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.

Week commencing 20th October

These last two weeks have been very hectic. We’ve been doing a lot of detailed work on scenes. Quite a few people have their books down and the difference is noticeable. It’s at this stage the final details of the blocking get set. With a book in your hand it can be hard to get a fix on where you are on stage.

We’re all finding the play has more depth than we thought. However, it’s also funnier than we first thought and the little idiosyncrasies of each person are shining though. What’s nice is that all Father Flotte’s band of players are developing into likeable people.

While all that goes on the Production Manager’s work is never done. We’re slowly tracking down the props, though some are still giving me trouble. We need a wooden wheelbarrow. All the ones I’ve tracked down are too small. I have a vested interest in this wheelbarrow – for reasons that will be clearer if you come and see us. We also need a cart for carrying corpses and Mother Metz.

I think I made a bad mistake last week taking Ian the Director to Stratford to see David Tennant in ‘Love’s Labours Lost’ and ‘Hamlet’. The plays were wonderful. However, the RSC always makes him discontented and wanting things he can’t have! The next production meeting involved a long discussion about flying things. Dave, the lighting person, has gone away to see if we have enough pulleys!

I’ve sat through a lot of these meetings while the tech crew try to negotiate about snow, rain and glitter to name just a few of the director’s ideas. My function is to speak as an actor, audience and general devil’s advocate.

This week we run the play. This is always a nerve wracking experience for cast, crew and director. We always decide that the play will run for at least nine hours and nobody will come and see it. This is a perfectly normal reaction. Adding in the music really adds to the atmosphere.

Richard, the stage manager, is working on the sound effects. Being a computer war game expert he’s got access to the strangest noises. Just as well with this play!

It’s all starting to come together but there’s a way to got yet – more ginseng and Earl Grey tea!

Week Commencing 10th October 2008

Week Commencing 10th October 2008

This has been a tiring week. We’ve staggered through the play in two halves.

The scale of what we’ve taken on has just hit us! It’s a huge production. As more and more people arrived for the run though, together with the stage crew and the lighting technician I wondered where we’ll put them all when we get into the theatre. The idea of a queuing system to get on stage has gone from a jokey suggestion to an absolute necessity.

Those who missed the blocking have been slotted in and we all have some idea of the shape of the piece. Ray, who’s playing Bembo, has just come back to us having directed a play in Rotherham. He’s just written ‘follow Adam’ (Le Grue) as his only stage direction. Let’s hope Adam knows where they should both be.

The next stage of the production is to do detailed work on each scene, concentrating on characterisation and relationships. As production manager, I’ll be taking rehearsal props down from now on. Gradually the rehearsal props will be replaced by the real ones as they’re found or made. I’m currently working on the scourges for the flagellants. The clubs they also have are posing more of a problem. How can I get them to look right without causing concussion to those who have to be hit with them?

I’m meeting a friend this week to talk publicity and props. It’s time to tell the media what we’re doing and try to interest them in publishing some photos. Rather than use the ones we take at each rehearsal, we’ll have to pose these. We’ve got one legged tap dancers, blind jugglers and a randy nun so I’m sure we can think of something.

The director and I have met the wardrobe mistress. She’s done wonders getting things together. However, she’s still sourcing things to hire and there’s a long list of things to make. She and I are getting together to decide finally what’s props and what’s costumes.

This week it’s more detailed work. I’d better get learning the leper role and looking out some bandages.

Week ending 3rd October

Week Ending 3rd October

We’ve reached a milestone this week – we’ve finished blocking the play. In theory this means that everybody knows where they’re supposed to be in each scene – well that’s the theory! As with all huge cast plays not everybody has been to every rehearsal and will have to be slotted in to scenes.

Next week we’re running the play in 2 halves so we all get the feel for the flow of it. Richard, our stage manager, has written all the moves down. His backstage crew are due down too to help with finalising the props plot and work out the necessary traffic control for getting people on and off in the limited space we have in the wings. Wheelbarrows and carts full of corpses don’t help as they take up a lot of room.

On a personal note, one of the cast has had to drop out due to family commitments and I’ve acquired the role of first leper. This isn’t unusual in a large cast play. Our drop out rate has been very small – touch wood – but it does happen. The new role gives me some lovely sad lines but a costume made of rags! Can’t win – good frock not such good lines, nasty frock sad, lyrical lines. I’m currently toying with the idea of making my toes up.

Once we’ve staggered through the play, we start working on the detail of each scene. Not long to books down now, so people are starting to do bits without the book. Having learnt Camille, I now have to start again with first leper.

On the practical side, the wardrobe mistress has started making and sourcing costumes. She and I are looking at the props plot to decide what is costume and what props so that things don’t get done twice or not at all. For example, Ian, the director, would like Dr Antrechau to have a mask. This is partly to give him a mysterious and slightly scary look, but also to disguise the fact that the same actor is playing Patrice.

We’ll need a full production meeting soon to sort out how the flying Ian wants affects the lighting rig, where we are with the props and costumes. All of these have an impact on the risk assessment so we have to go through things closely.

All this and real life too!

Rehearsal progress

Week Commencing 29th September 2008

While I’ve been off in Italy learning about Romans, the play has progressed. We’re still blocking the moves. With a large cast this can take ages. At this stage it’s still very much traffic control. The model if the set is a useful reference for entrances. The tapes marking out the set are proving helpful. We usually find that despite having measured them out very carefully, when we get into the theatre the space is never quite the same. This means rethinking the timing of entrances and long moves.

Ian, the director, has a clear idea of the moves. However, if a cast member isn’t comfortable with a move or where they end up, he’s open to suggestions. What we end up with is something that we’re all happy with.

Some people have learnt their lines already. Jonathan, who is playing Flote, has a huge part and so has started learning early. I’ve learnt mine because I don’t have many and they’re quite memorable. The smaller speeches usually stick after we’ve rehearsed a scene a couple of times. Longer chunks need more concentration. Once the play is blocked and books are down we start using rehearsal props. For this play it’s lucky I’ve got a large car to transport the amount of stuff we’ll need each time – scourges, books, red noses and the ventriloquist dummy that we all think is spooky and nobody else will have in their house!

This week will see the end of the blocking and next week we stagger through the play to fix the moves and the flow of the scenes.

Red Noses - a mad play to do

Welcome to the saga of Sheffield University's production of Red Noses by Peter Barnes. We had the choice of doing Richard 3rd or Red Noses. We chose Red Noses because we'd never read anything quite as mad, funny and challenging.

We chose this design because it reflects the theme of the play, using humour to defeat death. Luckily we're Halloween season so there are plenty of skulls about. We liked this because the eyes follow you about. Death and juggling - not what you usually put together, but this isn't a conventional play.

We had a social reading - in the upstairs room of a pub. This gave people the chance to see if they liked the play before we held auditions. There were actors, back stage crew and members who just fancied a night out. We all laughed a lot at some of the terrible jokes.

The reading showed that the play was somewhat too long, so the director got out the blue pencil and got cutting. As production manager I got to read the revised version and we had several 'debates' about what he'd left in and cut out.

Auditions followed. These can be a very stressful time for would be cast and the director. Ian, as usual was convinced that nobody would turn up and worried all the way down to theatre. People did - they usually do.

The normal format for auditions is to read bits of the play whilst sitting round in a circle. This can be dull and quite competitive. Ian's approach is quite radical and much more fun. He chose scenes from the play and allocated parts in it. He gave people 10 minutes to look at the scene, practice it and then perform it for rest of the group.

This sounds quite daunting, but it was fun. Being able to move around let people relax and perform rather than read. What was really nice was that instead of being competitive people were supportive. There was applause at the end of each scene and we all went away feeling cheered.

There are about 30 speaking parts in Red Noses, with opportunity for some doubling. Ian spent ages casting the play, working around availability and preferences. We'd asked people if they had any extra talents - singing, dancing, juggling etc. I’m very happy to be playing Camille (Chair of the Guild of Prostitutes) – 24 lines and some on stage humping. There’s more than enough to do as production manager - finding ludicrous props and sorting the publicity.

Over the summer we had several production meetings to discuss the set. At the Drama Studio we can’t paint the floor, which leaves us a vast expanse of black to contend with. However, the Studio has rostra that we can paint, so it’s in our interests to use a multi-layered set and break up the black. After several meetings – technical manager, wardrobe mistress, stage manager, me and Ian – we finally decided on the set. We’ve being doing this for a while, so what we’ve come up with is a sort of cut and paste of previous sets.

The director wants to fly things from the grid, have back projection, gauzes, smoke and somebody emerging from under the stage. The technical manager is having nightmares about the health and safety and the stage manager wants to throttle him! Usually after a load of negotiation we get to a compromise but we’re not there yet.

We had a workshop before rehearsals started. We played silly games and discussed the set. After lunch Martin arrived. He’s the expert juggler we recruited to train the cast. Several characters have to juggle. Irritatingly, those playing the parts that don’t need to can juggle and several of those have to can’t! A happy afternoon was spent with the noise of thuds hitting the ground.

Enough of the group therapy – rehearsals started this week.

The director, stage manager and me got to the rehearsal room and spent a happy half an hour marking out the rough layout of the set on the floor with electrical tape. Red showed the rostra with steps marked in black.

Ian has a clear idea of what he wants, but is open to negotiation if an actor isn’t comfortable. Blocking is necessary but quite dull – lots of scribbling down move that you can’t read later. The stage manager usually marks the moves down to settle disputes later.

Once the blocking is finished, we’ll stagger through the play to give those playing small parts an idea of what’s going on. We’re not there yet.

I’m off on holiday tomorrow, so I’ll update when I get back and see what mayhem has happened in my absence.