Theatre
I first started working in theatre in Amsterdam in the 2nd half of the 1980s, before moving to the UK in 1990 to take a Degree in Drama at the University of Manchester. While I was there, I became increasingly involved in working at The Green Room, a small scale contemporary arts venue in the centre of the city, but more importantly one which was a destination for majority of the more interesting performance companies working in the UK at the time, and for many from outside the UK.
Upon finishing my degree, I worked in UK theatre for the remainder of the decade, in many different guises, from writer to movement director, performer, sound and lighting designer, through to technical, stage and production management. In the early 2000s, I also continued to work in theatre, but this time primarily in Canada, writing, producing, creating soundtracks, and performing.
Going by the number of young hipsters packing the Assembly Rooms for this, his company’s latest offering of raw dance and fast-talking, street-wise soul exposure, the wordsmith Spencer Hazel is achieving his goal: he is attracting a generation more at home in clubs back to the theatre. The Scotsman
I have recently returned to the theatre rehearsal space, but now as researcher.
The archive below includes a number of theatre scripts, mostly written back in the 1990s. They include scripts initially written for Frantic Assembly (KLUB, Flesh & Zero), Boilerhouse Theatre (Seizer & Circus), and 2021 Performance (scratch & Phantom Limb), as well as some one-offs.
The Caging (1993)
Chalking Crosses (North West Playwrights, 1994), nominated in the category Best New Play in the Manchester Evening News Awards 1994
The Generation Trilogy – consisting of KLUB, Flesh and Zero:
Klub (Frantic Assembly, 1995) – national and international tour, supported by The British Council
Flesh (Frantic Assembly, 1996) – national and international tour supported by The British Council; (2021 Performance, 2001) – Toronto, Canada
Zero (1997)
Seizer (Boilerhouse Theatre, 1997) – national tour; (The Seizer Project, 2002) Toronto, Canada
Scratch (2021 Performance, 1998) – national tour
Circus (Boilerhouse Theatre, 1999) – Scotland and Republic of Ireland
Without Trace (VTOL Dance Company, 1999) – national and international tour (supported by The British Council)
Slamdunk (dognextdoor, Toronto, 2002)
Phantom Limb (2021 Performance & Theatre Gargantua, 2002) – UK and Canada tour
(Also in draft form):
Lamb (2004)
Slackwater (2006)
Radio Drama:
Backlash (BBC Radio 4, broadcast May 1995). Backlash was commissioned as an unsolicited script by Kate Rowlands at BBC Radio 4, and developed into a 4 part series titled The Pamela Myers Show (dir. Kate Rowlands)
The Bay (MCA Radio, 1993)
“L’auteur, qui est aussi chorégraphe, éclairagiste et comédien, a un talent fou qu’il communique à toute l’équipe qui se hausse a son niveau pour faite la piece un des plus beaux spectacles multi-médias de la saison.” L’Express
For one account of the 1990s UK theatre scene, read
Hazel, Spencer (2015) In whose face?! (Angry young) theatre makers and the targets of their provocation. In Susan Blattes and Samuel Cuisinier-Delorme (Eds.) Special Issue «Le théâtre In-Yer-Face aujourd’hui: bilans et perspectives», Coup de Theatre, 29, 45-68 Link to article
