pip simmons theatre group

Le Festival d’ Avignon : 1975

An Die Musik goes to the Avignon Festival-Le Festival d’ Avignon 1975

& looking at this group photo you may well think we were on holiday, but it wasn’t so! We were working, we were there to perform An Die Musik. The Avignon festival was impressive, our dressing room is in a tent, this was the festivals 25th year. It was (and is) an international meeting place for the performing arts, Theatre, Dance, Music and… us.

Pip Simmons Theatre Group : An die Musik Avignon Festival 1975 Group Shot La Plage

Group shot on the beach-Emil, Olly, Rod, Ben, Pete, Pip, Roderic, Chris, Sheila and Rowan front

One the beach with Pete, Babette and Rod, with touring van in the background

Pete & Rod oggle Babette with touring van in the background

Paula, Roderic & Emil at breakfast with dove

Emil, Emil & Sheila, Roderic and Rod backstage, an actor prepares

Our festival stage is made of wood riddled with nails, our dressing room a tent with the mulchy aroma of damp grass, our show starts late about 9.00 we have a make-shift bar which is full every night, the festival audience are wild and young and exciting and I swear I saw Pierre Clementi. The nails in the stage wouldn’t usually matter except we have these carefully rehearsed ‘punishments’ & it is my turn to roll around in water on this improvised stage which tore my flesh. Next day Olly and I are sitting in the sunshine on the grass whilst he applied tiger balm to my shoulders to help them heal, a french couple walked by, they must have been in the audience, they spat out the words “so you call that theatre do you”

The so called ‘punishments’ are dolled out by our Nazi guard (Pete) The show starts with an an Air Raid Siren and a roll call. Everyone shuffles in to position and stands to attention. The set up is to entertain our audience, its Petes job as Nazi guard to make sure we do it well; a dance to Liszt’s Libestraum, a concert ‘Ode to Joy’ with a tin whistle 2 recorders and a Tuba, Rod did a strange routine bashing his head with 2 tin trays, Olly and Emil tell awful jokes, we all had our party piece; hang from a trapeze, endless buckets of cold water, we are picked on us for no reason, we don’t know who’s turn it’s going to be which creates the tension ! The physical demands are tough, we take it on the chin. Every one of us performing in this show realise the impact it has on our audience who feel culpable as they helplessly watch. This show is as hard to behold as it is to perform.

Avignon is beautiful, It’s no surprise that we take full advantage of every opportunity to visit the local wonders, The Camargue, The Pont du Gard, Orange … Ben was the person to be with, he knows all the best places to go. He has a map and we follow….

Peter Jon-field with Venus De Milo

We have a new Nazi guard played by a new recruit, Peter Jon-field a proper actor who had studied at E15, Fritz our original Nazi has left, he was German and didn’t want to be the Nazi guard, he argued with Pip …why me ! It was obvious to everyone why it had to be Fritz who could speak German, he made a great on stage guard, Pete Jon-field was even better, he scared us to death with his E15 training and kept us on our toes with our improvised punishments. We all decided on and carefully rehearsed these ‘punishments’ and took it in turns to do the really hard ones An Die Musik was a hard show to perform and even harder show to watch.

Rehearsals are in progress for the next show, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, an all singing all dancing show, we had to lighten up…..

All photos © Sheila Burnett

Dream Rehearsals and Paradise on Brown Sea Island: 1975

London-Harrow Road-Rehearsals Dream of a Ridiculous Man with Paradise on Brown Sea Island:1975

The Dream of the Ridiculous Man is based on a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky. The Ridiculous man is on his way to kill himself and has a chance encounter with a young girl which prompts a life-changing vision of paradise. Roderick is our Ridiculous Man and I the young girl. Try as we might, the scene for paradise eluded us all. We are rehearsing at The Factory on the Harrow Rd W9, a day out to Brown Sea Island is planned.

Roderic, Emil, Rowan & Pete. Rehearsals at the Factory

Roderic Emil Rowan & Pete at the Factory, note Wolk Sucks on the wall in Rod’s hand

The rules for that day’s impro are to be nice to each other all day long. Food, alcohol and substances are part of the plan and we all bring our offerings for the feast. I bake a cake, Rod cooks a side of pork, Chris brings avocado pears. Ben brings cream cakes and so on. We even dress up for the occasion. The cream cakes eventually ends up like the classic gag in someones face, mine, but it’s good to get out of London, not sure we found paradise.

Rod and Ben in paradise

Pip and Chris in paradise

Rowen Olly & Emil in Paradise

Chris writes Corruption a rollicking stadium epic about temptation, corruption and damnation. This goes down well, we all love doing it, me and Rowan dress up in fishnets and hi heels, we taunt Roderic whist Olly strangled a cockerel.The cockerel comes in handy for most scenes and travels with us along with the doves, his name is Dave, the doves don’t have names. I have progressed to a clarinet and am doing Tune a Day and Olly the trombone, also doing Tune a Day, we being the beginners are the only ones without musical skills. Roderic is let off because he is the Ridiculous Man apart from that, his singing is worst than mine which takes some doing

Pete Pip and Sheila rehearsing corruption.

Roderic, Ben, Rod, Chris, Olly, Emil, Sheila, Rowan & Pete in paradise at the Factory.

Standing: Roderic Rod Chris Olly & Emil Sitting: Ben Sheila Rowan & Pete finally get paradise in rehearsals at the Factory

This really is an all singing all dancing show full of props and costumes. Everyone has at least 3 changes I was in charge of costumes, Rowan props, Peter Oliver in charge of doves and fowl, Rod and Rod the drivers in charge of the van, Emil in charge of his own wardrobe 5ft stilts and a huge cape. We all have a job to do in prep for the long tour planned for Oct 1975 – May 1976

Le Festival d’ Avignon : 1975

An Die Musik goes to the Avignon Festival-Le Festival d’ Avignon 1975

Dream Rehearsals and Paradise on Brown Sea Island: 1975

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