This edition of Fourplay took place in a new, slightly bigger venue in Aubervilliers in April 2017.
The Artwork
Photography and graphic design for the show poster was created by George Sydney.
Artwork for the first of the “Call to” posters was created especially by illustrator and printmaker Harriet Bruce.
Following on from the collage style laid out by Harriet Bruce, illustrator Kelly Dochy provided a playwriting -themed piece for the second “Call to” poster.
Artwork for the third and final “Call to” poster was created by painter Miranda Webster.
Film photography of the live event was taken by George Sydney. Digital photographs by Jonathan Aréna.
The Props
For this year’s “props”, we asked musicians to submit an original piece of music of between two and four minutes in length to provide the soundtrack for performances. Playwrights were allowed to use either a segment of the music or the entire length of the track, but were required to feature all four pieces in their play in some way.
The compositions were chosen by how they compliment one another. Submissions were not limited by genre or style: wanted four interesting, inspiring pieces of music that meshed well together to be interpreted by playwrights.
‘Tightrope Eye Walk’ by Emma Grace, Venice-based singer and violinist.
‘Cree Dance’ by Alexis Cordier, a French composer based in the suburbs of Paris.
‘TIDE’ by French producer and musician, Jonathan Aréna.
‘Righteous Eyes’ by Jerry Edwin Fenn, an American singer and multi-instrumental composer from Los Angeles.
The Plays
The following plays/wrights were selected,
with the cast listed below each show:
WASHED UP
written and directed by Nia Cason and Stacey Legendre, with additional direction from Emma Phillips
Friendship is important. Especially to Stanley…
Washed Up deals with important issues that are sometimes difficult to face: drug pickups gone wrong, flying objects, angels, love, death, and whales.
Starring
Magnus Broome
Stacey Legendre
Rowan Liggett
Rebecca Smith
About the writers
Nia Cason is a London-born scientific editor and neuroscience consultant. This will be her last play; she will be focussing all of her attention on writing a high-success-low-input-low-budget cult film to be shot upside down on an RCA CC4352 camera.
Stacey Legendre is an American actor and writer living in Bordeaux.
Emma Phillips (Co-creator and Director) has been in France for the past five years. She has previously written and directed for the Montmartre Dionysia, Fourplay and Tapis Theatre. She lives in Vincennes.
COLD WAR
written by Stuart Richardson, directed by Thomas Dugrosprez
Sam and Jo are soldiers who have been sent to the far reaches of their respective countries to defend the border. Geopolitics necessitates that they hate one another, but neither has ever questioned why. The border is deathly silent, as it has been for several years… until Jo sneezes. A simple “bless you” from Sam is perhaps the first contact between citizens of these countries in years. It opens up tentative lines of communication through which both she and Jo begin to explore their assumptions of each other and posture for dominance.
The tides of war do not flow in two directions. Whereas governments may wage conflict against one another, everyday citizens are the means by which fighting is carried out. Cold War comically investigates the national identities to which we hopelessly clinging and the unusual friendships we sometimes forge across boundaries.
Starring
Fatima Cadet-Diaby – winner of Best Actor
Mathious Gomes
Cyrus Kingdom
Ysamalis Perez
About the writer
Stuart Richardson’s work explores relationships between the cultures, religions, and socioeconomic classes present in the Midwest. To date, Stuart’s plays include Istanbul (2013), Nested (2014), and Ruthie (2016). His work has been produced by Basement Arts and the RC Players at the University of Michigan. Awards include the Hopwood Drama Award (for Istanbul and Nested) and the Dennis McIntyre Prize for Distinction in Undergraduate Playwriting (for Istanbul, Nested, and Ruthie).
ELEVATOR MUSIC
written and directed by Cecilia Llompart – winner of Best Play
A couple find themselves forced to confront their problems when they get trapped in a lift together, minutes after having broken up.
Starring
Sophia Dunn-Walker
Sacha Majetniak
THE PENAL CLAUSE
written by Michelle Lynch and Mark Harris, directed by Charlotte Pleasants
When a secret society’s sacred traditions are exposed, the perpetrator must pay… Taking the form of a hip hopera, discover the consequences of oath-breaking.
Starring
Rosanna de Champeaux
Mark Norman Harris
Michelle Lynch
Charlotte Pleasants
The Event
A massive thanks are in order for our hosts, Peter Kowalczyk and Lucie Wright, who not only allowed us to transform his apartment into a theatre for the weekend, but helped out in countless ways with the set up and tech.
Thank you also to Anton Bonnici, playwright, teacher and judge of Best Play, and Josh Richards, previous recipient of Best Actor who had the tough job of judging the award this year.
We are also hugely grateful for the live performances by Emma Grace and Alexis Cordier during the after-party of Fourplay: the Climax.
And to Chris Newens for not only co-curating the whole shebang, but cooking the first of many semi-legendary vegan daals.
Once again, it would not have been able to happen without our steadfast volunteers – Katie Streng, Peter Brown, Iti Libe and Dieynaba Young – who between them ran the bar, served the food, helped in no small part with tech and kept the whole show running smoothly.
fourplaytheatre.com 