Beth is our Summer at Nostell guest blogger
Beautiful scenery, intense line-learning, doughnuts for breakfast, patchy sun burn and a whole lot of That's Out. It can only mean one thing - Summer at Nostell! One of the busiest weeks of the yew tree calendar, summer at Nostell is back and this year we see the return of last year's play - Party at the End of the World. This time round however the story holds even more historical significance as 2014 marks the one hundred year anniversary of the start of World War One. This meant being part of Nostell Priory's celebratory weekend and even a slot on Radio Leeds to promote the show. And so updated script in hand and cast old and new in tow, we embarked once again on our journey through the life and times of the Winn family. It has been lovely to see people developing, improving and adding new dimensions to the characters they played last year, people taking on new roles and giving them their own personal touch, and people brand new to the story and to the experience putting in outstanding first performances. Personally I swapped sashes for sequins as I went from suffragette to showgirl, trading my part of Ruth for Pearl. Each character came with it's own unique challenges and Pearl was no exception. Blunt, defensive, opinionated and a realist - that I can do, ask anyone. Talented, glamorous and exquisitely beautiful? That took a bit more work. Although I thoroughly enjoyed working with everyone, special mention must go to my fellow chorus girls who I spent the majority of the play with. Learning lines and lyrics was fun and stressful in equal measure but we finally managed to sing together in harmony (apart from the final note... Sorry... My bad...) and personally I thought we made a pretty good trio in the end. Though I can safely say that Danny Boy will be stuck in my head for some considerable time. All in all it has been an excellent and successful week once again. Last year's version was great, but this year's was fantastic. I only hope people enjoyed watching it as much as we enjoyed performing. And as I'm writing this on the Saturday it means that we still have one performance yet to do on Sunday afternoon and one last chance to step into the shoes of these amazing people. "..it has been a privilege to have the chance to walk with them"
Beautiful scenery, intense line-learning, doughnuts for breakfast, patchy sun burn and a whole lot of That's Out. It can only mean one thing - Summer at Nostell! One of the busiest weeks of the yew tree calendar, summer at Nostell is back and this year we see the return of last year's play - Party at the End of the World. This time round however the story holds even more historical significance as 2014 marks the one hundred year anniversary of the start of World War One. This meant being part of Nostell Priory's celebratory weekend and even a slot on Radio Leeds to promote the show. And so updated script in hand and cast old and new in tow, we embarked once again on our journey through the life and times of the Winn family. It has been lovely to see people developing, improving and adding new dimensions to the characters they played last year, people taking on new roles and giving them their own personal touch, and people brand new to the story and to the experience putting in outstanding first performances. Personally I swapped sashes for sequins as I went from suffragette to showgirl, trading my part of Ruth for Pearl. Each character came with it's own unique challenges and Pearl was no exception. Blunt, defensive, opinionated and a realist - that I can do, ask anyone. Talented, glamorous and exquisitely beautiful? That took a bit more work. Although I thoroughly enjoyed working with everyone, special mention must go to my fellow chorus girls who I spent the majority of the play with. Learning lines and lyrics was fun and stressful in equal measure but we finally managed to sing together in harmony (apart from the final note... Sorry... My bad...) and personally I thought we made a pretty good trio in the end. Though I can safely say that Danny Boy will be stuck in my head for some considerable time. All in all it has been an excellent and successful week once again. Last year's version was great, but this year's was fantastic. I only hope people enjoyed watching it as much as we enjoyed performing. And as I'm writing this on the Saturday it means that we still have one performance yet to do on Sunday afternoon and one last chance to step into the shoes of these amazing people. "..it has been a privilege to have the chance to walk with them"
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