So we rattled to the end of week 5. Fifth week already!! And done with! Then another b****** bank holiday weekend ( I am guessing TBTL would be 100% behind redistributing some of these Spring bank hols elsewhere in the calendar as we seem to have had more than our fair share & consequently lost valuable days for rehearsing ). Still at least it has meant that folk have been able to dash from one end of the country to another to spend valued time with in my case aging parentals, before high-tailing it back to the beautiful if utterly soggy & cloud-draped Cumbrian Mountains.
As I flew through the Sussex countryside on Monday morning courtesy of the Gatwick Express, which for reasons known only to them didn't stop at Gatwick (go figure), I reflected on where we have got to thus far. Feelings in the BF/DR camp ( there are 7 of us doing both out of the 8 who met to start BF rehearsals, remember ) are very much that one play appears to ask great emotionally truthful things of us, while the other simply requires that you stand in point A at a certain time, say your line, get a laugh, then get off. Week 5 was a split one as mentioned previously, meaning 2 days on Dry Rot & 3 on Bedroom Farce- still keeping up? You are? Good.. So inevitably we end up comparing these two kinds of play- and that can be dangerous. With Dry Rot, we seem to feel rather guilty about simply playing for the fun of a thing, but as was written on a chalk board in the local park pitch & putt hut, 'A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men' ( Roald Dahl). I think he knew a thing or two about such stuff and that sums up why Ian Forrest has chosen this lovely romp. Both BF & DR are going to have people rolling in the proverbials, but in very different ways & for different reasons.. The creation of Dry Rot has also been written about by one of the creators, Lord Rix in his biography and so it can be seen to an extent how the play was put together simply by numbers to give folk something to have a jolly good laugh about after a World War & years of rationing.. if you're not too careful you can then conclude that the whole thing is shallow fluff. That would be very wrong. You would then have to dismiss Morecambe & Wise, Dick Emery, The Two Ronnies etc etc. And frankly, if those acts leave you cold then you are in fact not alive. Or the right audience for us here!
If I'm repeating myself, I can only put it down to the unearthly effect this schedule has on the brain. It could of course be the local brew.. or all that fresh air...? Honestly, we are all having trouble remembering what we did which day and with whom..
Anyhoo. On to the prospect of week 6, which gives us one bijou day on Dry Rot where we hurtle through the piece once more, linking up all the gorgeous work that people have done separately & apart, tightening cues and polishing entrances ( stop it). Then we leave that play for almost two weeks and re-enter our alternative identities in Bedroom Farce ( and Dolls' House for Nick, James & Nicky). I feel that at this point I should add a full roll-call of our glorious Dry Rotters:
In Alphabetical order
Stephen Aintree, George Banks, James Duke, Jessica Ellis, Nicky Goldie, Nicolas Goode, Chris Hannon, Adrian Metcalfe, Zoe Mills, and last but by no means etc, Lou Yates.
To get your head fully round the full summer season cast list, who is doing what in all our shows etc, please visit the Theatre by the Lake site for lots more info.
Buy your tickets now!! Seriously, the good folk of Keswick always book early so do it now to avoid disappointment!
So onward into week 6.. The Dry Rot day is over and I felt a tremendous urge to imprint the moment on my retinas, like when you are in a stunningly lovely place in a foreign country for what might be the last time, so I was trying to burn the moves and lines even more firmly into my head and storing it safely for retrieval way off at the other end of May. The outcome may be rather like a squirrel with its nuts initially, but we live in hope. Then tomorrow getting our heads down for the run into Bedroom Farce tech week next week & our glorious opening night on the 19th May. We'll be running the play over & over to eliminate the bits that still feel shaky, making slight changes to get the thing to work 'effortlessly' before presenting it to a live audience. Effortlessly is in quotes for a very good reason. Ayckbourn is hard!! Currently I am trying not to think about how we handle the huge laughs we'll doubtless get as a result of Stefan's urging us on to braver choices. Cue deep breathing & much inner pep-talk. The last thing anyone should do right now is panic.. Welcome back to Bedroom Farce for the big push!
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