Play promises to be poetry in motion
An award winning theatre production involving two people from Shropshire will take to the stage in the county later this year.
Joseph Dawson and Megan Ashley, from Shrewsbury, are looking forward to being back in their home town at Theatre Severn on June 21. The play will also be at Theatr Clywd in Mold on May 10 and 11.
Joseph is Joint Artistic Director of theatre company Wildcard which has produced the play. He attended local schools Mary Webb Secondary and Shrewsbury Sixth Form College before training as an actor at The Oxford School of Drama. For this production Joseph has taken on a producing role whilst Megan, 23, who went to St. Peter’s Primary School and Thomas Adams’ Secondary school in Wem stars in the show.
He said: “I first got into acting whilst at Stage 2 Performing Arts Academy and knew from an early age that I wanted to pursue a career in the arts. I went on to drama school and it was whilst in my third year that our year decided to start a theatre company.”
"The reason we started the company was to take back some control. Actors are so often at the bottom of the pile in the acting industry which is super competitive as it is. We formed the company to have some control over destiny by creating our own shows and Electrolyte is the first one we’ve had the chance to tour.”
Megan said: "For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be a professional actress and was encouraged to pursue this early on by some great drama and music teachers at school. I also went to a local amateur theatre group from the age of nine called Stage Door Youth Theatre, where I did countless productions.
“At aged 18 I was lucky enough to gain a place at The Guildford School of Acting.. Since then I have done quite a few professional acting jobs, from pantomime to Shakespeare.”
Electrolyte, directed by Olivier award-winning director Donnacadh O’Briain, tells the story of Jessie from Leeds. The show is written in entirely spoken word poetry and is underscored throughout by six actor-musicians. Jessie is dealing with the recent suicide of her father. She meets singer-songwriter Allie Touch, who is pursuing her music career in London. Allie's outlook inspires Jessie, who feels intensely oppressed by her life in Leeds. Impulsively, she follows Allie to London in pursuit of her mother, who left when she was young.
However, when she arrives in London things aren't quite as shiny as they seemed and the answers she seeks are buried deeper than she could ever have imagined.
The show focuses on mental health and has an official partner in the Mental Health Foundation after winning the Mental Health Fringe Award last year at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
You can buy tickets for the Shrewsbury performance from theatresevern.co.uk/shows/whatson/electrolyte/ and for Mold at www.theatrclwyd.com.
