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