EVERYMAN: The Patrick McGoohan play premieres in Manchester this week
9 views
Skip to first unread message
brianin...@yahoo.co.uk
Nov 10, 2010, 9:22:49 PM11/10/10
to colony3
Just a reminder that my play about Mr McGoohan premieres at The Lass
O'Gowrie in Manchester this Friday, and we're almost full:
NEW PLAY ABOUT 'THE PRISONER' STAR PATRICK McGOOHAN PREMIERES IN
MANCHESTER
The Lass O'Gowrie, Charles Street, Manchester
Friday 12th November 8pm
(Press Release 11.11.10)
‘EVERYMAN: The Story Of Patrick McGoohan – The Prisoner’ is a new play
from TRANSMISSION UNLIMITED, detailing the life of the theatre,
television, and film star (who sadly died last year), and is to be
staged in Manchester at The Lass O'Gowrie pub on Charles Street this
Friday.
Writer BRIAN GORMAN, who also plays McGoohan and his character 'Number
Six', performed a special rehearsed reading of 'Everyman' earlier this
year at The Lass, and played to a full house. The reading garnered a
glowing review from Brian Watson for The Unmutual website (a major
'Prisoner' fan group):
"Brian achieved what no Number Two managed, that was to deconstruct
the personality of the man and propose a very credible "what it's all
about" of McGoohan's life and work.
The script of EVERYMAN is a joy: at turns witty, informative,
dramatic, and wonderfully paced throughout. The author knows his
subject thoroughly, tells the tale well and, while he refers to
influences that surface later in The Prisoner, he never descends to
quote-dropping for gratuitous effect."
Gorman believes that a theatrical tribute to the star of such cult tv
favourites as ‘DANGER MAN’ and ‘THE PRISONER’ is long overdue:
"McGoohan was a brilliant actor. In common with the great Orson
Welles, who he cited as a major influence, he was also a fiercely
uncompromising individual who took real artistic chances, and divided
the critics."
PATRICK McGOOHAN was born in New York, but spent less than a year
there before his family relocated to their native Ireland. Several
years later, they moved to England, where McGoohan caught the acting
bug in Sheffield, and worked his way up to leading roles at the local
professional repertory theatre. He was the first choice to play James
Bond in 1962, but turned down the role of a lifetime due to his
distaste for the depiction of gratuitous violence and casual sex.
While Bond was smashing cinema box office records, McGoohan became an
international television star as secret agent John Drake in ‘Danger
Man’; who rarely used a gun and politely declined the numerous
advances of beautiful women. After several hugely successful years,
McGoohan tired of playing Drake, and persuaded legendary producer Lew
Grade to back his new project, ‘The Prisoner’, and allow him full
creative control. The series made McGoohan the highest paid actor on
British tv when he played an un-named secret agent who attempts to
resign his job, only to be kidnapped and imprisoned in a mysterious
village from which there seems no escape. Everybody in The Village is
assigned a number, and McGoohan is referred to as Number Six, but
refuses to conform; spending each of the series’ seventeen episodes
attempting to outwit his captors. The show became a massive cult hit
with its flamboyant action, imaginative stories, and surreal style,
and was recently remade for ITV with Sir Ian McKellen starring as the
enigmatic and menacing ‘Number Two’. McGoohan also starred in a
variety of successful films including ‘Silver Streak’, ‘Ice Station
Zebra’, and Mel Gibson’s oscar-winning ‘Braveheart’. He won two Emmy
awards for acting in the ‘Columbo’ tv series, and was even
immortalised in an episode of ‘The Simpsons’.
Manchester-based BRIAN GORMAN is from Wigan, and is a writer, artist,
and actor. He was a familiar face for many years at The Chester
Gateway Theatre, where he worked in the box office for 12 years. He
also appeared on stage for Tip Top Productions' 'Bouncers', 'The Rise
& Fall of Little Voice', and 'Cabaret'. He has designed posters and
brochure illustrations for The Chester Gateway Theatre, and had work
published in The Liverpool Daily Post, The Big Issue, and Green World
(the magazine of The Green Party). His artwork has also been seen on
television (ITV1’s ‘Martina Cole’s Lady Killers’), and he is currently
working on a professional commission to produce a series of graphic
novels on Manchester bands. As an actor he has played leading roles in
corporate and educational dramas, music videos, and has just played
the notorious mass murderer Thomas Hamilton in an upcoming television
reconstruction of the 1996 Dunblane massacre. He has also played the
main villain, Viktor Toxikoff, in award-winning director Chris
Stone’s James Bond inspired music video ‘The Rebel’, for the band The
Amateurs. Gorman also has an arts review blog at http://fictionmaker.blogspot.com/
Gorman first studied acting at Wigan College of Technology in the
1980s, and was fascinated to later discover that Sir Ian McKellen had
grown up just yards from the college theatre:
"I wrote to Sir Ian several years ago when he agreed to allow me to
use his likeness in my comic book, ‘Borderliners’ (as did another hero
of mine, The Saint himself - Sir Roger Moore). He sent me a wonderful
three page hand-written letter telling me about how he’d enjoyed his
childhood in Wigan, and had even played on the same stage as I had.
It’s a fascinating coincidence that he has recently starred in the
remake of ‘The Prisoner’, and now here I am playing Patrick McGoohan!
"
Onboard as the production’s official adviser is ROBERT FAIRCLOUGH.
Robert is a freelance writer, designer and producer. His work on ‘The
Prisoner’ includes the book ‘The Prisoner: The Official Companion to
the Classic TV Series’, editing two volumes of ‘The Original Scripts’
for the classic series and graphic design work on the recent AMC
remake. He is a broadcaster who has featured on BBC radio and ITV,
written for the British Film Institute and 'SFX' magazine and produced
documentaries for 2 Entertain's range of ‘Doctor Who’ DVDs.
RICHARD HULSE directs for TRANSMISSION UNLIMITED, and also plays the
part of McGoohan's/Number Six's nemesis 'Number Two'. Gorman and Hulse
first met almost twenty years ago whilst studying for English degrees,
and have collaborated on several theatrical and film projects.
There is a word of warning from Brian Gorman for anyone expecting a
straight-forward story of McGoohan’s life:
"In keeping with McGoohan’s surreal work on ‘The Prisoner’, we will be
playing around with time, as well as the character itself. ‘Patrick
McGoohan’ will be a mix of the real man, and ‘Number Six’, and the
whole piece will be presented in the style of an episode of ‘The
Prisoner’."
Another Prisoner fan, STEPHEN FRY, has sent Brian his personal best
wishes for the production.
Entry is just £4, and payable on the door. Reservations can be made by
emailing theprison...@yahoo.co.uk.
More details can be seen on the production’s Facebook page ‘JOHN
DRAKE’.
Brian Gorman can be contacted at brianin...@yahoo.co.uk
or on 07510 591444.
O'Gowrie in Manchester this Friday, and we're almost full:
NEW PLAY ABOUT 'THE PRISONER' STAR PATRICK McGOOHAN PREMIERES IN
MANCHESTER
The Lass O'Gowrie, Charles Street, Manchester
Friday 12th November 8pm
(Press Release 11.11.10)
‘EVERYMAN: The Story Of Patrick McGoohan – The Prisoner’ is a new play
from TRANSMISSION UNLIMITED, detailing the life of the theatre,
television, and film star (who sadly died last year), and is to be
staged in Manchester at The Lass O'Gowrie pub on Charles Street this
Friday.
Writer BRIAN GORMAN, who also plays McGoohan and his character 'Number
Six', performed a special rehearsed reading of 'Everyman' earlier this
year at The Lass, and played to a full house. The reading garnered a
glowing review from Brian Watson for The Unmutual website (a major
'Prisoner' fan group):
"Brian achieved what no Number Two managed, that was to deconstruct
the personality of the man and propose a very credible "what it's all
about" of McGoohan's life and work.
The script of EVERYMAN is a joy: at turns witty, informative,
dramatic, and wonderfully paced throughout. The author knows his
subject thoroughly, tells the tale well and, while he refers to
influences that surface later in The Prisoner, he never descends to
quote-dropping for gratuitous effect."
Gorman believes that a theatrical tribute to the star of such cult tv
favourites as ‘DANGER MAN’ and ‘THE PRISONER’ is long overdue:
"McGoohan was a brilliant actor. In common with the great Orson
Welles, who he cited as a major influence, he was also a fiercely
uncompromising individual who took real artistic chances, and divided
the critics."
PATRICK McGOOHAN was born in New York, but spent less than a year
there before his family relocated to their native Ireland. Several
years later, they moved to England, where McGoohan caught the acting
bug in Sheffield, and worked his way up to leading roles at the local
professional repertory theatre. He was the first choice to play James
Bond in 1962, but turned down the role of a lifetime due to his
distaste for the depiction of gratuitous violence and casual sex.
While Bond was smashing cinema box office records, McGoohan became an
international television star as secret agent John Drake in ‘Danger
Man’; who rarely used a gun and politely declined the numerous
advances of beautiful women. After several hugely successful years,
McGoohan tired of playing Drake, and persuaded legendary producer Lew
Grade to back his new project, ‘The Prisoner’, and allow him full
creative control. The series made McGoohan the highest paid actor on
British tv when he played an un-named secret agent who attempts to
resign his job, only to be kidnapped and imprisoned in a mysterious
village from which there seems no escape. Everybody in The Village is
assigned a number, and McGoohan is referred to as Number Six, but
refuses to conform; spending each of the series’ seventeen episodes
attempting to outwit his captors. The show became a massive cult hit
with its flamboyant action, imaginative stories, and surreal style,
and was recently remade for ITV with Sir Ian McKellen starring as the
enigmatic and menacing ‘Number Two’. McGoohan also starred in a
variety of successful films including ‘Silver Streak’, ‘Ice Station
Zebra’, and Mel Gibson’s oscar-winning ‘Braveheart’. He won two Emmy
awards for acting in the ‘Columbo’ tv series, and was even
immortalised in an episode of ‘The Simpsons’.
Manchester-based BRIAN GORMAN is from Wigan, and is a writer, artist,
and actor. He was a familiar face for many years at The Chester
Gateway Theatre, where he worked in the box office for 12 years. He
also appeared on stage for Tip Top Productions' 'Bouncers', 'The Rise
& Fall of Little Voice', and 'Cabaret'. He has designed posters and
brochure illustrations for The Chester Gateway Theatre, and had work
published in The Liverpool Daily Post, The Big Issue, and Green World
(the magazine of The Green Party). His artwork has also been seen on
television (ITV1’s ‘Martina Cole’s Lady Killers’), and he is currently
working on a professional commission to produce a series of graphic
novels on Manchester bands. As an actor he has played leading roles in
corporate and educational dramas, music videos, and has just played
the notorious mass murderer Thomas Hamilton in an upcoming television
reconstruction of the 1996 Dunblane massacre. He has also played the
main villain, Viktor Toxikoff, in award-winning director Chris
Stone’s James Bond inspired music video ‘The Rebel’, for the band The
Amateurs. Gorman also has an arts review blog at http://fictionmaker.blogspot.com/
Gorman first studied acting at Wigan College of Technology in the
1980s, and was fascinated to later discover that Sir Ian McKellen had
grown up just yards from the college theatre:
"I wrote to Sir Ian several years ago when he agreed to allow me to
use his likeness in my comic book, ‘Borderliners’ (as did another hero
of mine, The Saint himself - Sir Roger Moore). He sent me a wonderful
three page hand-written letter telling me about how he’d enjoyed his
childhood in Wigan, and had even played on the same stage as I had.
It’s a fascinating coincidence that he has recently starred in the
remake of ‘The Prisoner’, and now here I am playing Patrick McGoohan!
"
Onboard as the production’s official adviser is ROBERT FAIRCLOUGH.
Robert is a freelance writer, designer and producer. His work on ‘The
Prisoner’ includes the book ‘The Prisoner: The Official Companion to
the Classic TV Series’, editing two volumes of ‘The Original Scripts’
for the classic series and graphic design work on the recent AMC
remake. He is a broadcaster who has featured on BBC radio and ITV,
written for the British Film Institute and 'SFX' magazine and produced
documentaries for 2 Entertain's range of ‘Doctor Who’ DVDs.
RICHARD HULSE directs for TRANSMISSION UNLIMITED, and also plays the
part of McGoohan's/Number Six's nemesis 'Number Two'. Gorman and Hulse
first met almost twenty years ago whilst studying for English degrees,
and have collaborated on several theatrical and film projects.
There is a word of warning from Brian Gorman for anyone expecting a
straight-forward story of McGoohan’s life:
"In keeping with McGoohan’s surreal work on ‘The Prisoner’, we will be
playing around with time, as well as the character itself. ‘Patrick
McGoohan’ will be a mix of the real man, and ‘Number Six’, and the
whole piece will be presented in the style of an episode of ‘The
Prisoner’."
Another Prisoner fan, STEPHEN FRY, has sent Brian his personal best
wishes for the production.
Entry is just £4, and payable on the door. Reservations can be made by
emailing theprison...@yahoo.co.uk.
More details can be seen on the production’s Facebook page ‘JOHN
DRAKE’.
Brian Gorman can be contacted at brianin...@yahoo.co.uk
or on 07510 591444.
Moor Larkin
Dec 9, 2010, 9:22:31 AM12/9/10
to colony3
Although ‘ Everyman’ contains a wealth of biographical information it
does not tell the full life story of actor/ writer Patrick McGoohan in
depth. Instead writer Gorman uses the material to demonstrate how
aspects of McGoohan’s life influenced the development of his two
greatest creations. McGoohan’s religious beliefs led to him choosing
the more intellectual secret agent John Drake over James Bond. His
life-long aggressive relationship with authority figures resulted in
the confrontations between Number 6 and his faceless captors in the
masterpiece ‘ The Prisoner’.
While a valid way of analysing McGoohan’s work this limits the appeal
of the play to people who are already fans of his shows. Anyone
looking for amusing theatrical anecdotes is going to be disappointed
and those unfamiliar with the shows might wonder what all the fuss is
about.
The play is structured in the style of an episode of ‘ The Prisoner’.
Director Hulse provides interjections that catch the loose-yet deadly
air of the interrogators from the show. Gorman adopts McGoohan’s
staccato style of speech. This is not wholly successful. On screen it
gave a detached, ironic manner to the characters. On stage, however,
it becomes almost declamatory and ultimately a bit wearying. Gorman
does not attempt to re-recreate McGoohan’s accent and his own flat
northern vowels sometimes intrude.
McGoohan seemed to lose interest in The Prisoner cancelling a second
series and curtailing the first. Similarly, the play pays no attention
to the life of its subject after the TV show ended. More significantly
no attempt is made to put McGoohan’s work in context and prove just
how massively influential it remains. Gorman is, therefore, preaching
to the converted. The play would be a smash at science fiction
conventions but in its present form is likely to be of limited
interest to a wider audience.
Everyman: The Story of Patrick McGoohan , The Prisoner is at The
Salmon Theatre above the Lass O’ Gowrie in Manchester on 12th November
2010 and The Forum Studio Theatre in Chester on 13th January 2011
http://www.thepublicreviews.com/everyman-the-story-of-patrick-mcgoohan-the-prisioner-lass-ogowrie-manchester/
The reviewer is inaccurate about McGoohan *losing interest* in "The
Prisoner" and amusingly neglects to note that as a a boy who spent
quite some time living and growing in Sheffield, McGoohan himself must
once have had flat vowels of his own - albeit from t'other side of the
Pennines. Otherwise it seems quite reasoned.
On Nov 11, 2:22 am, "brianinches...@yahoo.co.uk"
> Amateurs. Gorman also has an arts review blog athttp://fictionmaker.blogspot.com/
> emailing theprisonermcgoo...@yahoo.co.uk.
>
> or on 07510 591444.
does not tell the full life story of actor/ writer Patrick McGoohan in
depth. Instead writer Gorman uses the material to demonstrate how
aspects of McGoohan’s life influenced the development of his two
greatest creations. McGoohan’s religious beliefs led to him choosing
the more intellectual secret agent John Drake over James Bond. His
life-long aggressive relationship with authority figures resulted in
the confrontations between Number 6 and his faceless captors in the
masterpiece ‘ The Prisoner’.
While a valid way of analysing McGoohan’s work this limits the appeal
of the play to people who are already fans of his shows. Anyone
looking for amusing theatrical anecdotes is going to be disappointed
and those unfamiliar with the shows might wonder what all the fuss is
about.
The play is structured in the style of an episode of ‘ The Prisoner’.
Director Hulse provides interjections that catch the loose-yet deadly
air of the interrogators from the show. Gorman adopts McGoohan’s
staccato style of speech. This is not wholly successful. On screen it
gave a detached, ironic manner to the characters. On stage, however,
it becomes almost declamatory and ultimately a bit wearying. Gorman
does not attempt to re-recreate McGoohan’s accent and his own flat
northern vowels sometimes intrude.
McGoohan seemed to lose interest in The Prisoner cancelling a second
series and curtailing the first. Similarly, the play pays no attention
to the life of its subject after the TV show ended. More significantly
no attempt is made to put McGoohan’s work in context and prove just
how massively influential it remains. Gorman is, therefore, preaching
to the converted. The play would be a smash at science fiction
conventions but in its present form is likely to be of limited
interest to a wider audience.
Everyman: The Story of Patrick McGoohan , The Prisoner is at The
Salmon Theatre above the Lass O’ Gowrie in Manchester on 12th November
2010 and The Forum Studio Theatre in Chester on 13th January 2011
http://www.thepublicreviews.com/everyman-the-story-of-patrick-mcgoohan-the-prisioner-lass-ogowrie-manchester/
The reviewer is inaccurate about McGoohan *losing interest* in "The
Prisoner" and amusingly neglects to note that as a a boy who spent
quite some time living and growing in Sheffield, McGoohan himself must
once have had flat vowels of his own - albeit from t'other side of the
Pennines. Otherwise it seems quite reasoned.
On Nov 11, 2:22 am, "brianinches...@yahoo.co.uk"
>
> More details can be seen on the production’s Facebook page ‘JOHN
> DRAKE’.
>
> Brian Gorman can be contacted at brianinches...@yahoo.co.uk
> More details can be seen on the production’s Facebook page ‘JOHN
> DRAKE’.
>
>
> or on 07510 591444.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages