Halden Theatre in the News Halden Theatre have received two reviews on their debut performance in Nottingham, If you would like to contact Halden Theatre regarding writing a review or article on them please contact Jason Niles from our press department by clicking here!
Halden Theatre presents Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest'
The funny thing about the Halden Theatre Company is that you think you're going to watch an amateur production – which in some ways you are, because the group is largely volunteer-run and it's hard to imagine that there is anything approaching professional funding for its activities – but the end result is far from amateur, I assure you. This fairly new company, based in Nottingham, has aims to 'bring theatre to the people' by placing it back in everyday social environments such as bars & cafes, whilst promising not to 'succumb to the low standards of many forms of modern entertainment'.
The company's first production - Sartre's existentialist play Huis Clos - was a hard act to follow, but its latest offering – an execution of Wilde's classic social comedy was able to stand up and be counted alongside its somewhat high-brow stable mate. Click here to read more.
Richard Pilgrim - Local writer writes about Halden Theatre
Halden Theatre presents Jean-Paul Sartre's 'Huis Clos' Halden Theatre is a new theatre group based in Nottingham, and its aims are somewhat of a paradox. On the one hand, it sets out to 'bring theatre to the people' by placing it back in everyday social environments such as bars, cafes and even outdoor public spaces. Yet it also promises not to 'dumb down' or to 'succumb to the low standards of many forms of modern entertainment mediums'. Lofty ambitions indeed. If the opening performance of Sartre's famous existentialist offering Huis Clos was anything to go by, the Halden Theatre group has succeeded in both ambitions. Friday's performance at Lee Rosy's Tea Shop in Nottingham's Broad Street gave us both the intimacy of a troupe of traveling players, and yet also the quality of an established repertory company. In a space not much bigger than many people's living rooms, they managed to arrange a convincing set, an auditorium for 20 people, and even a technical desk situated in the wings! To Read More Click Here To Download a PDF.
A.Catterall - Local Writer writes about Halden Theatre.
No Escape, just the brutal truth: a review of Halden Theatre’s Huis Clos The most dangerous plan of attack for a performance of any kind is to corner the audience and force them see themselves in all their brutal ugliness. This can be both cruel and rewarding. Stay aware always that, when one is dealing with wild animals, there is a great risk involved that the whole thing will turn sour. And if you pack twenty of us sceptical and over zealous bastards into the basement room of Lee Rosy’s Tea house this effect can only be expected. Then, to methodically twist the knife, set the lights down low and project upwards a lurid mix of primary colours. Really turn the stomach. Rile us to the point of a sweating hysteria. Yet this could be the point of such a damning and morally corrosive play. Taking up the challenge are the new to Nottingham Halden Theatre as they face one of Jean-Paul Sartre’s most admired and feared plays, Huis Clos, or to you and me, In Camera/No Exit. To Read More Click Here To Download a PDF