was due to open! No mean feat, but as Tom put it, âWe were all busy but we just jammed the work together. It was a workshop vibe, for the love of the work.â
âItâs crisis directing,â Delamere told the Guardian at the time. He also noted the contrast between the cheek by jowl nature of the Latchmere production and the rather more sophisticated one he was working on at the Almeida. Although chaotic, it was an exciting experience and he appreciated what was being achieved with Roger and Vanessa . âItâs great having such a little space and without all that pressure you get in bigger theatres. This is about the personalities in the room, and thatâs it.â He also pointed out that the nature of the material Tom had chosen suited the approach to staging it.
The production was billed as âshotgunâ theatre and was âa crazy idea to put on a show in no time at allâ. There were just four performances in all and tickets were free as the companydeemed it to be a workshop rather than a polished theatre production. Thatâs not to say that those involved didnât take what they were doing seriously â the aim, according to Tom, was to provide the same enjoyment from a night out as a conventional theatre trip would.
It was in this production that the seeds were sown for the formation of Tom and Robert Delamereâs theatre company â named, aptly, Shotgun. Following Roger and Vanessa , the Latchmere offered Tom a residency in their performance space and he snapped up the opportunity. In fact, what he created was less of a formal theatre company and more of an actorsâ co-operative â or as he put it, a âsplinter cell groupâ. He wanted to establish an informal and safe space where actors, writers and performers of any level could get together, explore their ideas and unleash their creative talent. âThere should be no pressure, no commitment, just talent and immediate response to the material that walks in the door,â he declared, when announcing the formation of the group. From a personal perspective, Tom also felt that, within the confines of pressured production schedules of film and television, actors didnât have enough time to really dig deep into the characters they were to play, and wanted Shotgun to provide them with the chance to share the development of their work with other, like-minded people. There was to be âno fear, no ego, just good hard clean funâ. The venture did have a whiff of Fight Club mentality about it, though â attendance at the Shotgun workshops was by invitation only, âto keep it safeâ.
The project was indeed worthy and showed that Tom was keen both to invest something in the community and to continue learning new ways of keeping his beloved craft freshand organic. On a more practical level, he also claimed that Shotgun stopped him and his fellow actors from âgetting upset when the phone doesnât ring during our downtimeâ.
Although Tomâs relationship with his parents had been put under enormous strain during his years of addiction, he had always remained close to them and, once he was clean and sober, his relationship with his father took on a new lease of life. They were both intelligent and creative souls and given that Chips had written plays in the past, it was only a matter of time until he became involved in the creative ventures of Shotgun. Along with Chips and other members of the Shotgun team, Tom undertook a project named, interestingly, the Octoplot Revolution â which sounds rather more radical than it actually was. In fact, it was simply a guide giving instructions on how to write a play (or screenplay) in eight stages. âItâs a simple format and it becomes a way of expressing yourself. Anyone can follow it,â Tom explained to Baz Bamigboye of the Daily Mail in August 2006.
The Octoplot Revolution was an idea that extended beyond the
âItâs crisis directing,â Delamere told the Guardian at the time. He also noted the contrast between the cheek by jowl nature of the Latchmere production and the rather more sophisticated one he was working on at the Almeida. Although chaotic, it was an exciting experience and he appreciated what was being achieved with Roger and Vanessa . âItâs great having such a little space and without all that pressure you get in bigger theatres. This is about the personalities in the room, and thatâs it.â He also pointed out that the nature of the material Tom had chosen suited the approach to staging it.
The production was billed as âshotgunâ theatre and was âa crazy idea to put on a show in no time at allâ. There were just four performances in all and tickets were free as the companydeemed it to be a workshop rather than a polished theatre production. Thatâs not to say that those involved didnât take what they were doing seriously â the aim, according to Tom, was to provide the same enjoyment from a night out as a conventional theatre trip would.
It was in this production that the seeds were sown for the formation of Tom and Robert Delamereâs theatre company â named, aptly, Shotgun. Following Roger and Vanessa , the Latchmere offered Tom a residency in their performance space and he snapped up the opportunity. In fact, what he created was less of a formal theatre company and more of an actorsâ co-operative â or as he put it, a âsplinter cell groupâ. He wanted to establish an informal and safe space where actors, writers and performers of any level could get together, explore their ideas and unleash their creative talent. âThere should be no pressure, no commitment, just talent and immediate response to the material that walks in the door,â he declared, when announcing the formation of the group. From a personal perspective, Tom also felt that, within the confines of pressured production schedules of film and television, actors didnât have enough time to really dig deep into the characters they were to play, and wanted Shotgun to provide them with the chance to share the development of their work with other, like-minded people. There was to be âno fear, no ego, just good hard clean funâ. The venture did have a whiff of Fight Club mentality about it, though â attendance at the Shotgun workshops was by invitation only, âto keep it safeâ.
The project was indeed worthy and showed that Tom was keen both to invest something in the community and to continue learning new ways of keeping his beloved craft freshand organic. On a more practical level, he also claimed that Shotgun stopped him and his fellow actors from âgetting upset when the phone doesnât ring during our downtimeâ.
Although Tomâs relationship with his parents had been put under enormous strain during his years of addiction, he had always remained close to them and, once he was clean and sober, his relationship with his father took on a new lease of life. They were both intelligent and creative souls and given that Chips had written plays in the past, it was only a matter of time until he became involved in the creative ventures of Shotgun. Along with Chips and other members of the Shotgun team, Tom undertook a project named, interestingly, the Octoplot Revolution â which sounds rather more radical than it actually was. In fact, it was simply a guide giving instructions on how to write a play (or screenplay) in eight stages. âItâs a simple format and it becomes a way of expressing yourself. Anyone can follow it,â Tom explained to Baz Bamigboye of the Daily Mail in August 2006.
The Octoplot Revolution was an idea that extended beyond the
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