Cora Bissett’s Roadkill Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Posted by Helen in Events.Tags: actors, cora bissett, theatre
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If you’re in Edinburgh this August, one of the must-see shows is Cora Bissett‘s Roadkill. Cora (the talented actor who voiced all of The Lost Book’s female characters) created Roadkill through her new production company Pachamama. She directs the show, which had a successful run at The Tron in Glasgow in June.
Adam and I had a sneak preview of an early run-through last October and it’s a brilliant, powerful, disturbing piece. The audience travels with a young woman from Benin City (literally travels with her – the audience will be taken from the Traverse Theatre to a tenement flat) and sees the new life and job she has been promised turn into a nightmare. Cora’s research into the experiences of young women trafficked to Scotland makes this an immersive and convincing experience.
Press coverage is already positive – in Friday’s Independent, Roadkill gets three mentions in Alice Jones’ guide to the best on the Fringe.
Roadkill is on at the Traverse from Wednesday 11 – Sunday 29 August 2010 with previews Friday 6 – Sunday 8 August and Tuesday 10 August. If you get a chance of a ticket then grab it with both hands!
Fringe happenings Thursday, 13 August 2009
Posted by Helen in Events.Tags: arthur conan doyle, books, cora bissett, story
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This post is somewhat overdue. Edinburgh is in the midst of the madness that is the festival fringe.
Lost Book guest writer Andrew J. Wilson has contributed to an exhibition catalogue for Madeleine Shepherd‘s amazing photographs of Scotland’s forgotten history of space exploration. (It’s possible that not everything in the catalogue is entirely factual, but I’m told that the most unlikely-sounding parts are true!) The exhibition is at fabulous independent bookshop Transreal Fiction in The Grassmarket until 31 August, so don’t miss it.
Andrew’s story “Under the Bright and Hollow Sky” is to be restaged for one night only on Tuesday 18 August (7:50 at Fingers Piano Bar) as a spoken-word performance at the Free Fringe. Sounds brilliant, and is part of…
Underword, a spoken word show on the Free Fringe that has events every night. It’s 19.50-20.40 at Fingers Piano Bar, Frederick Street, and is run by Gavin Inglis of Writers Bloc.
Andrew’s also the MC for off-the-Fringe steam punk club night Dreams of Steam, about which he says “This will feature strange music from Thomas Truax and Karmadillo, and there’s going to be a live three-part “radio” play right there on the stage. And trapeze artists. And Very Special Guests I can’t mention by name yet…”. It’s at te POOKa, The Big Red Door, 10 Lady Lawson Street on Friday 21 August from 8:30 pm.
The Paper Cinema are bringing their production of The Lost World back to Edinburgh. It was created for The Lost World Read in February and is a hybrid of puppetry, shadow-play and live animation. Fun stuff – every afternoon at the Scottish Storytelling Centre!
And, Cora Bissett (the voice of Aileen Adler) is starring in Midsummer at the Traverse Theatre. It’s already sold out for the entire run here in Edinburgh – well done Cora and team! – but will be in Vancouver in September.
Autographed artwork Thursday, 23 July 2009
Posted by The Lost Book in News.Tags: cora bissett, feedback, prize draw, sean biggerstaff, storyboard, survey
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Here’s the storyboard panel you could win in our prize draw – signed by everyone who was at the voice recording session on Sunday. To be eligible for the prize draw, simply complete our feedback survey. It will take about ten minutes!
A jug of Pimms (or two) Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Posted by Helen in Making of..., Story teamwork.Tags: actors, bookcrossing, characters, cora bissett, Poll, sean biggerstaff, soundtrack
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Fun times! The last recording session with our voice actors Cora Bissett and Sean Biggerstaff was on Sunday. For once, Cora didn’t have to do a million mad voices – she was simply (and beautifully) Aileen Adler.
Sean, on the other paw, had the challenge of putting a voice to the thoughts of Watson. “Urbane gentleman spy” was an option for a while… and led inevitably to “Bond, Sean Bond” and much hilarity. The final voice is neither of those, but is a glorious big voice for a small but important dog. You’ll have to wait until Friday to hear it.
L-R: Helen Jackson, Adam Brewster, Cora Bissett, Sean Biggerstaff and Stephen Gilmour
At lunch afterwards it emerged that Sean is a great fan of Pimms, so we celebrated with a jug or two of Pimms and lemonade. It’s appropriate, then, that the popular vote has decided that Pimms is the drink of choice for Aileen and Kyle (thanks Kiwi for the suggestion, and thanks DJ for letting us know the Sheep Heid Inn can “rustle up a fantastic classic Pimms No 1″.)
We also have a decision for a book to feature in the last episode – it will then be BookCrossed in the Sheep Heid, so if you’re in Duddingston this coming weekend you might want to pop in and see if you can pick it up. The winning suggestion is another one of Kiwi‘s, seconded by Treehugger – The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle. Watson’s grabbed it already; it’s one of his favourites.
The good, but slightly sad, news is that you’ve now made all the decisions needed for us to finish the final episode of The Lost Book. Instead of a story poll, I’ve resurrected our character popularity survey. Who’s your favourite character? Vote now in the sidebar poll to the right.
Cora’s Midsummer tour Sunday, 5 July 2009
Posted by Helen in News.Tags: actors, cora bissett
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There was a lovely feature in yesterday’s Scotsman about Midsummer, the show Cora Bissett (the voice of all our female characters) is touring with at the moment. They’re touring Ireland and Scotland, doing the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August, and then the Cultch Festival in Vancouver in September. The show sounds great, so go along if you get the chance! Cora describes the part of Helena as “totally and utterly my dream role”.
Read all about it: “Love in the Farce Lane“, The Scotsman.
Choose the narrator Friday, 19 June 2009
Posted by The Lost Book in Story teamwork.Tags: actors, characters, cora bissett, Poll, sean biggerstaff, story
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It’s been decided that episode 6 will use a voiceover narration to tell the story of what happens next (we held a vote and 67% voted for this).
We need to decide which characters will be the narrators. For more information about the characters, look at the Cast and Story page. Rather than sticking to a single narrator, let’s have one female and one male character – it’d be a shame if one of our brilliant voice actors had nothing to do!
So, we’ve put two polls in the sidebar on the right. We’ve included everyone – even baddie Beryl Potts (her viewpoint might be interesting!), Watson the dog (an internal monologue as he can’t speak), and Voiceover Man (he’s been showing flashes of personality).
Who would you like to narrate the final episode of The Lost Book? Vote now!
Crazy on a Sunday afternoon Monday, 1 June 2009
Posted by Adam in Making of....Tags: actors, cora bissett, script, sean biggerstaff, soundtrack
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It was all a blur. Not only did we dash off the script in record quick time, we nearly melted on the way over to Glasgow for the recording session.
As always, we had some new characters and new accents for Cora and Sean to deal with. Cora brought Professor Remi to life with a lovely francophone lilt. Sean provided a suitably thuggish henchman on top of his usual duties. For the first time ever Sean didn’t need to mention “Aileen” which meant we didn’t get to fall about in stitches when he mispronounced it – maybe next time Sean. Of course, Stephen was keeping cool at the control desk, despite the balmy weather.
Everyone was very focused – something to do with wanting to get back out in the sun, I think – and it wasn’t long before we all agreed it was done. In fact, just one more of these sessions to go and the whole series will be done. Thanks again guys for turning out on such a hot, sunny Sunday – you deserve lots of ice cream!
Episode 5 – script Sunday, 31 May 2009
Posted by The Lost Book in Story teamwork.Tags: actors, cora bissett, screenplay, sean biggerstaff, story, writing
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You’ve made the last decision that needs to go into the episode 5 script: Professor Remi appears to be a woman much younger than her seventy-eight years (53% of the vote).
We’re recording this afternoon, so here’s the finished script! The storyboards aren’t yet finished – this is a sneak preview of the first three shots. The rest will follow during the week, and I’ll also post the traditional “plotting the episode” blog to tell you the story of how episode 5 developed.
Think of us (Helen and Adam from Binary Fable, Stephen the sound designer, Cora and Sean) this afternoon, shut up in the recording studio while you enjoy the sun.
(Oh, and I don’t think I’ve mentioned script formatting for a while. There’s a standard format used for screenplays, where each scene is introduced by a “slugline” that describes the location and time of day. To find out more, the BBC Writers Room has an information page with PDF examples of a range of script formats. There isn’t yet a standard for “web series” (!) so we’re using the format we would use for a short film.)
Cora Bissett: CATS 2008-09 shortlist Thursday, 21 May 2009
Posted by Helen in News.Tags: actors, cora bissett, theatre
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Many congratulations to Cora Bissett (the versatile actor who voices Aileen Adler, Lyn and Beryl Potts) for being nominated for “best female performance” in the Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland shortlist, announced this week.
Cora’s nomination is for her performance as Helena in Midsummer at the Traverse Theatre. Midsummer also has nominations in the “best new play”, “best use of music and sound” and “best production” categories.
Cora also played the lead in Sub Rosa, which has been nominated for “best new play”, “best production” and “best technical presentation”, plus a “best director” nomination for David Leddy.
You can catch one of Cora’s productions this week at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow: Love’s Time’s Beggar, which runs until Friday.
Bass Notes and Love’s Time’s Beggar Monday, 4 May 2009
Posted by Helen in Events.Tags: books, cora bissett, Music, scottish chamber orchestra, theatre, treasure hunt
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I’ve got a couple of events to tell you about.
During May the highlight of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra‘s programme is the Bass Note concert, which includes a world premiere of Haflidi Hallgrímsson’s concerto for double bass. As you know, if you’re in Edinburgh or Glasgow you can win tickets to the concerts on our treasure hunt.
The SCO will be also be giving away free books at the concerts – the latest from our sponsors Canongate: The Changeling by Robin Jenkins and Lilian’s Story by Kate Grenville.
Why not go along? Full programme details are on the SCO’s website.
And, Cora Bissett (the voice of Aileen Adler) has a production on at The Tron Theatre in Glasgow at the end of May: Love’s Time’s Beggar – Stories of Love, Loss and Longing. Dates are 20-22 May, tickets £8/£6, and the box office number is 0141 552 4267.
Hearing Voices Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Posted by Adam in Making of....Tags: actors, cora bissett, sean biggerstaff, video
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Yesterday we were hearing voices, many different ones. Cora and Sean had to record lines in no less than seven different voices between them. They won’t mind me telling you that there were some nervous looks exchanged when we introduced the script at the start of the session. But, as we knew they would, they breezed through it with their trademark flair and vocal agility, and finished in record time – thank guys!
As always, Stephen was on top form and did well to keep up. We noticed too that a new piece of sound recording kit had appeared among his array of gadgets – lots of knobs and dials and stuff, all very impressive.
So episode 4 voices are in the can and we’ll be putting the animatic together over the next wee while so you’ll soon be able to listen to the dulcet, if not slightly chilling, tones of Beryl Potts and Otto Dafe.
OMI: Cora Bissett Tuesday, 23 December 2008
Posted by The Lost Book in One minute interviews.Tags: actors, cora bissett, interview
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Cora’s voicing our main character, Aileen Adler – as well as all the other female characters. Aileen is a journalist with a passion for finding things out, and a crime to solve.
Cora has an incredible track record in Scottish music, theatre, film and television. She’s rarely off the stage, making lead roles her own – most recently in the David Grieg premiere ‘Midsummer’ at the Traverse and the Fringe First winning ‘Slick’ at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival. As a director, she won the Arches Award for New Directors in 2007. She played Jo in the multi-award winning feature film ‘Red Road’ and is also familiar as Yvonne in River City.
She can be seen next hanging from a crane on New Year’s day, above Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, singing and performing!
Take a look at Cora’s One Minute Interview to find out more about her… (more…)
The Lost Book is an animated web series where you wrote the plot.
