Entering in to Auditions Week, I thought we would all quite like to get to know our newest director, Damien Saul a little better. Many of us met Damien back stage during Half A Sixpence but have not yet had the chance to get to know him properly.
After a Scrooge workshop I chatted with him in the pub over a glass of wine and a bag of cheese and onion crisps (both his!)
I asked him what he thought everyone would most like to know about him. He assumed that most people would want to know his background and experience is in musical theatre. And that's where we started.
It appears that he was born in to Am Dram! His grandparents met and fell in love while they were members of an amateur dramatics society in the nineteen thirties. Damien's parents were involved with theatre and as soon as he was allowed to, he was also up on stage. In his first role he was a child dressed in pyjamas in Puss In Boots. Between the ages of eleven and eighteen he appeared in many shows and plays, dancing, singing and acting. It was while he was watching a show he decided that he wanted to direct. He directed his first play when he was 19 and has won awards at both youth and adult levels at various drama festivals. In amongst all of this he has also written 4 plays!
What I loved about talking to Damien was that he spoke with great passion when he spoke of his theatre experiences and background. He clearly enjoys directing shows and became very animated when talking about the plays which he has directed in the past. He told me that it is very important to him that theatre is a whole experience for the audience; from the moment they walk through the door they should get caught up in the magic and excitement of the show which they have paid to come and see.
With the amount of excitement that Damien showed while telling me about growing up with a theatre background I told him that I was surprised that he had not wanted to be a professional director. But he explained that doing something you love professionally starts to become about money and you lose that excitement and passion when its main purpose it to put a roof over your head or food on the table. Damien studied childcare and has been in that profession for 24 years; now as a Nursery Manager. He loves his day job and is currently working towards promotion.
On top of all of this I was very surpirsed and excited to find out that he has another skill! He is a trained make up artist!
Damien has been away from theatre direction for a few years and I asked why he is returning now. He said that it felt like the right time to pick up what he loves again. When I asked him why he had chosen WOS he said that it feels very similar to the society he belonged to back home as a child. He said that he immediately felt comfortable when joining WOS and when he met the committee to discuss directing Scrooge he said that it felt just like a meeting with the committee when he was younger. He described it as “coming home”.
To finish the chat I asked Damien randomly pick 4 colours which corresponded to questions so that we really got to know the real Damien.
1. You can go get anyone from the past and bring him/her to the present for one hour whom would you bring,, and what would you do with that person?
Damine did not need even a moment to tell me the answer to this! Marilyn Monroe – and would go for cocktails. He continued to tell me that he is obsessed by Marilyn and has most of the memorabilia and books available about her!
2. If you could be anyone in history including people alive today, for one hour, who would you be?
Damien said he would be Queen Elizabeth 1st. He said that she had achieved for this country as a woman was incredible and he would have loved to have been her.
3. What is the one thing you wish you had discovered?
Spice Girls! The money and the entertainment value just keeps going!
4. If you had the ability to transform in to any animal which animal would you choose?
Cat. They are beautiful, graceful. He then added "And they are like me – treated well they look after you, mess with them and the claws come out!"
Thank you Damien for allowing me to chat to you for the first blog on our website page.
Make sure you all buy tickets to see Damien’s WOS directing debut, Scrooge. 18th – 21st November 2015 at the Winston Church Theatre
After a Scrooge workshop I chatted with him in the pub over a glass of wine and a bag of cheese and onion crisps (both his!)
I asked him what he thought everyone would most like to know about him. He assumed that most people would want to know his background and experience is in musical theatre. And that's where we started.
It appears that he was born in to Am Dram! His grandparents met and fell in love while they were members of an amateur dramatics society in the nineteen thirties. Damien's parents were involved with theatre and as soon as he was allowed to, he was also up on stage. In his first role he was a child dressed in pyjamas in Puss In Boots. Between the ages of eleven and eighteen he appeared in many shows and plays, dancing, singing and acting. It was while he was watching a show he decided that he wanted to direct. He directed his first play when he was 19 and has won awards at both youth and adult levels at various drama festivals. In amongst all of this he has also written 4 plays!
What I loved about talking to Damien was that he spoke with great passion when he spoke of his theatre experiences and background. He clearly enjoys directing shows and became very animated when talking about the plays which he has directed in the past. He told me that it is very important to him that theatre is a whole experience for the audience; from the moment they walk through the door they should get caught up in the magic and excitement of the show which they have paid to come and see.
With the amount of excitement that Damien showed while telling me about growing up with a theatre background I told him that I was surprised that he had not wanted to be a professional director. But he explained that doing something you love professionally starts to become about money and you lose that excitement and passion when its main purpose it to put a roof over your head or food on the table. Damien studied childcare and has been in that profession for 24 years; now as a Nursery Manager. He loves his day job and is currently working towards promotion.
On top of all of this I was very surpirsed and excited to find out that he has another skill! He is a trained make up artist!
Damien has been away from theatre direction for a few years and I asked why he is returning now. He said that it felt like the right time to pick up what he loves again. When I asked him why he had chosen WOS he said that it feels very similar to the society he belonged to back home as a child. He said that he immediately felt comfortable when joining WOS and when he met the committee to discuss directing Scrooge he said that it felt just like a meeting with the committee when he was younger. He described it as “coming home”.
To finish the chat I asked Damien randomly pick 4 colours which corresponded to questions so that we really got to know the real Damien.
1. You can go get anyone from the past and bring him/her to the present for one hour whom would you bring,, and what would you do with that person?
Damine did not need even a moment to tell me the answer to this! Marilyn Monroe – and would go for cocktails. He continued to tell me that he is obsessed by Marilyn and has most of the memorabilia and books available about her!
2. If you could be anyone in history including people alive today, for one hour, who would you be?
Damien said he would be Queen Elizabeth 1st. He said that she had achieved for this country as a woman was incredible and he would have loved to have been her.
3. What is the one thing you wish you had discovered?
Spice Girls! The money and the entertainment value just keeps going!
4. If you had the ability to transform in to any animal which animal would you choose?
Cat. They are beautiful, graceful. He then added "And they are like me – treated well they look after you, mess with them and the claws come out!"
Thank you Damien for allowing me to chat to you for the first blog on our website page.
Make sure you all buy tickets to see Damien’s WOS directing debut, Scrooge. 18th – 21st November 2015 at the Winston Church Theatre