration of Clytemnestra which is well worth partaking in. I can fully vouch for it.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western"></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western">And...well...if that isn't enough to tempt you, this is probably the only occasion when you're ever going to see me wearing a mesh onesie.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western"></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western">If that's doesn't tempt you, I don't know what will.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western"></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" class="western">Hope to see you at one of our performances over the next 2 weeks.</p>An Offer of Marriage and My First Born...tag:community.nationaltheatrewales.org,2010-08-19:3152760:BlogPost:397892010-08-19T06:53:49.000ZMatthew Bulgohttps://community.nationaltheatrewales.org/profile/MatthewBulgo
<p>...in exchange for two tickets for this Saturday's performance of The Persians.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I can't say fairer than that. I'm bringing out the big guns.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Matthew X</p>
<p>...in exchange for two tickets for this Saturday's performance of The Persians.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I can't say fairer than that. I'm bringing out the big guns.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Matthew X</p>In Desperate Need...tag:community.nationaltheatrewales.org,2010-08-07:3152760:BlogPost:390082010-08-07T09:34:25.000ZMatthew Bulgohttps://community.nationaltheatrewales.org/profile/MatthewBulgo
<p>...of 2 tickets for <strong>The Persians</strong>. If anyone can help, please get in touch with me on here!</p>
<p></p>
<p>Matthew</p>
<p>...of 2 tickets for <strong>The Persians</strong>. If anyone can help, please get in touch with me on here!</p>
<p></p>
<p>Matthew</p>We Need YOUtag:community.nationaltheatrewales.org,2010-06-16:3152760:BlogPost:346302010-06-16T09:43:38.000ZMatthew Bulgohttps://community.nationaltheatrewales.org/profile/MatthewBulgo
<p>Hello</p>
<p></p>
<p>I'm curating a wee event for Undeb Theatre's Cardiff Identity Festival this Sunday and we need your help in creating 4 bespoke pieces of theatre about Cardiff and it's identity...</p>
<p></p>
<p>What does Cardiff mean to you? If you had to sum up Cardiff in a word, phrase, object, photograph, street, pub, shop, memory...whatever...what would it be?</p>
<p></p>
<p>Please comment on this blog with your 'slice of Cardiff''...and then why not come along to the Cardiff Arts…</p>
<p>Hello</p>
<p></p>
<p>I'm curating a wee event for Undeb Theatre's Cardiff Identity Festival this Sunday and we need your help in creating 4 bespoke pieces of theatre about Cardiff and it's identity...</p>
<p></p>
<p>What does Cardiff mean to you? If you had to sum up Cardiff in a word, phrase, object, photograph, street, pub, shop, memory...whatever...what would it be?</p>
<p></p>
<p>Please comment on this blog with your 'slice of Cardiff''...and then why not come along to the Cardiff Arts Institute this Sunday to see how it gets woven in to the work.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Many thanks</p>
<p></p>
<p>Matthew X</p>Lacuna @ Springboardtag:community.nationaltheatrewales.org,2009-05-27:3152760:BlogPost:25632009-05-27T08:08:35.000ZMatthew Bulgohttps://community.nationaltheatrewales.org/profile/MatthewBulgo
This is my second play which I wrote as part of the Sherman's New Writing Course last Autumn. It's getting a public rehearsed reading as part of Egin: Springboard at the Sherman. Please feel free to come along and hold my hand.<br />
<br />
Matthew X<br />
<br />
<br />
Lacuna<br />
<br />
By Matthew Bulgo<br />
Directed by Suzanne Phillips<br />
Cast: Caitlin Richards and Gareth Milton<br />
<br />
Sally can remember everything. Except the face of her lover. Her memory is full, apart from the gaps where he should be.<br />
<br />
Matthew Bulgo’s play is a taut…
This is my second play which I wrote as part of the Sherman's New Writing Course last Autumn. It's getting a public rehearsed reading as part of Egin: Springboard at the Sherman. Please feel free to come along and hold my hand.<br />
<br />
Matthew X<br />
<br />
<br />
Lacuna<br />
<br />
By Matthew Bulgo<br />
Directed by Suzanne Phillips<br />
Cast: Caitlin Richards and Gareth Milton<br />
<br />
Sally can remember everything. Except the face of her lover. Her memory is full, apart from the gaps where he should be.<br />
<br />
Matthew Bulgo’s play is a taut exploration of a harrowing side-effect of grief.<br />
<br />
Thursday June 4th, 7:15pm<br />
Sherman Cymru, Venue 2<br />
<br />
Limited capacity, and for one night only. Book while you can! More details and tickets available here:<br />
<br />
http://www.shermancymru.co.uk/performance/drama/lacuna/4 more chances to see The Exquisite Corpsetag:community.nationaltheatrewales.org,2009-05-27:3152760:BlogPost:25552009-05-27T08:02:53.000ZMatthew Bulgohttps://community.nationaltheatrewales.org/profile/MatthewBulgo
Hello all<br />
<br />
Like the title says...only 4 more performances left of True/Fiction Theatre's critically acclaimed production of The Exquisite Corpse. If you happen to be in London between now and the end of the week, do try and catch it!<br />
<br />
"Magical... Mesmerising... Beautiful storytelling"<br />
The Guardian (4 stars)<br />
<br />
It's running at the Southwark Playhouse, every night until Saturday 30th May at 7:30.<br />
<br />
More details can be found…
Hello all<br />
<br />
Like the title says...only 4 more performances left of True/Fiction Theatre's critically acclaimed production of The Exquisite Corpse. If you happen to be in London between now and the end of the week, do try and catch it!<br />
<br />
"Magical... Mesmerising... Beautiful storytelling"<br />
The Guardian (4 stars)<br />
<br />
It's running at the Southwark Playhouse, every night until Saturday 30th May at 7:30.<br />
<br />
More details can be found here:<br />
<br />
http://www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/whatson_detail.php?record_number=131<br />
<br />
If you saw the show in Cardiff, Edinburgh or London, please do leave a comment and let us know what you thought.<br />
<br />
M X