True WW2 story – and only 5 minutes to tell it

My short play ‘Enemy’ (http://youtu.be/7yvt1Z34rEo) was filmed last month at The Lost Theatre as part of their annual 5 Minute Festival.

The play was inspired by the true story of Otto Schimek, a young Austrian recruit to the German Wehrmacht, who refused to shoot hostages on ethical grounds (he was a devout Catholic) and in return was shot as a ‘coward and deserter’.  

In my play, Otto spends his final night locked in a cell with Nadia, a Russian partisan who will face a firing squad the next day for assassinating German officers.  Can they possibly find common ground?

Russian women played significant roles in partisan operations during the second world war. They could move around with less suspicion than men and proved every bit as determined to remove the German aggressor from Mother Russia in what became known as The Great Patriotic War. 

In ‘Enemy’, the role of Otto is played by George Weightman and that of Nadia by Carla Espinoza.  They both turned in performances of passionate intensity. The play was performed live in front of an appreciative audience on 10th December at The Lost Theatre, Stockwell, south London.

For more details about The Lost Theatre (including their One Act Play Festival in May) please check their website at: http://www.losttheatre.co.uk

To view ‘Enemy’ by Claire Booker click on http://youtu.be/7yvt1Z34rEo or you can read the script at http://www.bookerplays.co.uk

Bookerplays shares stage with grand piano

They really do things in style down in Surrey’s cathedral city of Guildford. Even the poetry venues have crystal chandeliers!

An enthusiastic audience watch ‘Harriet by the Swings’

Bookerplays was invited by Pop Up Poetry organisers Donall Dempsey and Jan Windle to perform two short plays at their regular spoken word event.

Carla Espinoza in the role of Sylvia in ‘Rainbow Baby’

Talented actors Rachel Crowther, Carla Espinoza, Alex Gibson and Natalie Harper shared the stage with a grand piano, double bass and some seriously decorous lighting, as they performed Claire Booker’s ‘Harriet by the Swings’ and ‘Rainbow Baby’ to a rousing reception yesterday at The Bar Des Arts opposite The Yvonne Arnaud theatre.

Pop Up Poetry offers an eclectic mix of music, poetry, spoken word and a generous sprinkling of fairy dust.   What’s more –  it’s all free! For details of where and when please check out the following link: http://www.facebook.com/PopUpPoets

To view a 5 minute film of ‘Harriet by the Swings’ as performed by the same cast at the Lost Theatre, Stockwell, London, last year, please click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBHZOSlv2b0&hd=1

Bookerplays head for the pulsing heart of Guildford

First Manchester, then Whitstable and most recently London – now Claire Booker’s short play ‘Harriet by the Swings’ is set for its home counties premiere!

If you’re in Guildford on Tuesday 19th February, get yourself down to The Bar Des Arts opposite the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre where the monthly word and music event, Pop Up Poetry, has a host of goodies in store.  Special guests will include Ernie Burns, Mel Jones, the Stokey Bard, plus ‘Harriet by the Swings’ and a second short play by Claire – ‘Rainbow Baby’.  For more details check the following link: http://www.facebook.com/PopUpPoets

Seats fill up at Loose Muse

And it’s all thanks to Loose Muse at Covent Garden’s Poetry Cafe – proving that networking really does makes the world go round. Pop Up Poetry host Jan Windle was reading her poetry there earlier this month on the same evening as ‘Harriet by the Swings’ and ‘Rainbow Baby’ were performed at the venue.  She and fellow Pop Up host Donall Dempsey liked what they saw. Bingo!

Claire’s two plays were also performed at Beyond Words at the Gipsy Hill Tavern, SE19 which meets on the first Tuesday of each month. For more details contact: beyond.words@aol.co.uk

Alex Gibson as Sam

Please click on the following link to see ‘Harriet by the Swings’ as filmed during its performance at the Lost Theatre, Stockwell:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBHZOSlv2b0&hd=1

Carla Espinoza as Pam

“The actors did a fabulous job of conveying Claire Booker’s succinct script.”   Brett Evans, Editor Prole literary magazine.

Natalie Harper as Tam

Something sinister stirs in the playground – again!

Dark, dangerous and hungry – Harriet is every mother’s nightmare.  She’s
already played to packed houses in Manchester and Whitstable. Last week this monstrous creation was let loose again, as part of The Lost Theatre’s Five Minute Play Festival in Stockwell, London. 

‘Harriet by the Swings’ – a short play by Claire Booker – started life as a poem but soon developed its full dramatic potential as a five minute play.  It’s amazing what you can do in 300 seconds!  Particularly when you have talented young actors fighting your corner.

If you’d like to watch a film of the play then please click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBHZOSlv2b0&hd=1

The role of Harriet was played by Rachel Crowther, whilst (from left to right) Alex Gibson, Natalie Harper and Carla Espinoza played a coterie of smug mums.

For more information about The Lost Theatre click: http://www.losttheatre.co.uk

To read the play in script form click:  http://www.bookerplays.co.uk