Go onnnnnn team...

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I’m going to devote this blog to a phenomena I’ve noticed getting more and more prevalent in rehearsals. For reasons beyond anybody’s control – illness, snow, ice, other performances, badminton matches…yep you read right…badminton matches…there’s been quite a lot of absence over the last week or so…but has this got in the way of being able to run our soon to be performed Christmas plays…? Has it fairycakes…and why I hear you ask. How on earth have you managed to stop significant absence blighting your penultimate run throughs? Well…funny you should ask…I’ll tell you how…because the sense of ensemble in my casts is second to none…that’s how…

In both Sapphire and Gold company it doesn’t matter what part I throw at my actors…who I ask people to stand in for, what I ask them to cover, they just get on and do it. There is no fuss, there is no ego, there is no hierarchy…there is just brilliant acting and pure ensemble working and it makes me so very proud…almost emotionally proud…I’m always so impressed by the bonus performances I get to see…

There are a number of reasons for this ability to function as such an ensemble…one of these, I would argue, is my retentive rehearsal practices…some people would say that my insistence on people watching, supporting, staying quiet, listening to all the direction that is going on is over the top for a youth theatre and they might have a point…however the result of this is that everybody knows everything about the production…and what’s more they care about it…and in turn this makes stepping up to the plate to cover for people infinitely easier. Much as I’d like to take all the credit I definitely can’t because the lions share of why they’re brilliant at this is entirely down to them. They’re good because they have a shared vision, because they care about what we’re doing and about each other and about the story and the play and about getting better at what they do. There’s a genuine passion and a genuine generosity…it’s a delight to witness and a joy to be part of …so yeah…cheers team,…because you are a real team and well done…

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