A montage of Upstage publicity

David Simpson is producer and director of Upstage, an English Theatre Group comprising students at Cité Internationale Europole in Grenoble. Now in its 18th year, this annual play has established a tradition of outstanding comedy that draws a diverse audience from the local community. James Dalrymple met him over a pint or two – as British expats are often found doing – at O’Callaghan’s Irish Pub, to discover more about the history of Upstage and plans for next year’s production.

When I met him David had just completed successful first rehearsals for Upstage 2010. Students from the International Lycée have assumed roles both theatrical and technical after an audition process overseen by David and former student participants. Under David’s supervision this team will “take over and run all the operations, front of house, backstage, sound and light control room,” during a five night run that normally takes place between February and April.

Upstage has a long standing relationship with Ste-Marie-d’en-Bas, a 166-seat theatre off Place Notre Dame that he describes as,

… a first class theatre for audience and actors alike, in terms of size, intimacy, atmosphere, acoustics and so on. They’re much solicited, like all theatres and venues around town. But we are perceived as part of the family, and they make sure there is a place for us in their programme. Les Anglais bring a breath of fresh air and youthful vitality and joie de vivre. The Director, Diden Berramdane, is extremely supportive, and generous in help and advice. He has a very special input in terms of setting up lighting effects. We’ve built up an understanding and strong working relationship over the last 15 years, based on mutual respect. According to Diden, ‘Ils n’ont rien à envier aux professionnels’.

While rehearsals are conducted within the school, during its run the students assume almost total control of a real playhouse with an audience mix of Anglophones and local people (French translations of the script are made available in advance). Upstage is therefore not only a theatrical experience for these young people, but one in which they learn team-building and project management skills invaluable in later life. The Upstage motto, David tells me, is “strong traditions to follow, new precedents to set.”

Although Upstage productions, since its inception in 1993, could be roughly described as comedies, David – who chooses the play, before running it by a reading committee comprising colleagues at Cité Internationale (where he is head of English) – does not shy away of challenging, darker themes. Plays have included Giles Croft’s adaptation of the Ealing comedy The Ladykillers, Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good and Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring. David aims to select ensemble pieces, in order to include as many students as possible, and works that feature a fair balance of male and female roles. Previous productions have, however, had male roles played by female students and vice versa, and in the case of plays such as Caryl Churchill’s ’Top Girls’, where the cast was dominated by female characters, more room was made for the boys in a technical capacity.

Nor does Upstage shy away from challenging technical feats, David emphasises. “There were plays I put aside, as too difficult technically, but that I found myself coming back to, as I really wanted to do them. And that’s what theatre is about in many respects. Finding solutions, and ways to do things.” Such challenges have included the depiction of:

… rowing boats up rivers; throwing bodies off bridges in the path of oncoming steam locomotives; getting the 9th Century female Pope Joan to vomit into a vase at the front of the stage; having for a set an English country house on two  floors - with staircase, gallery and nine doors/ windows, and which required rotating 180 degrees at each of the two intervals; rooftop fights, parrot escapes, a murder in a bathtub, firework displays and so on; a play that takes place, apart from the first five minutes, in the dark … when you’ve managed to meet that kind of requirement, you really do think you can cope with anything. Two years ago I seriously considered a play that needed a hot air ballon!

David is proud to announce that next year’s production will be a double-bill. The main feature will be Joe Orton’s Loot (1966), which David describes – with a glint in his eye – as a “ferocious satire about sex, death, money and the Catholic church”, lest anyone doubt that Upstage tackles more demanding material. As Loot is a relatively short piece, it will be preceded by Harold Pinter’s aptly-titled (for Grenoble) one-act play Mountain Language. The late Pinter is not, of course, known for the kind of themes typically performed by schoolchildren, and David is keen to emphasise that Upstage is a professional quality English theatre group that aims to engage adults and young people alike.
Of next year’s programme, David says:

… Loot was one of those plays I wanted to do, but put aside, as there are only five real roles in it. I need to involve a team of 10 to 12 actors. I’d also thought of doing a Pinter double bill a couple of years ago. He’s just so good. But I put that idea aside as Diden Berramdane was putting on a Pinter, The Caretaker, and which he wanted me to act in. I didn’t want to compete with him. It turns out, I found, that Loot is not too long, and I realised I could do a short play with it, and involve more actors: two teams in fact, alternating the roles they play each evening. The first rehearsal was excellent.

They are both very powerful plays, in their different ways, and can be seen by some (indeed were) as provocative. But a few years ago I was telling some ex-Upstage people about what my options were, and how I thought I would do a safe Neil Simon comedy, rather than the play that really interested me: based on history, about the first convicts sent to Australia putting on a play, against extraordinary odds. One of the convict actresses, for example, who couldn’t read for one thing, was due to be hanged before the performance, for stealing food. So the young people told me  how proud they had been to take part in plays, difficult and demanding,  which had aroused very strong reactions. They convinced me to do the Australian play. It was a huge success.

With tickets normally available at the University, Carrefour and Maison du Tourism, expect publicity – also handled by the students – to begin in earnest in the New Year. Watch this space!

Related Posts:

• English Talk Radio – March 10
• Never Never Land comes to Grenoble – the annual panto at CSI
• Upstage presents ‘Loot’ and ‘Mountain Language’
• Anglophone Grenoble, a rough guide
• English Talk Radio – February 24