TOPICS (Bath University Newspaper) ISSUE 80 NOVEMBER
3 1998
The Happold Link
A Bridge Between Gown and Town
At the end of November, the Ustinov Studio
in Monmouth Street will be resounding to the voices and endeavours of student
architects, actors and technicians who come together for a special annual
project entitled "The Happold Link" assisted by the Happold Trust. Inaugurated
last year in the memory of the late Professor Sur Edmund Happold, co-founder
of Buro Happold, the structural engineering firm with an international
reputation for its involvement in (amongst others) the Pompidou centre,
Paris and the Millenium Dome, London, the link also recognises his work
here in the Dept of Architecture and at the Theatre Royal Bath where he
was chairman of the board for several years.
This year, University of Bath Student Theatre is performing The Angel Ark, a play written by Bath Graduate Jon Thrower (Electronic and Electrical Engineering 1991-95). He wrote (and sometimes directed and acted) several plays here for stage, radio and screen, some of which have also been taken by BUST to the Edinburgh Fringe where this new play got its first memorable airing in the summer. He was awarded the University Bishop's prize for Theatre in 1994. This will be the first time this play receives wider Bath exposure.
The plot, a murder committed in an underground
tunnel system sometime in the near future during a major conflict, was
inspired by a visit to a quarry near Bath where the Navy and MOD have a
munitions depot. Reviewers have compared his writing style to that of Ayckbourn
and Orton.
During this semester, a design project for second and third year architects, which includes a large number of Erasmus students, requires the play to be read, the space to be inspected, a scale model built and schemes for lighting, sound costumes and publicity proposed. One design which satisfies all the criteria will be chosen from fifteen groups' designs by their tutors Nick Kuhn and Jeremy Gould, and the "winners" go forward to build their design with the assistance of the University's director of drama, Ned Milne, and members of Backstage Services.
A truly collaborative spirit is engendered between disciplines and across year groups. Serious study of design concepts and their practical application complements the serious realisation of a piece of dramatic writing. Professional designers and directors from Bath and Bristol are involved in the project and it has proved to be very popular with the students.
CAST
MILNER
Tim Redmayne
ZERO
Daniel Szabo
TONY
Nick Neal
KAY
Laura Hymer
IAN
Benjamin Curnier
EMMA
Francesca Secchi
FRANK
Doug Pennefather
DIRECTOR
Andy Burden
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Dawn Corfield
STAGE MANAGER
Peter Rendle
SOUND
Stuart Ledingham
SET DESIGN, BUILDING, COSTUMES, PUBLICITY
Max Arrocet
Amadeus Dorsch
David Haselgrove
Amir Mousawi
Lynton Pepper
Alessandra Salvajo
A Bath University Student Theatre Production
