Podcast With BLACK WATCH’s Adam McNamara & Chris Starkie

October 12, 2012 Michael J. Roberts

Podcast With BLACK WATCH Actors Adam McNamara and Chris Starkie from Michael Roberts on Vimeo.

Actors Adam McNamara and Chris Starkie discuss their roles and involvement in National Theatre of Scotland’s hit production of BLACK WATCH which returns to Chicago as part of Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s cultural exchange program.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s limited eleven-day engagement of Black Watch runs October 10–21, 2012 at the Broadway Armory (5917 N. Broadway). Tickets are on sale now for $38–52, with special discounts available for groups of 10 or more. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Theater’s website at www.chicagoshakes.com.

BLACK WATCH

Chicago Shakespeare Theater welcomes back National Theatre of Scotland‘s powerful Black Watch, October 10–21, after its celebrated Chicago engagement in 2011. This remarkable theatrical event is based on playwright Gregory Burke‘s interviews with former soldiers and brought to life by the critically acclaimed director/choreographer team of the Tony Award®-winning Broadway musical Once, John Tiffany (NTS’s Associate Director) and Steven Hoggett (co-founder and artistic director of London’s Frantic Assembly). Black Watch is an impassioned, urgent telling of the legendary Scottish regiment’s story, deftly interweaving events both past and present with a live musical score of war anthems and folk songs. Battles leap to heartrending life, glorious bagpipes resound and the intimate moments of soldiers’ lives are laid bare as they discover what it means to make the journey home again. CST continues its longstanding partnership with theChicago Park District to present the internationally acclaimed production in Chicago’sBroadway Armory at 5917 N. Broadway in the Edgewater community—a space used for military training by the State of Illinois during World War I.

Named the “#1 Theatrical Event of the Year” by The New York Times and a “thrilling, challenging and masterful piece of work” by The Times of London, Black Watch has been seen by over 200,000 people across three continents. From London to New Zealand, Black Watch has played sold-out engagements throughout the world—including last year’s CST presentation in Chicago, where the production was named one of the “Top 10 Chicago Theater Shows” of the year by the Chicago Tribune and was hailed by the Chicago Sun-Times as “a masterpiece of ensemble playing and physical theater.” In addition to four Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Director, Best Theatre Choreography, Best Play and Best Sound Design, Black Watch garnered the New York Drama Circle Award for Best Foreign Play in 2009.

John Tiffany has led the National Theatre of Scotland’s artistic development team since its founding in 2006, commissioning and developing new pieces for the company. In addition to a Laurence Olivier Award, Tiffany’s accolades for Black Watch include a Critics’ Circle Directors Award and a South Bank Show Theatre Award. He has also directed the successful Traverse productions of Gagarin Way and Perfect Days, both winners of the Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This year, Tiffany won the 2012 Tony Award® for Best Director for his work on the Broadway musical Once.

The cast of Black Watch includes actors and brothers Ryan Fletcher and Scott Fletcheras Cammy and Kenzie, respectively, in their first Black Watch tour together. Additional cast members include: Cameron Barnes as Macca, Andrew Fraser as Fraz, Robert Jack as Writer and Sergeant, Stephen McCole as Officer and Lord Elgin, Adam McNamara as Rossco, Richard Rankin as Granty, Chris Starkie as Stewarty and Gavin Jon Wright as Nabsy.

The production’s creative team is rounded out by Associate Director (Music) Davey Anderson, Staff Director Joe Douglas, Casting Director Anne Henderson, Set DesignerLaura Hopkins, Lighting Designer Colin Grenfell, Sound Designer Gareth Fry, Costume Designer Jessica Brettle and Video Designers Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer for Fifty Nine Productions Ltd.

ABOUT NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND

Supported by the Scottish Government, National Theatre of Scotland has been involved in creating 181 productions in 156 different locations since its launch in February 2006. With no building of its own, the Company takes theater all over Scotland and beyond, working with existing and new venues and companies to create and tour theater of the highest quality. It takes place in the great buildings of Scotland, but also in site-specific locations, airports and tower blocks, community halls and drill halls, ferries and forests. The company has performed to over 770,000 people, across three continents.

ABOUT CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER

Chicago Shakespeare Theater is a leading international theater company, known for vibrant productions that reflect Shakespeare’s genius for intricate storytelling, musicality of language and depth of feeling for the human condition. Recipient of the 2008 Regional Theatre Tony Award®, Chicago Shakespeare’s work has been recognized internationally with three of London’s prestigious Laurence Olivier Awards, and by the Chicago theater community with 62 Joseph Jefferson Awards for Artistic Excellence. Under the leadership ofArtistic Director Barbara Gaines and Executive Director Criss Henderson, CST is dedicated to producing extraordinary classic productions, new works and family fare; unlocking Shakespeare’s work for educators and students; and serving as Chicago’s cultural ambassador through its World’s Stage Series.

ABOUT THE WORLD’S STAGE SERIES

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