Ashley Scott-Layton
Encyclopedia
Ashley Scott-Layton is a British Theatre Director, Writer and the artistic director of Ravenrock.
Described as an "unstoppable young director" by Robert Hewison
in The Sunday Times
('The People Securing the future of theatre') Scott-Layton was the winner of the 2010 Directors Guild Award at the National Student Drama Festival
. He won the award for his production of Phaedra's Love
written by Sarah Kane
whilst the lead actors Rachel Helen Shaw and Rupert Lazarus won the Spotlight award for most promising actress and actor respectively.
wrote of The Grimm Tales: "Ravenrock are something special. Run by Ashley Scott-Layton, the company are seriously impressive, combining dance, physicality and music to create pieces that are truly inspirational. *****"
, was described by Time Out London as "an adrenaline rush of unrequited passion which takes playful advantage of its unusual staging"
The British Theatre Guide
described the play as outstandingly funny'.
Charlie Cumcup was described by The Stage
as a "very funny, undeniably original and completely twisted piece of theatre[which] holds its audience in simultaneously disgusted and delighted rapture."
praised The Grimm Tales but found Phaedra's Love a little lacking as a follow up:
"Phaedras Love is a great script which ripples with excellence through the eyes of Ravenrock. However, after the performances of their last work, The Grimms Tales, that were so wonderfully committed to character, it was just a little disappointing to see a bit of an average cast. Not quite at the dizzy heights of their last work, but still an excellent show."
This review followed the first run at the Stage@Leeds theatre. Subsequent rehearsals aimed at strengthening the piece for its run at the National Student Drama Festival
and resulted in the lead actors Rachel Helen Shaw and Rupert Lazarus wining the awards for best actress and actor respectively.
During its second run Charlie Cumcup was seen as having one major flaw, as expressed by Lana Harper in the student reviews section of The Stage
:
"Unfortunately, one horribly extended section breaks the enjoyment. An audience member is left to the intrusive questioning of Charlie. Funny at first, it becomes painfully embarrassing for everyone, far beyond humour or interest."
Unknown to Harper, this 'audience member' was in fact a plant written to produce precisly the affect Lana criticises. Scott-Layton described the role as "performed astonishingly well by Claire Scott-Underdown, so well in fact that some people, were outraged that this poor audience member was being treated so badly. Although I think Charlie was very nice to her, Claire is just bloody good at acting painfully embarrassed. I think it was an interesting experiment, which some people loved, but probably not one we’ll repeat next time we do the play"
Described as an "unstoppable young director" by Robert Hewison
Robert Hewison
Robert Alwyn Petrie Hewison is a British cultural historian.He was educated at Bedford School, Ravensbourne College of Art and Design, and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he graduated BA in 1965, MA in 1970, MLitt in 1972, and DLitt in 1989.For most of his professional life he has made a living...
in The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
('The People Securing the future of theatre') Scott-Layton was the winner of the 2010 Directors Guild Award at the National Student Drama Festival
National Student Drama Festival
The National Student Drama Festival was founded in 1956 by the Sunday Times arts columnist - the festival's first artistic director - Kenneth Pearson, the Sunday Times theatre critic Harold Hobson, and NUS president Frank Copplestone. The Sunday Times Editor, H.V...
. He won the award for his production of Phaedra's Love
Phaedra's Love
Phaedra's Love is a play by British playwright Sarah Kane. It was first performed in 1996 at London's Gate Theatre, directed by the author. The play is a modern adaptation of Seneca's Phaedra...
written by Sarah Kane
Sarah Kane
Sarah Kane was an English playwright. Her plays deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture — both physical and psychological — and death. They are characterised by a poetic intensity, pared-down language, exploration of theatrical form and, in her earlier work, the use of...
whilst the lead actors Rachel Helen Shaw and Rupert Lazarus won the Spotlight award for most promising actress and actor respectively.
For Direction
Fringe ReviewFringe Review
FringeReview is a British online and paper-based theatre reviews publication. It was founded by writer Paul Levy in 2006. This web-based publication reviews in London, Brighton, Edinburgh, Oxford and Amsterdam, covering fringe theatre. Reviewers are theatre practioners and experts. In 2010,...
wrote of The Grimm Tales: "Ravenrock are something special. Run by Ashley Scott-Layton, the company are seriously impressive, combining dance, physicality and music to create pieces that are truly inspirational. *****"
For Writing
A/Girl, performed at the Oval House TheatreOval House Theatre
Ovalhouse formerly called Oval House Theatre is an Off-Westend theatre led by joint Directors of Theatre Rebecca Atkinson-Lord and Rachel Briscoe in the London Borough of Lambeth...
, was described by Time Out London as "an adrenaline rush of unrequited passion which takes playful advantage of its unusual staging"
The British Theatre Guide
British Theatre Guide
The British Theatre Guide is an on-line database of specially commissioned reviews of theatre productions throughout the United Kingdom, together with theatre-related news reports, interviews with leading theatre practitioners, obituaries and comprehensive annual obituary listings.It also...
described the play as outstandingly funny'.
Charlie Cumcup was described by The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
as a "very funny, undeniably original and completely twisted piece of theatre[which] holds its audience in simultaneously disgusted and delighted rapture."
Criticism
Lizzie Edmonds, a writer for Fringe ReviewFringe Review
FringeReview is a British online and paper-based theatre reviews publication. It was founded by writer Paul Levy in 2006. This web-based publication reviews in London, Brighton, Edinburgh, Oxford and Amsterdam, covering fringe theatre. Reviewers are theatre practioners and experts. In 2010,...
praised The Grimm Tales but found Phaedra's Love a little lacking as a follow up:
"Phaedras Love is a great script which ripples with excellence through the eyes of Ravenrock. However, after the performances of their last work, The Grimms Tales, that were so wonderfully committed to character, it was just a little disappointing to see a bit of an average cast. Not quite at the dizzy heights of their last work, but still an excellent show."
This review followed the first run at the Stage@Leeds theatre. Subsequent rehearsals aimed at strengthening the piece for its run at the National Student Drama Festival
National Student Drama Festival
The National Student Drama Festival was founded in 1956 by the Sunday Times arts columnist - the festival's first artistic director - Kenneth Pearson, the Sunday Times theatre critic Harold Hobson, and NUS president Frank Copplestone. The Sunday Times Editor, H.V...
and resulted in the lead actors Rachel Helen Shaw and Rupert Lazarus wining the awards for best actress and actor respectively.
During its second run Charlie Cumcup was seen as having one major flaw, as expressed by Lana Harper in the student reviews section of The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
:
"Unfortunately, one horribly extended section breaks the enjoyment. An audience member is left to the intrusive questioning of Charlie. Funny at first, it becomes painfully embarrassing for everyone, far beyond humour or interest."
Unknown to Harper, this 'audience member' was in fact a plant written to produce precisly the affect Lana criticises. Scott-Layton described the role as "performed astonishingly well by Claire Scott-Underdown, so well in fact that some people, were outraged that this poor audience member was being treated so badly. Although I think Charlie was very nice to her, Claire is just bloody good at acting painfully embarrassed. I think it was an interesting experiment, which some people loved, but probably not one we’ll repeat next time we do the play"