Colin Guthrie
COLIN GUTHRIE RADIO PLAYS
Colin Guthrie recently directed "Passion Play" by Peter Nichols on radio 4, which was accompanied by lots of publicity by the BBC. It's an excellent play and was a fine production.
Here are some snapshots of this and other plays where he's been involved, which gives an idea of the breadth of his work: director, pianist, composer, SM; he's also directed stage plays.
PASSION PLAY ....2008
12 Jan 08. Peter Nichols’s brilliant black comedy, an asute observation of adultery, its causes and effects, gets a great cast in its first radio production by Colin Guthrie. James (Nicholas Le Prevost) and Eleanor (Joanna David) are middle-aged, married, happy. Enter Kate (Emily Bruni), young widow of an old friend. Kate is after James. James, against his better judgement, begins an affair with her. It becomes evident this means very different things to James and Eleanor. How Nichols shows the parallel difference between what is thought and what is said is marvellous. (.........extract from a review by
Gillian Reynolds, Daily Telegraph).
DAUNT & DERVISH….2006
By Guy Meredith, broadcast May 06. Series 2 directed by Colin Guthrie. Female detective agency set in London in the days when women didn't usually go to work - 1947.
MORT....2004
Fantasy By Terry Pratchett. 6 Jul 04. 4 episodes. With Anton Lesser, Geoffrey Whitehead, Carl Prekopp, Clare Corbett, Adam Godley, Philip Jackson, Alice Hart, Philip Fox, Jon Glover.
Directed by Claire Grove,
dramatised by Robin Brooks,
sound design by Colin Guthrie.
THE COCKTAIL PARTY EFFECT….2004
10 Jan 04. By Liz Webb and Sheila Goff. Our ears receive all the sounds reaching them, but our brains decide which to register and which to disregard. Psychologists call this the Cocktail Party Effect. In this play, PhD student Jennifer Rigby is trying to explain the phenomenon at a university cocktail party, when she starts to experience it first hand. Cast:- Jennifer....Debra Stephenson Patrick....Kim Wall All other parts - Sue Elliott Nicolls, Simon Greenall , Debra Stephenson and Kim Wall. Composition and Sound Design by Nina Perry. Studio Management by Colin Guthrie. Directed by Liz Webb.
LOVE ME, LIBERACE*....2004
By C.W.Hill. R4, 13 Feb 04, Friday play, 55m. A play based on the events surrounding Liberace's 1959 libel trial against the Daily Mirror. Cassandra couldn't stand Liberace and put the boot in, perhaps a bit too vigorously, and a trial was the result. Against this background, an East End teenager is growing up and isn't sure whether he prefers women or men...Owen is 15 and thinks Liberace is the world's best piano player when the story begins in 1956. Over the next three years he writes many letters to his hero, sets about learning the piano, and falls in love with his piano teacher. The play stars Freddy White as Owen, Henry Goodman as Liberace; also stars Frances Barber,James Fleet, Ann Beach, John Rowe, Philip Fox, Ioan Meredith and the author. Pianist Colin Guthrie; directed by Liz Webb.
KILLING MAESTROS....2003
By C.W.Hill.R4, 14 Aug 03. Productions of Tristan and Isolde have often been jinxed by mysterious deaths. Conductor Sergei Bodanov convinces himself that he too will suffer from the curse and tells his therapist that he has six weeks to rid him of this "evil" before the first performance. With Bill Nighy, Henry Goodman, Lorelei King, Sylvestra La Touzel, and Andrew C Wadsworth. Piano: Colin Guthrie. Director Liz Webb .
Strangers on a Train ....STAGE PLAY....2003
by Craig Warner, from the novel by Patricia Highsmith.
Production by the Tower Theatre Company, the only full-time non-professional theatre company in Central London.
Patricia Highsmith's first published novel in 1950 was later made into a Hitchcock film, so it was no surprise to find murder, mischief and menace the central themes of this gripping psychological thriller. The Tower production was directed by Colin Guthrie, who also composed the music and played the piano (with Luca Burroughs on sax and Peter Ringrose on double bass). I don't know Mr Guthrie, but what a talented man he is! He directed this difficult thriller with a sense of style and confidence and his music was nothing short of sensational. Used to brilliant effect throughout the production - in turn eerie, stirring and filled with foreboding - it set the tone for the play perfectly. ......short excerpt from a review on the Tower Theatre Company website.
SEA SYMPHONY FOR PIANO AND CHILD….2001
13 Jan 01. By Charlotte Jones. A series of plays by contemporary writers. An innocent 1960s seaside outing takes an alarming turn when a child goes missing. With Emily Woof (Marnie), Becky Hindley (Mother), David Thorpe (Father), Nicola Wall (Young Marnie), Ben Crowe (Donkeyman), Helen Ayres (Clairvoyant), Alex Trinder (Lifeguard) and Clare Corbett (Mother 2). Directed by Claire Grove. Pianist: Colin Guthrie.
LONG TIME MAN....1997
27 Nov 97. By Judy Upton. R4. Three lonely women start writing letters to the same long-term prisoner. They reveal more of themselves than is wise, perhaps....life can get complicated for the recipient when he receives so many of their dreams....with Paul Higgins as Scott, Di Botcher as Donna; also stars Leda Hodgson, Alison Pettett, Rachel Atkins, Sarah Rice, Iwan Thomas, John Rowe, Anthony Ofoegbu, Gerard McDermott, Alastair Danson, Carolyn Jones. Pruction assistant Emma Mayhew, dir. Jonquil Panting. SMs Keith Graham (Panel), Colin Guthrie (Grams), Charlie Hume (Spot). [for explanation of these terms, see Radio page - Bert Coules' article].
SHERLOCK HOLMES....1992-3
Colin Guthrie was SM in a number of Bert Coules’ “Sherlock Holmes” plays, 1992-1993.
Recordings of the above plays known to exist in vrpcc collections.
compiled by Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
