THE GLAD GAME
The Glad Game was written and performed by Phoebe Frances Brown and directed by Tessa Walker. I designed the sound with lighting design by Robbie Butler.
Phoebe is an actor. From her childhood impressions of Dolly Parton to grown up roles at the National Theatre, the Donmar Warehouse and New York Theatre Workshop, acting has defined who and what she is. In November 2018 Phoebe was diagnosed with an incurable tumour in the area of her brain that controls speech, language and memory. The Glad Game is Phoebe’s Story: of finding herself in the bleakest of times, of discovering gladness in the saddest of moments and about how who and what you love can pull you through.
The sound design includes voice notes exchanged between Phoebe and her family and friends and voice overs from a cast of characters alongside music, contextual soundscsapes and sound design elements.
Due to the ongoing Covid pandemic we produced a filmed version of the work to provide access to those unable to attend the live performances. The film was available on demand for a limited period around the live performances. The film was produced by TEA films and I recorded the location sound, produced the sound design and composed original theme music. Adam Hipkin and Tessa Walker directed, cinematography by Dan Hipkin and Oliver Bury, edited by Adam Hipkin.
The Glad Game was Co-Produced by Nottingham Playhouse and Pippa Frith, supported by Arts Council England, Television Workshop, The Bush and Leicester Curve. Charity partners are Brain Tumour Research.
The Glad Game premiered at Nottingham Playhouse on 24-25th September 2021 and played London’s Hampstead Theatre in 2022. Further touring was not possible as Phoebe sadly died on 13 April 2022.
Production images by Graeme Braidwood. Other images are film stills by TEA films.
THE GLAD GAME
The Glad Game was written and performed by Phoebe Frances Brown and directed by Tessa Walker. I designed the sound with lighting design by Robbie Butler.
Phoebe is an actor. From her childhood impressions of Dolly Parton to grown up roles at the National Theatre, the Donmar Warehouse and New York Theatre Workshop, acting has defined who and what she is. In November 2018 Phoebe was diagnosed with an incurable tumour in the area of her brain that controls speech, language and memory. The Glad Game is Phoebe’s Story: of finding herself in the bleakest of times, of discovering gladness in the saddest of moments and about how who and what you love can pull you through.
The sound design includes voice notes exchanged between Phoebe and her family and friends and voice overs from a cast of characters alongside music, contextual soundscsapes and sound design elements.
Due to the ongoing Covid pandemic we produced a filmed version of the work to provide access to those unable to attend the live performances. The film was available on demand for a limited period around the live performances. The film was produced by TEA films and I recorded the location sound, produced the sound design and composed original theme music. Adam Hipkin and Tessa Walker directed, cinematography by Dan Hipkin and Oliver Bury, edited by Adam Hipkin.
The Glad Game was Co-Produced by Nottingham Playhouse and Pippa Frith, supported by Arts Council England, Television Workshop, The Bush and Leicester Curve. Charity partners are Brain Tumour Research.
The Glad Game premiered at Nottingham Playhouse on 24-25th September 2021 and played London’s Hampstead Theatre in 2022. Further touring was not possible as Phoebe sadly died on 13 April 2022.
Production images by Graeme Braidwood. Other images are film stills by TEA films.
Writer & Performer: Phoebe Frances Brown
Director: Tessa Walker (Stage & Film)
Director: Adam Hipkin (Film)
Sound Design: Iain Armstrong (Stage & Film)
Lighting Design: Robbie Butler
Cinematography: Dan Hipkin & Oliver Bury
Editor: Adam Hipkin
Producer: Pippa Frith & Nottingham Playhouse
Photography: Graeme Braidwood
Iain Armstrong’s sound design adds emotional heft to the performance – we are taken through the MRI with Brown, and are made to endure the beeps and groans of the machine. Friends and family also contribute to the show as voiceover artists, drawing the audience further into Brown’s life. Nothing, it appears, is off limits.
* * * *
Iain Armstrong’s elegantly simple sound design of effects and voiceovers is a viscerally sonic component illustrating the bright-white stab of piercing headaches and loss of vision that Brown experiences.
* * * *
There’s some superb cinematography from Dan Patrick Hipkin and Oliver Bury which together with the evocative sound design from Iain Armstrong wonderfully conjures up the various locations.
It’s a resonant homage to believing in a positive future in the bleakest times, and an homage to theatre too. A charming show that takes an incredibly difficult personal story and offers truthful human connection.
Brown’s The Glad Game … veers effortlessly between past and present, and various locales, as Brown navigates the ebb-and-flow of memories and feelings.
* * * * *
Writer & Performer: Phoebe Frances Brown
Director: Tessa Walker (Stage & Film)
Director: Adam Hipkin (Film)
Sound Design: Iain Armstrong (Stage & Film)
Lighting Design: Robbie Butler
Cinematography: Dan Hipkin & Oliver Bury
Editor: Adam Hipkin
Producer: Pippa Frith & Nottingham Playhouse
Photography: Graeme Braidwood
Iain Armstrong’s sound design adds emotional heft to the performance – we are taken through the MRI with Brown, and are made to endure the beeps and groans of the machine. Friends and family also contribute to the show as voiceover artists, drawing the audience further into Brown’s life. Nothing, it appears, is off limits.
* * * *
Iain Armstrong’s elegantly simple sound design of effects and voiceovers is a viscerally sonic component illustrating the bright-white stab of piercing headaches and loss of vision that Brown experiences.
* * * *
There’s some superb cinematography from Dan Patrick Hipkin and Oliver Bury which together with the evocative sound design from Iain Armstrong wonderfully conjures up the various locations.
It’s a resonant homage to believing in a positive future in the bleakest times, and an homage to theatre too. A charming show that takes an incredibly difficult personal story and offers truthful human connection.
Brown’s The Glad Game … veers effortlessly between past and present, and various locales, as Brown navigates the ebb-and-flow of memories and feelings.
* * * * *
Socials