Here are photos from the dress rehearsal for ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore. Lots of blood and sex, and they also have a pig’s heart to top it off. The play is directed by Laura Batey and Bea Svistunenko and plays this week at the ADC.
Julia Kass singing. This is a typically difficult scene to get the light well exposed, since Julia is so close to the bright spotlight, while the rest of the cast are in the shadows.Emma Blacklay-Piech, with Gabriel Cagan and Sam Keen. Backlit smoke with coloured spotlights look really good. This photo did not need much post processing at all, just a little bit of sharpening and tweaking of the curves.Alice Carlil and Julia Kass, with Tom Chamberlain and Will Chappell. By having the women in the background sharp, and more brightly lit, they become the focus of the photo.Julia Kass and Tom Chamberlain. The set was in two levels, to get this shot I had snuck up past the safety curtain.Martha Murphy singing at the bar, while the brother and sister were getting frisky in the bed in the background.Emma Blacklay-Piech and Nicholas Hulbert.Jack Parham and Rose Reade.Alice Carlill and Julia Kass in bed. Again, smoke and backlight. The play had a live band that was sitting on the top level just behind the actresses. I removed them using Photoshop to make the photo visually simpler.Gabriel Cagan with Laura Waldren and Martha Murphy in the background.Laura with her signature tear on the cheek.Laura with Robbie Taylor Hunt in the background.Silas Lee and Martha Murphy.Tom and Julia smooching. Notice that in addition to the white light from the front there is an orange warm light giving them a bit of highlights on their hair.Julia really does not like all the suitors she is getting.Will Chappell and Julia Kass.There were lots of knife fights and blood in this well choreographed play.Jack, Rose, Silas and Martha. This is a composite shot of there photos to get everyone sharp since I shot it with a large aperture.
Laura and Robbie, and a bit of blue backlight.Another composite shot. Second version, thanks to Nicholas for spotting the mistake in the composite.Laura throwing up on stage. I like Robbie’s gesture, with the arm extended towards Laura.It got really messy. Here I am trying to capture the reactions of the people around her.Silas being the gentleman offering to take over the cleaning.Pregnant?! Gabriel’s character does not like that.They made good use of all the cigaret smoke. Only downside was my sweater was stinking when I got home but the photos came out very nicely.Troubled words. I am slightly curious what the note said. You can make out some of the words on the original photo if you flip it horizontally: “I’m writing to you in my own blood as I could not find any ink…” I think that pretty much sums up the play.They had plenty of blood packs in the play, that added to the realism.Emma and Tom. That is a real pig’s heart.Tom and Robbie in the final scene.
Read the Varsity review (5/5), The Tab review and The Cambridge Student review (7/10). More photos to come later… in the meantime you can find your tickets on the ADC webpage.
– Johannes
Cast
Florio – Emma Blacklay-Piech
Annabella – Julia Kass
Giovanni – Tom Chamberlain
Friar Bonaventura – Will Chappell
Putana – Alice Carlill
Soranzo – Gabriel Cagan
Richardetto – Silas Lee
Hippolita – Laura Waldren
Philotis – Martha Murphy
Donado – Nicholas Hulbert
Bergetto – Jack Parham
Poggio – Rose Reade
Grimaldi – Sam Keen
Vasques – Robbie Taylor Hunt
Production Team
Producer – Johannes Ruckstuhl
Assistant Director – Bea Svistunenko
Director – Laura Batey
Set Designer – Emily Newton
Costume Designer – Jessie Mathewson
Lighting Designer – Bethany Craik
Technical Director – David Stansby
Musical Director – Alex Maynard
Deputy Stage Manager – Hannah Edwards
CLX – Tom Johnson
Assistant Stage Manager – Amy Carmichael
Fight Choreography – Robbie Taylor Hunt, Bea Svistunenko
Hair and Makeup – Emily Ranken
Production Photographer – Johannes Hjorth
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