Delighted to be heading back on the road with "The Moonlit Road and other ghostly tales" again!
The play had such good audiences and responses on it's two previous tours it seemed like there was still a big appetite for this spooky wee show.
The tour will start in late September in Cockenzie, finishing with a two night run in St Andrews and then a one-off visit to Dunkeld in January. You can find all the tour info on The Moonlit Road page of the website.
Hopefully see you at one of the shows!
Just completed Peapod's most northerly show at The Mill Theatre in Thurso. Nice big audience, with lots of great comments in the bar afterwards. Summer break now until The Moonlit Road's autumn tour...
What a fun week it's been! Nice big audience in a converted cave in Ispra in Italy, and a small but responsive audience at the prestigious Il Cortile in Lugano in Switzerland. In between the shows there's been lots of teaching and some directing too, and plenty of ice cream!
Spent this past weekend performing the show in two beautiful village halls in the Scottish Borders. First show was in a packed Currie Memorial Hall in Lilliesleaf and then on to a small but perfectly formed audience at Longformacus Village Hall. Great hospitality and really responsive audiences in both venues.
The Moonlit Road is taking a break until next year, but delighted to announce the the show will be touring Italy and Switzerland in the spring (and a small tour of the Scottish Highlands), before touring Scotland again in the autumn!
Be sure to keep up to date at Peapod Productions on Facebook or @peapodprod on Twitter.
So far The Moonlit Road has performed in Livingston, Irvine, Dunfermline, and the show has just completed a three night run at The Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh.
Heading off to the Borders now for a short tour of some village halls.
The opening performance of the tour at Howden Park Centre was a complete sell-out! A great way to start the run, looking forward to the rest of the tour.
Things have developed since the last news post. Caroline and Graham's 'feedback' turned into them writing an entirely new play based on the stories that had been originally selected. We're so glad they did, as we think it's a corker of a play! That's the creative process for you, things seldom turn out how you expect!
Well, after a wee break Peapod are delighted to be back with our next show "The Moonlit Road and other ghostly tales".
We did a an interview about the new show with alledinburghtheatre.com, which you can read here: http://alledinburghtheatre.com/peapod-prods-go-on-the-moonlit-road
And so we bid arrivederci to Passing Through!
Our last audience in Varese were terrific, we had to come back on stage twice at the end as they wouldn't stop clapping. The show's had quite an adventure. We've been in big theatres, little theatres, bars, restaurants, town halls, cafes, hotels and even the Scottish Parliament! There have been 32 performances of Passing Through. The tours have gone throughout Scotland (from Inverness to Whithorn), to England, Switzerland and Italy.
Thank you Alistair for creating such a wonderful play and Andy for your inspired direction! And thank you Anna and Kirsty for putting up with Philip's awful jokes and bad singing! And thank you everyone who has seen us, supported us and thrown beermats at us.
Looking forward to the next Peapod Production!
So far the tour is going great. Sell-out audiences in Monza and Lugano.
We're about to start a two night run in Varese as part of a Celtic Comedy Double Bill, where Peapod and The Benvenuto Players will open the show with a staged reading of "Bedtime Story", a not-so-romantic comedy by Sean O'Casey.
Well the UK tour of Passing Through has come to an end. We finished the tour with a sell-out run at The Swallow Theatre near Whithorn and the beautiful Burgh Halls in Linlithgow.
Last night we had a special performance for MSPs, staff and guests at The Scottish Parliament. In attendance was Clare Adamson MSP and Fiona Hyslop MSP (Secretary for Culture). It was a great evening, a really good showcase for Peapod and all the work the company has done and the perfect way to end the UK leg of the tour.
A short break now before Passing Through heads to Italy and Switzerland!
Well the show is definitely up and running now and looking great! Just finished runs in Edinburgh and Newcastle and about to start a two night run at Cumbernauld Theatre. Make sure you don't miss this romantic wee comedy!
Following on from our two successful runs last year “Passing Through” will be heading out on the road for one more tour.
It will be touring to theatres in Scotland, England, Switzerland and Italy. We’ll also be doing a private performance of the play at the Scottish Parliament.
Rehearsals are already underway with Kirsty Halliday taking over the roles of Alice and Tracey.
Tickets are on sale and you can find more information on the "Passing Through" page
There are still tickets available for our performance of "Passing Through" at Perth Theatre this month.
We'll be performing in the Redrooms Bar on Saturday 27th October at 9pm.
Tickets are £10 each.
See you there!
Unfortunately due to personal commitments Anna Guthrie's last performance in "Passing Through" will be our upcoming show at Perth Theatre.
However we are pleased to welcome Kirsty Halliday to the cast. She will play Alice and Tracy in the 2013 tour of "Passing Through".
Kirsty has worked with various Scottish theatre companies, as well as running The Edinburgh Acting School. We're looking forward to working with her!
We're pleased to tell you that "Passing Through" will be back for two more tours this year.
In July we're performing for two nights at South Leith Parish Church in Edinburgh (where we opened our production of "The Garden" last year). We'll then head to Howden Park Centre in Livingston for one performance. Full details can be found on the Passing Through page of the website.
We're also heading to Perth Theatre in October for two performances before embarking on another UK tour next year.
We're pleased to tell you that Peapod will return to Varese this year to do some more workshops and a performance with The Benvenuto Players.
The workshops I did with the youth theatre last year were such a success that I've been asked back. This year I will be doing workshops in clowning and puppetry with the group, as well as helping them create a murder mystery event.
We're sad to say the tour of "Passing Through" is over.
We had great audiences and reviews and even sold out three of the seven venues on the tour, including selling out our week long run at The Tron Theatre.There has already been interest in the show by other theatres, so we're planning another tour later this year.
Keep checking the website for updates or you can also follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
So far "Passing Through" has been a massive success.
We've sold out in three of the venues of our tour so far and received great reviews from the press and audiences.
There are still tickets available for the last two dates of our tour: The Regal Theatre, Bathgate on 2 March at 8pm and The Maltings, Berwick-upon-Tweed on 4 March at 8pm.
Get your tickets before it's too late!
We're pleased to announce our first romantic comedy, "Passing Through" by Alistair Rutherford.
This is a brand new piece by Alistair, whose play "The Garden" toured the UK with Peapod earlier this year and received great audiences and great reviews, including five stars from The Scotsman. Alistair is a fantastic writer and it's great to have the opportunity to work with him again.
The play will be touring to venues in Scotland and England. Like our last three productions the performances will not be taking place in traditional theatre spaces, but in more unusual spaces such as bars, cafes and even village halls.
You can find out more in the Upcoming Productions section of the website.
This summer Howden Park Centre have programmed their first "Homegrown# season, a series of performances from different artists all from West Lothian. The Garden from Peapod Productions has been produced by local actor Philip Kingscott. The performance will take place in the walled garden to the rear of Howden House on Saturday 6th August at 3pm. For more information on The Garden please look at our website or Peapod Productions.
Arts services is offering writing groups in West Lothian the chance of a FREE workshop with Philip Kingscott, producer and actor and Alistair Rutherford writer of The Garden. Alistair and Philip will perform some of Alistair's sketches, talk about The Garden and Alistair will also talk about what it is like to be a writer, how he got his plays produced and his experience of writing for theatre, radio, film and interactive games.
If you would like more information about this or to book your place please contact Fiona Macfarlane on 01506 773873 or by email.
"The Garden" recently received a five star review in The Scotsman. You can read the full review here or on The Scotsman website
The Garden *****
by Joyce McMillan (The Scotsman)
20 July 2011
We are sitting in a pretty courtyard just off the High Street; in front of us is some garden furniture - a small table, and four chairs. Across the table, a middle-aged couple called Anna and William snipe and nag at each other. Their only son, Alex has left home. His doting mother pines, and waits for a promised visit; his father resentfully dismisses him as a slob and a layabout.
Then at the height of the argument, a strange, pale-faced boy in a suit appears at the garden gate, saying that he once lived in the house, and a strange conversation follows, in which the boy, James, never answers a direct question, but slowly finds his way first into Anna's heart, then into William's.
This is the powerful opening sequence of Alistair Rutherford's The Garden, a major success at the recent Leith Festival, and now heading off on tour in England. If the play has a problem, it lies in the lack of an ending that matches the rare dramatic force of the opening: it lacks a third act that would make more sense of James's uncanny appearance, his ghost-like intuitions, the otherworldly quality of Philip Kingscott's performance.
But in every other way this is a strong, compelling 55-minute family drama, beautifully performed by Kirsten Maguire as Anna, Adam Tomkins as William, and Martin Haddow and Philip Kingscott as the two boys. Its theme is the binding power of parental love and the way it can destroy marriages, and all but destroy the children at whom it is directed, if parents never learn to let go.
Yet in Kirsten Maguire's pretty, haunted face, we can see the full measure of the sacrifice entailed in that commonplace piece of wisdom, and the temptation to cling to the child who never grows up, rather than to forge a new relationship with the one who does.
We're pleased to announce a sixth venue on our UK tour of "The Garden". On Sunday 21st August at 7:30pm, the play is being performed in the beautiful gardens of Armadale Castle, which is part of The Clan Donald Centre on the Isle of Skye
This will be the perfect end to what has been a fantastic tour so far.
We're also off to Henley-on-Thames next week for the only English dates on our tour at The Henley Fringe Festival.
So from the north of Scotland to the south of England you've got no excuse to miss this brilliant piece of theatre!
The Leith Festival run of "The Garden" is over. Despite some awful weather we had some good audiences, great reviews and fantastic feedback. We've even been approached about doing a private performance of the play in someone's garden!
Unfortunately, due to personal commitments Simon Tait is unable to play William for the rest of the tour. The part will now be played by Adam Tomkins, who played the lead in the tour of Alistair Rutherford's last play "An Island Between Heaven and Earth". We're very excited about having Adam on board and are looking forward to working with him.
The next stop on the tour will be The Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh on Sunday 17 July at 3pm.
Preparations are well underway for the first run of "The Garden" at The Secret Garden at South Leith Parish Church 15-19 June.
Tickets can bought online at http://www.leithfestival.com or by phoning 0131 555 0501 Tickets will also be available to buy at the door 30 minutes before each performance.
South Leith Parish Church have also set up an an outdoor cafe next to The Secret Garden, so you can enjoy a cream tea whilst you watch the play!
The Edinburgh Evening News have also written an article about the play which you can read here: http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/arts/Producer-goes-back-to-grass.6775917.jp
Look forward to seeing you there!
This summer Peapod's latest production, The Garden, will be touring to gardens in Scotland and England.
The play is a tense new drama by Alistair Rutherford about when family relationships break down. The play centres around two sons, James and Alex, and the effects of too much love.
The play will visit Edinburgh, Henley, Livingston and North Berwick between June and August this year.
You can find out more about the show in the Upcoming Productions page.
Well “The Eight: Reindeer Monologues” was a great success.
Despite the mad weather we got some great audiences (some of them thought it was so good they saw it twice!) and some great reviews. Photos and reviews will be up on the website in the next few days.
Work is already underway for the next show which is a co-production with a theatre group in Italy in March. More details will be appearing shortly.
In the meantime thanks for your continued support and we’ll hopefully see you at one of our next shows.
UK Theatre Network have written a very nice article about “The Eight: Reindeer Monologues”.
You can read it here.
Are you still looking for something to do for the office Christmas night out?
Perhaps you and a big group of friends fancy seeing a show that’s a bit different from the usual festive fare?
Then email info@peapodproductions.co.uk for our special group deals and discounts for The Eight: Reindeer Monologues.
Make it a Christmas night out to remember!
Welcome to the the first blog post of Peapod Productions!
The company’s first production will be ”The Eight: Reindeer Monologues” by Jeff Goode. A Christmas comedy that’s definitely not for kids!
The show will be performed 16-19 December at the GRV in Edinburgh at 8pm.