Archived News

cerberus

theatre

company

N E W S

From July 1999 Cerberus news will be presented as an abridged copy of the monthly newsletter sent to our mailing list subscribers.

autumn (October) 1999

New Project

Cerberus is delighted to announce the launch of an important new project that will be developed over the next three years as a major piece of new international theatre. The work, though contemporary in style, has a strong historical root - much of the preparatory development work will draw heavily on source material involving those who were evicted from their homes during the Scottish Highland Clearances who subsequently went on to become perpetrators of Aboriginal genocide in Australia.

In keeping with Cerberus's commitment to collaborative developement practice, we have joined forces with TOSG (the Gaelic language theatre company based on the isle of Skye) and Gaelic bard Aonghas MacNeacail (winner of the 1997 Stakis Scottish Book of the Year award)

We are currently building network connections with companies and individuals in Australia (as well as Aboriginal artists living and working elsewhere in the world), as we are committed to bringing an Aboriginal voice - individual or company - to the development of this project.

Anyone with helpful information - or with ideas stirred up be this simplistic breakdown of the project - are very welcome to get in touch with us. Contact; cerberus.co@freeuk.com

Further details on this exciting new work will be posted as and when they become available. A full report on a two day workshop taking place in Edinburgh during November 1999 (featuring Cerberus director Andi Ross, author Michael Begg, TOSG artistic director Sim MacCoinnich, Poet Aonghas MacNeacail, among others) will be added to the site sometime in December. A note will be posted to the mailing list round about the same time!

Edinburgh festival reviews

The Edinburgh Festival has been and gone. Cerberus sent Michael Begg out as a scout to see several shows while he was filing reviews for Chihuahua's 'bigwig festival' site. His reviews of nine shows (ranging from British drama, Russian clowning and Korean percussion to Sufi trance performance) can still be found at www.bigwig.net/edinburghfestivals

Sean Hay

Cerberus member Sean Hay shall be working through the winter on major new productions with both Boilerhouse and Benchtours. The Boilerhouse production is called 'Circus' and will be playing Edinburgh and Glasgow in November, followed by a national tour running December - January. The Benchtours production is an interpretation of Brecht's 'Caucasian Chalk Circle' and will be on national tour from February - April 2000.

'Telling Tales' project

Throughout the summer, Michael Begg has been working with singer/songwriter Sophie Bancroft and storyteller Helen Dunbar to produce a show based on workshops carried out in ten hospitals over the Midlothian / East Lothian area. The as yet un-titled performance, devised around the recollections of elderly dementia sufferers, is now booked to take place at the Brunton Theatre on 25th November 1999. A specially recorded audio version of the production shall be available towards the end of the year.

New domain site for Cerberus Theatre Company

Cerberus has secured it's own domain! You can now find our pages online at www.cerberustheatre.co.uk However, as this is a new server, we are keeping the site active on it's current server (www.cerberus.co.freeuk.com) until we are sure the new location is operating smoothly.

New Messageboard

On 15th September Cerberus set up a new messageboard for the International Theatre Community. Initially, this move has been prompted by our wish to contact 'theatre people' in Australia. (see related story above) We are still eager to gain further info/contacts from Australia - so keep those emails a'comin!

Hopefully, the board will grow organically (as these things tend to do) and find it's own long term uses as it goes along. Do with it as you will. Link either through the cerberus site (it is linked to from every page), or directly by this URL - www.insidetheweb.com/mbs.cgi/mb754505

interim news. august 1999

Michael Begg's reviews from the 1999 Edinburgh Fringe Festival can be found at www.bigwig.net/edinburghfetivals

The Cerberus Theatre Company site has been updated to offer a frames / no frames option for visitors. If you have a frames compatible browser each page on the site should now load a lot quicker.

newsletter july 1999

site updates

The Cerberus Theatre Company site has had a couple of new additions in the past month. A FAQ page has been added. It is expected that this will expand and alter according to what our mailbag throws at us. An initial look, though, will give you all a more in depth knowledge of who is responsible and why the company exists. Also, there is now a shopping page, featuring links to amazon (books) cdnow (music) and reel.com (films). If you buy online from any of these companies, you can now do it by linking through from the cerberus shopping page. The modest commission that cerberus earns helps towards the company's administration costs. Without wanting to sound like junk mail it is a good deal. You get discount on books, video's and music - and help an independent theatre company remain afloat. Many thanks to those of you who have already used the amazon link, which we used as a pilot scheme earlier in the year.

launch of 'human greed' development

Recently, Cerberus members Andi Ross and Sean Hay returned from two weeks of development work on a project with Grey Coast Theatre Company (see links for more info about Grey Coast). This development involved bringing together a writer, a director (Andi Ross)and five performers (including Sean Hay). Both returned to Edinburgh excited by the results of having worked with five performers at the one time during this initial development period. Sean Hay and Andi Ross have since met with third Cerberus member Michael Begg to establish a development plan for Human Greed. The three are reported to be very excited about the possibilities of extending the collaboration process that was piloted in You Dance The Swords Alone. They now have the confidence to approach raw material with an extended number of participants across various disciplines.

Cerberus has become a selling agent for three companies in the hope that the revenue generated from commission fees will help with general administration costings. The three companies are; Amazon, CDNow and Reel.com. Go shopping here.

Andi Ross and Sean Hay have been working with Grey Coast Theatre Company in Thurso for much of June. Two projects are being developed with Highland writers for future production. Details may or may not yet be posted on the Grey Coast site.

Andi Ross, is currently on the isle of Skye directing TOSG's production of Norman McLean's Tartan Pagoda. The production debuts on Skye before touring Scotland until the middle of June 1999. Those wishing further details of the production and touring schedule can mail Cerberus for further details.

Michael Begg is taking time off from working on the text and music for Human Greed. He has been commissioned by Artlink, alongside singer Sophie Bancroft and storyteller Helen Dunbar, to produce a staged and recorded production based on the lives of people currently living with dementia in Midlothian, Edinburgh and East Lothian. The recording and live production shall appear in September 1999.

Sean Hay recently finished a run of Romeo and Juliet at the Brunton Theatre. He has subsequently been working on a Theatre In Education project in Dundee. Sean was also filming recently for Scottish TeleVision's latest 'Taggart' feature, due to be screened in the autumn.