As The Senior Drama Group of Centre Stage;
Upstaged Theatre Company is a member of the National Association of Youth Theatres.
About UpStaged Theatre Company
Established in 2006 and based in North London, Upstaged Theatre Company is a vibrant and up and coming theatre company for performers aged 16+, which offers acting training whilst working towards productions. At Upstaged Theatre Company we continue to push the boundaries of our own success and always strife to better our productions and will always look to new and creative ways of generating and achieving the highest standard of theatre possible.
Following successful productions in London of The Crucible, The Love of a Nightingale and Les Miserables, we have since been transferring our work to the Edinburgh & Camden Fringe Festivals since 2009 with The Penelopiad, 100, a new play called Killing Swine and Shakespeare’s bloody classic Macbeth.
For 2012, Upstaged produced a further two productions. Firstly, a new and innovative version of Frank Wedekind's Spring Awakening which performed to great reviews at this year's Edinburgh Fringe. The cast followed this success with a week long run at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden. The second play was John Godber's classroom comedy Teechers, which played at Upstairs At The Gatehouse as part of The Camden Fringe and later transferred to our resident theatre 'Theatro Technis' in Camden.
Former members of Upstaged Theatre Company have gone on to train at RADA, Bristol Old Vic, Mountview, ALRA, The Brit School and Arts Ed; with a number of second and third round recalls at Central, LAMDA, Drama Centre and Rose Bruford amongst others. Other students have gained agency representation or work straight away and gone on to appear in film and TV hits such as Children of Men, Shooting Dogs, Hugo, Wolfman, Hollyoaks, My Parents are Aliens and Porgy and Bess.
UpStaged Theatre Company is always looking to expand and extend it's turnover of productions by creating a pool of actors that would be readily available to perform regularly, in order to sharpen their art, perfect their skills, hone their talent and realise those performance dreams, in an expanding, ambitious company that can nurture, train and offer that platform for success.
Nick Hooton
Artistic Director
UpStaged Theatre Company & Centre Stage School of Performing Arts
UpStaged Theatre Company's next production
Our House
A fast moving romantic comedy about Joe Casey, his mates, his girlfriend and the night he commits a petty crime to impress her. It follows the two paths his life would take if he stays to face the music when the police appear or if he makes a run for it.
EDINBURGH & CAMDEN FRINGE REVIEWS 2012
TEECHERS
Directed by Nick Hooton
* * * *
The production by Upstage Theatre Company certainly didn’t disappoint. The show is fast-moving and thoroughly entertaining with dialogue and characters that are both realistic and amusing and a soundtrack that immediately made me smile. The story is told against a simple set of 7 chairs, but the use of these was highly imaginative so that they were transformed into such things as tables and even a wall timetable. In fact the overall production was a credit to the show with the cast also forming several montages throughout the play in order to create their set. And for this, I can only commend the cast; with several scene changes, costume changes and indeed character changes the show never lost energy and the cast dealt with the changes well.
Written By Carrie Rian Johnson for Broadway Baby, Camden fringe 2012
http://www.broadwaybaby.com/listing.php?id=17229
Upstaged Theatre Company manage to pull off John Godber's Teechers successfully… The set is basic but effective… All the performers had a number of key well expressed comedy moments and there were certainly no dud performances… The characters are well defined by the troupe of enthusiastic performers… Keep an eye on Upstaged for their next production as this was well cast and it will be interesting to see what this company does next!
Written By Skye Crawford for Fringe Reviwer, Camden Fringe 2012
http://www.fringereview.co.uk/fringeReview/4836.html
EDINBURGH & CAMDEN FRINGE REVIEWS 2011
MACBETH
Directed by Nick Hooton
* * * *
Three Weeks
Follow the link for video highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEyffTD8NLw |
* * * *
Violence, slaughter and murder – Upstaged Theatre’s ‘Macbeth’ is in fact a faithful portrayal of the brutality common in Elizabethan drama and the talented young cast deserve much praise for the difficult task of maintaining the relentless audience alienation and disturbing cruelty.
Written by Alice Longhurst for Three Weeks, Edinburgh Fringe 2011
www.threeweeks.co.uk/?s=macbeth
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Upstaged Theatre Company have excelled themselves with Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Shakespeare’s play was transferred to a modern setting of corrupt gang culture, the script was cleverly reduced, using action and music in place of words and as such, this was very much an ensemble piece by a collectively impressive cast.
As a whole the production was saturated with a strong sense of style, positively dripping with a bleak, ominous atmosphere.
Written by Ed Nightingale for On the Fringe 2011
www.onthefringepaper.co.uk/?p=1005
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A very charismatic and strong performance.
Written for Edfringe.com 2011
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Upstaged Theatre Company’s Macbeth has a raw energy that appeals, with direction that is fresh, well-presented and shows some originality and a cast that is indeed, as advertised, young and vibrant.
Written by Danielle Farrow for the Edinburgh Spotlight, Edinburgh Fringe 2011
www.edinburghspotlight.com/2011/08/fringe-review-%e2%80%93-macbeth-paradise-in-augustine%e2%80%99s/
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How refreshing to see a group getting to grips with Shakespeare's well-known text and giving it a facelift of sorts.
There were some very well-executed scenes and a brilliantly choreographed fight scene between Macbeth and Macduff. Risks in this production do work because there is a good energy about the piece and much life has been breathed into a faithful retelling of the plot.
Written by Fen Greatley for Broadway Baby, Edinburgh Fringe 2011
www.broadwaybaby.com/edinburgh-fringe/10749-macbeth
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KILLING SWINE
Written and Directed by Will Sherriff Hammond
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* * * *
From start to finish, Killing Swine was an evocative masterpiece that tantalized the mind with its thrilling dialogue and tense atmosphere.
The play was immensely enjoyable and I was glued to my seat throughout the performance. The actors performed their roles with great skill and used the modest design around them to give a heart – breaking presentation.
Written by Rochelle Sampy for Fringe Review, Camden Fringe 201
www.fringereview.co.uk/fringeReview/4430.html
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Manipulation is the key theme in Killing Swine, a youth tale inspired by the narrative and script of Macbeth. It parallels the company themselves, as a group of drama students assemble to create a piece that takes influence from Shakespeare’s play.
This was a clever adaptation tha
t took elements of Macbeth and combined them with youthful energy for an utterly contemporary play. Interspersed amongst the rehearsal scenes were a number of monologues that touched on various teen issues and allowed the confident young performers to shine.
Written by Ed Nightingale for On the Fringe 2011
www.onthefringepaper.co.uk/?p=1005
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Upstaged Theatre, the production company based at Centre Stage School of Performing Arts have devised a rather astonishing play. Hammond’s script and direction are excellent.
This is a school production, albeit one of impressive maturity, and while I could single out individual performances that were stronger or weaker, I will instead say that a calm centre and confidence has been instilled in every performer.
An exceptional theatre school
Written by Alan Hindle for Snipe London, Camden Fringe 2011
www.snipelondon.com/theatre/killing-swine
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PAST PRODUCTIONS WITH UPSTAGED THEATRE COMPANY
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2012 - Teechers -Performed at Upstairs At The Gatehouse, Camden Fringe & Theatro Technis
2012 - Spring Awakening - Perfomed at Edinburgh Fringe Festival & The Tristan Bates Theatre
2011 - Macbeth - Performed at Theatro Technis & Edinburgh Fringe Festival
2011 - Killing Swine – Performed at Camden Fringe Festival
2011 - Les Miserables School Edition - Performed at Aylward Theatre
2010 - 100 – Performed at Theatro Technis & Edinburgh Fringe Festival
2009 - The Penelopiad – Performed at Theatro Technis & Edinburgh Fringe Festival
2008 - The Love Of The Nightingale – Performed at Theatro Technis
2007 - The Crucible – Performed at Theatro Technis
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Each member will be expected to fully commit to the rehearsals and production and will be required to contribute a nominal fee towards the running costs of the company.
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