Peculiar Productions

Peculiar Slice: The Cherries On Top

Meet the newly appointed Peculiar Committee who are fresh out of the oven and ready to roll!

Sarah – Executive Chef

Role of Chair requires a pinch of authority (or bossiness). A dollop of understanding. A good helping of organization and an awful lot of love (for my committee and the company) to bind it all together.

What type of cake would I be? I’d be a Gin and tonic cake. I’m zesty. Sometimes sharp and often soaked in gin.

I’m looking forward to rising to the challenges ahead. Making the company sustainable. Spreading our wings and trying new shows. And bringing even more passion and creativity to our Pratchett productions.

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Arcadia: Meet Lowri, Social Butterfly

This week, meet our Hamilton-loving half-pint Lowri. She will be playing Chloë, a young woman fascinated with dressing up, socialising, and ruling the roost. You are likely to have seen Lowri as Magrat in ‘Wyrd Sisters’ and ‘Witches Abroad’ with Monstrous Productions, with whom she also leapt around the stage as the Librarian in ‘Guards Guards’. Children the world over love her energy, which is great since she will be starting Early Years teacher training next June! We couldn’t be prouder.

Although Chloë and Lowri are very alike, we fully believe Lowri is a million times sweeter and more caring – will Chloë make a monster out of her?!

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Peculiar Slice: Arcadia’s Stage Manager

Meet the team kneading and proving Peculiar’s next production, Arcadia, ready to rise to the stage in February 2019!

Who are you and what you got cookin?

I’m Vicki, Stage Manager, and I’ll be cooking up anything the crew want to keep them working hard! I’ll be lurking backstage making sure that everything onstage runs smooth as butter.

What ingredients do you need as Stage Manager and what gets your taste-buds tingling the most?

I will be running backstage making sure the actors are where they should be and props are all in order. You need a lot of sugar to get things done, a pinch of salt in case they aren’t, and a glob of sticky toffee for when there’s too much noise backstage!

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Arcadia: Meet Loz, Charming Intelli-Gentleman

This week meet lovely Loz, the delightful man playing charming Septimus Hodge in Arcadia. Also known as Lawrence Quilty in his more creative pursuits, Loz has astounded us with his many acting roles in the past with Act One (the Cardiff University Drama Society), Monstrous Productions, and many, many others.

On top of the ten acting roles he has filled in the space of five years, Loz also occasionally directs – we have found that he is just as talented as the character he is playing.

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Peculiar Slice: Arcadia’s Prop designer

Meet the team kneading and proving Peculiar’s next production Arcadia ready to rise to the stage in February 2019! 

Who are you and what you got cookin?

I’m Alice, Prop designer. There’s a whole batch of stuff to make and I’ve got some tortoise and hare on the go at the moment. Wait, not like that.

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Arcadia: Meet Matt, the Fiery Critic

Week three of our introductions to the beautiful people gracing the stage in February. Today it’s Matt, who will be filling the shoes of critical Bernard Nightingale. Matt was one of the most loyal members of Monstrous Productions, first appearing in Mort in 2014 and never leaving our side – he even dabbled in being a stage-hand once! After getting in touch with his feline side in The Amazing Maurice for Monstrous Productions, Matt went a little more canine in Peculiar Productions’ The Truth in August.

Matt is a very busy bee at the moment, but has spared a moment to tell us all about himself.

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Peculiar Slice: Arcadia’s Costume Designer

Meet the team kneading and proving Peculiar’s next production Arcadia ready to rise to the stage in February 2019!

Who are you and what you got cooking?

I’m the costume designer – I’m currently cooking up all sorts of ideas about what our lovely actors are going to wear and how the costumes fit with the characters.

What ingredients do you need as Costume Designer and what gets your taste-buds tingling the most?

It’s a really exiting new challenge to be honest! I think its going to take a lot of creativity and hard work.

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Arcadia: Meet Caitlin, Mathematically Curious

It’s week two of our Meet the Actor series! This week we are delighted to introduce Caitlin, who in August starred in her stage debut as Sacharissa Cripslock in our first production, ‘The Truth’. A lot of firsts, as it turns out!

Caitlin is really looking forward to experiencing the thrill and excitement of performing again in February when she will take to the stage as Thomasina Coverly, the precocious student who knows much more than a young lady ought to.

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Peculiar Slice: Arcadia’s Set Designer

Meet the team kneading and proving Peculiar’s next production Arcadia ready to rise to the stage in February 2019!

Who are you and what you got cookin’?

I’m Lizzie, the set designer and I’ll be cooking up the scenery ready to be served to the stage this February.

What ingredients do you need as Set Designer and what gets your taste-buds tingling the most?

The core ingredients would be patience and creativity. A lot of research and experimenting goes into design and can often take some time before you get to that final product. But all that hard work is worth it.  I’m most looking forward to the finishing touches – I love the little details.  Not everyone will notice them but it makes it extra special when they do?

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Tom Stoppard’s ‘Arcadia’

“Excellent cast bringing great energy to a witty and engaging play” – Audience feedback

By Tom Stoppard.  Directed by Hannah Bennett.

21st – 23rd February 2019, The Paget Rooms, Penarth.

Peculiar Productions presents Tom Stoppard’s fascinating and witty comedy, Arcadia. Winner of the 1993 Laurence Olivier Award, Stoppard’s script is a sparky, intellectual masterpiece from one of the UK’s most talented playwrights.

At Sidley Park in 1809, the house is rife with intrigue and happenings, as the infamous Lord Byron is staying with the Coverly family. Whilst the gardens are being redesigned – much to Lady Croom’s distress – the youngest daughter, Thomasina, is being tutored in the classics by Byron’s contemporary, Septimus. Two centuries later, a group of academics convene at the same location to discuss the events that followed: did Byron take part in a fatal duel? Is the story of the mysterious Sidley Park hermit really just a myth? And who was spied with Mrs. Chater in the gazebo?

We’re delighted to annouce that we’ve donated £1,000 to Arcadia‘s chosen charity, The Brain Tumour Charity!

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