Last night we had a great party at the Distillers pub in Hammersmith to celebrate the press night of Fool For Love by Sam Shepard. The critics no doubt had their knives sharpened, but we were in great spirits and enjoyed the warm responces of our audience.

A- Gerard McDermott, Sadie Frost, Carl Barat, Neil Sheppeck; B- Jonathan Warde; C- Matthew Sim; D- Amy Taylor; E- Sadie Frost, Carl Barat; F- Tyne Rafaeli, Gerard McDermott; G- Carl Prekopp, Neil Sheppeck; H- Paul Green; I- Sadie Frost; J- Edie Langley, Carl Barat; K- Carl Prekopp, Kitty Winter, Sarah Bedi.

To book tickets click on the Riverside Studios link. below:

Riverside Studios Link to Book Tickets

Good Fortune, Neil.

Okay, rehearsals have commenced for our Desire&Destruction Sesion. An ensemble of ten present Fool For Love by Sam Shepard, Richard III by Shakespeare and a devised play about William Morris Demi-Monde. Carl Barat (performer); Sarah Bedi (performer); Candida Benson (performer); Jessica Davey (technical manager); Sadie Frost (performer); Hannah Gibbs (costume supervisor); Paul Green (lighting designer); Ben Kidd (director of Richard III ); Gerard McDermott (performer); Carl Prekopp (performer); Tyne Rafaeli (Assistant Directror of Fool For Love); Neil Sheppeck (performer and director of Fool For Love); Jack Shepperd (Writer of Demi-Monde); Matthew Sim (performer); Annette Sumption (deisgner); Jonathan Warde (performer); Simon Yadoo (performer).

To book tickets click on the Riverside Studios link. below:

Riverside Studios Link to Book Tickets

Good Fortune, Neil.

Sadie has just been nominated for The MOBIUS INDUSTRIES Best Solo Performance for her performance in 'Touched' earlier this year.

Please vote for her at:

What's On Stage Awards Link

Good Fortune, Neil.

Our exciting spring season at Riverside Studios is The Desire&Destruction Season. Sam Shepard's Fool For Love starring Sadie Frost and Carl Barat, Richard III with Sadie Frost and Demi-Monde, a devised piece in collaboration with Jack Shepherd about William Morris. January - March 2010. More to follow.

To book tickets click on the Riverside Studios link. below:

Riverside Studios Link to Book Tickets

Good Fortune, Neil.

Okay, rehearsals have commenced for our Pains of Youth tour. A cast of five to present Romeo and Juliet and A Taste of Honey is not an easy task, but this year's ensemble is a lot of fun. Hannah Gibbs (costume supervisor); Paul Green (lighting designer); Sarah-Jane Holt (performer); Christopher Hone (deisgner); Owen Horsley (director of Romeo and Juliet); Daniel Jennings (performer); Jamie Morgan (performer); Wole Sawyer (performer); Neil Sheppeck (director of A Taste of Honey); Jane Stanton (performer and movement director of A Taste of Honey); Van Wei (technical manager).

This year's tour opens at The West Wing Arts Centre in Slough, with Romeo and Juliet on 22nd and 23rd September, and A Taste of Honey on 25th and 26th September. To book tickets click onto the links below:

Romeo and Juliet

A Taste of Honey

Good Fortune, Neil.

After a fantastic finish to our Madness Season, we were straight down to Lewes Little Theatre (near Brighton) to stage a week long performance of Jack's In Lambeth, as part of their Tom Paine Festival. Jack stars as Tom Paine himself, with Lisa Bealby as Catherine Blake, and Luke Shaw as William Blake (previously Toby Belch in 2006). Lynn Jeong is doing amazing job, not only designing the lights, but also opporating the show. With Richard Holt appearing in a few guises, and with excellent support from the members of Lewes Little Theatre, tonight's opening show went down a storm.

It's a fantastic show, but don't worry if you can't get down to Lewes - we'll be touring it next Spring for it's 21st annuversary since it's opening at the Donmar Warehouse in 1989.

Good Fortune, Neil.

Thursday 9th July

SPONSORED BY FULLERS - PROCEEDS to CANCER RESEARCH UK

£25 a ticket - 020 7978 8701 - www.loveandmadness.org.uk

FREE BEER - SIXTIES PUB BUFFET - MEET THE CAST

Macbeth is "stunning...relentless...exciting" What's On Stage

On Thursday 9th July, Love&Madness are holding their first Charity Gala in aid of Cancer Research UK. Please support us to raise money for this worthy charity.

Good Fortune, Neil.

The Thin Line Between
By Phil Burt

Ordinarily, madness is not a thing to be shouted about. While its a far cry from days gone by with the tendency to lock someone up and throw away the key at even a hint of a crazed expression, its still not something to rejoice clearly seen recently with the over exaggerated fear of mind altering diseases such as foot and mouth and swine flu. But, as always, the same rules don't apply to the theatre. From last year's Hysteria by visiting Brazilian company Grupo XIX de Teatro, to the recent National theatre pairing of Felix Barrett and Tom Morris with Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, it would appear that madness is the topic de jour . So, have fledging group Love & Madness, who are about to begin their first residency season at Hammersmith's Riverside Studios, simply jumped on the insanity bandwagon? "To be honest, I don't know exactly where the name came from" muses group founder and artistic director Neil Sheppeck "If I really thought about it, its probably because both love and madness are the ingredients of passion, which is the driving force behind all good creative work. So it feels right that it's our name. Plus, only few people get into acting for money or because its just another job - to want to do it there has to be a great love and part of you that's slightly crazy"

The group had a beginning of sorts back in 2000 when Sheppeck, a jobbing actor at the time, would continually discuss his ideas for staging Macbeth "Barrie Rutter (founder of Northern Broadsides) turned round to me and said "Stop talking about it and just do it"....I had a couple of months free so I thought, lets give it a go" Sheppeck did just this first hiring the basement of Earls Court's Finborough Theatre, a space never before used for performance, and then taking the production up to the 2001 Edinburgh festival where it did "amazingly well". It was only after a successful second Shakespeare piece, this time Othello , that Neil decided to formalise the company under the title they use today. The last six or so years has seen the group tour the UK and Ireland extensively, reworking and revitalising classics while also developing new work, all in an attempt to make good, clear theatre. "We were very based on classical work to start off with, and making that contemporary - which we still try to do - but we've also started doing more recent work and a lot more modern writing. We've actually gone from what was initially classical prose that we were interested in, to just wanting to perform theatre well".

While the period plays are retrieved from may have changed, one thing that has remained integral to the group from day one is the importance of the ensemble, an element that sets them apart from other British companies and attracts a number of well-known followers. Theatre veteran Jack Shepherd has had a close alliance with Love & Madness since early 2007 when he directed The Tempest and became what Sheppeck terms "an unofficial mentor". It would appear the emphasis on the quality of work rather than a desire to acquire fame and fortune is what drew Shepherd to this company of actors, as well as the intimate, personal bonds that had already been established "I think a family has been developed coming from working with the same people over and over again. People within the industry are quite cut throat and don't open up very easily, and don't necessarily come across as very genuine people. We find that anyone who works with us who has any kind of pretension either learns to lose that very quickly, or they don't work with us again. That attitude doesn't make for a good ensemble, which is ultimately people who trust each other and get on to do creative work...and I think that's something that attracted Jack"

The upcoming season at the Riverside sees Love & Madness come full circle as they begin the run with the production that started the whole thing off - Macbeth . Joining the Scottish play on the bill is Sophocles' Ajax , directed by Shepherd, and A Skull in Connemara , by Martin McDonagh, which will bring the whole season into the 21st century. Rounding off the residency is the positively tantalising piece that is, for the moment at least, referred to only as Project X . Sheppeck has set his actors the task of devising this production while rehearsing and performing the other three and, through using these as starting points alongside day to day events taking place in the world outside the theatre, there is the potential to create something entirely unique that can take on any shape or form. "Within a season where we're doing Greek work from thousands of years ago, Shakespeare from hundreds of years ago and McDonagh of over a decade ago, to do the final piece that is inspired by 'the now', I don't see how it can be more contemporary." But while the lack of rules and restrictions may be a scary prospect for some directors, Sheppeck refuses to be worried "When you're working with amazing text by Sophocles and Shakespeare, where the language is so rich and so important... to be inspired by these you're not going to end up with some naff soap opera. If you're spending five weeks constantly working on great, great pieces of writing you cannot help but be influences by them - so watch this space!"

And so, what can we expect from the group after the doors of the Riverside close on July 26th? "I love the idea of taking it further you know. We've done lots of work in the UK and Ireland but it would be great to go further to Europe or elsewhere. Our ambition doesn't seem to end.....there's all sorts we can do." Looks like we better start preparing ourselves for a worldwide epidemic.

From Science is a Lie

10 weeks of Love&Madness. MACBETH is the first play in the Madness Season, exploring the actions and motives of men who kill.

The ensemble for this ambitious season is Jack Bence (Performer); Will Beer (Performer); Nicky Bunch (Designer); Catriona Craig (Director of A Skull In Connemara); Irene East CDG (Casting); Hannah Gibbs (Costume Supervisor for Ajax); John Giles (Performer); Arran Glass (Performer); Paul Green (Lighting); Lynn Jeong (Technical SM); Gordon Kemp (Fight Director); Lucia McAnespie (Performer); Iarla McGowan (Performer); Dan Mullane (Performer); Fiona Parker (Costume Designer for Macbeth/A Skull in Connemara); Kate Robson-Stuart (Performer); Jack Shepherd (Director of Ajax); Neil Sheppeck (Director of Macbeth); Matthew Sim (Performer); Jody Watson (Performer); Toby Wharton (Performer); Brendan Wyer (Performer).

Please head to Hammersmith over the next couple of months and support us with all your friends.

Good fortune, Neil.

After a very enjoyable tour, and many successful performances, Only When I Laugh! is making it's way to the Arcola in North London. It's our first visit to the Arcola, and we're all very excited. We've changed the ending, and developed alot of the play, so even if you caught us in Greenwich, it's well worth visiting us again during the next three weeks.

Performances run from 14th April - 2nd May.

Good fortune, Neil.

Our relationship with Riverside Studios grows from strength to strength as we are about to present Oliver Twist and La Ronde for three weeks, thus concluding the tour. It's been a great tour, and a fantastically strong company, and hopefully we'll see them all back with L&M in the future.

There are some great clips on YouTube of what we've been up to. For Oliver Twist go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtlNBpkkoIQ

and for La Ronde:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn_uGGiWHXU&NR=1

Performances run from 3rd - 22nd March, so if you didn't catch either show on tour, do take this last opportunity to see them in Hammersmith.

Good fortune, Neil.

Well, a belated Happy New Year. We've been very very busy at Hamilton House over the last couple of months. What with Mirror Magic Market Tales, and rehearsals for Only When I Laugh!, there's been little time to keep anything else up-to-date.

Last week, Oliver Twist and La Ronde got the ferry over to Ireland, and last night was our first performance of Only When I Laugh! at Greenwich Theatre. I'm really looking forward to this tour, with a fantastic company - Jim Bywater (Performer); Nick Earnshaw (Performer); Irene East (Casting Director); John Giles (Performer); Paul Green (Lighting Designer); Nicky Henson (Director); Lynn Jeong (Technical Manager); Jack Kitchen (Sound Design); Loraine Metcalfe (Performer); Nicole Schneider (Performer); Jack Shepherd (Writer/Performer); Neil Sheppeck (Performer); Annette Sumption (Designer); Stephanie Thomas (Performer).

If you don't catch us in Greenwich, there'll be chance to catch us at the Arcola in April at the end of our tour.

Good fortune, Neil.

Mirror Magic Market Tales opens on tue 9th December. Riverside Studios is offering £5 preview tickets for the previews (9th, 10th, 11th of December) - just quote 'magic offer' at the Box Office.

Magic-realist in spirit, this dark comedy is mostly set on a market, but it meanders through cursed villages, mirror factories, the remote heavens of Asgard, a local prison, and the unfathomable depths of a gothic cart.

With shades of McDonagh and Beckett, Schaul weaves a memorable and unusual tale of madness, romance and heroism that juxtaposes world issues and fairy tale magic with brutal humour, and is set against the backdrop of a Brueghelesque world.

A huge welcome (and welcome back) to our ensemble of Nick Earnshaw (Actor), Paul Green (Lighting Designer), Kelly Hogan (Designer), Richard Holt (Actor), Eyal Isreal (Tech Manager), Jack Roth (Actor), Matt Sim (Actor), Neil Sheppeck (Director), Jane Stanton (Actor), Craig Tonks (Actor),

Good fortune, Neil.

This November, we open our rehearsal process with 3 work-in-progress presentations at Riverside Studios, and invite your involvement.

Sunday 2nd November @ 1pm
Facilitated by Artistic Director, Neil Sheppeck, the Oliver Twist/
La Ronde ensemble present work fired and inspired by their rehearsal process, and relevant current affairs. Devised work fed by and in turn feeding the tour, that will conclude at Riverside Studios for three weeks in March 2009, where a developed form of this devised work will be presented.

Sunday 9th November @ 1pm
Jack Shepherd will lead a collection of regular Love&Madness actors, exploring Greek Theatre for a week, resulting in this presentation. The beginning of a process, that is leading towards a full performance of Sophocles' Ajax at Riverside Studios in May 2009.

Sunday 16th November @ 1pm
After the first week of rehearsals, the cast of Chantal Schaul's
Mirror Magic Market Tales will explore the interactive and imaginative challenges of prominade magic-realism theatre, presenting their work as part of preparing for a four-week festive run of the play at Riverside Studios in December 2008.

All presentations will last approx. 1hr and be followed by a Q&A session with the audience.

Please join us at Riverside Studios for these exciting afternoons.

Good fortune, Neil.

Last night, La Ronde opened to strong praise. I'm particularly happy with the humour that has grown in performance, and the dance sequences are astounding. As soon as we get a review, we'll let you know.

Check out the photos at the link above...

Good fortune, Neil.

Well, Oliver Twist is now up and running, and has had a nice review from the Kentish Times.

'slick...entertaining...grittiness'

Ellie Turner 'made a bolder Twist than any I have seen'

Simon Yadoo 'changing like a chameleon between his bullish Mr Bumble, terrifying Sikes and naive Mr Brownlow'

Lucia McAnespie 'extraordinary pathos during Nancy's ugly demise'

Cary Crankson 'whose transformation between the amiable and surprisingly loyal Dodger and the revolting Monks set him apart as a fine actor'

Preston Clare 'clearly comfortable in his role of Fagin'

'the cast clearly worked well as an ensemble, with some fascinatingly simplistic stage tricks ... and brilliant lighting effects designed by Mark Howland'

Check out the photos at the link above...

Good fortune, Neil.

Tomorrow we start rehearsals for our next season - Oliver Twist and La Ronde.

Every year, the new ensemble feels like the best to date, and I am so excited about this year's group of - Abigail Anderson (Director of Oliver Twist); Nicky Bunch (Set Designer); Preston Claire (Performer); Cary Crankston (Performer); Irene East (Casting Director); Mark Howland (Lighting Designer); Eyal Israil (Assistant Director); Nell Knudsen (Costume Designer); Matt Lee Newby (Technical Manager); Lucia McAnespie (Performer); Neil Sheppeck (Director of La Ronde); Jane Stanton (Movement Director for La Ronde); Kathy Taylor Jones (Composer for Oliver Twist); Ellie Turner (Performer); Simon Yadoo (Performer).

We are also in a celebratery mood, as we are now a fully registered charity! Hopefully we will have more money now to present you with a higher standard of production. Well done to our General Manager, Amy Taylor, for all her work.

Good fortune, Neil.

Tomorrow we open this year's London run of THE TEMPEST and FRANKENSTEIN at Riverside Studios, before transfering to Greenwich Theatre on 26th March.

This year will be our longest run in London, and we hope will attract a lot of interest about Love&Madness. If you haven't already, do come and support us, and perhaps join us for a drink afterwards in the bar.

Good fortune, Neil.

A huge welcome to Amy Taylor, our new General Manager, starting on Monday 18th March. Amy joins us from Riverside Studios, and promices to be a huge asset to Love&Madness.

Her appointment will help us to expand, with many exciting projects planned for the next twelve months. Check out our Forthcoming Shows.

Good fortune, Neil.

After a well earned Christmas break, we're gearing ourselves up for the Spring. After a week in the UK, we're off to Northern Ireland and Eire for six weeks. We always enjoy our visit across the water, and each year gets longer. Check out our dates.

Then from 18th March, we'll be in London for three weeks. This year's London run is being shared by Riverside Studios and Greenwich Theatre. We're really looking forward to performing at Riverside for our third year, and to our first visit to Greenwich.

During 2007, Love&Madness has continued to woo audiences, visiting some great venues - Sheffield Crucible, Oldham Coliseum, Ipswich New Wolsey, Stephen Joseph Scarborough - and performing to sell-out audiences. As we grow, it has become more and more necessary for a salaried General Manager to run the company. I shall still be steering the company, artistically, but we hope to appoint a General Manager in February to explore more fundraising opportunities, and to run the administration more efficiently.

So, a very exciting start to 2008 for us. If you haven't already caught us this year, I hope we'll see you during next.

Good fortune, Neil.

We're three weeks into rehearsal, and are having the time of our lives! The months of workshoping the script, and previewing it in Crawley has delivered a truly amazing script of Frankenstein. Catriona should be very proud. And Jack is working magic with The Tempest, each day bearing such fruit.

This year's ensemble are: Nathan Brine(Actor); Nicky Bunch(Frankenstein Designer); Lucy Conway(Actor); Catriona Craig(Frankenstein Adaptor); Luciano Dodero(Actor); Irene East(Casting); Ben Gaule(Actor); Richard Godin(Lighting Designer); Doug Hayward(Sound Designer); Kelly Hogan(Tempest Designer); Nik Kempsey(Actor); Heather Rose(Technical Tour Manager); Jack Shepherd(Tempest Director); Neil Sheppeck(Actor & Frankenstein Director); Matt Sim(Actor); Sarah Straker(Actor); Craig Tonks(Actor);

Do check out our Autumn tour dates. If you can't visit us at any of them, we'll be in London and Ireland in Spring 08.

Good fortune, Neil.

Well, we did it! After 7 months of meetings and lots of work, including 5 workshops with our ever-ready ensemble, Catriona presented us with a final draft of Frankenstein. And what great shape it was in!

To test it out before this Autumn's tour, we presented last night, at The Hawth, Crawley, after only five days of rehearsal. The result was outstanding, earning much applause at the end of the night.

A huge thank you to the brave troup: Carl Prekopp, John Bullied, Maeve Rutten, Charity Reindorp, Patrick Regis, Arran Glass, Dave Sim, and, of course, David Brett. A personal thanks also to Nicky Bunch, Richard Godin, Doug Hayward, and Heather Rose, who put in sweat and tears to make it happen, and are still onboard for the main tour!

The aftershow chat with the audience was invaluable, and will help Catriona to shape the script ready for when rehearsals start in August. Here's to great year!

Good fortune, Neil.

Well, another season is over. Two great plays, and a fantastic company of actors. I hope you enjoyed Playboy and Henry as much as we did.

On to next year. Our work developing Frankenstein is gaining momentum. Catriona is doing a fantastic job adapting such a great novel, and I can't wait to direct it.

As for The Tempest, we welcome a new director to the company - Jack Shepherd. As an actor he has enjoyed a successful career at the Royal Court and National Theatre, as well as on the screen where he is best remembered for the series Blind Justice and Wycliffe. His may directing credits include The Honest Whore at the Globe; King Lear at Southwark Playhouse, and Measure for Measure at the Arcola Theatre. He is presently writing Holding Fire! for the Globe Theatre, after which we will be welcoming him with open arms into the Love&Madness fold.

Good fortune, Neil.

A new year, and a few new faces: Nik Wood-Jones has taken over the roles of Michael James in Playboy of the Western World, and Pistol/Canturbury/King of France in Henry V; whilst we also have a new Tour Technical Manager in Heather Rose. A huge welcome to both of them.

Tomorrow night is our opening night at Riverside Studios, and over the last few days the rehearsal studios have been buzzing with nerves and excitement. We have cut 20 minutes off Henry V, and added a new scene where Fluellen forces Pistol to eat a leek at gunpoint. There's a reason we're called Love&Madness. You'd be a fool to miss us.

Good fortune, Neil.

Sorry for the poor contact. This season has been so busy, with two great shows on the road. Henry V and Playboy of the Western World.

A great cast: David Baynes, Gerard Canning, Lucy Conway, Robert Dobson, Ben Gaule, Lucia McAnespie, Jack McGababhann, Victoria Porter, Owyn Stephens, Eleanor Turner, and myself, of course.

This autumn leg finishes at the end of the month, but before long it will be January and we'll be at the Riverside Studios again, before another visit to Ireland. The fun never stops!

Good fortune, Neil.

This year's tour is forming slowing. You'll be glad to hear we'll be returning to most of last year's venues. As soon as the schedule is finalised, you'll find it here first.

We've also moved offices to Hamilton House in Clapham. Our new address is 1c Hamilton House, Atherfold Road, London, SW9 9LL.

The phone number has also changed - 020 7642 0309, although the email remains the same.

Thank you for all the emails and letters about how you enjoyed Wuthering Heights and Twelfth Night. Keep sending them.

Good fortune, Neil.

New year, new cast members.

In saying goodbye to 2005 we also say goodbye to Mike Goodenough and Nicolas D. Blake, and give a huge welcome to Luke Shaw as Sir Toby Belch and Arran Glass as Sebastian in Twelfth Night and Linton in Wuthering Heights.

Our own Neil Sheppeck takes over the role of Lockwood in Wuthering Heights, whilst all other casting remains the same.

So come down to Riverside Studios and check out the new cast.

Much love, Irene.

Exclusively for our Riverside Studios dates, we will
be joined by actor/musician David Laughton during
performances of Twelfth Night to enhance the music
throughout the piece.

Both Twelfth Night and Wuthering Heights will be
performed in traverse. With audience on both sides
of the stage, the action will be more intimate, making
the drama of Wuthering Heights more intense and the
comedy of Twelfth Night more immediate.

Good fortune, Neil.

Click here for Irish dates for Twelfth Night / Wuthering
Heights tour

Good fortune, Neil.

Welcome to our fresh new website.

As well as bringing the site visually up to date,
we can now offer more information on previous
and forthcoming productions and education work.
This news feature will allow us to let you know of
developments for the company, and enable company
members to report what's happening whilst on tour.

I'm sure you'll find this new site both interesting and
informative and hope you'll be able to visit us at The
Riverside Studios in January.

Good fortune, Neil.