Thursday, 30 May 2013

A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words.

It's all very dramatic you know.
Right off the block, let me say a huge thank you to our ever-lovin' snapper: ladies 'n' gentlemen, Mr Keith Gould! He got some beauties, a few of which are here and some of which are on the King Lear page of the website

www.theinntheatrecompany.co.uk

As if you didn't know! Apologies for any duplications - what do I know?

We have one more rehearsal at the Guildhall, this Friday, 31st, then it's off to the castle to start really getting a feel for the whole. We've had a bit of a larf indoors, but personally? I love being out at the site, it somehow helps the process.

Jazz-hands, dahling, jazz-hands!
We have almost got a complete cast! Whoopee! All we want now are ten or so good people to run around like mad-things being soldiers and servants and...well, madmen. Not a lot to ask, is it. Or is it?
Huge thanks to Simon Fox, who has stepped up and taken on the role of the rather nasty Oswald. And also to  Jason Smith, dragged along...sorry, asked nicely by Gil if he wanted to take part. No accounting, but I'm so glad he agreed. Jason will be playing three parts: 
the King of France, a servant and a Captain of the Guard. He gets to marry Cordelia at the start and, by the finish, gets the commission from Edmund to kill her. Oddly satisfying in some respects...markedly unsettling in others!

Simon Fox (on the left) - already asking where to stand.
Jason Smith (on the left) - needing help to stand
I'm gradually whittling down my list of things-to-do. Actually, it's really a list of things-I've-got-to-get-done-or-nothing-happens-including-the-play! The banners went up this past week; one outside the Tourist Information Centre (tickets now on sale!) and the other on the railings of St Clement's Church, beautifully visible to one and all as they enter the town. Thanks to Ernie for his help in getting that sorted. Sort of. Ask him, he knows all the sordid details! It's been a hard old year for many of the traders in Dartmouth, but I've been out there having a natter, trying to glean advertising from them. You've seen the film, haven't you, where a character says something along the lines of 'You'll get this when you pry it from my cold, dead hands'? 
Bit like that in the shops round Dartmouth at the moment...
Actually, many of the traders and companies are being hugely supportive of this year's production, even the new guys, which is promising. So we keep battling on and eventually  Janie will have enough to go in another lovely programme; she is working on it as I type. Going to look excellent. She's found some great pages that will compliment the overall effect and in particular, Shaunagh's superb painting.

And finally: apologies for the weird layout of the pictures, but blogspot won't let me do anything else...and, to be honest, it's been a long day and I can't bothered to figure it out now. Maybe tomorrow. Or the next day.

So very, very studious.



This is not the one you're looking for...



























Is it safe yet?











Points a lot, doesn't he?

Thursday, 23 May 2013

Peacocks and Princesses.

Well that was fun. And it didn't take as long as I thought it might; about three hours, all told...with a two hour drive each way, obviously! 
Bath Theatrical Costumiers are very fine and the lady's who work there really know their stuff. I mean really.
It also helps if you have a pretty clear picture of what you want the characters to look like and a defined colour schematic from which you can work. Adjustments are allowed...and we did...but it speeds the process.

Jenny, Barbara and I wandered amongst the racks, jaw to the floor; the place is crammed with everything from medieval (that's us) through to modern and just plain fancy dress. We had three ladies trotting around, grabbing jerkins from racks and dresses off hooks, debating the pros and cons the while (usually between themselves) and pretty much deciding for us. 
'What about this for Regan?' Says Lady 1.
'Mmm,' says Lady 2, demurring, 'I think we've got something that...here! This one. And I've got a lovely belt, pouch and hat that goes...' she rummages in a wicker casket, '...here you are. Lovely isn't it?'
Yep.

First thing I spotted when I arrived, up on a shelf, looking very fetching, was a full-face, silver helmet. My immediate thought was 'Edgar'. It's hefty, stylish and thoroughly brilliant. Should keep Sam (Edgar) happy.
Edmund and Knight One will be rocking the fugitive-from-a-leather-club look, very in this season apparently, and Lear will be regal, red and also slightly leather-bound, like a first edition.

Funnily enough...and it makes a bit of change when you're talking about costumes for a Shakespearean production...the male costumes seem to be the more sumptuous this year. They're all going to be peacocks. The ladies aren't forgotten in the pageant though: all dressed in the appropriate house colours. Lear - red with trimmings; Cornwall - green and gold; Albany - mainly blues; Gloucester - yellow with flashes of green to show his allegiance to Cornwall -  and Kent...well Kent is quite flashy at the outset but tends to dress-down after banishment.  
It's all going to look rather splendid, it's just a pity that the camera went flat and I'd not brought mine, so I'm afraid you're just going to have to wait a bit for photos! Oh yes, and we got Lear a rather natty crown.
Oswald is going to be dressed in a splendid bit of kit, way above his station, but then that's Oswald all over...hang on, I hear you say! You haven't cast Oswald yet!

In Other News: We've got an Oswald. I've managed to persuade an old friend of mine to tread the boards again after...I think 'several' is the word to use here...after several years away from this sort of performing; he does play in band, so he has a similar pedigree to someone else I know.
His name is Simon Fox and I also know he will be perfect for Oswald and will slot into the company very, very easily. Doesn't solve the problem of France et al, but we're moving in the right direction.
We've also taken a step closer to having some other events happening round town during Shakespeare week with the news that Royal Avenue Gardens are free and we can hire them! So I'll let you know what we've got going on for definite when we know.

And I'm going to take another moment to mention all the amazing hard work that the cast are putting in. Books are already going down for some of the scenes, which is fantastic, and the characters are now taking a recognisable shape...it's wonderful to see. 
Note to self: find a rehearsal prompt. Our lovely Margaret, who normally takes on this task, can't be with us this year, and they are some very large boots to fill.

Also been batting about Dartmouth, exercising the silver tongue, trying to persuade the businesses to take an ad in the programme. Our advertisers, sponsors and 'friends' are, apart from the audiences, obviously, the financial life-blood of any undertaking such as this. Year on year, they come up with the goods, either in cash form or by way of offering services for nothing. Everyone has had a hard time of it over the last couple of years, yet they always seem to manage to dig that extra little bit for Shakespeare. Thank you. If you'd like to be a 'friend' (you get tickets!!) you can always drop me a line, the address is on the web-site.
Now then...what else do I need to do?









Wednesday, 15 May 2013

It's The Little Things...

Seems like a long time since I took to the keyboard and put something here...and checking, I find it has been! Busy, busy, busy is all I can offer by way of an excuse. Actually no, not an excuse, a reason.
We're well into initial rehearsals as I type; blocking complete (but still being tweaked); actors getting to grips with their characters; peripherals dropping into place nicely...it's all feeling rather good!

As we run through various scenes, placing people more effectively, talking about what the character is aiming for (I hesitate to use the word 'motivation'), generally getting a 'feel' for the whole, it is the little things I seem to notice above all else. It's obvious to me - and I might be wrong, but I like to think not - that the guys have been reading the script and thinking about the skins into which they are climbing. They're getting, dare I say it, excited by the prospect of playing these characters? Several instances of me asking them to do something and them pitching in with their thoughts of what character should do...and, in nine cases out of ten, it works. They're working the roles. They get it.
There's a look on someone's face, during a break as we chat, as they feel another little piece of the puzzle drop into place, as their character begins to stand straighter in their minds, as they recognise him or her as themselves. It's very exciting!
And there's the chemistry that develops between the characters; I'm watching it grow through each rehearsal. There were several moments at the last get-together where something clicked and a scene started to really flourish into a thing with a life of it's own; that will become incredibly moving and poignant. Or particularly unsettling, planting a seed of understanding in an audience in both instances.

This little patch of ground that we have carefully turned and raked and planted will, in the fullness of time (although not too much time!), begin to bear fruit of the most amazing sort. As the books start to go down (just sayin') the real physicality of a performance will also start to develop more fully...and Lear is a very physical piece of theatre.

Another 'little' thing of note was the arrival of some of the flags we're going to use. Beautifully realised by Lyndall (thankyouthankyouthankyou!), it's another piece that's dropped into place, for me anyway, that makes me think that the time is drawing ever closer when those flags will be seen by hundreds of people within the context of what we're trying to achieve. I try not think of the scale of what we're doing; the last thing I need to be is a gibbering wreck by the middle of next week. Yet it is a huge undertaking and, thankfully, I have a brilliant cast and wonderful back-stage crew who are all beavering away. The frantically beavering away bit comes later!
Jenny (our wardrobe manager) and I will be heading off to the costumiers next week for a rummage and attempting to get the perfect mix that will compliment not only the actors but their characters. Getting that bit right, and you can't doubt the importance of this as far as I'm concerned, is paramount. It bolsters the whole incredibly and gives the cast something else to add to the arsenal of their performance. That, too, is very exciting.

The back-stage communicators arrived this morning and are currently on-charge before we wander about the flat aimlessly, testing those little suckers out. Now the crew can talk to each other without having to send runners or carrier-pigeons. A small development, but another little thing that will make all our lives easier on the night(s).

In other news:
still looking for an Oswald, 
still searching for a King of France/Servant 1/Captain.
Not panicking, not even breaking a sweat...well, maybe a small sweat. The calls have gone out...I await a response. 
I hope the rest is not silence!