...And They're Off!



Anthony, Jon, Vern, Kate and Ben getting ready to rehearse at the Castle.

This is the stage at which we hope to find ourselves in the not-too-distant future: a great gang of people enjoying bringing some of the most incredible characters to life on a stage that is probably second to none! These guys on the right are just a few of the actors from our 2011 production of

'As You Like It' having a small discussion about who owns which script. We took the first step towards this stage of our King Lear production yesterday afternoon, when we held the first auditions for the show.

 

Not everyone was able to make it to the venue, so there will be another date set, quite soon, so we can give everbody who wants to be involved a fair crack of the whip. Then we can get down to the serious business of casting the production, after which we block up at the castle then get into the meat and potatoes of the thing and begin rehearsing seriously! Or in our case, rehearsing seriously between the bouts of lunacy and larking around!

 

I had kind of hoped that my initial thoughts on cast for Lear would be confirmed when we all got together at the auditions, and in some ways they were. However the people auditioning, as always seems to be the way, read with such believability and verve, that I find myself making lists of potential actors for the parts, thinking I've got some of them nailed down, then pause, scratch out what I've written and re-jig. Can't see the floor for scrunched-up bits of paper! And that is one of the joys of this company: so many great actors that it's really, really difficult to settle on one person for a particular part. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to make a definitive list soon and disappoint some and put the fear of lots of lines into others. But this I do know: whoever gets to play whichever part, they will be excellent, putting their all into it and coming out the other side with a smile on their face.  And the picture below epitomises to me what we're all about. Enjoying what we do and, hopefully, sending our audiences away with a smile as big as those in the photo.

 



We've also been lucky enough to welcome several new people to the Company this year, not only actors but some great people who are going to help with the set and costumes. Already it promises to be a mega-year for us, the enthusiasm at the audition was brilliant, really enjoyable. I hope everyone there had as much fun as I did!