Last Two Days of Frantic Activity

Now we’ve reached 23rd I finally have time to sit and reflect on the last two days.

On Monday morning, Martin Oakes was already programming the lighting when Helen Critchley, Alan Compton and myself arrived at the theatre. Does this man ever go home? I got out the black paint and went round the platform levels, Helen touched up some of the damaged artwork and Alan made an improvement to the ingot design. We worked under disco conditions as the lights went up, down, here and there all over the stage. Painting things black in the dark is tricky but you get good at it.

In the afternoon after a very pleasant gossip over sandwiches the others went back to set finishing while I sat with Martin to help him program Act Two. Helen decided that some gloss varnish lines would help relieve the large area of plain black on the front of the platform and set to work taping and painting. It was a great improvement.

Helping Martin took up the rest of my afternoon. We have one tricky lighting sequence where Heisenberg demonstrates a scientific principle. The lights need to coordinate with the actor’s moves. I played Heisenberg and we tried it over and over until it was smooth. We finished around 5 o’clock and then put white tape crosses down on the stage to help the actors find their feature lights.

I went home for food and a much needed drink. The work on the back stage refurbishment had put the kettle out of bounds and the haze machine had dried the air.

I had checked with Paul Scott in the Box Office and discovered that the audience have to be warned about the haze machine. Apart from anything else it could look as though the theatre is in imminent danger of bursting into flames. I promise it’s all very safe. We searched the pre-prepared notices for an appropriate one – no luck. Before I go back down I print one off and then promptly forget to hang it until the next evening.

The words Technical Rehearsal strike terror into the soul of all involved. For some odd reason that nobody can fathom they normally start late and can go on into the wee small hours. I was determined to start at 7:45 at the latest and succeeded.

A Tech Rehearsal is exactly as the name suggests: for the technicians to practice their side of the show and to ensure that the actors get used to using the stage and find their lights. Before we start Martin and I run Jason Blackburn through the tricky lighting sequence we worked on earlier. I also take the actors through their lighting marks. The plan is to only run the sections that contain technical elements. This show has over 100 lighting changes in 91 pages of script and that isn’t taking sound effects into account. Cutting bits of script out where there are no technical cues is called ‘topping and tailing’. Martin and I work out what we can miss. It’s a depressingly short list.

We start. Everyone remains in good humour. We finish at 11:30. The actors look a bit ragged but in fact the evening has gone far better than expected. Martin has decided that he needs to expand some of the light pools and needs a few more lights to fill in some dark patches. He is always hopeful that the cast will contain actors that can instinctively find their lights. It is a rare skill. Our actors don’t possess it. Martin’s search goes on.

Glenn Burns lost some of his train sounds into the ether but will work on this before tomorrow. But otherwise sound has worked well except when the line: ‘I pull on the familiar bell-pull’, resulted in the Flying Scotsman rushing through the countryside. Much humour. When you make a sound mistake there is no place to hide.

Next morning and the adrenaline punch knocks me out of bed early AGAIN. How long can this go on?

Today I want to do something about Jason Blackburn’s trousers and tie. He is not happy. His costume has been an ongoing problem. I cannot have a miserable actor. I straighten my neglected home and head off to the charity shops. The very last shop and I strike gold but then have to go back to one I visited earlier in the day to buy the matching tie. The relief!!

I take my purchases into the theatre and pop in to chat to Helen, Martin and Alan who are hard at work titivating.

In the evening we have the Dress Rehearsal. It was fabulous. I am so proud of my team. The performances have been excellent for some time but it was exciting to see the actors working comfortably with the staging and lighting. It was totally absorbing and gripping all the way through. Very impressive.

My cast are a very brave, talented and dedicated group of people to tackle such a difficult play. They have worked incredibly hard since January and have come such a long way in so short a time. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with them.

Break a leg tonight.