Nearly there!

Week commencing 24th November

Nearly there! Last week we ran the play for the final time in the rehearsal room. It’s always a scary moment as realisation dawns that the next time we do this we’ll be on stage for the technical rehearsal. What makes is very real is pulling up the marking tape from the floor. Those red and black lines now turn into actual steps and rostra.

The Drama Studio is ours from 10.00 a.m. on Sunday till we get out n Saturday night. The Get In is always an exciting time. Flats are erected, rostra put up and suddenly there is s shape to work on. Our construction crew have been working away from the theatre, so it’s great to see bits of the set we’ve been imagining till now arrive and take their place.

People come down for whatever time they can spare doing a variety of jobs – painting, carrying, putting flats up. The old hands know that the Studio will be cold and wear several layers. There is a sequence to the whole process. The lighting person needs to occupy parts of the stage to rig and adjust the lights. As this involves a very large metal tower, other jobs are organised around him.

There’s a lot of flying in this production and we’re using a back projection screen. All this requires rigging. At the same time the set has to be painted, so we use the theatre workshop to paint and carry things down the road when they’re dry. Thank goodness it didn’t rain. This can create a tension between those painting and those wanting to build the set.

There are so many costumes that or wardrobe mistress has given everybody a specific time slot for costume fittings which is the only way to keep some kind of order in this chaotic world. Seeing the cast in their frocks for the first time is great. Costumes are paraded for the director to approve. This is the time for jokes, cat calls and general teasing – getting it all out of our system before we get to the technical rehearsal.

Despite all of this, there’s usually a bit of a carnival atmosphere as people get excited/scared now it’s all very real.

Monday I spent with the director and tech wizards at the Studio, sorting props, finishing things and making yet more lists of what we still need. Corpses are done, banners made and masks sorted. The technical rehearsal went very well for a play of this size and complexity. The technical is for the crew, not the actors. Sometimes a director will ‘top and tail’ the play, concentrating on entrances and exits and going back over lighting or sound that didn’t work. It can be frustrating for the actors, but they get their chance for the rest of the week. For Red Noses this not really an option as every scene seems to involve something technical. On the whole, though long, the technical went very well. There are porridge and foam issues to resolve and the cast really need to look for their props before they’re due to go on, but we all feel we have a show to be proud of.

Tomorrow is the dress rehearsal which is run as close as possible to an actual performance. By then my frock will have been altered and we’ll have worked out what to do about my wig!

Week Commencing 3rd November

So, we ran the play last week and now theoretically everybody knows what order the scenes come in and how it ends. Mark who is playing Pope Clement VI has a couple of discrete scenes. He sat fascinated at what his flock are getting up to on the nights he isn’t there to keep an eye on them.

It didn’t run for 9 hours as I feared, but was still quite long. That’s normal at this stage when people are trying to remember their lines and where they should come on from. I just make it worse by handing them real props when they’ve been miming. Having said all that, people went away feeling upbeat that we have a good production in progress.

Since then we’ve been going through Act 1 in great detail. Lines are learnt and scenes are starting to come alive. We’ve tidied up the odd traffic problem in the larger scenes and visually they look much better. The stage manager has to keep adjusting his notes, good thing he uses pencil.

While the actors go away rejoicing, the technical team are getting a bit stressed. Julia and Jill are working really hard on the costumes. They’re currently dealing with the clergy, producing a pope, archbishop and several monks. At this time of year dark material is hard to get hold of – Halloween and all that. They’re the brains in the organisation and the rest of us turn up to help out with the less difficult stuff. My main task is to iron things – art mirroring life again. As long as we have cake, tea and gossip we keep going.

The construction team are building arches and other bits of the set. As the Studio was an old church, we have to accommodate two large pillars holding up the baptistery. As long at there’s room to fly various things without hitting the lights or the set we should be OK.

I’m still sorting out the props. People have responded to my sad little plea for help. Each time I go to rehearsal people sidle up to me and hand over plastic bags. It’s great fun opening them and seeing what treats lie within.

Without doubt my best moment this week was when Jack (one of the Boutros brothers) presented me with a wooden wheelbarrow! There’s a picture in the gallery. As I’ve been stressing about this and I spend a lot of time with it I’m thrilled.

Act 2 next week, so I better get on making the leper gloves and deciding which of my feet has gone mouldy.