The Right Size

Last updated

The Right Size was a British theatre company active from 1988 to 2006, led by Sean Foley and Hamish McColl. Their major success was The Play What I Wrote , a tribute to Morecambe and Wise, and other key productions included Do You Come Here Often? and Ducktastic .

Contents

Early years

Foley and McColl have frequently been reported as saying that they met in Paris around 1987 when they were learning to be clowns at the school of Philippe Gaulier (with both leaving after a month when they ran out of money). [1] [2] [3] But it seems more likely they met earlier at Oxford Youth Theatre. [4] [5] They formed The Right Size in January 1988. [6] The name arose when working on their first show, which was originally titled The Right Size. When they decided to change the name of that show to Que Sera, they kept The Right Size as their company name. [3] McColl said this was because they "liked everybody's aspirations to be the right size." [3]

From their earliest shows, such as Que Sera, The Bath, Flight to Finland and Moose, The Right Size often tried out productions at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe or London International Mime Festival, and then toured in the UK, Europe and internationally, sometimes in collaboration with the British Council. [6] [7] The shows were devised by Foley and McColl with their collaborating co-performers and creative team. "I grew up by creating my own work," Foley said later. "Nobody was going to give me a job, so I created one myself by creating a theatre company, The Right Size. On the first show my partner, Hamish McColl, and I built the set, drove the van, did the show, took the set out, went to the pub." [5]

They were described early on in terms such as "one of Britain's most promising young clown theatre companies" [6] and "[t]he multilingual clowning theatre company [that] specialises in brash physical comedy that is part mime, part slapstick and can just about be traced back to the traditions of the commedia dell'arte". [8] McColl, commenting later on 1980s trends in "physical theatre" based around schools such as those of Philippe Gaulier and Jacques Lecoq in Paris, said, "The difference for us is that we hitched ourselves more to vaudeville and variety. We like to see ourselves as much in that tradition as in the explosion from France." [1]

Double act focus

From 1994 and Stop Calling Me Vernon, Foley and McColl focused on working as a double act. "We'd always had other people in our shows," Foley recalled. "This was the first time we said, 'I tell you what, let's just do two weeks' rehearsal, just the two of us, and see what we come up with.' And when we put it up in front of an audience, they laughed their socks off. That's when we found that we were a double-act." [1] Stop Calling Me Vernon was about a fading vaudeville duo, practicing their old gags whilst waiting for their next big break.

Their major 1997 success Do You Come Here Often? was about two strangers stuck in a bathroom for 25 years. The show was inspired by the experiences of Beirut hostages Brian Keenan and John McCarthy. [9]

The Play What I Wrote and Ducktastic

The Right Size achieved major UK and international success with The Play What I Wrote. Their final play together was 2005's Ducktastic, a satire on Siegfried and Roy, but with performing ducks instead of tigers.

Collaborators and influences

Foley and McColl were loyal collaborators with others, working consistently with behind-the-scenes partners over the years including director Jozef Houben, from 1991-2001, [10] designer Alice Power, from 1991-2006 [11] and songwriter Chris Larner, from 1992-2000. [12] [13] Through these collaborators, and others such as co-performer Micheline Vandepoel, [14] The Right Size have links to physical theatre companies such as Complicite and Spymonkey.

The duo have regularly credited vaudeville legend Johnny Hutch [15] as an inspiration. [1] [2] [16] [17]

Productions

Productions were generally devised, written and performed in by Foley and McColl.

The Right Size theatre productions
DateProductionDirectorTheatreNotes
1988Que SeraJozef Houben Almeida Theatre Also Edinburgh Festival Fringe. [3] [6] [18]
The BathJozef HoubenToured UK and internationally, including Europe, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Also Edinburgh Festival Fringe. [6] [18]
1991Flight To FinlandJozef Houben London International Mime Festival Toured in 1993 including UK, Europe, and South America. [12] [18] [19]
1992MooseJozef Houben London International Mime Festival Toured the UK and internationally. [11] [18] [19]
1993Penny Dreadful Battersea Arts Centre Toured the UK and internationally. [8] [11] [20]
1994Baldy Hopkins Hamish McColl Cochrane Theatre Toured the UK and internationally. [11] [21]
1994Stop Calling Me VernonJozef Houben Edinburgh Festival Fringe Toured the UK. [17] [18]
1995Hold Me DownJozef Houben Purcell Room Toured the UK and internationally. [11] [20] [22]
1997 Do You Come Here Often? Jozef Houben Lyric Hammersmith StudioAlso Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Vaudeville Theatre. Winner of the 1997 Total Theatre Award for Most Innovative overall production. Winner of the 1999 Olivier Award for Best Entertainment. [18] [23] [24]
1998 Mr Puntila and his Man Matti Kathryn Hunter Almeida Theatre A co-production between The Right Size and the Almeida Theatre, adapted by Lee Hall from the play by Bertolt Brecht. Also at the Traverse Theatre and a UK tour. McColl played Mr Puntila, Foley played Matti. [12] [18]
2001BewildernessJozef Houben Lyric Hammersmith Also toured. [18]
2001 The Play What I Wrote Kenneth Branagh Wyndhams Theatre Also Lyceum Theatre on Broadway. [11] [18]
2005 Ducktastic Kenneth Branagh Albery Theatre [18]

TV

Radio

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaudeville</span> Entertainment genre

Vaudeville is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition or light poetry, interspersed with songs or ballets. It became popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s, while changing over time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noël Coward Theatre</span> West End theatre in St. Martins Lane in London, formerly the Albery Theatre

The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre in St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster, London. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's Theatre which was completed in 1899. The building was designed by the architect W. G. R. Sprague with an exterior in the classical style and an interior in the Rococo style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Physical theatre</span> Genre of theatrical performance

Physical theatre is a genre of theatrical performance that encompasses storytelling primarily through physical movement. Although several performance theatre disciplines are often described as "physical theatre", the genre's characteristic aspect is a reliance on the performers' physical motion rather than, or combined with, text to convey storytelling. Performers can communicate through various body gestures.

Jacques Lecoq was a French stage actor and acting movement coach. He was best known for his teaching methods in physical theatre, movement, and mime which he taught at the school he founded in Paris known as École internationale de théâtre Jacques Lecoq. He taught there from 1956 until his death from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1999.

École internationale de théâtre Jacques Lecoq is a school of physical theatre previously located on Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. In May of 2023 the school announced its departure from Paris and relocation to Avignon, where its next season training would commence that autumn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Mime Troupe</span> Political satire theater group

The San Francisco Mime Troupe is a theatre of political satire which performs free shows in various parks in the San Francisco Bay Area and around California. The troupe does not, however, perform silent mime, but each year creates an original musical comedy that combines aspects of commedia dell'arte, melodrama, and broad farce with topical political themes. The group was awarded the Regional Theatre Award at the 41st Tony Awards.

Spymonkey is an international comedy and physical theatre company, based in Brighton. Its members are Toby Park and Petra Massey, both British, Aitor Basauri, a Spaniard, and Stephan Kreiss (1962-2021), a German. According to the theatre director, Tom Morris, ‘Spymonkey follow a rich comic tradition which runs from Tommy Cooper through Morecambe and Wise to Reeves and Mortimer. They are clowns supreme, the high priests of foolery.' For Julian Crouch of Improbable Theatre, they are ‘groundbreaking and sharply brilliant, Spymonkey dance along the very boundary of artistic bravery. They take big risks in their work, and manage to be both true to a highly experimental process AND take their audience with them on that journey.'

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippe Gaulier</span> French clown and teacher

Philippe Gaulier is a French master clown, pedagogue, and professor of theatre. He is the founder of École Philippe Gaulier, a prestigious French theatre school in Étampes, outside Paris. He studied under Jacques Lecoq in the mid-1960s and was an instructor at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in the late 1970s. As well as performing as a clown, he is also a playwright and director. He has published The Tormentor, a book discussing his thoughts on the theatre and containing exercises designed to develop an actor's skill.

<i>The Play What I Wrote</i> Comic British play

The Play What I Wrote is a comedy play written by Hamish McColl, Sean Foley and Eddie Braben, starring Foley and McColl, with Toby Jones, directed by Kenneth Branagh and produced in its original production by David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers. The show is a celebration of the British comedy double act Morecambe and Wise, and an irreverent and farcical exploration of the nature of double acts in general.

Hamish McColl is a British comedian, writer and actor. He trained at the École Philippe Gaulier, Paris and the University of Cambridge. With Sean Foley, he formed the double act The Right Size in 1988, creating comic theatre shows which toured all over the world. More recently he has worked as a screenwriter, scripting Mr. Bean's Holiday and Johnny English Reborn, plus contributing to the story of Paddington.

Sean Foley is a British director, writer, comedian and actor. Following early success as part of the comedy double act The Right Size and their long-running stage show The Play What I Wrote, Foley has more recently become a director, including of several West End comedy productions. In 2019, he was appointed as Artistic Director of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

<i>Ducktastic</i>

Ducktastic is a 2005 farce, parodying the Siegfried and Roy Las Vegas act, but with performing ducks instead of tigers. The show stars, and was written by the double act The Right Size and directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Do You Come Here Often? is a 1997 play written by Sean Foley and Hamish McColl of the two-person theatre company, The Right Size.

Cal McCrystal is an Irish theatre director and actor. He is the brother of the journalist Damien McCrystal and the son of the journalist and writer Cal McCrystal. Following an early career acting in theatre, television, radio plays and commercials, McCrystal became a director specialising in comedy. His notable credits include Physical Comedy Director on the National Theatre's One Man, Two Guvnors starring James Corden and physical comedy consultant on Paddington and Paddington 2. In 2018, he directed a new production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe for the English National Opera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">René Bazinet</span> German-Canadian clown, mime, and actor

René Bazinet is a German-Canadian clown, mime, and stage and film actor. He is known for his work with Cirque du Soleil, first as a performing artist touring extensively with Saltimbanco, and later as the clown act creator and acting consultant for the show as well as for Cirque du Soleil's 2011 production Zarkana. He has also starred in shows at the Berlin Wintergarten and the Circus Roncalli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peta Lily</span>

Peta Lily is a London-based performer/theatremaker and one of the ground-breaking performers involved in shaping the Physical Theatre work of the 1980s. She is well known for her one-woman shows, physical theatre productions and open workshops in Clown, Dark Clown, and Theatre Skills.

Kim Wall is a British actor who has appeared in recurring roles in many British comedy series, including The All New Alexei Sayle Show, The Armstrong and Miller Show, Heartburn Hotel, World of Pub, Big Train, Nighty Night, Angelo's and Al Murray's Multiple Personality Disorder.

Peter Shub is an American actor, clown and vaudeville show director who moved to Europe in the 1980s. He has worked with a number of distinguished international organizations and artists and went on tour with well known circuses such as the German Circus Roncalli, the Big Apple from New York and the Canadian Cirque du Soleil. He has won a Silver Clown of Monte Carlo award and went on tour with his own show as well as with other vaudeville shows throughout Europe. He has been called a "legend", a "modern master", and a "fixture of the German Varieté world."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John-Luke Roberts</span> British stand-up comedian, writer, actor and performer

John-Luke Roberts is a British stand-up comedian, writer, actor and performer.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Brian Logan, "How stupid can they get?", The Guardian, 12 July 1999. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  2. 1 2 Fiachra Gibbons, "The play what is breaking West End theatre records", The Guardian, 22 December 2001 . Retrieved 2012-10-17.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Barbara Isenberg, "A One-Two Punch Line", Los Angeles Times, 27 January 2002. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  4. ↑ Helen Peacocke, "Pegasus memories", The Oxford Times, 18 January 2008. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
  5. 1 2 Terry Grimley, "Terry Grimley meets Sean Foley, co-creator of The Play What I Wrote, now playing Sigmund Freud at Birmingham Rep.", The Birmingham Post, 25 April 2007. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Noor Hayati, "Three's The Right Size", New Straits Times, 1 Jul 1989. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  7. ↑ "Celebrating 10 years of new UK theatre on the world stage", British Council, 2007. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
  8. 1 2 Nick Curtis, "THE FRINGE / Not as funny as all that: Nick Curtis on the caperings of Penny Dreadful and the calm Song for a Bluefoot Man", The Independent, 6 October 1993. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  9. ↑ Lyn Gardner, "Adventures in Wonderland", The Guardian, 25 April 2001. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
  10. ↑ "Spymonkey's Moby Dick" Archived 21 April 2013 at archive.today . Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Agency - Clients - Individuals" Archived 1 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine , the agency. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
  12. 1 2 3 "Chris Larner: CV: Acting: Stage". Retrieved 2012-10-19.
  13. ↑ "Chris Larner: CV: General". Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  14. ↑ "Formations - Micheline Vandepoel", Espace Catastrophe. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  15. ↑ "Johnny Hutch", Circopedia. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  16. ↑ Sean Foley and Hamish McColl, "The right way to get it wrong - Stage", The Guardian, 1 November 2001. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  17. 1 2 Miles Kington, "Edinburgh Festival / Final Day: Why the Right Size is huge: Hamish McColl looks a bit like Stan Laurel; Sean Foley doesn't. Miles Kington accepted an invitation to Stop Calling Me Vernon", The Independent, 2 September 1994. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Hamish McColl", United Agents. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
  19. 1 2 "MimeLondon - London International Mime Festival". Retrieved 2012-10-19.
  20. 1 2 Nigel Edwards, "A Brief History". Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  21. ↑ Hamish McColl, "On Tour: The Right Size", The Independent, 19 April 1994. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
  22. ↑ Dominic Cavendish, "Theatre:The Right Size Purcell Room, South Bank", The Independent, 22 June 1995. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  23. ↑ "Previous Winners: Olivier Winners 1999" Archived 17 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine , The Society of London Theatre. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  24. ↑ "Total Theatre Awards - Past Winners" Archived 19 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine , Total Theatre. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.