Shards - Full length run in 2020
Donation protected
Thanks to your donations we premiered at Camden People's Theatre from Thursday 15th August to Sunday 18th August 2019, as part of The Camden Fringe. https://www.cptheatre.co.uk/production/shards/
We received two 5* reviews and were Lyn Gardner's pick of the week.
We are now raising money for a full length run of Shards in 2020.
It’s an exciting new play written by Catherine O’Shea about love, loss, swing dancing, particle physics & dating.
We have an all female creative team who are passionate about bringing this story to more people.
It would be incredible if you were able to donate to our campaign in order to help make this production happen.
Your money will go towards costs to hire the theatre, hire rehearsal space and for our designer fees and video design fees.
Video design is a big part of the design of the show. The audience will know the time period based on an animation of the Shard which will be projected onto the back wall of the theatre & this back projection will also be used to suggest locations such as the pub, houses & large hadron collider. In the early time periods we will see the Shard represented in a very illustrated hand drawn architectural plan style & as time goes by & the Shard is complete, it will be rendered in the style of an art deco painting, to add a flavour of the era in which swing dance was born.
Dancers in video and photos: Caitlin Siegers Evans, Alan Lorcan, Catherine O'Shea and David D Savage.
Synopsis
In 2011 the Shard is half completed. Matt, a swing dancer and an A+E nurse and Laura, a particle physicist hunting for the Higgs Boson particle, are negotiating the world of online dating, desperately looking for a connection. On their first date in Borough High Street there is finally a spark but also catastrophe. We flit back and forth in time as the Shard rises up in the background, witnessing their lives at different points of momentum, collision and propulsion.
Rewards
Any donation of any size will be really appreciated and fully used to make this play come to life.
We also have some rewards for specific donation amounts.
If you donate £20 - You're a triple step and we will give you a thank you on social media
If you donate £40 - You're an atom and we will give you a thanks on social media and thank you in the programme
If you donate £60 - You're a swing out and we will give you a thank you on social media, a thank you in our programme and a signed poster.
If you donate £80 - You're a neutrino and we will give you everything above as well as meet and greet with the cast in the bar after the show (a few options of dates will be given)
If you donate £100 - You're a hallelujah and we will give you an exclusive swing dance workshop with professional swing dancers and members of the cast and creative team
If you donate £180 - You're the higgs boson particle and we will take you on a trip to the science museum with our physics advisors and members of the cast and creative team
We really hope you are able to donate and bring the joy of swing dance and this show to the stage!
Whatever you can donate it will make a big difference for Shards the play. Whether or not you can donate anything if you were able to share this campaign with your networks we would be eternally grateful.
Shards Creative Team:
Caley Powell - Producing for Lights Down Productions,
Abbie Lucas - Director
Catherine O'Shea - Writer
Genie Kaminski - Actress
Caley Powell started as a Casting Director in 2009 and started associate and assistant producing in 2014. In May 2016 she produced her first play 'Might Never Happen' at The Kings Head Theatre and has now gone on to produce plays at The Vaults, The Bridewell Theatre, the Finborough Theatre and Zoo Venues at the Edinburgh Fringe. She set up her new theatre company Lights Down Productions in January 2018 to produce female led new writing, particularly female writers and their first play was 'Hear Me Howl' by Lydia Rynne that had work in progress showings at The Landor Space (March 2018) and The Plymouth Fringe (May 2018), followed by a 2 week run at The Old Red Lion Theatre (September 2018) and 6 performances at Vault Festival (January/February 2019) . https://twitter.com/LightsDownProd
Abbie Lucas is a director working in film, TV, theatre, and commercials. Her recent credits include the short films TESTING GRETA (Winner of the special prize for "Greeks of the World" at the 40th Annual Drama Short Film Festival in Greece and Nominated for Best Actress, Billie Vee, at the 12th Annual Hamilton Film Festival in Canada.) and DEAD TIRED, and she has been approached to direct two more short films and two television pilots. Among her other credits are A QUICK FOR-TUNE, which was officially selected for worldwide festivals, along with London’s prestigious Raindance Festival. Her acclaimed short WRONG DIRECTION was selected for the London Independent Film Festival and the BAFTA qualifications. Her comic sketch BOOBIES IN A BOX went viral with over eight million views, having been picked up by several major online publications such as the Huffington Post. Abbie is currently writing a pilot for American television. Abbie Lucas
Catherine O’Shea is a playwright and screenwriter. She is a swing dancer and being a part of Swing Patrol inspired the play. She is represented by Elaine Steel and is a member of the Criterion Theatre's New Writing scheme who have been supporting the development of Shards. She has had five plays performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe including Transient which transferred to Shunt Vaults in London and Fit for Purpose which was awarded the Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund for productions at Pleasance Islington and Edinburgh. In 2014 her play Seagull was performed at the Chichester Festival Theatre. In 2016 her play Carnival was performed at the Tristan Bates Theatre and Evolution House, Edinburgh. She wrote John Simmonds, a Trafalgar journey for the National Maritime Museum. She was a co-writer of Double Infemnity at the 2018 Vault Festival as part of the female-led theatre company Paperclip. Catherine O'Shea - Writer
Genie Kaminski (Laura) is a Russian-born actor who trained at Cambridge and Drama Studio London. She is also a theatre producer through her company, Wolf-Sister Productions. Stage work includes: Adela in Suff'ring (OSO Theatre, Barnes), Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, Hero/Conrade in Much Ado about Nothing (The Rose Playhouse), Miranda in The Tempest (site-specific for Cornucopia Theatre), Carolyn in Blue Stockings, Emily in Brontë (both at New Diorama Theatre). Genie previously played the part of Laura for the Criterion and Park Theatre showcases and has been very involved in the development of the full production.
Spotlight
Follow us to hear more:
Twitter @ShardsPlay @LightsDownProd @Cat_OShea
Tickets: http://bit.ly/ShardsPlay
We received two 5* reviews and were Lyn Gardner's pick of the week.
We are now raising money for a full length run of Shards in 2020.
It’s an exciting new play written by Catherine O’Shea about love, loss, swing dancing, particle physics & dating.
We have an all female creative team who are passionate about bringing this story to more people.
It would be incredible if you were able to donate to our campaign in order to help make this production happen.
Your money will go towards costs to hire the theatre, hire rehearsal space and for our designer fees and video design fees.
Video design is a big part of the design of the show. The audience will know the time period based on an animation of the Shard which will be projected onto the back wall of the theatre & this back projection will also be used to suggest locations such as the pub, houses & large hadron collider. In the early time periods we will see the Shard represented in a very illustrated hand drawn architectural plan style & as time goes by & the Shard is complete, it will be rendered in the style of an art deco painting, to add a flavour of the era in which swing dance was born.
Dancers in video and photos: Caitlin Siegers Evans, Alan Lorcan, Catherine O'Shea and David D Savage.Synopsis
In 2011 the Shard is half completed. Matt, a swing dancer and an A+E nurse and Laura, a particle physicist hunting for the Higgs Boson particle, are negotiating the world of online dating, desperately looking for a connection. On their first date in Borough High Street there is finally a spark but also catastrophe. We flit back and forth in time as the Shard rises up in the background, witnessing their lives at different points of momentum, collision and propulsion.
Rewards
Any donation of any size will be really appreciated and fully used to make this play come to life.
We also have some rewards for specific donation amounts.
If you donate £20 - You're a triple step and we will give you a thank you on social media
If you donate £40 - You're an atom and we will give you a thanks on social media and thank you in the programme
If you donate £60 - You're a swing out and we will give you a thank you on social media, a thank you in our programme and a signed poster.
If you donate £80 - You're a neutrino and we will give you everything above as well as meet and greet with the cast in the bar after the show (a few options of dates will be given)
If you donate £100 - You're a hallelujah and we will give you an exclusive swing dance workshop with professional swing dancers and members of the cast and creative team
If you donate £180 - You're the higgs boson particle and we will take you on a trip to the science museum with our physics advisors and members of the cast and creative team
We really hope you are able to donate and bring the joy of swing dance and this show to the stage!
Whatever you can donate it will make a big difference for Shards the play. Whether or not you can donate anything if you were able to share this campaign with your networks we would be eternally grateful.
Shards Creative Team:
Caley Powell - Producing for Lights Down Productions,
Abbie Lucas - Director
Catherine O'Shea - Writer
Genie Kaminski - Actress
Caley Powell started as a Casting Director in 2009 and started associate and assistant producing in 2014. In May 2016 she produced her first play 'Might Never Happen' at The Kings Head Theatre and has now gone on to produce plays at The Vaults, The Bridewell Theatre, the Finborough Theatre and Zoo Venues at the Edinburgh Fringe. She set up her new theatre company Lights Down Productions in January 2018 to produce female led new writing, particularly female writers and their first play was 'Hear Me Howl' by Lydia Rynne that had work in progress showings at The Landor Space (March 2018) and The Plymouth Fringe (May 2018), followed by a 2 week run at The Old Red Lion Theatre (September 2018) and 6 performances at Vault Festival (January/February 2019) . https://twitter.com/LightsDownProd
Abbie Lucas is a director working in film, TV, theatre, and commercials. Her recent credits include the short films TESTING GRETA (Winner of the special prize for "Greeks of the World" at the 40th Annual Drama Short Film Festival in Greece and Nominated for Best Actress, Billie Vee, at the 12th Annual Hamilton Film Festival in Canada.) and DEAD TIRED, and she has been approached to direct two more short films and two television pilots. Among her other credits are A QUICK FOR-TUNE, which was officially selected for worldwide festivals, along with London’s prestigious Raindance Festival. Her acclaimed short WRONG DIRECTION was selected for the London Independent Film Festival and the BAFTA qualifications. Her comic sketch BOOBIES IN A BOX went viral with over eight million views, having been picked up by several major online publications such as the Huffington Post. Abbie is currently writing a pilot for American television. Abbie Lucas
Catherine O’Shea is a playwright and screenwriter. She is a swing dancer and being a part of Swing Patrol inspired the play. She is represented by Elaine Steel and is a member of the Criterion Theatre's New Writing scheme who have been supporting the development of Shards. She has had five plays performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe including Transient which transferred to Shunt Vaults in London and Fit for Purpose which was awarded the Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund for productions at Pleasance Islington and Edinburgh. In 2014 her play Seagull was performed at the Chichester Festival Theatre. In 2016 her play Carnival was performed at the Tristan Bates Theatre and Evolution House, Edinburgh. She wrote John Simmonds, a Trafalgar journey for the National Maritime Museum. She was a co-writer of Double Infemnity at the 2018 Vault Festival as part of the female-led theatre company Paperclip. Catherine O'Shea - Writer
Genie Kaminski (Laura) is a Russian-born actor who trained at Cambridge and Drama Studio London. She is also a theatre producer through her company, Wolf-Sister Productions. Stage work includes: Adela in Suff'ring (OSO Theatre, Barnes), Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, Hero/Conrade in Much Ado about Nothing (The Rose Playhouse), Miranda in The Tempest (site-specific for Cornucopia Theatre), Carolyn in Blue Stockings, Emily in Brontë (both at New Diorama Theatre). Genie previously played the part of Laura for the Criterion and Park Theatre showcases and has been very involved in the development of the full production.
Spotlight
Follow us to hear more:
Twitter @ShardsPlay @LightsDownProd @Cat_OShea
Tickets: http://bit.ly/ShardsPlay
Organizer
Catherine O'Shea
Organizer
England