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 James
Warrior Blog
I
was just thinking about a play I was in last year, how much
I enjoyed it and why.
Let
me blow off a bit of steam.
Last
year I worked at the Nottingham Playhouse after a gap of about
thirty years. In the sixties and seventies this was an exciting
theatre. Now it is a dreary complacent boring building as
though with a heavy hand laid on it. But last year we came
and woke the place up a bit.
Stephen
Lowe wrote a play about Brian Clough the great football manager
of Nottingham Forest . Alan Dossor, who also contributed enormously
to the structuring of the play, was the director.
It
was bloody great! The play was deliberately not a serious
play. It was light hearted and funny but with enough serious
moments to justify itself as a drama. You could take what
you want from it, but above all you left the theatre with
warm memories of a much loved and inspirational man.
This
production achieved box office takings that the Nottingham
Playhouse has not seen in many years. The only comparison
in money making terms that this theatre has been able to produce
in a long time is the annual Christmas panto. And come on
let's face it, that works primarily because it's a holiday
period at an otherwise dark, dreary and cold time of the year
when people are tired and jaded and desperate for something
to relieve the gloom. You'd be hard put to make a box office
failure out of the pantomime.
Alan
Dossor put a great company of actors together for this play.
I'm going to list them all in a minute because they all deserve
praise, but let me tell you, first of all, why they were so
good. All of us who were in this play were experienced, gifted
and creative actors but that is not necessarily a recipe for
success. What made this group special was that they really
played as a team. There were no prima donnas.
In
forty years of working in the theatre and television I don't
think I have ever worked in a more cohesive ensemble than
this one. I have been in some wonderful plays. Comedians
by Trevor Griffiths for example, but I have
never worked more happily with a group of actors than this.
Everyone in the company worked towards the success of the
play rather than to indulge their own ego. It was brilliant
and also brilliantly led by Alan Dossor.
Here
is the list of actors in no particular order. All of them
great and I hope I work with them again.
Ben
Goddard (who was also our musical director), Dave Nicholls,
Colin Tarrant (who played Brian Clough), Ken Bradshaw, John
Lloyd Fillingham, Laura Martin Simpson, Jamie Kenna and me,
James Warrior.
Now
lately, let it be noted that, the powers that be at the Nottingham
Playhouse have decided that Alan Dossor is persona non grata.
Come on! This is just jealousy. The only thing that Alan did
wrong at this theatre was to steam in and wake a few complacent
people out of their reverie. The place needs a good shake
up. It needs more of Alan Dossor not less! Playhouse, wake
up and do something to earn your Arts Council grant.
PS.
5th June.
I
have just heard that my dear friend Dave Nicholls, who was
one of the company in the Brian Clough play, has been diagnosed
with cancer. Would anyone reading this please just reach
out with positive thoughts for him, to help him fight this
bastard disease.
You
are a big gentle giant of a man and a wise and good human
being. I learned a lot from you when we were working
together last year.
We're
all with you Dave. Love Will.
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