London: West End celebration for Ten Ten Theatre

Celebrating ten years of Ten Ten Theatre: Clare O'Brien with Fr Christopher Jamison, Anna O'Brien (holding her Papal Blessing) and Martin O'Brien

A celebration took place at the Curzon Soho in London’s West End on Saturday night - to mark Ten Ten Theatre's tenth anniversary.

Since the company was formed in 2007, Ten Ten Theatre - (named after the Gospel of St John verse 10.10: ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full’) - has performed a number of original plays dealing with Catholic themes, in hundreds of schools, prisons, care homes, communities and theatres, and won several awards - and excellent reviews - for their work.

Artistic director and writer Martin O’Brien thanked everyone present and outlined how the company has beaten all the odds - growing through times of recession and austerity. Beginning mainly working with theatre in schools, Ten Ten is now developing on-line education resources, producing more plays for wider audiences and moving into film. Currently they are making a documentary with religious working with human trafficking. In the future, they are looking at making their first feature film.

Guest speaker Fr Christopher Jamison OSB praised Ten Ten saying that their success is due to the fact that they combine “high quality writing, performances and production with good management skills - all at the service of the Gospel.”

Martin O’Brien and his sister Clare make a great team. Before Ten Ten, Martin was a professional actor whose roles included work in the West End in Blood Brothers and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the National Theatre, as well as a wide variety of film and television credits. He has written for Doctors on BBC1 and numerous stage plays including The Jeweller, On Eagle’s Wings and the award-winning production of This Is My Body.

Clare worked in business management for several years before moving to London. She was always involved in Church youth work. The opportunity to form Ten Ten with her brother has allowed her to combine her passion for theatre, helping young people to know God better and years of business and finance practice.

Behind the scenes, Martin and Clare’s mother Anna is an invaluable member of the team - assisting backstage and in the office. During the evening, Anna was presented with a special Papal Blessing from Pope Francis, by Fr Christopher.

There was also a screening of two short new films: 'Babies' and 'Chased' before the reception. Among the guests were several actors who have performed with the company, including Ruby Rae Mackenzie and Carl Lewis-Taylor.

For more information, and if you would like to become a regular donor to Ten Ten Theatre, please visit: http://tententheatre.co.uk

Follow Ten Ten on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/tententheatre?lang=en-gb

See more pictures from the evening on ICN’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Independent-Catholic-News-ICN-195368037167900/

See also: Ten Ten Theatre - It started round a kitchen table www.indcatholicnews.com/news/32893