Finding the Lady of Shalott

From the outset of the project it was our intention to find all our stars, cast, locations and craftspeople locally (here in Lincolnshire). However, we feared that our search for an actress to play the Lady of Shalott, who we wanted to look like the model in the famous John William Waterhouse painting, was going almost impossible. We began by getting our local paper, The Lincolnshire Echo, to run the story and started putting up posters. Well, actually, we only put up one poster, in the Ice Cream Parlour on Lincoln’s Bailgate, just before the beautiful and talented Victoria Rigby popped in following rehearsals in Lincoln Cathedral...and the rest is history!

Victoria Rigby

Sometimes we feel as though the gods are on our side!

The Lady of Shalott film on DVD

The Lady of Shalott DVD is available now in both PAL and NTSC formats. You can purchase it from the WAG Screen web site http://www.wagscreen.co.uk

We will soon have postcards and posters and if there are any special requests we may be able to respond to them too - just let us know.

Apart from being a beautiful and evocative short film in its own right, this is also a great resource for schools. The DVD has two versions; the reading by Tennyson to a Victorian audience allowing you to concentrate on the words and the dramatisation which brings the world of the poem to life.

‘When I was young it took me some time to appreciate this poem, and my dyslexia didn’t help. This DVD would have helped me by illustrating an already great poem.

I’m sure Tennyson himself would be proud.

- Benjamin Zephaniah (2009)

The Lady of Shalott Film Premiere

Friday the 15^th of May, The Lady of Shalott premiere at Lincoln’s Odeon Cinema.

It had taken us almost exactly a year to complete the film which had began with the casual observation that, 'as we were approaching the bicentenary of Tennyson’s birth perhaps we perhaps do something to mark it’. Two minutes later, a decision had been taken to make a filmed dramatisation of his most famous poem, The Lady of Shalott!

The Premiere was attended by over 250 people and there could have been many more if I hadn’t handled the invitations so cautiously (I was worried that too many would arrive after our last Premiere when about 500 people turned up – twice the number predicted!). Many of the cast came in costume including Victoria Rigby who played the Lady of Shalott and Ben Poole who played Tennyson. The audience were fabulous – crying, cheering and whistling as appropriate throughout the showing. The Odeon management were wonderful and made it a very enjoyable occasion. Afterwards, Gordon Hutchison, the Odeon manager, said: ‘Oh my goodness! Picture perfect! I was extremely impressed by the end result & the excitement it generated for the cast, crew & the audience. Simply to say ... I wish "Wag Screen" all the best for the future!’

The audience taking their seats