Cambridge - The World of the Understudy

Over the weeks, I have made sporadic mentions of the Understudy. It has been by way of rehearsals/runs and the only (so far!) need for one to go on. The term “Understudy” suggests “just in case” “in an emergency” and perhaps from an audience’s perspective “the consolation” - but it is an integral part of a show and one that much thought, time and energy goes into.

The Understudy Network (and network it is!) for Birdsong is pretty complicated. If you have seen the show, you will understand why - it is not simply the characters that are understudied. Because of the many set changes, all done by the cast (bar the excellent moving of the tunnel piece by Gareth, our Technical Stage Manager), when understudying, you not only need to learn the lines and understand the character, but know exactly what piece of furniture they move at which point and as there is much doubling up, which character they are when they move it! Then there is the music which, along with the many set changes, is central to the play's progression. This means that when it comes to understudying, the characters who play musical instruments need to shuffle around.

Who plays who...

      

Character	Actor	Understudy
Stephen Wraysford	Jonathan Smith	Alastair Whatley
Isabelle	Sarah Jayne Dunn	Polly Hughes
Jack Firebrace	Tim Treloer	Joshua Higgott
Jeanne	Poppy Roe	Polly Hughes
Azaire/Captain Gray	Malcolm James	Liam McCormick
Berard/Barclay/Adams/Padre	Arthur Bostrom	Alastair Whatley
Lisette/Prostitute	Polly Hughes	Emily Stride
Tipper/Gregoire	Charlie G Hawkins	Tim Van Eyken
Marguerite	Emily Stride	Gareth Moss
Shaw/Lamm	Liam McCormick	Tim Van Eyken
Evans/Levi	Tim Van Eyken	Alastair Whatley
Brennen	Joshua Higgott	Alastair Whatley

You may or may not have noticed that Alastair appears rather a lot on the table - the reason being that he is our travelling understudy. If any of the boys go off, the domino effect that ripples through the casting means that he will have to go on as any one of the roles listed above. So far he has had to go on as Evans - this was back in Glasgow and Derby when poor Charlie couldn't even speak! Like the trooper he is, Charlie went on as a silent Gregoire and I, as Lisette, picked up his lines as luckily the writing allows for it, but Tim Van Eyken had to go on as Tipper and Alastair covered the role of Evans.

Tim VE as Tipper

Tim VE, who is also our musical director, sings and plays the accordion throughout the show - another challenge when considering the understudy. When he went on as Tipper, things slightly shifted around so that it made sense for Tipper to play the accordion, but if he went off completely, that would throw up a fresh set of problems - most likely to be tackled using pre-recordings. The same would happen if Josh went off and couldn't play the violin.

The girls are slightly more straight forward. I understudy Isabelle and Jeanne and Emily understudies Lisette/Prostitute. Marguerite would then miraculously become a man - by way of Gareth (TSM), the butler. Our wonderful Company Manager, Tim S, has also made detailed notes of all of the set changes so if needs be, stage management would step in to help.

Rehearsals...

Throughout the tour, we have had weekly understudy rehearsals. These usually take place on a matinee-free afternoon for about 2-3 hours. 

Liam and Alastair as Captain Gray and Stephen

Josh and Tim VE as Firebrace and Shaw

We are usually called in at different times to run our specific scenes. In order to cover all the Isabelle and Jeanne sections, I will be called in for an hour or so. Just as in our main rehearsals, as well as doing the scenes up on their feet, we discuss them in depth and, whilst keeping to the original blocking as practically it would disrupt the play too much to change it, try to find our own slant on the characters. Alternatively, we're called in for a line run - by which we sit down and simply run all the lines. This is helpful not only as we can practise the words, but because we can hear the build up to the scenes - something that whilst you are doing the show as your own character, you cannot always do.

Runs...

Our Understudy run was in Cardiff. It was...clunky...as you'd imagine but helpful (and reassuring!) to have gone through it from start to finish. As I mentioned before, whilst you can observe certain scenes, it isn't possible to follow someone else's track whilst performing your own, so the opportunity to solely focus on Isabelle's journey through the play was invaluable. There is one particular (very) quick change she has which I wasn't fully aware of as I am always on the other side of the stage doing my quick change as Lisette - better to discover these in a run than if you suddenly have to go on!

We did the run in full costume and make-up which, as you can imagine, instantly aided the characters. Those in the cast who don't understudy stepped up and played the necessary parts - they were very supportive and, as I think I mentioned back in Cardiff, Malcolm's Lucien LeBrun and Jon's Berard really were outstanding...! 




CAMBRIDGE

As graduation unfolded before our eyes, I couldn't help but feel I had encroached upon a rather significant and personal experience in the lives of these students. They had spent a minimum of 3 years in this beautiful town making friends, exploring their chosen subjects and preparing for the lives outstretched before them. I felt very much an outsider, which was quite right and a fascinating place to be. Initially, I presumed it was its prestigious reputation that encouraged my fascination, but as the week progressed, I realised it was simply more fundamental than that. These young people, some as young as 21, have completed a degree and are about to embark on a life - perhaps aided by the name Cambridge - but nevertheless unknown and the anticipation, hope and feeling of transition was palpable.

Surrounded by this bubble of activity, I felt privileged to be playing at the Cambridge Arts Theatre. Though an intimate space, it seats around 600 and with almost full capacity every show, the atmosphere was wired.

The audiences this week felt very much with us. So much so that the performances could be likened to a tennis match...(sorry, Wimbledon started this week)...what I mean is that there was much bouncing(!) off each other. I've mentioned audience response before, as has Alastair in his blog, and how much it can influence a performance - it is not simply the vocal reaction but the wholly attentive silence that can consume a space and shape the piece. Without the audience, there is no performance. It is a two way experience that can never be repeated and when you can almost hear an audience listening, that is when the true nature of theatre and that of the words - the Latin origin of the word audio meaning 'to hear' - manifests. 

Recreation...

As well as having a lovely week with the show, we made the most of the town and certainly the opportunity to punt. Day Punting and Night Punting. We first took to the waters on Tuesday when my dear friend Emma - just leaving Cambridge having studied there for 8 years and still lacking the ability to locate a good coffee shop - joined us and wangled a discount. She also bought us a drink in the pub after the show. Redeemed. 

Alastair was the first to have a go - I know, you wouldn't have guessed. I would say he did an ok job. To accompany the zig zag bumper car style steering I suppose there were, in Emma's words, moments of brilliance...  I then took it upon myself to show him how it's done. Needless to say, he learnt a lot and whole-heartedly admitted that I was the better punter. 

As if that wasn't enough excitement for one week, after the show on Wednesday we went night punting! This time we were able to sit back, relax and take in the scenery (if not all completely visible) and aided with wine and nibbles, listen to our lovely punter tell the many ghost stories of the beautiful colleges. I think Jon (Ghost Tour Guide in Canterbury) has some competition.

Having begun the week as an outsider, by the end I felt quite at home in Cambridge. Lovely theatre, buzzing audiences, punting technique perfected - all boxes ticked. 

Much to the delight of Liam, next week we move up to the Oldham Coliseum! - where I look forward to exploring Manchester and all it has to offer. Until then X

Nottingham - Lauren takes you into the technical world of Birdsong!

This week we have been at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham. Lauren, our Deputy Stage Manager, has been kind enough to write a guest blog about technical life behind the scenes of Birdsong...

What makes a great week on tour?

This can include many factors; digs, the town, how far you have to travel to get home afterwards, audiences, what you did and what you saw on your time off can all play a part in making a truly great week. But often, particularly for us backstagers, the theatre itself can be the most important thing. What makes a great venue? Well, I'll try and take you through it from the point of view of a tour's technical and stage management team and also give you an idea of what we get up to on the show (and not bore on too much about technical stuff!)


Location:
This pretty much affects everyone in the company. Many things can make a great location and can vary from person to person. If you're commuting or arriving by train, how near to the station is it? If you're driving, does it have free parking? Any parking at all? How near is it to the shops? - and that's not just for leisure time - Emily has to top up on consumable props each week and so an M & S or Tesco nearby can be a real time saver. Nottingham Theatre Royal ticks all the boxes. It's practically in the centre of the city, the metro stops right outside, there is a small newsagents opposite for any emergency supplies, a well known coffee shop which is not as good as Neros' next to that and Gareth was even able to park his motorbike right outside stage door!

The Load In: 
Nottingham Theatre Royal, in my opinion, is one of the best theatres in the country and one which holds a special place for me as it was my first ever touring venue on my first No 1 tour back in 2007. Tim S, our Company Manager, and I had been telling Gareth (our Technical Stage Manager) and Sinead (our Wardrobe Mistress) for weeks what a fantastic venue it is and how much they would like it, so when I arrived on Monday morning I was hoping it had lived up to our praise! Tim S and Gareth arrive at 8am on the Monday at each venue, meet the in-house crew and begin unloading the set from the trailer. Here is one factor of a great venue: the load-in. How far away from the dock (the unloading area which will lead onto the stage) is the wagon? Sometimes the dock is down a side alley so everything has to be taken off and manually transported into the theatre. Then sometimes the stage is on a different level to the street so everything has to be loaded onto a lift and then taken to the stage. As you can imagine (especially with the summer we're having) the weather can also play a big part here. Transporting scenery backwards and forwards in a downpour is interesting to say the least! Nottingham Theatre Royal has an amazing dock where the wagon can actually be parked inside and everything can be unloaded straight onto the stage! Whilst the crew unload the wagon, Gareth and Tim S direct where everything goes and begin laying the floor, rigging the lighting bars and hanging any flying pieces. (If you look back at Polly's Crawley blog you can see Liam's pictures showing the order in which everything is done.)

Our trusty Wagon!

Space Savers:
Nottingham stage is an excellent size and has a large area stage right where we can store anything that won't be used on stage that week; flight cases that hold our lighting and sound equipment, boxes of programmes, spare props as well as closer to the stage, props and furniture used in the show. This benefits everyone in the company in some way. Some of our bigger furniture pieces come on from stage right and it means our cast can easily get to them. It also means Sinead has a good area to do any quick changes and store her stage right wardrobe skip - most of the quick changes in the show are done there. 

Poppy and Arthur changing quickly...

Emily has a good area to set up her props tables and I have somewhere to store all of my sound boxes (of which there are many). Nottingham also has a fairly deep stage so once the set is up, there is a big area upstage for the cast to use as a 'cross-over' for getting from one side of the stage to another and also Sinead was able to set up a well-lit make-up station so the cast can apply and re-apply as the show goes on without having to go too far.

Dressing rooms can also play a bit part in making a great venue. How far are they from the stage? Is everyone close together? How are they furnished? Are there windows, etc. The dressing rooms in Nottingham are right next to the stage right wing and are all pretty close together. This is not just good for the cast, but also for Sinead and myself as it means we don't have to go too far to distribute costumes and personal props and also if there is a minor 'emergency' before or during the show (such as broken shoelaces, lost props etc) we don't have too far to go!


A wee backstage tour...

It's all about the people:
It might seem obvious to say but the in-house staff play a massive part in making a great touring venue. Stage door is often the first point of call for anyone arriving in a theatre. (Although some of the smaller venues don't have a manned stage door.) Nottingham stage door serves both the Theatre Royal and the Concert Hall so it is not unusual for their stage door keeper to be dealing with two separate companies at any one time as well as all the office staff working in the building. All of the stage door keepers this week have been excellent - helpful, friendly and cheerful - they were always happy to point you in the right direction and not just for inside the theatre. Want to know where the nearest WH Smith is? Or Wagamamas? Just ask at stage door.Front of house staff were all efficient and friendly too, ensuring that the audiences had as good a visit as we did!Then we come to the theatre crew. The size of the show usually dictates how many crew will be called in for the 'get-in' and 'get-out' and also for the show itself. We'll usually have between 8 and 10 crew for a get-in and out, and between 2 and 4 for the show. Nottingham Theatre Royal crew are excellent. Although Birdsong is quite big and technical for a play, our technical requirements are nothing compared to the big musicals that go to the venue. This means that, for their crew, our show is quite easy to put in and take out and so both the in and the out went quickly and smoothly. The crew also rotated on the show during the week, so everyone had contact with them at some point. This brings me onto the next section...


Not to get too technical...
Gareth and Tim S deal with much of the set and lighting in each venue. Each week a theatre will receive a technical 'ryder' which will have all our requirements for the week; how many crew we need, what technical equipment we need to use, what our wardrobe needs are etc. Included in this is a 'rig-plan' which states what lighting we need and where it goes. Gareth and Tim will supervise the rigging of lighting equipment on the bars above the stage. Some lighting equipment we tour ourselves and some of it will be the theatre's own. The plan will also show what colour gels we need for each light. Once this is rigged and the set is up, Tim S will work with the venue's electrical team to focus each light in the position it needs to be in. This usually happens in the afternoon and the time it takes can depend on what equipment the crew can use to transport the person focusing around the set and also the technical skill of the person focusing. Again, this week the team were excellent and Michael from the theatre, Tim and the lads had the focus done in no time at all - which is great for the rest of us as when the focus is happening there can be no other light on the stage area so it's not unusual to find myself, Gareth and Emily rummaging around in the dark occasionally calling 'who's that?' 'Me!' 'Who's me?' 'Oh, you!'


It is quite commonplace these days, with plays, for the DSM to operate the sound in addition to calling any lighting, fly or stage cues - which will be done by members of the in-house crew - as well as cueing actors, so part of my job is to install our sound system in each venue. Normally this would mean 'tying in' to an in-house front of house system plus a few touring speakers which would then be linked up to a computer operated by the DSM. However, as Birdsong uses a lot of sound to help aid the transitions from memory to war time and due to the nature of being set in the trenches of World War I, our sound rig is a lot bigger than you would normally expect from a play. We have 2 overhead speakers,  then 2 very large subs with 2 large speakers on top which sit upstage which do a lot of the work for the war scenes, 2 small (but heavy!) subs either side downstage with two smaller speakers which give a lot of the off stage effects, 4 small front of house speakers which are used to bring the audience inside the sound effects and make them feel part of it as well as tying in to the in-house front of house sound system. In addition to this we have 5 microphones used for amplification and effects for the tunnel scenes and music pieces (stop me if I'm boring you!) 

I usually arrive late morning, by which time the set is up and ready for me to position my speakers. With smaller venues it is not uncommon for the crew member allocated to help me set up the sound to be more of a general technician with some sound experience (as they are often restrained by staffing budgets), but in larger venues I usually have a dedicated sound technician from the theatre to help me. In Nottingham, I had a chap called Bob who, by coincidence, had trained with our sound designer Dom Bilkey. Bob was excellent and we zipped through the sound set up with lots of time to spare to make lots of noise later on while lighting were on a tea break. Incidentally, Bob broke the sound get-out record for 2 people (sometimes there are 3 or 4 of us working on the get-out as my sound system needs to go onto the wagon fairly early) with 47 minutes,  previously held by Dan in Derby with 47½ minutes. 


When the cast arrive we do a sound check for the microphones which Polly has spoken about before in her blog. I work quite closely with our Musical Director Tim VE to make sure we have a good balance of the microphones for all cast members and also for Josh's violin.

Sound check for letter writing scene

Dom has cleverly built reverb into the microphone cues for the tunnel scenes and for scenes in Act 2 for when Stephen is seeing the ghosts of his past. It's important at each venue for us to make sure we're still getting these levels of reverb but making sure that we don't stray into possible feedback territory where all you end up with is horrible high pitched noises! Dom also worked very closely with our lighting designer Alex Wardle to make sure that the lighting and sound compliment each other so that the transitions from memory to real time happen at the same speed and create the right effect. Alex has recently been nominated for a Technical Theatre Award for lighting and, as we found out during the week, Shaq the flyman at Nottingham Theatre Royal has also been nominated for flying and rigging. We have several flying pieces during the show, one of the most vital being the full black that comes in at the end of Act I - but I won't spoil it for those who haven't yet seen our show by telling you what it's used for! We have an in-house flyman for these and an in-house lighting operator for each show. Neither of these will have seen the show before the first night and they don't get any sort of dress rehearsal so are completely dependent on the information we give them and how I call their cues. It's here that a theatre crews' experience can really shine through. The guys in Nottingham, led by their stage manager Mac, make their shows run so smoothly and are so efficient that Tim S and I were saying on the first night that it was almost like Shaq (on flys) and Matt (on LX) had been with us since Basingstoke! Smooth flying of a light bulb or lampshade that it basically suspended on a length of fly wire without making it swing or jerk, is far more tricky than it looks - especially when factors such as the air conditioning can cause a piece to swing and my speakers are setting of explosions all around you!

Ready to go...

But back to the afternoons! Just after the sound check, Gareth and Tim S will spend time making sure that every single lighting cue is correct (there's over 114 of them) and Gareth will have to plot the moving lights which we tour, making sure they are moving where they are supposed to in each cue. During the show, the in-house op will look after the lights making sure there are no problems and that the haze machines are running how they should.With all this going on and bearing in mind that by the time the show starts, Gareth and Tim S have done 11 or 12 hours work already and Sinead, Emily and I about 8 to 10 - you really do appreciate a good venue and its staff! But once the first night is over, we do then have a bit more time to spare during the week. Sinead usually has a fair amount of repairs which go on throughout the week, Emily and I have understudy rehearsals...

Understudy letter writing scene

A picture I took of Lauren in U/S rehearsals - making sure everyone knows what they're doing!

...and any prop maintenance to keep us going. Gareth will have a few technical bits and bobs to do and Tim S is kept busy with running the company, but we do all find time to enjoy ourselves and the town and the pace is definitely slower for the rest of the week, which leads me to telling you about a few other things that we discovered/got up to which made Nottingham a great week.

• Nottingham Castle and Ye Old Trip to Jeralem Pub: Claiming to be England's oldest pub (dating back to 1189AD ) Ye Old Trip is carved into the rock of the sandstone caves at the foot of the castle. So named, because 1189AD was the date King Richard the Lionheart became King of England and shortly afterwards began his crusades against the Saracens. I am reliably informed (thank you Mr Stage Doorman!) that the real ale served there is some of the best in the land, yet as we had shows in the evening our visits were restricted to diet cokes and orange juices!

• The Turf: Emily, Matthew, Tim S and I discovered this on the first night and went back a few times. It's quite a small pub just across from the theatre and was pretty quiet throughout the week and has late opening hours. The best thing about this pub is that its tables are glass topped with a games console inside and joysticks on either side so you could play games of Pac Man, Space Invaders and other 80s nostalgia against each other whilst enjoying a pint! Emily and Matthew proved to be far more skilled at this than myself and Tim (although Tim was pretty competitive and kept choosing a game then discovering it was the wrong one 10 seconds into playing it and blaming me!) and won the coveted lolly pops.

• Arthur discovered an amazing little French restaurant not far from the theatre so we went there in between shows on the Wednesday. Completely authentic - they do a special pre-theatre menu which is £9.95 for two courses and a little bit more for three. With more commercial eateries on every corner of every town we visit it was really nice to eat at a more independent and traditional place with freshly prepared ingredients and first class service. Arthur wasn't keeping this secret to himself either - when we arrived, we saw that Poppy had brought some of her friends there on Arthur's recommendation. I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but I will check it with Arthur and get Polly to add it to a future blog. It really is worth going to.

• Red and Rock City: Sarah Jayne managed to get us a reserved area in the club 'Red' which is just around the corner from the theatre. Comfortably chic with an excellent selection of cocktails, we had a great night. When a few of us ventured upstairs to the 'smoking area' (see street) we saw the queue to get into the famous 'Rock City' live venue. I'd forgotten what a rock city Nottingham was until I went into the newsagents on the Monday and saw that not only was the cashier wearing the same Iron Maiden T-shirt as me, he was also playing them on the stereo! I'm afraid I'm now far too old and boring to brave the Rock City queue, which was about 1500m long and 3-4 people deep, but if you're up to it and into live rock or metal then it's definitely worth a look. 

• The theatre have a special deal with a gym and pool nearby where cast and crew can go for free. Tim S organised this for all those healthy enough to want it!

• Sporting activities: In preparation for a very important event in a few weeks time, the boys of the company (along with special guest star Matthew from Dublin) took part in a training event. You'll have to wait to see what this will be - I won't spoil it. Suffice to say that it was a little way out of town and Alastair left something there. Tim S went to collect it.....

• The Robin Hood Museum: My third trip to Nottingham and I still haven't gone. I would really like to. No one else ever wants to come with me. So I don't.........

Cue violins. And END.


P.S. If you've seen Birdsong and were impressed with the lighting (and flying if you saw us in Nottingham) then visit www.technicaltheatreawards.com where you can read more about Alex Wardle's work and vote.

Footprints - Director Alastair Whatley talks Touring Theatre over the centuries.

Over the years, how much has Touring Theatre changed? How much remains the same? This week, we have been in the buzzing hub that is Bromley and Alastair Whatley, our Producer/Director/Understudy/Assistant Company Manager, has been kind enough to write a guest blog about his rather extensive experiences of touring...

If you had enough time and sufficient inclination, it is possible to hunt out various things I have written about; not only the shows we have done, but the vagaries of a life touring the country as part of a fledgling theatre company.

I have some strong recollections of writing, rather poorly no doubt, about the process of putting together one of our earliest touring productions of Shakespeare’s R&J…in fact hold on…

I’ll dig it out for you…

Here you are…

http://rjontour.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/welcome.html

You have to search quite hard to find that on google these days. It is no great work of literature, bombastic, impassioned, clichéd even. Yet it does at least reveal a slightly naïve charm and enthusiasm for producing and touring theatre.

People often ask me what it is that appeals about spending the vast majority of your time living out of a suitcase. Often it entails some rather desultory, less than lugubrious accommodation in the clutches of Mrs Biggs-Kynaston with a stodgy mattress and a shower descendent out of Livingstone’s experience at The Victoria Falls. It entails long nights in dodgy cars, nights in terrible pubs, awful Indian meals and days whiled away in endless Costa Coffee’s (Liam Mc Cormick).

Yet that blog written now over 6 years ago reveals something of the hidden delights of touring a particular brand of theatre across the length and breadth of the UK. At that time our shows were still playing various grassy knolls, hotel receptions and outdoor playing fields- anywhere that would take us basically. Today, our shows have found themselves gracing some of our more illustrious and delightful theatres- yet strangely despite this slight upscaling, the actual day to day experience itself has not changed.

In fact I don’t really believe that the experience of touring theatre companies has changed that greatly in over 500 years. Our means of transport have changed (not horses anymore), the plays we perform have changed (…well in many cases they haven’t), of the complexion of our towns and villages has changed hugely, yet strip all the detritus of modern living away- the iphones, the cars, and the endless cups of Costa Coffee (Liam Mc Cormick) and I think what you are left with is at heart, an experience that directly connects the actors of today with the likes of Irving, Woolfit, Shakespeare and Kemble. 

So what is it that connects our motley team on Birdsong whose experience, or part of it, has been recounted to you on this blog, with the illustrious names conjured above? I think the answer is possibly to be found in the unorthodox routine and relationships that we strike up as we chart our journey across the country. Routines and relationships that can only change so far as the world has changed and changes around us.

There are certain constants to an actor's life on a tour of Britain that stand as firmly today, as I write this in the cavernous corridors of Bromley’s Churchill Theatre, as they would when Irving took his company on the road in the 19^th century. 

Firstly, performance times have always been pretty solidly fixed- this means that we have much time during the waking hours to spend idly in various cities. This has always been the case, meaning the theatrical fraternity can often be found perched looking for sustenance both spiritual and alimentary at coffee houses, on benches, in churches and in many cases (not on this tour I hasten to add) in public houses (Tim Treloar). In short, we have time to spare and not much money to burn- an immutable and incontestable fact that spans the centuries.

Secondly, as performances invariably occur as the sun charts its weary course into the horizon, we exit the theatre as the rest of the town tends to be falling asleep. We exit high on the adrenaline of a good performance (here’s hoping) and for many, time is needed to unwind. Alas, as many coffee houses spurn our money in the nether hours and refuse to accommodate us, the theatrical fraternity has little choice but to frequent a local, friendly (…) and well stocked hostelry for cheer and merriment. In short, actors like to go to the pub. Always have done, always will.

Thirdly, our relationship with the towns we play is unchanged, even as the towns themselves mutate and grow and prosper (Bath, Canterbury anyone?) or decline (…too many to mention). We arrive bright eyed and slightly resentful of being cast off from our cosy homes and the bright lights of London to an outpost of the British Isles where six days must be endured come what may. We bring with us a suitcase (or twelve…Polly Hughes) and all the emotional baggage a company carries from one town to another. Gradually, through a process of osmosis, the town and people come out from the blurry soft focus of a late night after the obligatory first night company management drinks; and as the week progresses, what at first glance seemed a rather bland concrete jungle, begins to show itself as a living community. Write off a town at your peril, England has never ceased to surprise me. If you arrive at a town with your heart open and your wallet in the hotel safe, you are likely to have good time.

Hold on tightly and let go lightly- let that be the axiom. Arrive, fall in love and then depart. You like to think that Basingstoke will miss you, that you have brought with you a touch of bonhomie and bohemia maybe even as far as the air of the sophisticate dandy to the bright lights and throbbing bass tones of ‘Lucky’s’ in Scarborough as you spin, twist and writhe along with 4 others at 2am on a Wednesday night.

In truth, our footprint is not as heavy as we would hope and our temporal moment on the stage at the Theatre Royal is readily forgotten and left as a simple inky footnote in the visitor's book. Yet for centuries we have done the same thing- audiences have come, they have clapped and they have left. Plays have come and gone with the actors they support, life has passed. Yet the stages we play I think hold a certain residual memory and up in the fly towers, on the velvet seats, in the hempen rope, down the back stage corridors, and in the floor itself, an imprint is always left. Ask any actor who has had the pleasure of gracing a Frank Matcham Stage- well some of them- they might tell you about a special connection that is felt on those stages between the buildings, the audience and themselves, however ineffable that may prove be. To my money (and I haven’t much left) it is a connection with a direct line, not just those luminous dignitaries of our theatrical heritage, but much more tantalising link to the thousands of unknown and unremembered actors who trod the weary path around Britain earning a crust and spending it in the pub next door. The actor whose performance drew cheers and was forgotton, who never climbed the dizzying heights of ambition but who worked, gave pleasure and died singing and broke at Denville Hall. It is the connection to these little known, oft forgotton jobbing actors that is the real constant. They are the unsung heroes who have bowed into the twilight and who have charted their journey into the undiscovered country on a road that most of us are likely destined to follow. 

Which brings me squarely and firmly to Bromley. As regular readers to Polly’s blog will know, we have had some wonderful weeks on this tour seeing some of Britain’s most beautiful places and meeting a wide selection of her more eccentric peoples- Bath, Dublin and Canterbury have all been memorable weeks on stage and off. Which brings me back to Bromley.

For many of our esteemed company, Bromley provided a welcome respite allowing some much needed time nesting away in their various homes across the capital, not Liam, he lives in the North. Commuting was to be the order of the week as would the oft heard adage, "I’ve got people in," echoed down the backstage corridors (Tim T)- as friends, family, agents and other ‘industry’ bodies took the chance of a short journey to catch the show.

What was great about our week in Bromley, genuinely great, was that we had quite a few large school groups come and watch the show. Schools audiences can send paroxysms of fear into the hearts of even the most experienced actors- unruly phones, chatting and a host of other distractions that can throw even the most finely wrought performance off key. 

Yet these school groups are our most crucial audiences. The young people who came and watched this week are the theatre go-ers of tomorrow. If we got it right, there is a chance they may come back and that this has started a lifetime of theatre going. A chance to watch and meet Hamlet, to die with Hecuba, to laugh with Jonny Rooster Byron, to witness the alcoholic brilliance of O’Neil, the passion of O’Casey, the wit of Wilde, the sexual politics of Caryl Churchill, the sheer hybrid genius madness of Becket- it is like finding out that you have the keys to the best never ending box set which can accompany you for your entire life. 

With all the budget cuts to schools and theatres across the country, just getting students into the theatre is becoming harder and harder to organise- the cost, the paper work and the endless forms. So it is a real testament to the teachers who persevered this week and gave many of their students their first theatre experience. I, for one, am indebted.

Those of us who go regularly, forget how intimidating a trip to a theatre can be. There is still the (mis??) conception that the theatre remains a pretty elitist place. The basic conventions are not exactly inviting to the uninitiated. Sitting still, in the dark, for hours, in silence, amongst older people smartly dressed. Watching. Just watching. It is intimidating.

I hope that the experience we provided this week on stage, in the auditorium and at the workshops which Liam, myself, Polly and Tim T ran were able to dispel some of these myths. On Thursday morning, Tim T had done a sterling job (no commission alas) and managed to get 147 young people in for a morning workshop before the matinee.

We had a great time introducing the play but also exploring the endless possibilities a director and his/her actors have when approaching any given scene. To this end we looked at three scenes and got our assembled directorial body of 147 girls from South London to come up with different ways of staging each scene- everything from changing the location, the environment, the circumstances, even the furniture. It was fascinating to watch the scenes which have played consistently in one form for over 150 shows, suddenly transform into something else entirely. Tim T, for example, loved playing war (his words) with Liam when he was asked to move a scene from a 'boring' fire step to the middle of an open battlefield. 

What we tried to impart through all this is that you don’t need complicated scenery to transport an audience into the deep tunnels that ran under no-mans land. All you really need is an empty space and some imagination- from the actors but crucially, from the audience. It is an oft worn cliché but it really is a shared experience and the relationship between the audience and the actors totally shape each and every performance- so although sat quietly, the contribution made by our audiences, young and old alike, does shape and change the show on a nightly basis. I think that is something audiences might not fully appreciate- as Polly said during the workshop- it isn’t just when the audience laugh but when they don’t, when the silences ring so heavily you can almost touch the stillness of the air- that you can feel they are with you.

It is important that with all the cuts and indeed the talk of further cuts to so many arts budgets that our young people are given the chance to flex and continue to flex their theatrical imaginations. It is simply not a luxury. It is our cultural DNA. You need only sit on a tube during the commuter rush, something we all did much of this week, to see our increasing dependence on visual imagery at the expense of imagination. People just don’t look up anymore. We seem to walk heads down locked in own worlds attached intravenously to iPhones, pads, tablets and blackberries- feeding on a diet of movies, TV shows, films, communication and strange farming games (Charlie/Liam) whenever and wherever we are. Everything we need (and don't need) seems now to be found on a little screen on which we are increasingly dependent. There is a great danger that we are, all of us, sleepwalking into a virtual reality.

The theatre requires you to turn off (please) and switch on. It brings people together and it will, if you let it, take you anywhere. Literally anywhere- emotionally and physically. I have had the great good fortune of being offered a pretty unique perspective in that I can watch our show in the auditorium or the wings. In the auditorium I experience the play in all its power and passion, but in the wings I am party to a unique transformation.  As an actor walks into the footlights, suddenly in some small but very tangible way they are transported and with them, the audience. It is in its own way time travel as the world of pre-war Amiens is conjured quite literally from thin air. It is magical. 

Sometimes I need to remind myself of this. As I stood trying to explain the play and why and how we staged it, I realised that what I was saying was perhaps as much for my benefit as theirs. In a week when our ‘magical’ job felt maybe somewhat less than magical and more- well, like a job- it was maybe important to remember what it is we were doing and why we were doing it. Like the commuters who populate the tubes and trains and streets of London we, all of us, myself included, could be reminded to look up and see the wider perspective- whether it be when walking down the streets of Bromley up beyond the façade of New Look and M&S to the Victorian architecture above, or stood watching the show in the wings and heeding the words of Dame Maggie Smith who once said,

 “I like the ephemeral thing about theatre, every performance is like a ghost - it's there and then it's gone.”

…a bit like life really. So we had better appreciate it whilst it’s here, even if we are commuting, even if we are in Bromley- no, in fact because we are in Bromley- because as I watched the end of the Thursday matinee I watched the schools audience leave, chatting excitedly and heatedly about what they had just seen. It wasn’t what they saying that was important, but the fact that we had even, if only briefly, got them talking and engaging with our play and that simple act was enough to make this the best week we have had on tour...(ok, tied equal with Dublin.)

And I didn’t think I’d be saying that on Monday morning.

During World War II, Britain's finance minister recommended to Winston Churchill that they cut arts funding in order to better support the war effort. Churchill's reply was, "Then what are we fighting for?"

SOME THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN BROMLEY:

• Liam stayed at his friend's who lived near, but not that near. Somewhere near Penge.

• Sarah Jayne Dunn appeared rather brilliantly on the Wright stuff and was made to talk about everything from advertising alcohol to parenting to Birdsong. She was great.

Liam watching Sarah with...admiration.

• Liam and I went on a trip to Ilford to run a workshop. We learnt all about the etymology of well worn phrases- ‘toe the line’ anyone?

Yes, they were actually allowed in.

• Charlotte Peters, our lovely associate, came and ran an understudy rehearsal and we all got excited when Jonathan Smith came and read in- small pleasures.

• Arthur shot into action when my bag of toiletries got abandoned en route to the house of Liam’s chum, somewhere near Penge. With a brave and selfless dive he threw the items from the train as the doors shut behind him. A noble act.

• Arthur also witnessed the sighting of a ghost at Sydenham station of a large man. He was confident there was no rational explanation as the man vanished into a wall. Spooky.
• Arthur informed us the next day that actually it wasn’t a ghost after all, it was another exit. Which he used to get home to his caravan in Crystal Palace.
• Tim T had a chum come and see him from his days at the RSC. He was jolly nice and knew lots about bikes. His name is Bill Nash and he has written the most fabulous book all about Secret London…not sure Bromley got a mention though…
• In the company management dressing room on Tuesday night Tim S and his trusty second had a thai take-away. Crackers, pad-thai and spicy beef salad. Tim S really liked the crackers.
• Lucie Pankhurst our movement director and all round lady of loveliness came and re-visited us on Saturday night. She made an announcement over the tannoy after the show. Friendly.
• Charlie stayed at Frog Manner all week and awarded it 10 points.

A Canterbury Tale...

Having rekindled my love for trains (not in a weird way) as part of my journey to Dublin, and on discovering there really is nowhere to leave your car in Canterbury, I parked my 106 and left the comforts of independent travel for South Eastern Trains. I’m sure I am not alone in falling into the trap “I have my car and therefore must take more than I need” but it is only practical to prepare for all eventualities, especially when one has the option. (Don’t let this persuade you that the Ryan Air Luggage Incident was justified - I had seriously condensed and must reinforce that my suitcase really wasn’t that big.) Anyway the point is, when embarking on my expedition to Canterbury, I had halved my load and felt liberated at the thought. 

I arrived on yet another sunny day and ventured off to find my digs. Now I feel I have been very lucky with accommodation so far and although having paid varied prices, have found it on the most part to be very pleasant. This week was a good example of what you can discover on arrival. Most theatres provide a digs list, on which you will find accommodation ranging from a room in someone's house to smart local hotels (which are rarely utilised and kept mainly in business by Alastair Whatley.) This week, I was in a room in someone's house. My experiences of these have been varied but mostly warm, comfortable and cheap. This week, although being very close to the theatre, and providing a fridge AND a microwave, (which is rare and very convenient) I woke up feeling like I'd smoked a pack of Marlboro Reds. For the first time, I found myself with the dilemma - do I move? You are not bound my any contract and have the freedom to move in these situations (although it's probably bad form if there's no valid reason) so I trawled through the digs list once again. There was no convenient or cheap alternative, so I stuck it out. In these situations, I guess you weigh up actually how uncomfortable it is and in this case, how close it is to the theatre - which I have discovered, is probably the top priority. I think it would have been nice (by way of the digs list) to be informed that it was a smoking household, perhaps because it was a rather severe case - smoking all day, all through the house and the final straw; Emily finding cigarette ash on the floor by her bed. It is hard to know how to approach a landlord/lady in this case as you are only there for a week and confrontation is not ideal when you just want to go back and go to bed after a show. What has come of this is that sadly I won't stay there again and won't recommend it. And for the health of my fellow actors, will request that Stage Door amend the digs list to state that it is very much a smoking household...

Once "settled" I wandered down the high street to see what Canterbury had to offer. To my delight, Patisserie Valerie had found itself a mere 30 seconds from my digs and so there I had found the perfect haven to which I could escape. Coffee, eggs and many a treat to fuel my sugar addiction...

Our social secretary for the week was none other than our star Costume Mistress, Sinead Mary Francis. Canterbury is her home turf, so we were certainly in for a treat, especially where the pubs were concerned...if ever we needed directions, she navigated by way of proximity to the nearest watering hole ;-) - too right!

The first activity was a historic boat tour down the River Stour, led my the one and only Tarquin. By the end of our week in Canterbury, Tarquin (yes that was his real name) had become a dear friend and I think it is fair to say that having left him behind, there is now a considerable void.

He talked us all through the history of the town and the origins of the sayings...

"Legging it" - When the boats came to a bridge, some local boys would be paid a small sum to come aboard, lie down with their feet in the air and run upside down along the underside of the bridge to move it along.
"Toe-rag" - Some of these boys wouldn't have shoes, so would put rags between their toes to protect them.
"Daylight Robbery" - Window Tax

Windowless house

The Marlowe Theatre - rumoured to be playing a rather good show...

Lovely ladies basking in the sun

Me. And Tarquin.

By the end of his very entertaining and knowledgeable tour, we had taken a shine to Tarquin and convinced him to come and see the show. From that point on, rarely an hour would go by without seeing him about town or hearing his name. He is omnipresent in Canterbury. Either that or it is just a rather small town. If you are ever there, you must go and see him! http://www.canterburyrivertours.co.uk

The next activity on our schedule is one never to be matched. With the sheer depth of knowledge attained and level of fear instilled, we are sure never to forget this once-in-a-lifetime experience. If you haven't guessed already, we were taken on The Canterbury Ghost Tour. It is incredible how much one man can fit into an hour and how many thrilling, nail-biting stories one man can remember and tell with such vigour, character and enthusiasm. He even interacts with you as part of the story, sorry stories, he tells...

Malcolm James as Thomas Becket, directed by....John.

To recover from this (and recovery was needed) we ventured to the Thomas Becket Pub where of course Tarquin appeared, to then sit and listen to our tales of the past hour. As a consequence, he felt we must go to another pub where they will be playing music which will drain away our angst and fear. And so it did.

All in all we had a lovely and fairly calm week in Canterbury. The theatre has very recently been refurbished and now seats up to 1,200. There is a slight echo so it took of bit of time to get used to on the first night but once we had, it was a very interesting space to play. As I have found so often on this tour, every theatre differs and has its own character that lends something to the piece. Even if two consecutive theatres are similar sizes, it is never the same show.

I will leave you with this lovely review from the Folkestone Herald.
"Stunning, compelling, powerful - if you see one play this year, make it Birdsong."

Full review here - http://www.folkestoneherald.co.uk/Review-Birdsong-Marlowe-Theatre/story-19193411-detail/story.html

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