Dates for The Devil Wears Primark in the UK are as follows: 28 March Adam Smith Theatre, Kircaldy 3/4 April Dundee Rep Theatre 9 April Falkirk Town Hall 10 April Birnam Arts Centre, Perth 11 April Gaiety Theatre, Ayr 16 April Motherwell Civic Centre 17 April The Brunton, Musselburgh 18 April Carnegie Hall, Fife 22/23 April Customs House, South Shields 24/25 April The Village Theatre, East Kilbride
Press and Publicity
Spare Ribs on the cover of the Cyprus Grapevine magazine
Download the magazine here or be patient and pick up a free copy in Paphos, Pissouri and Limassol tomorrow. There’s also a competition to win 2 free tickets inside for the night of your choice!
Our media sponsors … getting the word about
Although we usually save the thank yous till the show starts, it’s only fair that we give a plug to those who are currently working to get the message out to the masses about the Spare Ribs tour.
Rock FM have been promoting Rubber Ear Productions since day one – back in 2003 – when we first ventured out warily with our first tour of Sex, Chips and Ouzo, and have continued to show how committed they are to the arts here on this island ever since. Thanks Agapios, Phillipos and all the lovely DJs there for all your help and professionalism!
Thanks to Kyriakos Iacovides and all the editorial staff at The Cyprus Mail for their features, promotions and glowing reviews in the past. It is always an honour to be associated with the oldest daily newspaper on the island and one that holds on to its traditions of independence and impartiality and a great promoter of the arts in Cyprus over the years.
Big thank yous too to Annmarie at the Grapevine and Heather at Pals magazine for your precious space and front covers. Local magazines work hard for the community and always need your support to continue their work. Sacrificing space and time for us is truly appreciated.
Here we go again …
Spare Ribs – Rubber Ear Productions’ new comedy by Kathleen Ruddy touring Cyprus in October 2014
Keep October free!
Rubber Ear Productions are touring Cyprus with Spare Ribs, the new comedy by Kathleen Ruddy.
Dates as follows:
- Wed 01 October: Horizon Crown Resorts Hotel (outdoor amphitheatre), Peyia
- Thu 02 October: Horizon Crown Resorts Hotel (outdoor amphitheatre), Peyia
- Fri 03 October: Horizon Crown Resorts Hotel (outdoor amphitheatre), Peyia
- Sat 04 October: Pissouri (outdoor amphitheatre), Pissouri, Limasso
- Sun 05 October: Paphos Ancient Odeon (outdoor amphitheatre), Paphos Archaeological Park
Tickets will soon be available from CARTRIDGE WORLD in Paphos, PISSOURI BAY DIVERS in Pissouri Bay and from The Horizon Crown Resorts Hotel in Coral Bay.
Cyprus Mail interview with Kathleen Ruddy
http://cyprus-mail.com/2014/01/24/ruddy-marvellous/
Ruddy marvellous
A Paphos based comic writer has had success on stage both here and in the UK but now has her sights set on the silver screen. NAN MACKENZIE meets her
Kathleen Ruddy is a comedy writer, a director, stand up, and an actor. Earning her living navigating the troubled waters of writing funny stuff, she boasts an impressive catalogue of creative work, ranging from hit stage shows penned and performed to script writing for the popular TV show The Bill.
She is an immediately likeable woman, blessed with a voluptuousness that somehow helps give her a comedic edge; her presence not only rivets an audience when on stage, she also boasts a sassiness and sexiness. She readily admits she is also in possession of a mouth which should never be allowed to function unless her brain is fully engaged, with one BBC broadcaster describing an interview with her as akin to being caught in a wind tunnel.
Born in Glasgow, Ruddy was educated at an all girls Catholic school where she must have had the nuns twisting their wimples at the thought of having to attend to the religious and educational needs of such a bright yet worryingly curious child. And due to perhaps one nun in particular a comedienne was born. “Sister Mary Joseph, who we nicknamed Mo Jo, tried to teach us French and it was she who caught me liberally editing aloud, some fairy stories we were supposed to be learning so that the hero of the tale became a flasher etc. She took me outside and beat me with a metre stick. My revenge on this woman was to incorporate her into my stand up act and I just hope my monobrow and lush moustache did her justice”.
And being on stage was a ambition from an early age. “I wanted to act even before I could talk, sometimes as I got older I would say I wanted to be a Nun but that was only because they got to drink wine every day. My family were all characters, all funny,” says Ruddy. These characters even included an uncle who was not only a catholic priest but also a stand up comedian with a BBC radio show called Confessions, who interviewed the likes of Billy Connelly asking them to confess their sins on air. “So you see where it all comes from”.
At nine her somewhat exhausted mother, concerned by her ‘strange’ behaviour took her to a child psychologist who advised the classic attention-seeking child be sent to drama school. “That was it, I had arrived at my natural place and I loved it.” An enthusiasm her mother employed to make sure she behaved or would have to miss out, “with the result I ended up being a proper little miss perfect”.
After drama school Ruddy fell to touring the UK with different plays to hone her stagecraft, where an extremely good memory meant that even learning lines wasn’t a chore. “But, to be honest, I wasn’t altogether happy being in straight drama productions, it seemed a wee bit pretentious when an actor would agonise for days about ‘getting into’ a character’s persona. I just felt uncomfortable with that and it was only when I came to play a menstrual obsessed agony aunt, also a mad alcoholic TV critic, in the play the Naked Brunch that I really found my meteor. It was the same with stand up, I was fearful when standing there alone on the stage being Kathleen Ruddy, but when I was dressed in character I took off and relished the experience, so comedy it had to be”.
Kathleen in Sex Chips and Ouzo
This in turn led to Ruddy writing her own scripts, producing and directing them as she felt no-one else was going to supply her with the material she needed. “I trust myself as to what an audience thinks is funny so I had to do it myself. You are there to make people laugh, and at its core comedy’s really about society protecting itself with a smile, it’s not something you can study it’s something that’s within you. And in my case an inner turbine of well-nurtured, healthy, coruscating crankiness helps a lot”.
It also led to her script writing for one season of popular British TV show The Bill, which although it satisfied the bank manager Ruddy found a little restrictive. “It was so highly structured, you had to adhere to very set guide lines, and it was quite stressful, I wouldn’t want to get into that again”. Next up was writing the play Glasgow Hard Tickets about a group of women who created a scam while working at an exhibition centre based on a true story. “But I did change all the names so no one got nicked!” This was a sell out show at the Edinburgh Festival and the reviews were fantastic so they confirmed in Ruddy’s mind that her future lay in creating her own material.
On a visit to Cyprus she was inspired by the Kamakis – “men who patrolled the beaches with the aim of picking up fresh off the plane tourists and seducing them over their two weeks and what happened to them after the invasion” – to write Sex, Chips and Ouzo. The play was well received in the UK and Ruddy is now working on a screenplay for it with interest from David Goodall, who has been awarded at film festivals in LA and New York, but it’s a question of raising funding. “Even if I say so myself, this would make a great movie and put Cyprus well and truly on the comedy map, maybe someone at the Cyprus Tourist Board has the foresight and courage to support the project in partnership with local businesses, we shall see, I am almost finished writing the screenplay”.
Living in Cyprus has also furnished Ruddy with other material. In her latest play, The Devil Wears Primark, she played Athenoulla the racist mother-in-law from hell who “was an absolute joy to play. There was so much material gleaned from friends who had Cypriot mothers-in-law that I had an abundance of wicked one liners. I could have gone on forever, or at least to hell and back.”
While Ruddy is Scottish her husband is half so and half Cypriot and with two daughters aged four and nine the pair seem blessed with a generous understanding regarding each other’s career needs, something Kathleen is deeply appreciative off. “I’m not the easiest person to live with, am a rotten housewife, a dreadful cook, mainly because I had a very liberal thinking mother who taught me that washing and ironing were way way down the list of things one did as a wife. Top was being properly educated and making every effort to fulfil one’s potential. It also helps that my Cypriot mother-in-law lives close by”. Her cooking allows Ruddy to get on with the writing.
There are negatives to a life on stage though. “I am invariably hanging out of a badly made dress, sporting a mile high hairdo, and come hither cleavage so I resemble a woman who has obviously seen better days and more lucrative nights. And while my hubby is in the audience surrounded by rather glam ladies all dolled up in their finery for a night out at the theatre I am up there looking like a square sausage on speed”.
Having dedicated most of her working life to making other people laugh, who makes Ruddy laugh? “Julie Walters, her character in Acorn Antiques as Mrs Overall, and her portrayal of the ageing waitress in the sketch Two Soups are comedy classics, she looks in both parts about 103 yet proves that women can get the laughs without falling over on their backsides to get them. Another rich vein and someone who kicked down doors for funny women to be both seen and heard is Joan Rivers, I have a ticket to see her Before They Close the Coffin Lid tour in the UK so she had better not die before I get there”. Male comic actors and stand up comedians to have impressed include Chick Murray and Tommy Cooper although Ruddy’s current favourite is Will Ferrell as he has the “comedy Midas touch”.
As Ruddy gets up to leave I asked what she had learnt from writing comedy scripts. “That as soon as one realises everything is a joke being a comedian is the only thing that makes sense”. BOOM BOOM……………………..
A word from the Executive Manager of the Pafos 2017 bid for the European City Of Culture
Culture has always been part of the everyday life in Pafos. From ancient times it was celebrated in the open in special venues, like the Ancient Odium of Pafos, or just at the city’s plazas.
Now Pafos seeks to become, again, the cultural centre of Cyprus and of Europe. Pafos is very close to achieving its greatest ever vision and most ambitious goal in its modern history – to claim the title of European Capital of Culture for the year 2017!
In this struggle, Pafos is not alone. The citizens of Pafos, both those who were born here and those who chose to live here, are working together towards the common goal.
Artists, professionals, volunteers, immigrants, locals, tourists, old and young, everyone is playing their part for our town.
One such case is Rubber Ear Productions. They decided to support this goal by “devoting” their new production “The Devil wears Primark” to Pafos 2017.
Pafos 2017 is glad that a multi award-winning international company not only supports us but also starts its shows in Pafos (Coral Bay) and also finishes the tour here (Ancient Odeon).
On the 14th of September we will all know if “The Devil wears Primark” is the last production that supported the Pafos 2017 bid or the first one that will support the European Capital of Culture 2017!
Good luck to all of us.
Warm Regards,
Ektor Tsatsoulis
Executive Manager, Pafos 2017
Would you like to advertise your business in our programme?
If you are interested in advertising your business in our programme, please contact us on 99 069074 or email us at rubber.ear@live.com
Our programme is an ideal opportunity to reach thousands of people all across Cyprus.
For rates and specifications contact us as soon as possible to reserve a space.
*****Readvertisers from all previous programmes receive a 20% discount on their ads!!!!
Programme ad sizes
Full page (A4) 210×297 mm (can have 3mm bleed if needed)
220 euros
Half page 200x140mm
120 euros
Quarter page 96x140mm
70 euros
Specifications
All ads to be sent in pdf / jpeg / tiff / psd format
Must be saved in CMYK colour mode
Resolution 300 lpi
Can also accept Corel files but all text must be converted to ‘curves’.
Artwork in Corel version 12 or earlier only please.
See our mock programme / sponsorship details on Issuu: http://www.issuu.com/rubberear
Our blog: rubberear.wordpress.com
Rubber Ear Productions and Pafos2017 – Announcement
We are proud to announce that Rubber Ear Productions are supporting the Pafos 2017 bid for European Capital of Culture with both our Devil Wears Primark tour of Cyprus and the Sex, Chips and Ouzo film later this year.
After a meeting with Executive Manager for the Pafos bid, Mr Ektor Tsatsoulis earlier today, it was agreed that Rubber Ear Productions would promote the bid and the Pafos2017 team would endorse Kathleen Ruddy’s play and screenplay until the results of the candidacy later next month.
Should Pafos be successful with their proposal, future cooperation between the two parties may lead to some very exciting ventures indeed.
A statement from Mr Tsatsoullis will follow soon.
For more details on the Pafos 2017 bid click here.
A wee guide to the venues: Horizon Crown Resorts Hotel, Coral Bay, Peyia, Paphos.
Horizon Crown Resorts Amphitheatre in Coral Bay
You would be forgiven for thinking that the amphitheatre at the Crown Resorts Hotel looks like it was built by Fred Flintstone.
This hidden gem was brought to our attention by the then manager and later close friend Mr Renos Vasiliades, who saw its potential and encouraged us to take full advantage.
Rubber Ear Productions were the first professional theatre group to perform here (back in 2003) with Sex, Chips and Ouzo, which we repeated in 2004 and then followed with Check Your Coupon in 2005, The Best Of Scottish Comedy (stand-up tour) in 2006 , Sex, Chips and Ouzo again in 2011 and last year again with The Devil Wears Primark.
This cosy little venue has since been popular with a plethora of jazz concerts, big band nights and charity events.
As with past plays, we have chosen to start our Death Of A Playboy tour here in 2013.
DEATH OF A PLAYBOY plays here on Thursday 6th June and Friday 7th June 2013 at 20.00 hrs
Tickets are available from CARTRIDGE WORLD in Paphos (tel 26 822 370/ 777 777 85) and at the reception of the Horizon Crown Resorts Hotel (tel 26 813800). Click here for details.
For disabled access details click here.
For more info on the venue or tickets call 99908434 or email us on rubber.ear@live.com
Rubber Ear Productions 