Tape - Vince - Trafalgar Studios - 2012
Tape
When aspiring filmmaker Jon meets up with his best friend from high school, Vince - a volatile drug-dealing dropout, the conversation turns to Amy, Vince's first love, whom they both dated. Vince finally gets Jon to confess a disturbing secret, only then to reveal he has taped the entire conversation and that Amy is about to arrive any minute...
Previously adapted into a feature film starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, Tape is a high stakes and suspenseful exploration of memory, truth and perception. Starring Marc Elliott (EastEnders, Syed Masood), Darren Bransford (Hollyoaks, Nick O'Connor) and Kate Loustau (Elizabeth).
http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/tape/trafalgar-studios/
When aspiring filmmaker Jon meets up with his best friend from high school, Vince - a volatile drug-dealing dropout, the conversation turns to Amy, Vince's first love, whom they both dated. Vince finally gets Jon to confess a disturbing secret, only then to reveal he has taped the entire conversation and that Amy is about to arrive any minute...
Previously adapted into a feature film starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, Tape is a high stakes and suspenseful exploration of memory, truth and perception. Starring Marc Elliott (EastEnders, Syed Masood), Darren Bransford (Hollyoaks, Nick O'Connor) and Kate Loustau (Elizabeth).
http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/tape/trafalgar-studios/
Talking about Tape on BBC Breakfast...
This Morning talking about Tape...
Official Tape website http://www.tapetheplay.com/about-tape
Elliott returns with Trafalgar Studios' Tape
EastEnders’ Marc Elliott will return to the London stage following his imminent departure from the BBC soap to star in the West End premiere of Tape.
Marking 10 years since its New York premiere, Stephen Belber’s acclaimed play exploring memory, truth and perception will run for a month at Trafalgar Studios 2 from 10 October (press night 12 October).
Following stage roles in the NT’s The History Boys and The Maids at the Lyric Hammersmith, Elliott will lead the cast as the brooding Vince, a volatile drug-dealing dropout.
The drama sees Vince meet up with Jon, his best friend from school and aspiring filmmaker. The conversation soon turns to Amy, a woman they both dated and Vince’s first love. When Vince forces Jon to confess a disturbing secret, he confesses to having taped the whole conversation and reveals Amy is about to arrive any minute.
While director Thomas King’s production of the dark drama marks its West End premiere, the play was first seen in London in 2003 at the Soho theatre. Belber’s story also made it to the big screen with Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman starring in the 2001 adaptation.
Joining Elliott in the cast are Darren Bransford and Kate Loustau, as Jon and Amy. The production will mark both actors’ West End debuts.
http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/latest-news/article/item154447/elliott-returns-with-trafalgar-studios-tape/
'‘Alex Marker’s set is simple but effective, and his costume designs are entirely apt; the costumes clearly show the varying social status of the characters – Vince in a dirty vest and boxers, Jon in chinos and a shirt, and Amy in a smart black blazer that is a hallmark of many power-dressing modern women.
This is an affecting, stirring and stylish production. It is a visceral experience for the audience, and the three actors give stunning performances. This is a beautiful gem; a very exciting piece of theatre.’'
Ed Theakston – Fourth Wall Magazine
‘A motel room in Michigan provides the setting for Belber’s fast-paced drama, but what begins as a dull and lifeless space boasting little more than a single bed and a bathroom soon comes to resemble a dramatic bullring in which these two men see out their personal conflict.
The overwhelming sense of entrapment that pervades Alex Marker’s set allows for an intimate exploration of the play’s characters, revealing the twists and turns of their every emotion, be it anger or anxiety, as they address the extremely sensitive topic, which even Jon struggles to verbalise.’'
Kate Sunbury – OfficialLondonTheatre.co.uk
http://www.alexmarker.com/post/49387845034/tape-by-stephen-belber-trafalgar-studios-10th
Elliott is marvellous in the role, a powerhouse performance
Elliot as Vince is spectacularly unstable. The character is clearly a man on the edge, but Elliot avoids cliché and his performance is grounded in truth. Elliot’s Vince is sharp-tongued, impetuous, vicious, and as Jon says, “rude for the sake of it”. His inner battle for self-control is fascinating to watch, and it is even more enjoyable as it is self-inflicted; he is on a cocktail of alcohol and drugs throughout.
This is an affecting, stirring and stylish production. It is a visceral experience for the audience, and the three actors give stunning performances. This is a beautiful gem, a very exciting piece of theatre.
***** (5 stars) Fourthwall Magazine - Ed Theakston
Full Review... http://www.fourthwallmagazine.co.uk/2012/10/review-tape-soho/
What’s most engaging about Elliot’s performance is his physicality and interaction with the space
Tape is one of those plays that has style. It takes a while to become immersed in the strange dialogue and eccentric characters, but once it finds its flow, Tape stands alone.
Stephen Belber’s play has been adapted for film – the unique quality of his writing has clearly been noticed. Tape’s charm hinges largely upon the character of Vince (Marc Elliot) who is constantly high and drives the pace and direction of the play. Vince is in Michigan supposedly for his friend Jon’s (Darren Bransford) film premier, but he has a more perplexing motive. He tapes a conversation in which he gets Jon to admit that he raped Amy (Kate Loustau), the woman Vince loved – his first girlfriend in fact.
The concept behind this play is genius. It’s a dark tale of rape injected with high humour, as gender politics comes into question with Amy adamantly arguing she wasn’t raped, but Jon assuring her she was. One moment they’re utterly loveable characters and the next they’re – in their own words – dicks. To begin with, it’s difficult to believe that a character can be so poisonous as Vince, but as we realise how complexly messed up he is he quickly becomes endearing. Elliot goes where many soap opera stars have boldly gone before (and not necessarily returned): with the mission to break their image of being seen as the same character they’ve played for years (Syed in Eastenders). His performance as Vince is energised to say the least; he’s twitchy, bitchy and adorably childish. His dialogue fizzes and his eyes look ready to pop. His character is grounded by a level-headed Bransford, and his tormentor Loustau quickly evolves from the character that’s walked into a crazy scene off the street to holding the other characters in the palm of her hand. Belber’s dynamic, traumatised characters carry this play.
What’s most engaging about Elliot’s performance is his physicality and interaction with the space. However the opening itself is a little obscure as he trashes his hotel room à la rock star, but lacks definable motives. Arguably, Belber’s reveal is slightly too slow. Alex Marker’s set definitely communicated motel: muted colours, framed in a way that confines the characters almost claustrophobically. At times, it’s hard to imagine that the audience can see everyone all the time with the way it’s blocked on the thrust stage, but the movement at least feels naturally impulsive. Elliot is like a wide animal waiting to break out, and his fight scene with Bransford almost tumbles into the audience in this brilliantly intimate studio.
The Trafalgar Studios is the right place to stage a play like this. A small audience are confidantes in a dark revelation and director Thomas King forces them to consider what exactly defines rape – a question plaguing politics still. Tape managers to inhabit a current voice twelve years after its conception; Belber’s vicious style pushes the characters’ buttons, whilst King’s direction pushes the characters over the edge. It’s the only way they can come face to face with their fears.
http://www.ayoungertheatre.com/tag/marc-elliot/
Tape rehearsals updates from official Twitter/facebook page
What a fun afternoon at #tapetheplay rehearsals today, with Fight Director Joe Golby putting Marc and Darren through their paces!
02/10/12
What a fun afternoon at #tapetheplay rehearsals today, with Fight Director Joe Golby putting Marc and Darren through their paces!
02/10/12
Marc Elliott fans - here's an exclusive colour photo from rehearsals.
Make sure you grab your tickets so you can catch him in person. www.tapetheplay.com
Make sure you grab your tickets so you can catch him in person. www.tapetheplay.com
Official London Theatre - 15th October 2012
Never has the Trafalgar Studio 2 had more tension crammed within its four walls than in Thomas King’s emotive production of Tape.
Stephen Belber’s dramatic three-hander tells the story of two old high school friends, Vince and Jon, who meet up in Lansing for the screening of Jon’s new film. But while the aspiring filmmaker has come to witness a defining moment in his career, volunteer fire fighter Vince has an ulterior motive. Unable to bury past secrets, Vince is here to discover the truth about what happened between his friend and former love Amy on one night in high school. Was it consensual sex or ruthless rape? With the help of a tape recorder and his friend’s confession, the drug dealer turned private investigator is determined to find out.
A motel room in Michigan provides the setting for Belber’s fast-paced drama, but what begins as a dull and lifeless space boasting little more than a single bed and a bathroom soon comes to resemble a dramatic bullring in which these two men see out their personal conflict. The overwhelming sense of entrapment that pervades Alex Marker’s set allows for an intimate exploration of the play’s characters, revealing the twists and turns of their every emotion, be it anger or anxiety, as they address the extremely sensitive topic, which even Jon struggles to verbalise. Displaying a compelling power battle between Jon’s persuasive words and Vince’s physical aggression, King’s production creates a powerful and humorous dichotomy between the two lead characters. While it seems that Darren Bransford has had to swallow a dictionary for his role as defensive Jon, whose “excessive linguistic pressure” is felt every time he opens his mouth, Marc Elliott’s energetic performance as drugged-up Vince has a far more dynamic dimension as he prowls around the stage like an animal seeking out its prey. Like the referee coming to oversee the fight, Kate Loustau’s district attorney Amy brings calm to proceedings, her telling facial expressions conveying fragility while her sweet but assertive tones indicate the strength of her character. As with most referees – and district attorneys for that matter – it is she who has the final word, reducing the men before her to two helpless figures whose lives are in need of a radical reassessment.
As the auditorium plunges into darkness, you are left not knowing whose side you’re on or who has won the fight, but satisfied none the less with an hour and a quarter of engaging and hilarious entertainment.
http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/first-nights/article/item159614/tape/
Never has the Trafalgar Studio 2 had more tension crammed within its four walls than in Thomas King’s emotive production of Tape.
Stephen Belber’s dramatic three-hander tells the story of two old high school friends, Vince and Jon, who meet up in Lansing for the screening of Jon’s new film. But while the aspiring filmmaker has come to witness a defining moment in his career, volunteer fire fighter Vince has an ulterior motive. Unable to bury past secrets, Vince is here to discover the truth about what happened between his friend and former love Amy on one night in high school. Was it consensual sex or ruthless rape? With the help of a tape recorder and his friend’s confession, the drug dealer turned private investigator is determined to find out.
A motel room in Michigan provides the setting for Belber’s fast-paced drama, but what begins as a dull and lifeless space boasting little more than a single bed and a bathroom soon comes to resemble a dramatic bullring in which these two men see out their personal conflict. The overwhelming sense of entrapment that pervades Alex Marker’s set allows for an intimate exploration of the play’s characters, revealing the twists and turns of their every emotion, be it anger or anxiety, as they address the extremely sensitive topic, which even Jon struggles to verbalise. Displaying a compelling power battle between Jon’s persuasive words and Vince’s physical aggression, King’s production creates a powerful and humorous dichotomy between the two lead characters. While it seems that Darren Bransford has had to swallow a dictionary for his role as defensive Jon, whose “excessive linguistic pressure” is felt every time he opens his mouth, Marc Elliott’s energetic performance as drugged-up Vince has a far more dynamic dimension as he prowls around the stage like an animal seeking out its prey. Like the referee coming to oversee the fight, Kate Loustau’s district attorney Amy brings calm to proceedings, her telling facial expressions conveying fragility while her sweet but assertive tones indicate the strength of her character. As with most referees – and district attorneys for that matter – it is she who has the final word, reducing the men before her to two helpless figures whose lives are in need of a radical reassessment.
As the auditorium plunges into darkness, you are left not knowing whose side you’re on or who has won the fight, but satisfied none the less with an hour and a quarter of engaging and hilarious entertainment.
http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/first-nights/article/item159614/tape/
Full pictures from rehearsals http://www.tapetheplay.com/gallery
Tape Stills http://www.tapetheplay.com/gallery
Outside Trafalgar Studios 11/10/12
Outside Trafalgar Studios 10/11/12