It's The Little Things, Part Two...

Sometimes it's not unlike having very young children...only a proud parent notices those tiny little changes: s/he doesn't stagger quite so much when taking those first, practice steps; that tooth is slightly larger than it was yesterday and it's taking her/him less time to hammer the square plastic peg into that very triangular hole!
Such it is, I have to admit (and with no embarrassment whatsoever), with me and King Lear. I see those little steps, that larger tooth and the ease with which people are sliding into that aperture that they will inhabit completely by the end of July.

You want us to do what?!!?

Above you can see our Lynne, who is this year choreographing the Bedlam Beggars during one of the less conventional scenes we've (actually,I've) decided to put into the play. Now being the busy lady that she is, this rehearsal (11/6/13) was one of the first that she has come to since we've been at the castle...I seem to recall her coming to one of the initial blocking sessions in April...and, with it having been such a time, I got the impression that she was, quite frankly, amazed at what we had achieved. She noticed the differences that I see, but she saw them on a larger scale; I see them week on week. It is rather a strange feeling, but one that I love.

Like this?

The books are starting to disappear even more rapidly now and people are becoming more physical, starting to incorporate actions with the words. For those with larger roles - and there are very few parts in this play that are what could be termed small! -  it's a bit of an ask; like poor ol' Sam up there, looking askance at Lynne and thinking 'This and swords and madness and more swords...what the hell am I doing?' But, like everybody else, he smiles and gets on with it. We do actually have a laugh, as you've seen. But here's more proof, as if it were needed!

Case in point, with regards to the physicality thing: coaxing Lear to the Hovel was something that was going to be difficult to stage without it being mawkish or too downbeat...but the clue's in the writing and what Will put at the close of that scene...a lovely little song, that some may just remember from Twelfth Night. A sequence of Keith's pictures gives you an idea of how we solved the small (in the greater scheme of things) problem of getting his lordship out of the rain!

All problems, or perceived problems, can have a simple resolution...it's just a matter of looking hard enough or actually opening your eyes, in this case, and seeing what the guy wrote in the first place.

And so we move on. It gets better, it gets more complicated, it's getting to the point, for me at least, where we can start running the whole together in longer and longer sections, giving us all a better feeling for what the play is. 

All those long-suffering people, standing stoically in the rain, waiting for their entrance and to say their piece. Marvellous, every last one of 'em. And yes, we do get rain.

But it dampens nothing but the hats...and there's a wonderful selection of those to be seen wandering round the car park!

Some of the Reasons Why.

No better place to rehearse...probably in the world

Not the main reason why we do what we do...I say 'we', I can only speak for myself here, really...but it has to said that there can few, if any, better places to be when you're in the throes of rehearsing what amounts to a pretty dark and moody play. Even when the sun don't do the shiny thing, it's still pretty special. I'm thinking of that rather odd read-through/rehearsal at the end of April...something most would like to forget, I think...yet even that had a special sort of something about it.

What is it that makes what we do so special that we keep on coming back, year after year - and sometimes even more frequently - and putting ourselves through the mill?
Surely can't be the love learning lines (acting would be brilliant if only there weren't lines...s'pose I should have gone in for mime) or finding a new way of walking that better puts across a character or speaking in a silly voice or colouring your hair red...the list is apparently endless for whatever this thing isn't. Here's a clue...for me at least...as to what it is.

Some of it is down to the group of people, that you've come to know over those years, that have become friends and co-conspirators in that alchemy that is theatre. We have fun. Simple really. Sharing the (not so) simple aim of presenting a story and telling it with as much style, panache and relevance that you, as a group, can muster.
Yeah, it's hard work. Sometimes, after a day doing whatever else it is you do, the very last last thing you need is a car journey (a long one in some cases) and some bloke telling you that you need to be standing there, not there, or you need to show more urgency/anger/fright/love/bewilderment. Bewilderment's fairly easy sometimes!

There are times, when you've agreed to do something or go somewhere, that the all too familiar feeling washes over you...I really don't wanna do this; yet, down there somewhere, in wherever it is these things happen, a little voice pipes up 'Yeah, but you know you'll enjoy once you're there.' And for me, driving into the car park at the castle invariably lifts me and I get that tingle of anticipation. Doesn't matter if I'm directing or turning up to act, that little roman candle of expectation goes off and suddenly any lingering misgivings are not there any more. That's one of the reasons.

I've always been told (not least by certain teachers) that I've got an 'over-active imagination.' ('Max could accomplish so much more if he'd stop day-dreaming and knuckle down to some hard work' Thank you Mr Leitch.) Well thank...insert your deity of choice here...for an over-active imagination. That's the thing that gets me straining at the bit when I see something up there on-stage that has a spark, a frisson of potential that will, knowing the people involved, become something absolutely dynamic. I see it, with my over-active inner-eye, as it will look when it's lit, when the music's playing or the smoke's pouring across the stage and there are the shadows, waving their flags like ghosts, moving precisely the way you imagined it. I wouldn't be without my OAI...not for all the tea in China (other tea-producing nations are available).

Twenty five or thirty other reasons are all the people that appear and do 'stuff' as the time draws near. I'm sure everyone has their own reason(s) for being at the castle and having the pointy-man running around rearranging things and changing his mind surely isn't on anybody's list...but whatever those reasons maybe, I'm glad.

And then, of course, there's that moment. Lights, S/M calling beginners please and the music kicks in and we're off. All too soon, or so it seems, it's over and then there's the applause and lots of smiling faces leaving the auditorium. And that's a really really nice feeling.
And if you don't agree...I'll send my little friend round, he's very persuasive!

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?

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?

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!

We're Out The Gates!

The wild and uncut stage as we begin to block. Lear, Kent and The Knight
doing the business - dunno who the bloke in the hat is though!

We took the first, faltering steps along the road to August last night...and it was a huge amount of fun. Well, I thought it was; I've only had response from a couple of people, but that was pretty positive.
As someone said early on in the proceedings, 'It doesn't seem like a year since we were up here doing this; it's almost like we've never been away.'
Never was a truer word spoken! There's a particular atmosphere to an ITC rehearsal at the castle; it's full of laughter, yet everyone gets stuck-in and the work rattled along at a fair old pace. We didn't get all the first act blocked but it actually didn't matter that much. What did matter, to me at least, was that a group of friends, old and new, came together and started working on something magical. And it did, it felt magical.
We were blessed with a beautiful evening and the moon did it's favourite trick of appearing and casting its light across the water and on to the departing actors and techies.

Shaunagh Radcliffe as Goneril and Jon Miles as Lear (in the foreground),
being watched by Shahar Lashkor as The Knight, as the play progresses.

It's obviously early days yet and we've a shed load of work to do, but everyone came and did their bit, starting to get to grips with some of the most complex characters that Will ever put down on paper. And it seemed appropriate that we started the whole thing off on his birthday: not planned that way, but a serendipitous piece of timing.
The bonus for me was that, before the actual blocking started, a couple of the sound and light guys (thanks Dan and Ben) and our set-designer (and thank you Caoimhe) came along early and, after a conflab and a look about the setting, agreed that it would be possible to achieve everything that I'd scribbled down on various bits of paper and get the look that I wanted. Chalk another one up to having-a-go!

Cordelia's hiding behind that bloke in the hat - who is he?

Thanks to Janie for firing up her old camera - the one she usually uses went belly-up back along - and grabbing these shots of all and sundry. It's good have a pictorial record of what we get up to. There will be more and we'll put some of them up on the web-site too.
Finally, an appeal: if you know of anyone who might like to come and join our merry band, please, bring them along. We still have speaking roles and we still need a great number of actors to people the stage. It's not an easy job, and it's not just standing around looking pretty - or pretty bored! - these characters bring life and meaning to the play as much as any of the leads.
Come and have some fun. 

Ben Hamilton as Edmund, Ernie Wingeatt as Gloucester and him again.

Well I Think That's Everything...

The dreaded lurgy is, at last, receding and I can feel the energy seeping back into my brain which, until lately, had been replaced by a bank of cotton-wool. I have the inclination to write something and pass a few thoughts on about the upcoming blocking process. Yep, it's less than a week away now and as this blog's title infers, I'm at the stage where something will pop, unbidden, into my head and make me think 'Have I done that?' And go beetling off to check. Fact is, I've checked and re-checked so many things so many times that I forget what has been checked and what hasn't! There is little doubt, though, that there will be something that I've forgotten, although I have done my best to try and cover as many of the bases as possible!

Jenny and I will be heading off to Bath, in the not too distant future, to peruse their costumes and place our order for Lear and the Tech team will be assembling up at the castle, before the first blocking rehearsal, for the feasibility study (sounds grand but it's an exercise in me telling 'em what I want and them, having stopped laughing, explaining why it might be a tad ambitious!) and to get a feel for the lay-out. Lynne is gathering a tumult of talented people about her for the Bedlam Beggar ensemble and I, in the blur and blear of bare functionality, have been led to wondering about the people we are about to try and bring to life.

Who are they? I know we know who they are - Will gave 'em names and shaped them, to a degree, with his wonderful writing - but, really, who are they?
I've taken the 'advice', if you will, of another great of English literature, one Rudyard Kipling, and applied it to my search:

'I keep six honest serving men (they taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.'

I think that, by applying these questions to the characters we will, eventually, answer that final question of 'Who' they are. What happened to them, Why did did it happen, When and How did this happen and, possibly less importantly, Where? It's a bit like an equation, so we eventually get something along the lines of (WxW)2+Wh/H-Whr = WHO.
And every character will have his or her own specific equation to wheedle out who they actually are.
Why do Regan and Goneril apparently hate their father with such virulence? What caused that hatred to blossom? When did this occur/How did this occur? Why isn't Cordelia as eaten-up by this hatred? 
I've already put some character notes at the back of the scripts that the cast have, giving them my thoughts on what's going on with the major movers and shakers, but, as we progress, I hope to find out more about these people and, with the actor's help, we shall, I think, discover some interesting things about all of them. Some call it 'motivation', other's would say that it's the critical 'back-story', others might say that all we need to know is there, on the printed page. But I think that, by using our 'equation', it helps us not only understand the character we're playing but helps us help the audience understand the characters and the story better. Everything informs everything else so that, in the end (we hope!), we get a nicely rounded character that will still pose questions, still be enigmatic (if that is required) but that walks the stage as a complete person with whom everyone can get to grips.

Robert Lindsay as Edmund -
was he always a sociopath?

Charles Aitken as Edgar -
always the good guy?

I suppose it will always boil down to interpretation, but I hope that we, as a company, can achieve an interpretation that will satisfy not only the audience but the actors and, obviously, me!! Everybody has to believe that these people are real, that what they are suffering, what they cause others to suffer, is real. The tears, the laughter, the pain and, ultimately, the story behind what has been presented, are real. And I, for one, am confident that, with the group of people we have gathered for this feast, the outcome will be as real as is humanly possible. No pressure then.

And in other news...I finally managed to get up to the lock-up - despite the fug! - and see our new bits of kit! Thanks to Gil for taking them in and looking after them. They are rather special, it has to be said. We now have a portable (and it is portable) sound system that will save car batteries at rehearsals and a portable generator (and it is sort-of portable!) that will allow us to illuminate the stage area, also without draining batteries and causing general mayhem in the car park! Makes it safer too, should we need to go on past the setting of the sun.

You may recall that last year - our tenth anniversary - we were going have to some peripheral events going on, in and around Dartmouth. That, for reasons with which we are all familiar, was unable to happen...however! This year, it is a different story and there will be other stuff going on in the run-up to Dartmouth Shakespeare Week. There are several options in the pipeline, that have been researched by Lucy, and we will, quite soon it is to be hoped, be finalising some of these events and putting the news out there. It's shaping up to be the year we hoped last year might have been! All good news.