Sunday, September 13, 2009

Orestes - GET IN!

Well how exciting - our GET IN day at Southwark. Pleased to report that Mike and has team have everything in hand, and there was a real buzz in the theatre today as the scaffolders came in, the seating was built, the lights were rigged, and the set began to get dressed. Delighted to announce we have also managed to acquire two lovely ASMs (below) Maddie and Lillie, who watched a rehearsal and subsequently signed up! It's days like these that remind you what its all about. All hands on deck, music blasting, a buzz of activity and all working towards the same goal: TO GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD!

(We were even treated to Mike on the piano in a tea break!)







Last rehearsals!
















Can hardly believe we have finished rehearsals. Three weeks have flown by, yet also - so much has been developed and grown. We started running the show on Thursday, to see what we have. Really pleased to see how it all held together, but also discovered lots of areas to clarify and develop. Started now to really think about our audience, and how vital it is to distinguish their role and function. In participatory theatre, it is all too easy to 'tack' on the audience involvement, and forget to interrogate every interaction for believability and clarity. We have therefore spent the last two days working in minute detail on the text, re-writing and refining to improve again. We weren't helped by having to work in what I can only describe as a bright white airport hanger with intense echo - not ideal for working with focus on detail! So Friday will go down as my most challenging rehearsal yet, but miraculously, we managed to achieve a great deal in developing and improving the work.

Thursday night saw our first company night out! We were all very much ready to let our hair down and enjoy some socialising. Natasha, our very own events organiser (!) did brilliantly in coordinating 30 of us to go out for dinner and drinks, and much fun was had by all!