Mark Bradford, Author at The Upstart Crow Theatre Company

September 12, 2015January 5, 2019

A Child of the Theatre Part VI: The Guild Theatre

Rawhide Court may have been the first theatre The Upstart Crow built, but The Guild Theatre was the one I helped build, and I miss it.

Characters (Richard Bell, Dan McNellan) in King Lear (1986) at The Guild Theatre — Characters (Richard Bell, Dan McNellan) in **King Lear** (1986) at The Guild Theatre

The Guild was different from Rawhide Court, in that we had two theatre, well, us and the rest of The Guild did. Because of this it needed sound proofing on the wall that would be next to the lobby. We had gotten some sort of tiling to cover the wall with, and tile by tile we put glue on the back and covered the entire eighteen foot tall or so wall. I did the bottom. I remember this because I loved it and was sorry when it was done.

Character (Dan McNellan, Others) in King Lear (1986) at The Guild Theatre — Character (Dan McNellan, Others) in **King Lear** (1986) at The Guild Theatre

Over the years we worked at The Guild I would help with other improvements. When Macky Auditorium got new seats for their space, they donated the old ones to us, and we had to assemble them and stand them up. In later years I would help paint the lobby, and even learn how to drywall during one remodel.

Characters (Dan McNellan, Others) in King Lear (1986) at The Guild Theatre — Characters (Dan McNellan, Others) in **King Lear** (1986) at The Guild Theatre

But the main reason I miss The Guild is for all the other things I learned there (not that drywall isn’t important). The Guild is where I really learned to act, to use power tools, to sew. And I also learned to ride my bike in it’s parking lot.

August 29, 2015January 5, 2019

A Child Of The Theatre Part V: Misalliance and Shaw

Last night we opened Misalliance. Which is why we’ve been too busy to post about past productions. Anyway I recently realized how many Shaw plays I’ve been in. Interestingly, only one of them, like Misalliance, was set in Shaw’s own time.

Joey Percival (Stephen Krusoe), Hypatia Tarleton (Alexis Bell) in Shaw’ **Misalliance** (2015)

The first one was in 1992 and the show was The Apple Cart, which is set in some time in the future. I was Princess Alice.

Princess Alice (Alexis Bell) in Shaw’s **The Apple Cart** (1992)

Then in 2005 I played Joan of Arc in St. Joan.

Joan of Arc (Alexis Bell) in Shaw’s **St. Joan** (2004)

Then in 2011 I was in The Philanderer, along with Louis Clark and Joe Illingworth who are also in Misalliance.

Julia Craven (Alexis Bell), Cuthburtson (Louis Clark), Leonard Charteris (Joe Illingworth), Col. Craven (Richard Bell) in **The Philanderer** (2011)

And most recently I played Cleopatra in Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra, with John Taylor, who also, is in Misalliance.

Rufio (John Taylor), Cleopatra (Alexis Bell) in Shaw’s **Caesar and Cleopatra** (2013)

August 20, 2015September 3, 2015

A Child of the Theatre Part IV: Rawhide Court

It seems strange that we were only at Rawhide Court for four shows, but then a year is a very long time to a child. I have so many memories of that theatre, and yet, very few of them are theatre memories.

Characters in **Under Milk Wood** (1985) at Rawhide Court

I do remember that when I decided to set up a lemonade stand, as any proper American child should, I did it in the box office of the theatre. Since I only had a dozen or so customers (the actors building the set and costumes) I didn’t do very well.

Characters in **Touch of The Poet** (1985) at Rawhide Court

I also remember being in the theatre and trying to write a play about my favorite cartoon Voltron.

Characters in **The Miser** (1985) at Rawhide Court

But mostly what I remember, is the field outside the theatre where I looked for horny toads, and was terrified when I looked down into a prairie dog’s hole, and saw the prairie dog coming up. I remember that there were birds who built mud nests under the eaves of the theatre, but kept knocking their eggs out of the nests. I would search all over the parking lot, trying to find an unbroken egg. And I remember an August evening when the company got together at the theatre, away from the city lights, and watched the Perseid meteor shower.