Supporting community theatre with Danny Ryder

MtM-8.8-Danny Ryder

Intro

Welcome to Season 8 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast: social impact stories from Manchester. A warm Mancunian welcome from your host, Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe. Thank you for joining me today.

Every Tuesday, I bring you the stories of Manchester's unsung heroes, the individuals who create positive change in our community. My aim is to inspire you, dear listener, to follow your own passions. whether through volunteering or working in the social impact sector. I'm also keen to spotlight good causes and create more awareness and support for them.

Whether you're tuning in on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or on my website meetthemancunian.co.uk get ready for a season filled with inspiring tales of social impact within our beloved city.

Welcome to the 8th episode of Season 8 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast: social impact stories from Manchester.

Introduction to Danny Ryder

Passionate about theatre and the community, we hear from Danny Ryder, actor and creative producer, Reload Theatre.

In Danny's own words.

[00:01:11] Danny Ryder: It's a really good challenge for actors specifically to learn a script so quick and get up on stage and do it. Some never want to do it again, but they're always happy they did it. They always say it was a good experience and they're happy they did it. But for some people that don't want to do it again, then we've got people that do it repeatedly, that want to do it all the time.

[00:01:29] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you, Danny, for joining me today.

[00:01:31] Danny Ryder: Thank you for having me on.

[00:01:32] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Great to have you.

Discovering a Passion for Theatre

[00:01:34] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Tell us first how you found your passion for theatre. Where did that come from?

[00:01:38] Danny Ryder: My passion was for acting in general, both in theatre and screen really. And it goes back to 2005 when I started. When I was in school, I quite liked drama, didn't take it up for a while, and then fell into it through a family friend, and out of the blue, just started going to acting classes and went from there really.

Screen Productions and TV Roles

[00:02:02] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: And of course, you've been in quite a few different screen productions our listeners would be familiar with. Do you want to mention a few of them?

[00:02:09] Danny Ryder: I've been in Hollyoaks, Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Holby, City Doctors, things like that. Lot of dramas on BBC and ITV, some Netflix stuff. I've enjoyed doing a lot of screen work over time. Theatre, I've done a lot of fringe theatre over the years. And trying to do a bit more of it now, really, because I do have a passion for theatre and got sidetracked a lot in television.

[00:02:33] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: One or two of them are favourites of my mother-in-law, so I'll be sure to mention it to her. Emmerdale and Coronation Street, specifically.

Founding Reload Theatre

[00:02:42] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: But tell us more about your passion for theatre and how you started Reload theatre. What does it do?

[00:02:48] Danny Ryder: I was involved with a lot of theatre productions for a while, up until maybe 2014. My focus became getting TV work. I was working lots of jobs, didn't have a lot of spare time. And had to focus on work that was paying me, and theatre work was profit share. I was obviously doing TV for a while and recent years I started playing poker alongside acting, started doing a lot better financially through poker. It gave me a bit more freedom and I realised that I was enjoying doing theatre more than the TV stuff.

I like doing TV jobs here and there. But I've been doing a lot of the same parts, smallish kind of roles. In theatre, I was doing bigger roles. The community was really nice, and I wanted to get back into that. And I felt in Manchester, the theatre scene had died off a little bit.

One Play One Day was done years ago in Manchester through a friend of mine, Barry. And he moved away. It wasn't happening anymore, and I wanted to start getting stuff going in Manchester. So that's why I came up with Reload and decided to give it a go. It's been good.

[00:04:05] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: It sounds like a great journey as well.

The Concept of One Play One Day

[00:04:07] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: And tell us more about One Play One Day. It's such an interesting concept.

[00:04:12] Danny Ryder: I think it was a concept that started at the Vic or the Young Vic in London or something. Then Barry did it up here and the concept is basically we have 16 actors, four writers, four directors. They all meet up on a Friday night in the pub. We have a little meeting and then we draw them out of a hat.

So you get a writer with a director and four actors. They'll sit and have a little chat, get to know each other after in the four little groups. Then the writer will go home that night, write a 15-minute script. They've got to send to me by 8 in the morning. I send that out to the actors and directors.

They've got all day to rehearse it. And then they perform it. On stage with no script in hand in the evening in front of an audience. Quite a daunting task to be honest.

[00:05:00] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Was 2023 the first time you did that?

[00:05:03] Danny Ryder: 2022 was the first one we did at the King's Arms in Salford, which is a great little venue. It's been a favourite of mine for years.

I performed there, I've seen a lot of stuff there. We had to move really only because of size. I didn't realise when OPOD as we call it in short, came back it was going to be as popular as it was, so we needed to move to a bigger venue.

Community Impact and Charity Work

[00:05:26] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: And tell us more about how does One Play One Day support the community? I think there's a community angle to this as well.

[00:05:34] Danny Ryder: With One Play One Day, you have so many people involved with it. Most theatre productions in Manchester are done on a profit share, so you'll make X amount of money and that's split between the cast, director, writer, etc. There's so many people involved with One Play One Day that you're just not going to get much out of it.

10, 15 pounds each. So it's just, no one really cares. So I decided that it would best to do it for charity. So all the money for each one we do for a different charity. So we've raised money for things like Andy's Man Club. Safeline we did recently as well. Millie's Legacy, which was a friend of mine who's been in One Play One Day.

His best friend's baby tragically passed away a couple of years ago and he told me the story about it and I really wanted to raise money for the Bolton Neonatal Unit who looked after Millie. They're quite underfunded, so they're a really good cause to support if people out there can help them. They help out with, parking fees for parents, toys for the kids, loads of things like that.

So it's a really good cause. And that was my highlight of who we raised money for really, in all the charities. But everyone's been great. And we hope to raise a lot more in the future and just raise the awareness of One Play One Day and keep it growing. It's getting more popular every time we do it.

Challenges and Opportunities in Theatre

[00:06:57] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: What are the challenges you've had to face in this journey of making One Play One Day or making theatre, I guess you're doing it partly to make theatre more accessible. Is there a reason for One Play One Day as a concept?

[00:07:10] Danny Ryder: We need longer than half an hour to get through the challenges. I think one of the other main reasons as well is giving a platform to actors that aren't really getting so many opportunities. That was something I wanted.

It was challenging at first in a way to get people to do it nowadays. I think in the modern age of social media, a lot of people want instant success or they're expecting instant success. And it was trying to raise awareness that doing things like One Play One Day really challenge you as an actor. And it's really good for sharpening your tool.

I always say to them, if you can do this, you can do anything. It's such a challenge. And it was trying to get platforms out there that give actors these opportunities to showcase what they can do to really enhance their own abilities as well. So the charity and stuff's great, but in truth it was the platform for actors that inspired me to do it initially. Doing the work for charities was just a bonus that we've managed to do.

[00:08:11] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: So what are those challenges on that journey?

[00:08:13] Danny Ryder: There's always challenges of finding a venue, finding rehearsal spaces, finding people to help out with tech, getting them on board quickly with sound and lighting. Obviously, everything's written overnight. Everyone has to adapt quite quickly. Also, giving that support to the creatives as well. It's nerve wracking for them to get up there and perform a play in less than 24 hours.

So it's supporting them really, getting stuff they need like props, etc. And it's a challenging day. It is. I'm rushed off my feet each time. And also setting it up and getting people involved. But I love it. It's brilliant. And we've created a really brilliant community.

[00:08:57] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you very much for sharing that. It definitely sounds interesting, and I'm going to try and attend this year as if I can.

Is there a common myth about your job or field of expertise?

[00:09:06] Danny Ryder: Acting, yes. I think people think I don't have a proper job. I think because maybe we work less days in the week. People think you have an easier life, but you're always working. My mind's always ticking. I'm doing stuff and obviously stuff with Reload is nonprofit. But aside from that, I'm working on creating my own business or studying, whether it's acting or poker.

I've always got things going on, but because I've technically made work three days a week, I do role play work then some friends outside of their business think, oh you don't have a proper job, you have an easy life. And it's good, I wouldn't change it, I love my life, I wouldn't change it. But, I'm always, I'm not someone that's sat at home watching Netflix all the time, my mind's always ticking, I'm always on my purpose and what I'm doing.

[00:09:53] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: And that is so important. It's a great one. Everyone's got a different path in life. Can always say grass is greener on the other side, right?

[00:10:02] Danny Ryder: Exactly, and at the same time, it's, some actors as well will make out oh, it's really hard. I do role play work. And some people are, oh, it's really hard. It's not really, there's plenty of jobs there where you're getting paid less to work a lot harder. It's not a hard job, so I appreciate both sides really.

[00:10:20] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I think the most important thing is to love what you do.

[00:10:22] Danny Ryder: Exactly.

[00:10:23] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is the most crucial.

You've said you've raised money for different charities. Can you tell us a little more about the impact you made?

[00:10:30] Danny Ryder: We've done seven shows now, so we've raised money for seven different charities. Once we've donated money, our purpose is to raise awareness. In each event, I'll speak about each specific charity. I've not heard too much about how things have benefited afterwards.

We managed to raise a lot of events. The first few we did might have been two, three hundred pounds, I can't remember. Then we got to raising like five, six, seven hundred pounds a show. But they appreciate it. They tell us bits about what it'll go towards and that it's helping them. And I think what's good about it is because we are giving the money to charity, it raises the awareness allowing us to do more shows, in turn, raise more money. for communities and things like that.

[00:11:16] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: And is there anything else you want to add on the impact of people who participate, like the directors, the writers, and the actors? How do they benefit?

[00:11:23] Danny Ryder: Like I said before, they, it's a really good challenge for actors specifically to learn a script so quick and get up on stage and do it. Some never want to do it again, but they're always happy they did it. They always say it was a good experience and they're happy they did it. But for some people that don't want to do it again, then we've got people that do it repeatedly, that want to do it all the time.

Then we have people that are in and out when they can. It's brilliant for them. I think it's a really good challenge. Doesn't take a lot of the time and I think they learn a lot from it. They meet new friends there as well. And it's a really good event for them.

[00:11:57] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you for sharing that. And it does sound like a great learning opportunity, but also, like you said, a platform for those who perhaps haven't had a chance to shine. Get a moment in the spotlight as well.

[00:12:08] Danny Ryder: It's a very difficult industry. Opportunities can be few and far between. There's so many people wanting to be actors and so few opportunities out there. I'm not saying at these shows they're going to get picked up and whisked off to Hollywood at all, but they're improving themselves, they're improving their abilities.

And as an actor, that's all you can do. You can just be the best actor that you can be. Showcase yourself through your showreel, headshots, CV the best you can. Then it's up to your agent, you do all the work on yourself and just see what the world brings you.

[00:12:39] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is really true. And like you said, you can be prepared and do your best. And then there's a part which is beyond your control and beyond your influence and just need to put good wishes into the universe and, have a bit of a vision board there.

[00:12:55] Danny Ryder: Exactly.

Advice for Aspiring Theatre Creators

[00:12:56] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: And what advice would you have for people looking to start a similar movement in another part of the world or another part of the UK? How do they get started? This is a interesting concept. Like you said, it started in London. You've rejuvenated it in Manchester. Somebody in Bombay or Egypt or somewhere else wants to do something like this. How do they get started?

[00:13:18] Danny Ryder: I'll say they need to ask me for permission. Pay me lots of money. It's good. You don't need a lot to get started. When I started it, to be honest. I'd spoke about it with my friend, Barry, numerous times about bringing it back. I think it was 2014 the last time he did it or 2015. And it was always like, we might do it. And nothing ever materialised.

It was one day I finished work, and I went into the King's Arms pub in Salford. I inquired about the space. And the lady in there said, do you want me to email you some dates? And I said, what have you got? She said, 6th of November.

I went book it. I thought, If I don't book it, it won't happen. She booked us in. It was less than a month away. And I was like I've got a venue to do a show. Nothing else. No one even knows I'm doing it. I rang Barry. I said we're doing it. He said, he'll leave it to me. He said he'll direct a piece, but you go ahead and do it.

So I said, fine. I set it up, put casting calls out and it was mad. And watching the show a month later, seeing the place full and all these actors up there doing great work and the directors, writers, it was just mad to watch to think I just walked in this pub a month ago.

Like I said, let's put something on. You don't need a lot, just get a venue and power of social media now, stick it out there and people get involved.

[00:14:33] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you for sharing that.

An opportunity for you to talk about anything I haven't asked you about and maybe also give a little bit of a heads up of when we can expect the next edition of One Play One Day.

[00:14:45] Danny Ryder: We should expect it round about April. We're moving venues at the moment, so I'm just looking at various venues. We want to keep moving forward with it. So we're looking at round about April time, but. I should be able to confirm a date and venue in the next couple of weeks.

[00:15:06] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Anything else from Reload Theatre to look forward to in 2024?

[00:15:10] Danny Ryder: Potentially there's a few things in the pipeline. We want to start producing some more plays. Last year, we did two plays that were part of a double bill. So we did a play by Amy Lever who'd been involved with OPod and Shaban Dar. Shaban wanted to get his work out there. Amy had done like I said, I played with those in OPod before.

So we combined them and did a show and that was good. So we want to do more stuff like that this year. OPod's a lot of work. I have other stuff going on in my life with acting, poker, travelled quite a bit last year. And this year we want to try and push on and try and do some more productions. And, maybe a little festival in the mix. We'll see.

[00:15:58] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Wish you good luck with both plans, they sound very interesting.

Signature Questions

[00:16:02] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I'm going to move to the signature questions I ask all my guests. And the first one is if Manchester was a colour, what colour do you think it would be and why?

[00:16:11] Danny Ryder: It is a colour, red, for Manchester United.

[00:16:13] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: If you could choose a famous landmark in Manchester to represent you, which one would it be and why?

[00:16:20] Danny Ryder: Not sure there's many landmarks I can think that would represent me in Manchester. Probably the Dockyard Pub in the Spinning Fields, because that's notoriously where I'd be after work when it's open again.

[00:16:33] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That's a nice one.

If you could trade lives with someone in Manchester for a day, who would it be and why?

[00:16:40] Danny Ryder: Cristiano Ronaldo, when he was here.

Be the best footballer in the world for a day. Walk around the city like a king.

[00:16:48] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That's who you'd like to be with for a day. Nice.

Most important life lesson you've learned so far?

[00:16:53] Danny Ryder: Don't let people take your kindness for weakness, I would say. It's a lesson I've learned. I'd probably say that's the biggest. You learn a lot of life lessons over time, but I would say that has been one I've learned in recent times.

[00:17:07] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you for sharing that. It is an important life lesson and I can understand that if a person is kind, you don't want people to take you for granted either.

What's the most important personality trait someone should have to work in your industry?

[00:17:23] Danny Ryder: I think you have to have a strong work ethic and good awareness. I think the most important thing, certainly from an acting perspective, is awareness. Awareness of when you're performing well, when you're doing the best of your ability, and when you're not. I think that's the key thing.

Something when I started in acting, wasn't aware of, probably quite delusional as to where I was, and probably going through some acting classes and meeting more people, I learned more about myself.

And think it's very important for actors to know what they are good at, know when they do a bad performance and say, it's okay. It doesn't make me a bad actor. Just know what I did well, know what I can improve on.

If you think you're a great actor and you're doing brilliant all the time, then you're deluded. Everyone does a bad performance here and there. That self-awareness is crucial, I think, to improvement.

[00:18:19] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I think that self-awareness can help you in work as well, and such an important one, I'm sure, for acting, but lots of applications to many different industries as well.

Contact and Final Thoughts

[00:18:29] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: How can interested people reach out to you and learn more? Where can they find you? And where can they find One Play One Day?

[00:18:36] Danny Ryder: So we're on Twitter at Reload theatre and on Instagram, if you follow me at Danny Ryder, R-Y-D-E-R, and the number seven, I put updates on there as well. We have an email address, reload theatre company@gmail.com.

But I'll put casting calls and my Instagram and, on Twitter, when the next one is, when we're looking for actors, writers and directors as well. Also charities can email us a little bit about themselves and we'll look at them as being someone that we'll look to raise money for as well.

[00:19:12] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you so much, Danny. It's been great to talk to you today.

[00:19:16] Danny Ryder: Thank you very much for having us on.

Outro

Danny, I really enjoyed learning about supporting community theatre today.

Dear listener, thank you so much for listening to the eighth episode of the Meet the Mancunian podcast season eight.

Tune in every Tuesday for a new episode or log on to meetthemancunian.co.uk to listen to all the episodes and learn more about my podcasting story.

Next week on Tuesday 30th July, 2024, I speak to Advita Patel about supporting diversity and inclusion in the community.

Thank you for joining me in the Meet the Mancunian podcast: social impact stories from Manchester.

I hope today's conversations have sparked new ideas and inspired you to act in your community. A big thank you to my wonderful community for your continuous support and valuable feedback.

Your stories shape the very essence of my podcast, driving me forward with purpose. I'm eager to hear your thoughts. Visit my website at meetthemancunian.co.uk to share your insights. And remember, this podcast is your platform too.

Let's stay connected on social media. Find me at the rate. Meet the man on Instagram and Facebook at the Rate Man Board on X, and at the rate Meet The Man Podcast on YouTube.

Together, we are more than just listeners. We are a vibrant community dedicated to making a difference in Manchester. Spread the love by sharing, commenting and engaging with my guests and me. Keep fostering connections and always remember the power to change the world lies within each of us. Until next time.