Demi Paradise Productions

17/01/2022

It is with great regret we learn of the sudden death of our old friend and former colleague Ian Blower. Our thoughts are with his wife Sue and daughter Hanneke at their home in London..

A native of the West Midlands, Ian began his professional career at The Greenwich Theatre in 1969 & since then worked in theatre and television in this country & abroad. His directorial credits included Theatre Centre London, Merseyside Young Peoples Theatre, Gwent Young Peoples Theatre and The Next Stage in Nottingham. As an actor at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Manchester Royal Exchange, Birmingham Rep, Paine's Plough touring and The Young Vic London amongst others. For a number of years Ian directed and played the dame in a string of pantomime hits for The Duke's Lancaster which earned the appellation from The Guardian “The Best in the North West”. For many years too he was a member of Lancaster based actors co-operative agency, Target Casting.

For demi-paradise Ian appeared in Richard II and Measure for Measure. He directed Macbeth and All's Well That Ends Well, and co-directed Richard III. He also directed new work for us. Blood Red Roses - A history of Lancaster Castle in 2003 and the 2013 rehearsed reading of The Trial of the Pendle Witches, a new play about Lancaster Castle's infamous witch trial of 1612.

Ian Blower was a good friend and unwavering source of support to his many friends at demi-paradise. Ian was a principled and true comrade, who could act and direct with a an insight born of long and deep knowledge of all aspects of theatre craft and performance skill. A mentor to many and an inspiration to us all he will be sorely missed by everyone who had the privilege and pleasure to know him. (Image: Ian directing in Shire Hall, Lancaster Castle)

26/08/2021

The Border Readers will be appearing at Gallery Forty5 in Felton on Saturday 30th October with 'Haunted: Ghost Story Readings for Halloween'. Janine Birkett, Stephen Tomlin and Grace Kirby will be reading three classic and contemporary literary ghost stories in the venue's Long Room gallery. More details to follow on The Border Readers page.

27/02/2021

Join us if you can on World Book Day (Thursday 4th March) when Stephen Tomlin will be giving a live online reading of Oscar Wilde's classic romantic comedy 'The Canterville Ghost' hosted by the Lit & Phil, Newcastle....Perfect family listening! https://www.litandphil.org.uk/whats-on/the-canterville-ghost/

06/02/2021

For technical reasons, to do with FB and not ourselves, we are posting here and not the recently created Border Readers page, which is currently inoperable.

Our next event is from 7 - 7.30pm on Thursday 12th February when Grace Kirby will be reading the classic feminist short story 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892). Production partners Hexhamtv hosts and tickets - on a pay what you will basis - are available via Eventbrite

08/01/2021

We shall not cease from exploration / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time. (T S Eliot / From: Little Gidding)

To better reflect our work and location since 2016 Demi-paradise Productions is changing its name to The Border Readers and a new page has been created here on FB. We hope you’ll continue to follow us there.

Demi-paradise Productions was a significant showcase for northern based actors and creatives at Lancaster Castle from 2000 to 2016. The prodigious talent and dedication of our rolling ensemble left an indelible impression on the hearts and minds of its participants as well as the thousands of people we entertained down the years. In total the company presented 10 promenade Shakespeare productions, 17 ‘Deck The Hall’ Christmas concerts and 8 ‘Ghostly Tales’ literary ghost story readings. Add to that the premieres of 3 new plays – ‘Blood Red Roses: The Dark History of Lancaster Castle’ by Sue McCormick, ‘Richard III – On Trial for Murder’ by Michael S Bennett and ‘The Trial of the Pendle Witches’ by Graham Kemp. In recognition of its achievements, as judged by a panel of top London theatre critics, demi-paradise was runner up in 2010 for the prestigious UK wide British Actors Equity/Peter Brook Award for theatre companies operating without benefit of public arts subsidy,

The Border Readers is a core group of north-east based associates delivering live literary narratives in intimate settings - arts centres, galleries, hostelries, small halls, libraries etc. – across a wide area of rural northern England. Like all the UK’s cultural practitioners we look forward to the time we can resume giving live performances. Meanwhile, during lockdown, we continue to undertake research and development for future productions. The Demi-paradise website is no more but all the essentials can be found in archived form – alongside the current Border Readers page - on the producer’s website: www.stephentomlin.co.uk

18/12/2020

The last reading of our classic ghost story trilogy - M R James' The Tractate Middoth - went out live last night. The income raised from this season of online readings, made in association with our creative partners at Hexhamtv, will help fund the company's rescheduled autumn 2021 tour of rural arts venues. A big thanks to you, audiences and well wishers, for your much valued support and encouragement! This project was an experience born of necessity and we've gained confidence and insight in meeting the challenge and made new friends in the process. It gives hope of restoration - to a time when shared experience of live performance will once again be possible.

10/12/2020

After 'The Canterville Ghost' by Oscar Wilde and 'The Magic Shop' by HG Wells comes a perfect tale to tell in the run up to Christmas by that great master of the macabre, M R James.

'The Tractate Middoth' (1911) has a dynamic plot featuring an old miser, a musty academic library, a seaside boarding house, along with cobwebs and those who spin them; all combining to conjure hair raising sensations. This wonderfully atmospheric tale also has a bright young librarian open to romantic attachment and there are even - heaven forbid – hints of a happy ending!

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-reading-of-the-tractate-middoth-by-m-r-james-read-by-stephen-tomlin-tickets-131885638495

Follow the links to book your pay-what-you-will ticket and join us live on THURSDAY 17th DECEMBER at 7pm for our final story celebrating the power of dark tales to light up Winter nights.

MR James - The Tractate Middoth - Read by Stephen Tomlin - A Christmas Ghost Story

23/11/2020

Due to Covid-19 and the inevitable disappointing cancellation of this autumn's tour of 'Haunted: Ghost Story Readings for Halloween' we teamed up with community station Hexhamtv to broadcast a live reading by Stephen Tomlin of Oscar Wilde's 'The Canterville Ghost'. A lot was learned a lot from that pilot and feedback received.

Stephen will be back to narrate 'The Magic Shop' by H G Wells this Thursday 26th November at 7pm. A wonderfully crafted and entertaining tale, 30 minutes long, suitable for family listening (PG) and accessible on a 'pay-what-you-like' basis. Here’s the link to Eventbrite to book a place. Hexhamtv will record the broadcast and we’ll post a link here afterwards.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stephen-tomlin-reads-hg-wells-short-story-the-magic-shop-tickets-129848322829?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-source=strongmail&utm-term=listing

‘Magic!’ said the shopman, with a careless wave of the hand, and behold! sparks of coloured fire flew out of his fingers and vanished into the shadows of the shop…..

The Magic Shop (pub. 1910) Out for a walk in London’s west end, Gip and his father happen upon a magic shop. At Gip's urging, the two go in - and things grow more curious by the minute. Counters, store fixtures, and mirrors seem to move around the room, and the shopkeeper is most mysterious of all. Gip is thrilled by all he sees, and his father is at first amused, but when things become stranger and sinister father is no longer sure where reality ends and illusion begins….‘The shopman turned to gip with a smile of remarkable affability. ’You, you know, are the Right Sort of Boy.’

Herbert George Wells (1866 – 1946) wrote dozens of novels, short stories, and works of social commentary, history, satire, biography, autobiography as well as books on recreational war games. Wells is now best remembered for his science fiction novels like The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine and The Invisible Man. He is often called the ‘father of science fiction’ though during his own lifetime Wells was most prominent as a Fabian socialist and critic. He wrote a number of utopian works and foresaw the advent of aircraft, tanks, space travel, nuclear weapons, satellite and television. H G Wells was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times.