Sunday morning and the close of a week of final rehearsals for the new studio play. We have run it three times in quick succession and now can collect our thoughts for the tech week and the promise of real live audiences by the week's end. We've passed the writer's test, he seemed happy, crying like a good 'un through our first run! Of course we mustn't forget our special secret invited audience for our dress rehearsal comprising our colleagues from the land of Dickens. That is quite frightening to think about too much! In the studio, you are up close and personal with the audience; there's no getting away from who they are and where they are and as we all know each other really well by now, you will hear a familiar laugh or similar reaction and for a second you might get distracted from the task in hand! Roma & the Flanellettes asks a lot of the actors involved; there's a whole heap of tough subject matter and big emotional baggage to carry around- for some more than others - and the nature of the piece means that there's no relaxing even for a second inside that, because then the ball gets dropped as we say in the trade! There's quite a bit of vital body minerals to replace at the end of a run..and lots of strategically placed boxes of tissues behind the scenes. That all starts to sound a little off-colour. It's not meant to put anyone off, just paint a picture of how things are in this particular story. Of course it's a world premiere, so that might mean that those reviewers down there in that there London might actually get on their bikes and come and see the wonderful stuff we're turning out here in the Lakes. They tend to have all sorts of convenient excuses as to why they don't bother to come to see shows more than a stone's throw from Drury Lane..Still: what counts are the very happy folk in the audience and it seems that Keswick can thrive without worrying about what critic has written what about who, which is how it should be! I'm one of a growing number of actors who do not read reviews. Somebody clever once wrote about how a brilliant review can harm an actor's performance- it isn't just about being frightened of reading something awful that someone has written about you, oh no. If you are made too aware from an external point of view about a particular moment, because a reviewer has raved about it, you can end up trying to recreate that moment and of course, failing! The basic fact is that reviews are not written for us but for the theatre-goer, so another reason not to read them. Oh, and the fact that often the person writing them is a twerp who wouldn't know a decent bit of acting if it bit him on the bum. Bitter? Moi? Certainly not.
One other minor event to cover this week I suppose is the main house opening of Great Expectations, which we attended on Friday night. The theatre was packed and the show was beautiful. The actors 'up there' who we were all rooting for as you'd expect, didn't disappoint and for their second only public performance of an ambitious adaptation of a great novel, it was a splendid sight to see. What better thing in a summer rep company than to get your actors all playing different parts within the same play? Like the five-hander Shakespeare tours I've done where you each play four characters, some of whom must eventually meet, there are inevitably going to be times in Great Expectations when a particular actor is going to have to change in front of your eyes into someone else. On a sixpence. How will they do it? Suddenly it happens and the simple inventiveness delights everyone. You hear the collective intake of breath from 380 people. It can't be beat! Hats off to all who put it together and all who played. Read more about the creative team on TbtL's website!
Off now for a bit of r & r, or washing & cleaning the flat that has become a morass of filth. At least the sun's out and I can get my laundry dry in a day. Glamorous business this world of show. Ttfn.
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