Comment: I, Daniel Blake

I, Daniel Blake was screened at the Flavel recently, and one of our cinema-goers sent in a comment after seeing it

"So pleased I got to see 'I, Daniel Blake'.  Certainly a disturbing and thought provoking film on many levels.  Do get to see it if you possibly can.

The main problem to me seems to be that nobody (or very few) actually listens.
Dan was entitled to help - there would have been money for him - but bureaucracy got in the way, and an inability to think outside the box.
For example, this poor man who had never had anything to do with computers in his life, kept getting told to 'go on line'.  I totally related to that!!
He couldn't fill in his forms.  He wrote out a CV by hand - that wouldn't do.  He was told to look for jobs.  He spent the whole week going round doing just that - but they asked for proof.  There must surely be somebody who could pick up people like Dan who had paid his contributions all his life and wanted to work, and help him.  Enough said!!"

News: Flavel Staff Visit the National Theatre

Behind the Scenes at the National Theatre 

Deb Penn and Dan Nichols (Duty Managers), were invited to a behind the scenes tour of the National Theatre (NT) recently, and reported their experience.

 As one of 900 venues that now take part in live to screen theatre, it was an opportunity to talk with other exhibitors, as well as appreciate the huge amount of work that goes into screening each live performance.

Along with the Royal Opera House and others,The Flavel has a contract with the National Theatre, which means we agree to screen a number of their plays and we buy this as a whole package. Sometimes this includes some lesser known plays, and we are part of a national drive to reach out to wider audiences. and this helps us to fulfil the requirements of our charitable trust status.

A presentation from camera director Tim van Someren, made Deb and Dan appreciate how privileged we are to be the recipients of the huge amount of technicality and expertise needed to provide us with this unique view of a play, not witnessed by members of the audience sitting in the NT, who have often paid in excess of £100. Apparently, the world’s best camera men and directors work on NT Live performances and it is a very special evening for the actors and crew. We also get the benefit of behind the scenes interviews with some of the actors that help our understanding of setting the play in a particular context.

When a play has the go ahead to be screened live, a new production team move in and often rearrange the set, wigs, make up and rebuild the set. They also take out 300 seats. The challenge for the director is to capture the right person at the right time delivering the right line. It’s the small things that the camera focuses on, that make the live broadcasts so extraordinary, and all for a fraction of the cost. As in a film experience, the NT Live’s camera director has huge power over what he/she chooses to focus on. This will give us a different perspective from a member of the public viewing the same performance during that evening.  

On the night of the live broadcast, although there are still people in the NT who are aware that the 8 cameras are present, their experience is more one of being in a live studio. The production team literally call the shots like a conductor, turning the feed from all the cameras into a seamless live broadcast. Mistakes do happen, as obviously none of it is edited.

Due to the success of NT Live, they now have partnerships with other theatres so that is why we sometimes have productions from The Donmar Warehouse and Mice and Men etc from Broadway.

The most successful selling broadcast to date has been Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch, closely followed by The Audience with Helen Mirren.

Many people remark on the lack of young people in our audience for classic plays. As NT Live on demand has been released exclusively to secondary schools as a free teaching aid, this might be an explanation, and is such a fantastic resource.

The Director of the NT Rufus Norris, gave a presentation on upcoming events and warned that the only way people would be able to see these almost sold out productions would be in their local venues.

Upcoming productions include:

·        15 December - No Man’s Land (Pinter) from Broadway – Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. This is sold out and will include a post production question and answer session.

·        2 February - Amadeus is almost sold out. This is a classical musical crossover. Dan and I watched the understudy rehearsal which we found to be rich and mesmerising.

·        9 March - Hedda Gabler will be a bold and new retelling of this classic tale starring the brilliant Ruth Wilson of Jane Eyre and The Affair fame. Will definitely sell out. 

·        6th April - Twelfth Night - will be a different take, set in the Mediterranean modern day

·        The Salome - music and nudity

·        Angels in America

 This is a unique way of seeing these wonderful productions, so if you haven’t yet experienced a live screening, do make sure you get your tickets in good time. 

Click on the link below to find out more and to book tickets:

http://theflavel.org.uk/TheFlavel.dll/WhatsOn