Obvious Omissions

I love the fact that however long you do something for there is always something you can learn about it or simply realize you’ve lost sight of something valuable…

As you have probably guessed this week included an example of just such a thing.  We’re in full swing now with rehearsals for Remember the Oaks – the performance is just around the corner.  Until our latest rehearsal I was getting frustrated because despite the hard work of everyone concerned the production was undeniably lacking something.  We’d not made very much progress over the last couple of weeks and I was beginning to worry about whether we were going to get it where we hoped by the deadline of the performance.

Remember the Oaks is a complicated show – it spans 150 years – it is inspired by real life events and it will be seen by an audience that includes people whose families were affected by The Oaks mining disaster (a tragedy that still qualifies as England’s worst mining catastrophe)  What’s more, all the money made on tickets will go towards enabling the NUM to build a permanent memorial to the men who lost their lives in it.  There’s a lot of pressure to get it right…not great when things aren’t falling into place as they should be.

Happily all became clear on Saturday – I suddenly realized that I’d not allowed my actors to develop three dimensional characters – in my haste to make the production become cohesive and run smoothly I’d not given the actors space to stop and think about who they were during the play – what the people they were portraying needed – where they’d come from, what they hoped, what they feared – basic, basic stuff.   I just assumed it would happen – that the actors would know…I can’t believe I missed such an obvious omission.

This meant that also on Saturday order was restored – an investment in character development of 45 minutes at the start of the session and the difference was remarkable – I now have the depth I was looking for – the characters are believable and honest and a true reflection of the community at the heart of the play.  It would be great if you could come and watch it to see the results of our efforts and artistry!