The challenges ahead...

Yesterday was so rich, rehearsals for three very different productions all of which are going to be real triumphs for their respective casts but equally all of which offer equally real challenges for their casts.

The first is “EverAfter” which will be performed at the Hepworth this Saturday.  It’s a short piece of physical theatre, which explores the darker side of fairy tales.  The absence of a linear narrative within the play requires a commitment from the cast in terms of their physical and vocal energy in performance to engage the audience.  It also, and this is the thing that is hard to achieve in a short rehearsal time, requires such precision and discipline in the actors performance.  Each and every movement on stage says something… adds to the impact the piece has on the audience…consequently any careless gesture or delay or absence detracts from or obscures the impression the performance makes on the audience.  Gold Company worked really hard yesterday morning to make this happen and all that is required of them now is to ensure that everything they say in the piece is given the care and effort that is needed, equally that everything they do has clarity and eloquence.   If all this is in place our offering to the audience in the gallery will be both rich and memorable. It would be lovely to see you in the audience for one of the performances.  The event is free and performances are at 11am, 12.30 and 2pm.

The second production currently in rehearsal is Alice in Wonderland.  This retelling of the classic story is a dance performance by West Yorkshire Theatre Dance Centre containing a significant amount of drama.  It’s a full scale production and we’re getting to the point in rehearsals where the various elements of it are being pulled together to form a whole.  For the performers this means really thinking about telling the story of their character through words and their interpretation and equally through dance.  Yesterday we had lots of conversations about the importance of not doing something for the sake of being seen to do it but rather being in the moment, the situation, the circumstances to such an extent that the action occurs naturally as a result.  The performers also have the additional challenge of not just needing to dance well but knowing what is being communicated through that dance in terms of character, story or emotion and conveying that to the audience.  It’s a big challenge with young performers but if we pull it off and I have every reason to think we will it will be an unforgettable show.

Lastly we had a rehearsal for our NT Connections performance of Hacktivists to be staged at the end of February.  With this production there is no physical theatre element or dance.  Hacktivists is all about character, dialogue, relationships and given circumstances.  It’s a demanding script that is dependent on the actors not only knowing who and where they are and what they are saying but also why they say what they say, what impact they are trying to have on the person they are talking to.  In order to get it to the standard expected of a Connections production we are going to need to work in such a detailed and specific way.  Despite the fact that we have already got a general shape and feel for the play in some ways the hard work has only just begun.  This week we focused on character – next week as well as playing around with torches we are going to be engaging in close script work to unpick the decisions and actions of the complex set of characters that occupy the Hackerspace…

By the end of Saturday I was both shattered and exhilarated but mainly I was inspired by the complexity of the craft of acting that no matter how long you observe, engage in and explore it, it never stops showing you more…more ways to approach it…more details to find within it…more depth to discover.  There is a misconception, especially in theatre involving children and young people, that it’s all about learning lines and saying them loudly…this doesn’t even come close to the reality and the 90 or so actors I worked with yesterday finished their day very much aware of the complexities of their craft and the challenges ahead of them but hopefully equally the reward that will come with meeting them.