Liam's step by step guide to the Get-In!

This week we have had the interesting challenge of a split week. Monday and Tuesday at South Hill Park in Bracknell...

and Wednesday - Saturday at the Hawth in Crawley.

As you can imagine, most of the week has been spent assembling and dismantling the set. Due to the incredible efficiency of our production team, (and a little "help" from Liam) it all ran rather smoothly. I say help, Liam photographed much of the Crawley Get-In... - (Which was actually great, as now we can show you!)

The floor is in! (Mmmm, Gareth wishing he was James Bond)

10am - Stage Right (church facade) is built

10.13am - It's up!

10.25am - Hard at work assembling Stage Left

10.38am - Stage Left is up! 

11.13am - The Upstage raised level is assembled...

Careful up there Tim S!

11.40am - Stairs up to balcony are up!

11.50am - Balcony is up 

Liam being "manly"

12.13pm - the doors are in!

12.30pm - Set is up. Now for Girders, Set dressing, Lighting and Sound...

Not bad for a morning's work. All that before lunch and that was with Liam distracting them! It seems they have it down to a fine art.

The cast are often the last to arrive on get-in day, so I really knew very little about the process myself. So as much as it pains me to say...thank you muchly to the Goose for recording it.

Next week we go up to North Wales for a week at Venue Cymru, Llandudno. I am very excited to be back on Welsh soil and with many a trip already planned, we are sure to make up for the recent slump in fun points ;-)

Derby

This week we took over the lovely Derby Theatre. It is a beautiful space and worked well for the show because of its unique intimacy. It seats just over 500 and with most performances pretty much full, it proved to be a rewarding week for all!

We have had some great audiences. What defines a "good audience?" Well, if you've seen the show you'll know it's not a laugh a minute, but a responsive audience can give you some idea of how it's being received. It is not just the laughing but often the more subtle reactions that affect how an actor plays a scene and if you feel an audience is with you, it can contribute hugely to the performance. Our audience on Wednesday night were in particularly high spirits considering there was a fire alarm just before the show and the entire building had to be evacuated! They were quite cheerful and Liam managed to introduce himself to half of them in the car park, which seemed to placate any bubbling impatience!

Keeping warm in the car park

Josh, Liam and Malcolm attempting a dance routine to keep warm?! Strange.

Sadly we didn't have Charlie initially but by Thursday he had returned and we were back into the swing of things.

Me in my new costume with my old Gregoire. Good to have him back :-)

It is remarkable how one person being away can create such an impact and in a company as close knit as this, create such a void! But everybody stepped up to the mark and made the show run as smoothly as possible without him - with Alastair even getting a mention in the Derby Telegraph review!

http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Review-Birdsong-Derby-Theatre/story-18729596-detail/story.html

It has been a quiet week for fun points, although we did get another visit from Original's Tom Hackney which always boosts our score and Sarah managed to co-ordinate her outfit with the pub curtains! Never misses a trick.

Next is our split week where we spend Monday and Tuesday in Bracknell and Wednesday-Saturday in Crawley. Having the show at two venues in one week means much pampering needed for our production team who will spend most of their time setting up and packing up. It will, however, be nice for us all to be close to London and catch up with some familiar faces. :-)

P.S.

Eatery of the Week: Jack Rabbits Deli  www.jackrabbitskitchen.co.uk

Lovely food, great service and coffee in a tin mug!

Until next week...X

First week back! - Glasgow

We have spent our first week back after Easter at the wonderful King's Theatre, Glasgow and I couldn't think of a better place to kick off the second leg of our tour. At our largest venue yet, hitting the ground running was the order of the day.

We began the week with a line run - a wise decision after a week off - and with only a few minor hiccoughs, made it through! Returning to the stage that night, I think we all felt more secure in the knowledge we had run it once. It's fascinating how only a week away can instil such fear. Despite having done the play over 70 times, allowing your brain to acknowledge that you've had a week off can convince you you'll make a mistake. Luckily, we seemed to keep these demons at bay and return with an exciting and pacey show - our quickest yet!

Due to the exceptional planning of this week's Social Secretary, Mr Tim Speechley, we have had wall to wall entertainment and attained fun points galore. As the week progressed and we settled back into the show, we explored Glasgow and beyond. Tuesday was beautiful and Sarah and I made the most of the day by visiting the Butterfly and Pig for Lunch...

Great Food, great service, witty menu (so much so we requested to take one home) and Tea Rooms with cake upstairs - which turns into a bar at night! A perfect venue methinks and one I would thoroughly recommend. Tim arranged some great evening entertainment, whisking us off to the Polo Lounge and The Corinthian, both of which guarantee a great night out.

One of my highlights this week has to be visiting Loch Lomond - the largest inland stretch of water in Great Britain. We got the train to Balloch (about 40 mins from Glasgow) and ventured out on an hour long boat trip. Despite the mist, it was beautiful and fascinating to hear its history. I attempted to educate Liam by passing on my extensive knowledge of the Loch (in French as well as in English) but for some reason he finished the trip none the wiser. V strange.

The River Leven leading into Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond

360 View!

This week saw our first Understudies go on. Sadly, Charlie really wasn't well so Tim Van Eyken went on as Tipper and Alastair Whatley played Evans.

Tim VE as Tipper

Alastair as Evans

It is always sad when someone goes off but the whole company came together and made it work. It is a very hard show when it comes to understudying because it is not simply playing another character, but doing their entire track - set changes and all! As you have read on previous blogs, the play is structured around Stephen's memories so there is much flashing back and forth - suggested primarily through us moving furniture. Everyone worked together to make sure they not only knew when they were on but exactly what they were moving and when! By Saturday night, all was back to normal and Alastair bought us a Giant Easter Egg to celebrate...

which Poppy then smashed...

which was very sad for a moment...then we ate it ;-)

All in all a challenging but great first week back. Next week we go to Derby, check back on Sunday to see how we get on. :-)

Ipswich - Sebastian visits the set!

As we experience a week away from the show on our Easter Break, I reflect on our journey so far. It is remarkable how quickly this first leg of the tour has gone. We opened in Basingstoke at the end of January with an epic journey ahead of us. When embarking on a 6 month tour, there are a number of concerns felt, I would imagine, by most actors; How are we going to keep the show fresh for over 200 performances? How much, within the restraints of the direction, should I experiment with what I am doing? How much will my character change? How much should it change? In these circumstances, I think one can only really conquer it by taking one step at a time.

A few members of the company recently took part in a "Google Hangout" which is effectively a live facetime (Skype), during which we spoke to the South Hill Park Theatre in Bracknell, which we will be visiting in April. During this, we were asked how we prevent the work from going stale. This made me think exactly how I attempt to tackle this. This is the longest tour I have ever done so it was always going to be a challenge, but I think huge credit has to go to our director, Alastair. From the start of rehearsals, he has always encouraged us to take each scene, each moment at a time. It is very easy to rush ahead of yourself and worry about the next scene or the next costume change but all that has ever done for me is stress me out and completely take me out of the present. Whilst this is a lot easier said than done, a tour like this gives you the time to really focus on it as purely the number of times you've performed it gives you a confidence that you do know the lines/arcs through the scenes, and trusting that can give you enormous freedom to explore in the moment. However, the theatre works in mysterious ways and all it takes sometimes is a bit too much adrenaline and all this "logical" thought goes straight out the window! But that itself can do wonders for keeping things fresh! In conclusion, I think it is an ongoing challenge.


Our Google Hangout

Touch Tour

As well as experiencing my first Google Hangout this week, I also took part in my first touch tour. This is where some members of the cast and the Director introduce the set and costumes to people who wouldn't necessarily be able to experience the play in the same way as a lot of others. The main reason for this being severely impaired or loss of sight. As we each explained our characters and journeys through the play, they were able to touch the costumes and get an idea of what they look like. Alastair then gave them a tour of the set, explaining what each section represents, whilst getting them to feel the different textures. It is a very textured set with many different materials used, so I would imagine it is a good set to build a picture of through touch.

Touch Tour

Help for Heroes Bear dropped into the Tour to say hello!

Fun Points

This week, we embarked on our most ambitious fun point attaining mission yet - Go Karting. Fun points needed - 10. Did we achieve it? Yeeeeees! Bets were placed, safety videos watched and many a competitive word exchanged. But it all came down to the race...who would hold their nerve and who would crumble under the pressure?!
I am sure it comes as no surprise to hear that Alastair came first with the fastest lap time. There was a dispute over second and third (Bull...) but fun was had by all, regardless of yet more ridiculous headwear.

G Moss, Me, Charlie, Tim T, Alastair, Tim VE

Oh dear.

For extra points on Saturday, Original Theatre's own Tom Hackney (affectionately known as Pig) dropped in to see the show! It was his birthday this week so I gave him a Cadbury's Creme Egg and some Cheese. Top present I thought.

Tom. I.

Backstage Tour with Sebastian Faulks

With all this excitement, I suppose you think we've peaked...well not quite! On Thursday, none other than the man himself, Sebastian Faulks, dropped by not only to see the show, but for a Tour of the Birdsong Set! Costumes, Quick Changes, Understudies and Ashtrays, it's all here...

http://vimeo.com/63110065



Happy Easter!