Actors will look the part

When you work in Hollywood you have to embrace the lifestyle completely.

So to make sure they look the part in their latest production, Swimming With Sharks, members of Old Town Theatre Company have had a spray tan – courtesy of the staff at OMG Hair and Beauty in Faringdon Road.

The play tells the story of a young Hollywood executive who becomes the assistant to a big-time movie producer – the boss from hell – but soon things turn around when the young executive kidnaps his boss and turns all the cruelties back on him.

Eight members of the cast, who range in age from 16 to 53, all stripped off to be given a golden glow in the name of art.

The show runs from today until Saturday and starts at 7.30pm at the Arts Centre in Devizes Road.

For more information call 01793 614837 or visit www.swindonweb.com/ottc.

Firing on all cylinders

Look out for loud noises and realistic looking injuries at the Arts Centre this week.

Swindon amateur dramatic society OTTC has called in the Territotial Army and St JohnAmbulance to make sure their latest play, which starts tonight, goes with a bang.

Swimming with Sharks is a play about a movie producer boss-from-hell, and the revenge exacted upon him by his long-suffering assistant.

As the poster says, the play 'contains loud noises' as the action demands the firing of a pistol on stage.

"OTTC always strives to do things as well as we can so we thought, 'who better to make sure that the pistol is looked after properly, than a soldier'," said Ashley Heath, OTTC's publicity officer.

"We're just ordinary people living in Swindon and our familiarity with weapons, even blank firing ones, is practically nil. We needed someone who was confident in the handling of weapons, and knew how they worked."

So they put a call in to the Territorial Army in Swindon and members of A Squadron, of the Royal Yeomanry, were able to help. The squadron, based in the TA Centre in Church Place found a volunteer to attend all the technical and dress rehearsals, and performances.

"His name is Peter Gale and for 16 years he was the unit armourer for the Yeomanry," said Ashley.

"Peter lives in Swindon and, having retired from the TA in 2000, is still a civilian employee for the Yeomanry here."

Peter will ensure that the pistol is cleaned, checked, loaded and handed over to the appropriate actor at the right time and will look after it again once it's been used before handing it over to the Arts Centre for safekeeping.

"It sounds a simple enough task but it carries a huge weight of responsibility," said Ashley.

"From a dramatic point of view, if the pistol doesn't go bang when it's supposed to, then the play's action collapses. Equally importantly, it mustn't go off when it shouldn't!"

OTTC also called in a trainer from Swindon's St John Ambulance to make sure one of its actors looked believably bruised and battered.

Sarah Dawson passed on skills used for casualty simulations.

"At St John, we have the expertise to know what bruises look like, even if they're a week old," said Sarah.

"I knew that I could go along and pass on enough skills to teach OTTC how to make up a bruise on an actor. We can even lend them the make-up!"