The Unsung Hero
This week has been crazy…so much so that I’m spending the entirety of today putting everything back together, my house, my bags, my files, my car…crazy…for some reason staging Dumb Waiter seemed to be more demanding than other performances – whether it was the nature of the plays, the amount of people involved, the venues or a combination of these things I’m not sure…
I could write a great deal about the production and the things that delighted me about it…the more than impressive performances of Danny and Trev in creating such an intense atmosphere with such a challenging play…the ensemble magnificence of the Black Company in their performance of Blackout…there’s also a lot to be said about selling out all three shows one of which was seen by lots of people who hadn’t seen any of YTYT’s productions before this week…and I was delighted by the support of past YTYT members who came to see it and responded so positively…
However, I’m actually going to write about something else…I’m going to write about the unsung hero’s and specifically about Ash. For all three performances he was stuck behind the set, in a dark and confined space, carrying out an integral part of the Dumb Waiter (he literally was The Dumb Waiter – an aspect lots of reviewers have commented is pretty much a third character) for absolutely no glory…without him the production simply wouldn’t have worked and the majority of the audience who then watched him in Blackout had no idea who he was or how vital and demanding his role was. This in itself is impressive but more so was the way he offered to help us so readily and then once he had taken it on made sure it was done to the highest standard with no fuss just reliability and precision. It’s a privilege working with someone who has so much sensitivity, so little ego and who I know I can trust absolutely to do the job well…
There are a load more unsung heroes who deserve a mention Danny, Trev and Oz for transporting hideous mats and the ridiculously awkward to carry Dumb Waiter up and down hideous stairs – I have such an aversion to mats now, Ian for designing and constructing the Dum Waiter…no easy thing to do, The Hop for accommodating us so well, Wes for supplying us with scaffolding, Jess for the programme, Gemma for keeping the rest of Yew Tree going and of course the delightful Lucy and Emma for attending every single performance…none of those people took a bow for what they did and all of what they did took effort and dedication and was done without any desire to be rewarded…
So yeah…all hail to the unsung heroes…I have the pleasure of working with many of them week in week out and just thought this week I’d give a little bit of credit where it’s due…
I could write a great deal about the production and the things that delighted me about it…the more than impressive performances of Danny and Trev in creating such an intense atmosphere with such a challenging play…the ensemble magnificence of the Black Company in their performance of Blackout…there’s also a lot to be said about selling out all three shows one of which was seen by lots of people who hadn’t seen any of YTYT’s productions before this week…and I was delighted by the support of past YTYT members who came to see it and responded so positively…
However, I’m actually going to write about something else…I’m going to write about the unsung hero’s and specifically about Ash. For all three performances he was stuck behind the set, in a dark and confined space, carrying out an integral part of the Dumb Waiter (he literally was The Dumb Waiter – an aspect lots of reviewers have commented is pretty much a third character) for absolutely no glory…without him the production simply wouldn’t have worked and the majority of the audience who then watched him in Blackout had no idea who he was or how vital and demanding his role was. This in itself is impressive but more so was the way he offered to help us so readily and then once he had taken it on made sure it was done to the highest standard with no fuss just reliability and precision. It’s a privilege working with someone who has so much sensitivity, so little ego and who I know I can trust absolutely to do the job well…
There are a load more unsung heroes who deserve a mention Danny, Trev and Oz for transporting hideous mats and the ridiculously awkward to carry Dumb Waiter up and down hideous stairs – I have such an aversion to mats now, Ian for designing and constructing the Dum Waiter…no easy thing to do, The Hop for accommodating us so well, Wes for supplying us with scaffolding, Jess for the programme, Gemma for keeping the rest of Yew Tree going and of course the delightful Lucy and Emma for attending every single performance…none of those people took a bow for what they did and all of what they did took effort and dedication and was done without any desire to be rewarded…
So yeah…all hail to the unsung heroes…I have the pleasure of working with many of them week in week out and just thought this week I’d give a little bit of credit where it’s due…
Comments
Post a Comment