Our Past Projects

Saraband by Ingmar Bergman (Jermyn Street Theatre, London, April 2009)

**** Critics’ Choice
Powerful… A quartet of terrific actors… Beautiful. Time Out

****
Elegant and open ended, Ingmar Bergman’s final film translates well to the stage. Derek Bond’s production draws detailed performances by well-blended ensemble. James Perkins’ set is a beautiful and witty installation, and Sally Ferguson’s  moody and elegant lighting aids both atmosphere and pace. Whatsonstage

A marvellously intimate theatrical experience, enhanced by James Perkins’ stark and beautifully minimal set… Engaging and moving to the end, Bond and his team have produced a tender yet powerful piece of theatre which is well worth seeing. Don’t Panic

Trying by Joanna McLelland Glass (Finborough Theatre, London, March 2009)

****
The Judge is a gift of a role and Michael Craig excels in it, blending stroppiness, humour and fragility. Meghan Popiel’s portrayal of Sarah as a girl with a strong will but a tender heart is a perfect counterpart. Trying is a thoroughly charming play… if you want a enjoyable evening and some wonderful performances you’ll not be disappointed.
Whatsonstage.com

It’s rare to leave a theatre having been moved to laughter and tears by a production, the simplicity and integrity of which is as refreshing as it is strangely reassuring. Trying by Joanna McClelland Glass is an astonishing play. Not because it deals with fundamental issues of human existence. Not because it introduces characters at a moment of high anxiety or passionate glory. No, Trying is astonishing because it allows us to observe the interaction between an irascible old legal warhorse and his young and idealistic new secretary. Through that observation, we learn to love the characters onstage, to really care for them. Rare indeed.
Derek Bond has directed what is already an internationally-travelled and very slick play with obvious regard both for his actors and his audience. Staged in James Perkins’s Tardis-like set, which simply though effectively recreates the above-garage office of the retired US Judge Francis Biddle, Trying lets us discover the world of Washington DC in November 1967.
Michael Craig, veteran of stage and film, plays Biddle. This wonderful actor, who celebrated his eightieth birthday in January, gives a superb performance. Craig allows Biddle to bluster and blast, cajole and complain, with authoritative ease. Ever ready to counter the first sign of a split infinitive, Biddle could have been presented as a stereotypical ‘grumpy old man’. In Craig’s hands, Biddle becomes a old man with whom we can empathize and enjoy all the repeated stories and anecdotes, all the outrageous pompous remarks, and all the flashes of human emotion and warmth.
Meghan Popiel as Sarah Schorr is a worthy counterpart to Craig’s Biddle. Popiel exudes a strength, assurance, and vulnerability which add a multi-layered realism to her character. We feel we know this young woman. We recognize her weaknesses as well as her dynamism. Together, Popiel and Craig make a devastating combination, watchable from opening moment to poignantly joyful end.
Simplicity and integrity and superb acting. Trying is with me still.
A total delight, one that surely deserves a life beyond the short run at the Finborough, an unsentimental, beautifully paced two-hander that has the audience warming to their growing friendship until the poignant closing moment when Craig’s stage presence becomes simply a recorded voice on a dictating machine, bidding farewell.
John Thaxter, The Stage

Girls and Dolls by Lisa McGee (Old Red Lion, London, February 2009)

**** Critics’ Choice

There’s much to admire in Derek Bond’s production, not least James Perkins’s clever stage design which floats
the playing area, a kind of hovering memory space, above a bed of deeply symbolic fallen leaves. And the performances in this demanding two-hander are terrific. At first Niamh McGrady’s Clare and Bronagh Taggart’s Emma seem to speak almost with one voice: standing shoulder to shoulder on the stage, their words overlapping, they suggest some sort of mythical two-headed beast. Taking on an additional dozen and more roles between them, McGrady and Taggart display impressive discipline and flair, demonstrating that nuance and rapid-fire changes aren’t mutually exclusive.

Time Out

Running 75 minutes without an interval, Derek Bond’s intense production of Lisa McGee’s Girls & Dolls is a fast-paced little whirlwind that’s frequently funny, yet ultimately very disturbing.
McGrady and Taggart are superb, switching back and forth between 20 or so characters… perfectly delivering the play’s mix of hasty, breathless exchanges and calmer, more thoughtful monologues.
There’s always another nugget around the corner – a character, a new angle – as the play keeps tightening relentlessly towards it’s surprising climax. And the intense final minutes that follow will have you see everything beforehand with new eyes.

Indielondon.co.uk

****
The two-strong cast deliver equally strong and captivating performances as they switch between an array of some 20 characters.
Taggart’s portrayal of Clare’s jittery mother and McGrady’s Dennis, the disgruntled shopkeeper, especially stand out. They are believable to the point that you forget they aren’t being played by different actors.
Girls and Dolls works its magic as a girl buddy play. It’s touching, witty and sad as it explores the female lot in a chain of events reminiscent of Thelma and Louise.
Young playwright Lisa McGee shows she’s full of promise and definitely one to watch.

Ham & High

Colourings by Andrew Keatley (Old Red Lion Theatre, London, Jun/Jul 2008)

**** Critics’ Choice

Fascinating… Colourings marks the arrival of some very promising young talent… In the hands of new talent trio – writer Andrew Keatley, director Derek Bond and actor Alex Price – honest writing, fluid direction and a truthful central performance give life to the most unlikely anti-hero.
Time Out

What… generate(s) excitement is the talented creative team behind this production… Keatley will doubtless prove a new writer of note… Director Derek Bond’s elegant production draws out fine performances.
Metro

A challenging and engaging play with a tough centre. It is masterfully written and courageously acted with promising direction and a pulsing tension throughout.
What’s On Stage

This superbly acted new play will no doubt launch the career of a host of new stars… A fantastic piece
Ham & High

Colourings will certainly get you thinking, but even better, it gets you feeling at the same time.
Islington Gazzette