I am very happy to provide a testimonial for Geoff Norris as a director. I have had the good fortune to have been directed by Geoff on three occasions. He is very good at bringing out the best in his actors, helping us to feel confident and appreciated. I have had health problems a couple of times and concerned for my performance and he has been very supportive and reassuring. He leads a supportive ceremony before each performance that helps us to feel special and bonded together and take pride in our work. He brings an insightful creative interpretation to the play. For example, in our recent production of the Paradise Play Garden of Eden story, he had the devil character performed by two actors, the first a female temptress who coaxes Eve to eat the apple, and a post-Fall male emphasizing the devil’s cruelty. I can thoroughly recommend Geoff as a director.
Peter Watts– Actor, London
I have had the pleasure of working with Geoffrey Norris as an actor and a director. In 2017 I worked with Geoffrey on
‘The Art Of Letting Go’ where he played my father battling Dementia. He is a
professional actor who can take direction well and offer fantastic insights and ideas. He produced an authentic and believable performance. I thoroughly enjoyed acting with him.
More recently in November/December 2018 Geoffrey performed in and Directed ‘The Oberufer Paradise Play’
Geoffrey was an essential and valued member of the cast. He is hard working, reliable, with good team-work skills and the ability to take on responsibility. Geoffrey approaches all tasks and challenges appropriately and with excellent communication skills. He demonstrated
the ability to work well under pressure and most importantly his commitment and passion to and for the project. Without Geoffrey’s hard work and dedication the project’s process and result would have had a very different outcome.
Geoffrey would offer a great deal to any company and I would warmly recommend him to you.
Florentina Bowden
Actor, London, Dee Boss Talent Management Ltd
I worked with Geoff Norris in the Paradise Play with the Friends of Rudolph Steiner House, playing the black Devil. Geoff split the role of the Devil into two; the red and the black, which had not been done before. I found Geoff to be meticulous with his work, extracting every detail from the text and contextualising its meaning for us. His understanding of scripture and the history of this story was crucial, I feel, to the success of our piece.
Geoff and I worked a lot on tone and pace, light and shade. Helping me add variation to these, and clarity to my thoughts. My tendency initially was to race through my speech, with much of what I was saying therefore coming out generalised. The work we did on this helped to then find all important specificity.
We also worked together as fellow actors. Listening to the clarity and power Geoff brought to the role of God, was a useful part of the above process. Though our characters were complete opposites, both needed to have a strong, powerful presence. I also benefited from Geoff’s mentoring as a singer. Having joined the company late, I was behind with learning the songs, and uncertain about their tunes – among other things! Geoff and I met an hour and a half before the rest of the company had assembled, during which time he broke down the play and explained my role within it, while working on each of the songs in detail. This meant I was far more confident going away again to practise these alone.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed working with Geoff and the whole company of talented, hardworking professionals, and would be very pleased to do so again in the future.
Daniel McCaully- Actor, London
Beautiful representation of the Paradise of Adam and Eve.
It’s been a while since I have seen such a concept expressed so simply and beautifully. The Oberufer plays are totally new to me, never having seen one before but of course in Italy I saw many similar plays in my youth.
The Oberufer Paradise play took me right back to my childhood and I felt like a kid again and , in some way it enkindled my early memories and made me re- live those emotions again.
Adam and Eve were were perfectly played by two young actors,who for me, were well fitted to the roles, both in looks and in acting skills.
Lucifer brought a kind of black humour , and his direct interaction with the audience brought us into the immediate and personal drama of the moment, while the voice of God resonating in the auditorium was very evocative and powerful. All in all a very strong and thoroughly alive experience.
London Actor
It was the first time I’ve seen the Christmas plays at Rudolf Steiner House, having seen them over many years at the Goethearnum, Dornach, Switzerland and also at the Sonnenhof, (a children’s home and school founded by Dr Wegman). I’ve also seen them in various Steiner schools in France.I particularly love seeing these plays each Christmas, and have never been so touched as by the interpretation of them given at Rudolf Steiner House. The presence of the eurythmy portraying the words of God brought about a deeply felt meaningful and spiritual aspect to the Paradise play. The words expressed in eurythmy certainly touch a deeper level in the Human Being which is not so felt in the traditional interpretation which seems more to speak to the physical level. Seeing this reminded me of the soul qualities portrayed in eurythmy in the Mystery Dramas. I also appreciated the most beautiful music and the sensitivity of the pianist, it seemed also a spiritual expression as opposed to someone simply playing the music. Many thanks to all those who helped put these plays on, and I’m looking forward to them next year !
Pamela Tinker
On the afternoon of the 16th of December I was delighted to attend a performance of The Shepherd’s Play at Rudolf Steiner House in London. The cast was composed almost entirely of students from The London Waldorf Teacher Training Seminar and their enthusiasm was a joy to behold. Given that most of them had never acted before, they acquitted themselves well, particularly given the complex nature of the songs. Alongside them, the skillful accompaniment of Claudio DiMeo on piano gave new life to Brian Master’s musical settings and from the outset there was a lovely sense of reverence for the material. Having never attended one of the Oberufer cycle before, it was interesting to see the ways in which this play differed from other Nativity plays I have seen. It started out much as one would expect, following the introductory pieces, with a suitably reverent evocation of Joseph and Mary (played by a radiant and serene Sarah Bowe), before leading into the carousing and cavorting of the shepherds. It is the nature of the shepherds that sets this play apart from other nativities; their childlike and bumbling personas, free from guile, are an artful theatrical ruse that creates a wonderful sense of childlike joy in the watcher. All three shepherds did well and special mention must go to Geoff Norris, who managed to both direct the play and appear as a shepherd.
As the play progressed it was evident that the student players were settling into their roles and starting to enjoy themselves, particularly during the cast songs, which grew in confidence as the play progressed. Special mention must also go to the angels, whose steady presence wove through the fabric of the play, and to the teenage daughter of one of the performers who was called in the day before to play an angel. She did it calmly, with great style! All in all, the play was a real family affair – both cast and audience. As my introduction to Steiner House and to the work of The London Waldorf Teacher Training Seminar, the play spoke to me in two ways. Firstly, as an offering to the true spirit of Christmas and secondly, as a real indication of the power of drama as a teaching tool. While watching, I was sure that the cast were offering something heartfelt to the audience and at the same time, were learning and growing through the experience. Well done to all and long may this tradition continue.
Wendy Lloyd