Stage And The Hands
Previously known as the ‘Churcher’s Footlights’, seven intrepid young actors together form the group Stage And The Hands, a professional dramatics group which specialises in the area of comedy and satire. Their plays are renowned for having a typically Monty Python-esque style of humour, from which derives performances of great hilarity to public audiences.
History
The group formed in 2005, as seven pupils at Churcher’s College, in Petersfield, to put on a performance for the school open day. The organisation was entirely student-run, and the first performance was the basis upon which Macbeth - The Director’s Cut was then based. For the first year, the group that was to become Stage And The Hands consisted of the current members, though Dani Sheen was not present within the group. The seventh actor was one Alex Godfrey, who left the group in 2007 to pursue his career elsewhere. Dani Sheen stepped in to take his place, having previously gained a lot of experience from the production of the Picasso Code, in which Dani was deemed to be an ‘honorary Footlight’. After the group’s first performance of Macbeth - The Director’s Cut, a period of uncertainty clouded the group’s future. A number of ideas for new plays materialised, but limited by both the school’s time constraints and faltering relationships between Peter Stanley and Tom Morgan, the scriptwriters of Macbeth - The Director’s Cut, it was uncertain whether there would be a future performance. Nonetheless, no more than two months later emerged a script for ‘The Picasso Code’, which was then heavily modified over the Summer. Filming for the Picasso Code took place from October 2006 to February 2007. As of Summer 2007, the Churcher’s Footlights disbanded to form the group that is Stage And The Hands, with half of the group members currently at Alton College, and half at Churcher’s College. Little is known about Stage And The Hands’ new performance, other than it will be taken to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the Summer of 2008.
Members
Acting Alex Butler Tom Morgan Peter Stanley Dani Sheen Max Harris Max Perman Josh Harris Administrative Laura Jenkinson Tom Lane
Past Performances
Macbeth - The Director’s Cut
The Footlights debuted with the Peter Stanley/Tom Morgan revelation of a Shakespeare play ‘without all the Shakespearey bits’. It worked with aplomb, and Macbeth: The Director’s Cut was a sell out in [both] performances. The show was performed twice, on 13th and 15th March 2006. Tagline: ‘Putting the Spear back into Shakespeare’.
The Picasso Code
Set within the school Churcher’s College, this production took the format of a film. Filmed over half a year the 1.5hr feature film included many members of staff at the school, and was widely seen as a community effort, involving both teachers and pupils alike from other schools, such as The Petersfield School. The film was edited using Apple Final Cut Express HD. Actor Max Perman described the film as ‘taking the Footlights to a new pinnacle of rather-goodness’. The film was presented on 22nd, 28th, 29th and 30th March 2007. Tagline(s): ‘We’ll Be There - Will You?’
‘Another shameless parody’
Future Plans
Stage And The Hands have very ambitious plans to perform two plays in 2008 at two respective venues. The first will debut at the end of March 2008 at Churcher’s College, and will be along the same theme as that of the group’s premiere production, Macbeth - The Director’s Cut. The second play will be debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival during the month of August. Dates for all of these performances are yet to be announced.
Small Performances
There have been a number of small performances, put on by the group.
An Afternoon With The Footlights Performed at Churcher’s College Open Day 2007
Advertising campaigns
Stage And The Hands are renowned for their alternative method of advertising, tending to be highly secretive about upcoming performance dates, and holding back a large amount of information until the last minute. This technique has been criticized and acclaimed by many. An analyst explains ‘While elusive, and extremely eye-catching to the passer-by, it ought to be noted that on most occasions the target of the advertisement is left unaware of the future performance, and possibly uninterested.’ Nonetheless, the posters used are often very flashy and smart, and of a professional quality, which is always a positive sign. Commendable campaigns include the ‘Siberia Is Coming’ campaign, in which cutouts of the cast were superimposed over a number of amusing images. This same technique was used for the ‘We’re Back’ poster used in the Picasso Code advertising campaign.
Trivia
- Brian Blessed is a known fan of Stage And The Hands. - A spoof campaign for a play involving Disney was used in 2006, after Macbeth - The Director’s Cut, though the show was never broadcast, and was later released on a ‘Not Coming Soon’ page on the group’s web site, as an early April Fool’s joke. - The original name for The Picasso Code was ‘The Galileo Theory’