Arts Diary: Will Marriott

They've long been a familiar fixture at London theatres, but now Scratch nights are coming to Hull. The idea is to showcase new pieces, reveal a little of the creative process to audience members and the first event will take place next Sunday. The evening is being produced by Ensemble 52 – the resident theatre company at new venue Fruit – and curated by Hull-based playwright Dave Windass.
By The Newsroom
Published 19th Nov 2010, 11:42 BST
Updated 19th Nov 2010, 11:43 BST

Eight pieces of work will be showcased at the initial night with a view to developing the theatre pieces over the coming months. "We're hoping long term that each piece of work

will evolve into a full-length show," says Windass. "This isn't about presenting polished pieces of theatre beneath a proscenium arch, but about working through ideas and seeing what does and doesn't work, without worrying that the wheels might fall off. I'm expecting the first night to be very exciting and, who knows, maybe a little bit revolutionary." Scratch@Fruit takes place on November 28, from 7pm-9pm. Tickets, priced at 3, will be available on the door.

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You have been warned. After departing early from Strictly Come Dancing, Paul Daniels is to take on Shakespeare. The magician is about to appear as the ghost in a touring production of Hamlet, which comes to Joseph Rowntree Theatre in York on December 14. However, fans of the Bard need not break out in a cold sweat just yet. Oddsocks's production is a comic take on the tragedy and Daniels will appear only as a hologram.

Word of another unlikely pairing comes to us from the Balbir Singh Dance Company, whose latest project will apparently fuse Indian dance with synchronised swimming. The aptly titled Synchronise show will form part of Yorkshire's Cultural Olympiad project and rehearsals get underway today. The final performance will coincide with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and we suspect something of an aquatic theme may be developing. Earlier this year Singh choreographed Cargo at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Inspired, he said, by the universal need to migrate, the large-scale outdoor watery spectacle featured 12 performers and transformed the park of Leith Links into the high seas.

Singh is apparently now looking for musical instruments that are suitable to play in a swimming pool. Answers on a postcard please.

When we went to press last week, we had just heard news of West Yorkshire Playhouse's success in winning two Theatrical Management Association Awards. However, it seems the annual bash had provided even more good news for Yorkshire than we thought. Ayesha Antoine was also among the winners, scooping the prizefor Best Supporting Performance In A Play for her role in My Wonderful Day and the award was well deserved. The 28-year-old won rave reviews when she played nine-year-old Winnie in the play, written and directed by Alan Ayckbourn. My Wonderful Day premiered at Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre last October before touring New York as part of the Brits Off Broadway Festival.

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