Hi Matty and wow a true Being Human kind of a day. If you have a twitter account it might be worth your while to drop Damien a tweet to say you're attending and whether it would be possible to say hi afterwards. This is what I did and I do know of someone who hung about by the stage door but hadn't tweeted him prior and apparently he didn't appear. Am not saying that this might be the case but he has said that the best thing to do is tweet him first. He's rather shy twitter wise but he obviously reads his tweets. Enjoy the performance and be sure to report back!
thanks for the tips - unfortunately not on the twitter!! hope to see him anyway... maybe someone else that is going tomorrow will have sent him a message already?
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'10 minutes is all i ask..supervised off course. just so i can do a quick run round with the hoover and sort out the recycling..'
Wishing you and Eileen ( who is going in the evening tomorrow ) a brilliant time tomorrow! You never know..maybe Damien has seen this topic at the forum!
I've seen Travelling Light . I travelled to Leeds to see it as we don't have any big theatres where I live (South Cumbria) and it was well worth the trip! Damien was fantastic; he really lit up the stage and he has that presence that all good actors possess. He held his own with the rest of the more experienced cast and it was clear that even the non-Being Human fans in the audience were enjoying his performance (the lady in front of me leaned in to her husband and said 'isn't that young man fantastic!'). I had to have a little smile to myself after that.
The play itself was wonderful and I would have enjoyed it even if somebody else was playing Motl, although Damien was the main reason I wanted to go and see the play! I was also pleased to see Karl Theobald (who played Leek so brilliantly in Primeval). It was really funny in places and great fun to watch. There were emotional moments and the pin drop silence moment described by Ruby above happened at the performance I was at also. The story had just the right amount fluff, for want of a better word, and it held my attention from the start.
It was really interesting to see what mannerisms Motl and Hal share; perhaps they are Damien's mannerisms seeping into the character?
I didn't get to meet Damien as I didn't realise you could go to the stage door but I just feel privileged to have had the opportunity to see the play and I'll be at the front of the line for tickets for his next play!
-- Edited by Emmie3303 on Saturday 5th of May 2012 06:03:56 PM
Eileen and Matty P i hope you enjoyed 'Travelling Light' today.
Matty P: Also hoped that you enjoyed 'The Conquest of the South Pole', have been talking to a twitter/blog friend, she saw the play and got to meet Andrew afterwards (as well as Kate Bracken) and said both were lovely.
Thanks for telling us about your trip to see Travelling Light, that is a wonderful anecdote "Isn't that young man fantastic"
Interesting thought, perhaps all actors have an unmistakable signature in their roles, but I guess their aim would be to disappear / be invisible entirely! I guess we will never know unless we knew the actor (and always worth remembering that the characters we get to know are not the actors). The accent thing kind of accentuates that I think!
I will hopefully be with you in the queue for Damien's next play!
Me too Lisa, I am so excited to hear about Eileen and MattyP's experience at Travelling Light today! I Eileen has a long journey home though so it is unlikely to be today.
I'm finally back home. I'm sooooo glad I took this trip. To be honest, I have not much to add. I can only agree!!! Damien owned the stage!!! He WAS FANTASTIC!!!
Yeah, we had the pin drop moment as well. It was dead silent in the theatre. I was sitting in stall D so pretty close to the stage. In the first half of the play the story mostly played infront of my eyes and I couldn't believe that I was seeing Damien live on stage so close. I had to pull my eyes away from him and try to follow the story. LOL At one time I thought he was looking at me but he was prob just looking in my direction. ROFL
It was just so AWESOME!!!
I didn't get an autograph. The weather was yucky and I didn't see fangirls sneak to the stage door. LOL So I didn't have a crowd to hide in. Or I must have missed it. LOL I'm thinking about sending Damien a letter with my ticket to get it signed telling him what I thought about the play.
I agree that Damien's mannerism flows into the roles he plays. I have seen so much of Hal in Motl. I like that he has a certain way of playing the characters. Could you call it his signature?
Even my friend (a SPN fangirl) who helped me find my way around London yesterday thought he looks interesting and she might check him out in Being Human. I obviously kept talking about him and the play. LOL
-- Edited by Eileen on Sunday 6th of May 2012 11:58:20 AM
I try not to intrude into the private lives of actors etc. that is maybe why I don't like to do the stage door thingy besides being shy. But I guess it's only me who would interpret that as private life. LOL
I don't mind not having the autograph but I will try to do it with the letter. :)
Yeah, I'm also looking forward to hear what Matty P thought about the play. :)
-- Edited by Eileen on Sunday 6th of May 2012 01:35:06 PM
I was really pleased for him when I heard that comment .
That's a very good point! It's possible that the mannerisms that I've seen duplicated are still acting choices but that those choices were appropriate for both characters. The one I noticed the most was a certain way of standing that Motl and Hal shared. That's the tricky thing: we get to know the characters inside out but all of our knowledge about the actor comes from interviews/meeting them in real life and even then we don't truly know them. I think that's actually a good thing as they have the right to a private life just like everybody else . I love the accent he puts on for Hal. You're right it separates the actor from the character.
WHOOP! I bet it was mind blowingly EPIC!!!!Such a delight to hear about your Travelling Light and Damien trip!! and such dedication for you to travel all that way to see him in the play and really happy to hear you enjoyed yourself!
wowza..you were really close to the stage then! Lol, I bet it was incredibly difficult to tear your eyes off him and focus on the play as a whole!
Great idea to send a letter, I am sure Damien appreciates feedback and from what I have seen on the net generally he is always so kind to fans and signs things.
There were other fans there last night who met Damien and twittered about it enthusiastically! but for me personally? It would have been more than enough to see him perform live, and a treasured memory.
I have not seen the play so I cannot speak to Damiens' mannerisms between Hal and Motl, but i guess even the most epic actor who transforms himself completely including physical appearance and the way s/he carries her/himself still has their own body as a vehicle which can never be totally transcended. I look forwad to the say i can make the comparison for myself..for I feel Damien has a big future ahead of him..probably one where he will not be able to sign autographs and greet his fans because they will be in their gazillions...which it is why it is very special that peeps have that opportunity now!
I couldn't agree wtih you more Emmie, I feel quite strongly on the subject of privacy of the 'stars' we admire, it is not of their choosing that they are thrust into a certain context from their vocation, they just want to follow their natural path to act, not necessarily draw mega public and media attention. ( a generalisation and i cannot speak for Damien obviously but I do recall him mentioning in the BBC Leeds interview that he wanted his private life kept private). Hence the rather (unapologetically) strict zero paparazzi stalkerazzi policy of the fourm and no discussion of Damien's private life, just his work and his roles. It is important to be clear i think about what it is we are admiring, and the line over which it becomes an intrusion rather than a admiration. Not that anyone is doing that at all here, just kinda adding to the discussion in this thread!
Hmmm.....I wonder how Matty P got on at the Travelling Light matinee yesterday?! it sounded as if he was going to have quite the day of it!
The part where Motl is filming the dressing table scene...the night i saw it he was perched right on the edge of the stage, right in front of me. If he'd somehow fell off, he would've landed right in my lap!
I've always felt stage door stuff is different than you know just walking down the street, with family or so on..that's switched off time, that's personal life. Damien seems happy to meet fans the way he does, I guess it is more of a controlled, 'at work', public environment!
Same here. I wouldn't dream of approaching Damien if he was 'off duty' so to speak but stage door stuff is related to his work. I think like any actor, him hearing about how you enjoyed the play, his character and also his TV work is an ego lift for him. It's a confirmation that he's doing something 'right'. He is really pleased that he's been so accepted by Being Human fans and he appreciates and listens to everything that is said to him. He is such a major talent, Being Human will be the show that gave him his start. In ten years time we'll be saying 'can you remember when he was in Being Human?'
Thanks Matty for sharing your pics and LOL at the comments Damien and Andrew had written on the shared photo. Great photos!
And thanks for the warning about climbing over seats and whatnot, i'll be sure to let my friends know. Incidentally how many people came to see the performance you saw? i ask because at some of them there haven't been very many people there, which is a shame.
ETA I can't believe that i spelled Damien's name wrong, corrected and now i shall sit in the corner and hang my head in shame
-- Edited by rubyrosettared on Wednesday 9th of May 2012 10:00:50 PM
Sorry for not posting sooner as I’m one of the few people in the world that probably doesn’t have a computer / internet access at home or a fancy phone with access either. So I’ve had to wait till getting back to work today to report my experience. Sorry in advance if this sounds like an excited long diary entry!
So here goes…got to the national theatre early…wandered around outside in the rain looking for the stage door as future reference for after the show. No sign of any cast members arriving once I’d found it, so headed inside & collected my programme. I went upstairs to get my seat in the circle to be told it was a ‘quiet’ performance so they were doing ‘free upgrades’ to the seats downstairs in the stalls. I got a new ticket for the stalls downstairs in row J right in the middle – 10 rows from the stage so an amazing view. This meant I got a £47 ticket for £31 – awesome news!!
The show itself was amazing. Damien as expected was brillant. His main role is very similar to Hal – instense, charming, passionate and funny. It was great to see Damien up close as he has such energy and skill in his performance. His other role was clever too – won’t say more to not spoil it for others. The story as someone who works in the ‘media industry’ I found very interesting as it dealt with the birth of motion pictures and film editing. Highly recommended for everyone to see before it ends.
After the show thankfully it had stopped raining so headed straight around to the stage door. There were 4 or 5 other fans waiting by the door already – I expected more. After a couple of minutes Damien emerged with a fellow co-star who left him to speak to the fans. He was absolutely delightful and more than pleased to greet everyone. He spent a good view minutes talking to everyone & posing for photos. I went up last. Told him the show was great & got a fellow fan to take a photo for me as I was on my own. More on that later. He said they’d had one meeting so far about series 5 of BH & they are due to start filming in July. He’s looking forward to it & enjoys working in cardiff. I also got him to sign three BH items I’d brought along & he was more than happy to do so. He did the BH blu-ray cover and said he hadn’t got it yet. A series 4 promo photo which he said they’d spent a whole day doing the photoshoot for – trying out different poses!! Then finally a photo of Hal & Cutler together. I told him I was seeing Andrews play tonight. He said he was great and wrote a ‘funny message’ to him on the picture. A brillant experience, such a lovely guy and funny to hear him speak in his normal accent.
So if anyone is going to see the play don’t hestitate going to the stage door afterwards as he is very welcoming to the fans. Come prepared with a camera, pen and something to get signed and maybe a question to ask!! The play and the man himself are both fab!
Then stopped to pack stuff away and check the photos. Unfortunately I’m bobbins at smiling in photos, always think too much about that so end up blinking – which happened here – annoying! Will have to test my limited photoshop skills to cut and paste my eyes open over the top!!?
Next on to the Arcola theatre for The Conquest of the South Pole. A completely different type of show in a studio space. The seating is around a small flat stage area…I sat on the second row with a front on view. The cast are literally inches away from you – performing to you directly – looking straight at you. It’s an instense experience – the story about 4 unemployed guys re-inacting a journey to South pole is very clever. All the cast are all excellent – particularly Sam Crane and the genius that is Andrew Gower. Another fantastic spect of the show is the quick set & costume changes that the cast do themselves – right in front of the audience. A very difference experience to TL but again highly recommended. Afterwards headed out to the bar / foyer, some cast members dashed off straight away while others stopped at the bar. I saw Andrew talking to a couple then about to head off. I went up and asked for an autograph – despite being all hot & sweaty after coming off stage he was more than happy to stop. Very friendly and another nice guy. Told him the show was unlike anything I’d been to before and was great obviously. Despite my camera struggling to flash managed to get a ‘hold it up to your own face and hope for the best’ style photo. I then said I’d seen Damiens play earlier. He like Damien, said the other was great and laughed when he saw the comment on the joint photo which I got him to sign. Also signed a photo from Frankensteins Wedding for me. I asked is that the end of Cutler and he said he was allowed to comment! I said we didn’t actually see him ‘die’ as he disappeared behind the sofa which he thought was funny! Asked what he was doing after the play finishes and he said a short film. He commented about Lacey Turner (his Wedding co-star) getting a new role in Switched…which I believe is the witch series for ITV2 – supposedly shooting in Bristol, my hometime. Really nice guy and glad he took time to stop and chat. Wished me a safe journey home to Bristol.
My exciting day over I headed home. My advice is make sure you can see both shows if you are fans of Damien and Andrew. Will figure out how to post photos later today hopefully. Sorry again for such a long winded story!!?
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'10 minutes is all i ask..supervised off course. just so i can do a quick run round with the hoover and sort out the recycling..'
So glad you enjoyed the play and met Damien, would love to see the pics!
Thank you so much for sharing with us....Please do not apologise for the detail, I love your enthusiasm and passion and somehow get to experience it vicariously the more you describe!
Matty, thank you so much for coming back and sharing your stories with us. Didn't i tell you Damien was an utter sweetheart? He is absolutely lovely, i'm completely bowled over by him and he will go far in his career. I'm so pleased you said hello to him.
And also thanks for your thoughts about 'Conquest', now a little secret, i'm going to see the performance on Saturday with a group of friends so i've been reading reviews and comments with interest. It's going to be an all day affair travelling down to London to see the play, am staying overnight somewhere and then travelling home on the Sunday, i'm going to be exhausted! but i'm hoping to say hello to Andrew also so i'm thrilled that you also got to say hi to him. I think a few people have asked whether Cutler is 'proper dead'. Hope not, i'm wondering whether he is the 'he will rise' that was alluded to on the Being Human blog after the s4 finale.
Anyway, thank you again, hopefully this time next week i'll have my own story to share about 'Conquest'. :)
Enjoy Conquest - be warned depending on where you sit cast members may sit next to you or climb over seats near you!! all will become clear during the show. if you see andrew ask about the food he eats in a certain scene as i forgot to enquire about it...again will make sense afterwards!?
pictures hopefully attached - sorry again that my face is featured! hopefully doesn't spoil them too much...
WOWZA!!!!! thank you so much for sharing these magical pics with us Matty! especially as you have limited web acess, really appreciate you taking the time!
I hope you don't mind me making them bigger, or atleast the Damien related ones! (sorry i guess I am going to be DM centric! )
And i forgot to say how cool that you got to chat with Damien about a number of things, including the fifth series of Being Human! Great to know they will be filming again in July and he will have a bit of a break between then and the end of Travelling Light. thanks for the info!
The comments that Damien and Andrew made to each other here..EpIC!!! you have a one of a kind autographed photo there Matty!
hey, *awkwardly puts on admin hat* maybe you guys can make a new topic for Andrew Gower and Conquest in the cafe /off topic section?!
Awesome photos and report! Thanks for sharing, Matty!!!
And yeah, the stage door stuff is different. As I said, I'm prob the only one who thinks like that. Maybe I might go to the stage door next time if there is a next time.
Ruby: I hope I may answer your question, too. The theatre was quite full bit there were also some seats unoccupied and yeah it's not very big. I think there might be a difference between the times. I think it is fuller in the evening.
-- Edited by Eileen on Wednesday 9th of May 2012 12:15:37 PM
I'm not sure what the capacity is for the venue as it is quite small - maybe 30 ish people when i went. which i don't think they mind as they put so much heart, energy and effort into the show. it's quite intimate - like watching a play in your living room!
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'10 minutes is all i ask..supervised off course. just so i can do a quick run round with the hoover and sort out the recycling..'
I am somewhat conflicted about it Eileen, so you are not entirely alone
It just struck me that you were at the matinee Matty, it must be exhausting to do performances a day and keep the focus, so it is even cooler of Damien to take that time out between shows, ( I guess with all those press ups he must have mega stamina! )
Interesting to read you all say that there is a link between Hal and Motl, when Damien has talked about Travelling Light in interviews he always describes it as magical and gentle, which the play is on reading, but it is not without it's angst, most consistently in his character ! So to those of you who have had the honour of seeing Damien bring Motl to life, is it the play and what is on the page or is it Damien himself who brings that intensity? I think he has that quality as an actor to bring something that is very compelling....
and Matty, I really enjoy seeing small intimate plays like that....sounds very cool. Travelling Light very much requires a stage but wish it would come to my living room, would be the only way I could see it!
. I travelled to Leeds to see it as we don't have any big theatres where I live (South Cumbria) and it was well worth the trip! Damien was fantastic; he really lit up the stage and he has that presence that all good actors possess. He held his own with the rest of the more experienced cast and it was clear that even the non-Being Human fans in the audience were enjoying his performance (the lady in front of me leaned in to her husband and said 'isn't that young man fantastic!'). I had to have a little smile to myself after that. 
I'm sooooo glad I took this trip. To be honest, I have not much to add. I can only agree!!! Damien owned the stage!!! He WAS FANTASTIC!!! 
