'For goodness sake, I've got the hippy hippy shakes . . . '

Week 2

Where to begin? Two words. Zachary Holton, my fellow understudy. Some say he is the sage of british theatre. I am inclined to agree, if the sage has been left in a cupboard with no sunlight or water for several months. However, for a piece of dying sage, he is immensely dainty. A big friendly dainty hairy giant. Or, BFDHG for short. He would be a wonderful dame. (If this could be arranged I would be the most grateful man. Seriously. Someone please offer him dame.)
#betterthanbiggins not #lowbudgetgandalf.

 At the start of the week we began with 'The Transition'. An intricate set change from Private Ear to Public Eye. This involves the full company transporting you from Bobs dank flat into the swanky office of Charles Sidley. Did that. Easy. Moved on with the day...

 No.

It seems we found all the props. And yes we took the last lamp. (Referring to a humorous comment made in Week One Blog! Not ground breaking comedy. Light hearted.) It was confusing, complicated and sometimes very dangerous. I'm not talking about wheels falling off chairs . . . Chairs falling over when sat in . . . Un Safe Chairs . . . No.


...It was time for the room of no air or soul. The strobe lit oven! A room where even the air con has to given in to the heat and quit its job. It was time for this rehearsal room to meet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Chicken Soup.

It wasn't great. I imagine you don't get offered soup in a sauna for a reason. I digress.

I don't want to spoil anything by talking about The Transition. However, I will say this. It was tough but it is now beginning to look like a well oiled machine! Set and Prop Ballet! (The chairs have been made 'safe'.) There is slow motion! I've said too much.

(Here I am between Zac about to move a table)

This week Jasper discovered that we were casually using, as a prop, a Mont Blanc pen worth rather a sum of money. (Enough for several chairs. Zac checked.) People were shocked and surprised. I gasped but then sighed with relief when I realised Alastair had been chewing on the spare Parker pen, which to the eye looked similar, but to the wallet, was very different. It was safely returned home.

Rehearsals were full on. One play in the morning, the other in the afternoon. Every day. Intense. Scripts are merging in my mind. Amidst this was costume fitting time for our amazing cast. The costumes look super. Completely spot on 60's. With tailored suits, bright yellow knitwear and very chic dresses. We have also acquired some set. Not only the precarious looking chairs but also a sofa bed. Which broke within 2 hours of using it. Call in the power drills!

At the end of the week it was fantastic to watch both plays back to back with all the creatives. Much laughter was had and the truly poignant moments were emphasised by the silence that fell upon all who were watching. (It might have been the 8 extra bodies in the tiny oven room resulting in lower levels of oxygen.)

Oh, and Mike our company manager. Some call him Mike The Boiler but we don't mention it. He thoroughly enjoyed the plays. I assume he was thoroughly enjoying them with just his ears as his eyes certainly weren't watching! Zzzzzzzzzzzzz! It was the heat!

The plays look great and we can't wait to get to the theatre.

(Here I am on a chair watching the plays pensively)

(I must also mention that Siobhan sneezed whilst sat on the sofa bed the other day and also took a suspicious photo next to a sleeping Mr Blakeley. We will find the photo and put it on the blog.)