12 December 2017
Newsdesk
People would move seats on the bus. But I can’t get on the bus cos I’m waiting for this old man to call.
Following its premiere at Edinburgh Fringe 2016, Ian Bonar and Rob Watt collaborate once again to bring Be Prepared to VAULT Festival for a limited run. This is a heart-breaking and moving yet hilarious play about one man struggling to remember while another finds himself unable to forget.
Tom’s a mess. Mr Chambers keeps phoning him asking for a funeral director. Tom is not a funeral director. Getting one digit wrong can change a person’s life forever. Conversations become confused and memories intertwine and unravel. Be Prepared tells the story of two strangers who unwittingly help each other to remember and connect to the people they loved.
Inspired by Ian Bonar’s own experiences of his father’s death and subsequently finding his grandad’s cherished memoires, Bonar uses his grandad’s words, some verbatim and some embellished to explore memory, grief and how we remember things. Be Prepared is a darkly comic one-man show that captures the millions of tiny emotions and confusions that ambush you when you lose someone.
Writer and performer Ian Bonar comments, Death is funny, right? When I found my Grandad’s journal it was fascinating and heart-breaking to see his memories literally disintegrate on the page as his mind began to fail him, and it made me think about my Dad, about what I wanted to forget about his death and the things I desperately wanted to remember about his life. Why could I remember every detail of the hilariously awful experience of going to the local Funeral Director (with whom my family nearly shared a phone number) but struggled to conjure up the sound of his voice? And as Rob and I made the show we learned that grief is both the most specific, individual, private experience - and the most beautifully universal thing that we should all maybe share a bit more…
This is a powerful collaboration between Bonar, one of nine writers in the Orange Tree Writers Collective 2016 and previous alumnus of a Royal Court invitational writers group, and Rob Watt, who is an Associate at Headlong Theatre, lead artist at Lyric Hammersmith, and artist mentor at the Barbican. They will be joined by sound designer and successful musician Alex Crispin and critically acclaimed lighting designer Charlie Morgan Jones.
Be Prepared was developed at The RSC Other Place and had a first full run at the RSC Fringe Festival. It was then selected to be part of Underbelly Untapped at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Performance Dates Wednesday 7th – Sunday 11th February 2018, 9.30pm
Saturday matinee, 5pm
Running Time 60 minutes
Location VAULT Festival, The Vaults, Leake Street, London SE1 7NN
How to get there The Vaults are located underneath Waterloo station (on the Northern, Bakerloo and Jubilee lines). Leave Waterloo Station via Exit 1. Turn right onto Station Road Approach and keep on the right hand side of the road. Walk all the way to the bottom of the road and go down the first set of stairs you come to and turn right at the bottom of the stairs. The entrance to the VAULT Festival is 10 meters down the graffiti tunnel on the right hand side.
Box Office Tickets are available prices £10 from www.vaultfestival.com
Twitter @BePreparedPlay, @wattnot
Writer and Performer Ian Bonar
Director and Dramaturg Rob Watt
Sound Designer Alex Crispin
Lighting Designer Charlie Morgan Jones
Ian Bonar
Be Prepared is Ian’s first play. His second play, St Anthony, was long-listed for the Bruntwood Prize. He was one of nine writers in the Orange Tree Writers Collective in 2016 and a previous alumni of a Royal Court invitational writers group. His work has had rehearsed readings at The NT Studio and RSC. Long-listed for The Old Vic 12 in 2017. Acting credits include: Arden of Faversham and The Witch of Edmonton (RSC); The Blackest Black (Hampstead Theatre); Brilliant Adventures (Royal Exchange, Manchester); DNA and The Miracle (National Theatre); City Love (Bussey Building); Me, As a Penguin (Arcola Theatre); Ma Vie En Rose (Young Vic Theatre). Television includes: New Blood, Our Loved Boy and Holy Flying Circus (BBC); Southcliffe and Black Mirror (Channel 4); Going Postal (Sky). Film includes: Interlude in Prague, Spectre, Skyfall, 1234, Starter for Ten, Atonement.
Rob Watt
Rob is an Associate at Headlong Theatre, a lead artist at Lyric Hammersmith, an artist mentor on the Barbican Box project and regularly teaches at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and City University. He previously produced participatory work for young people at the National Theatre and was Associate Director at Immediate Theatre. Credits include: Love and Information by Caryl Churchill (Institute of the Arts Barcelona); Standby For Tape Back-Up by Ross Sutherland (Soho Theatre / Summerhall / Shoreditch Town Hall / UK tour); How to Survive a Post Truth Apocalypse by Francesca Beard (Soho Theatre / Roundhouse); SEXY by Vanessa Kisuule (Roundhouse, Bristol Old Vic); Goosebumps by Rob Watt (The Vaults), The Joy of Normal (Orange Tree Theatre), Earthquakes in London (Institute of the Arts, Barcelona), Party Trap by Ross Sutherland (Shoreditch Town Hall).
Alex Crispin
Alex is a composer, musician and producer who has made work for clients including the BBC, Royal Academy of Arts, Northern Film & Media, the RSC and the National Trust. He has released albums as a member of the band Baron and more recently is releasing work under his own name.
Charlie Morgan Jones
As an experienced freelance Lighting Designer, Charlie has enjoyed a great deal of professional success for his innovative and evocative work in theatre and opera both at home and abroad. His work spans the full theatrical spectrum, from multiple musical productions to the West End, immersive theatre and opera on the National and International stage. He has received critical acclaim for his designs and his work can currently be seen across the UK.
