Company, Flexibility and Faith

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This week I have faced possibly the most challenges in putting on a performance I’ve ever experienced.  If I was honest this particular production was already a challenging prospect when I thought it was going to go smoothly.  A cast of 28 students, 9 performances in four days, 2 versions of the show (one conventional and one promenade) and an expected audience of 900 audience.  However on top of those exacting demands during the course of the week I had actors not turn up on the morning of the first full day of performance and then make it just in time, I had actors with missing costumes, I had understudies to rehearse in an hour before the last 2 performances and I had audience members who were bullies.  However not at any point did I think that we wouldn’t be able to achieve what we had set out to do…all the time these challenges presented themselves I had a certainty that somehow we’d be able to sort it out.  Happily we did and the resulting production was something that everyone involved in was exceptionally proud of…

At the end of the week I reflected back over the four days that had just taken place at break neck speed and tried to work out how we’d managed to make a success happen despite the odds stacked against us and I decided that it came down primarily to these three things:

The strength of the Company – the people in the cast and supporting the cast were brilliant, resilient and tireless in their efforts

Flexibility – whilst still keeping an eye on what we set out to achieve we were able to adapt and accommodate where needed to ensure that as the challenges came thick and fast we dodged, fought back, twisted, turned whatever was needed to make the performance happen.

Faith – I think because of the company and because the amount of time we had invested in our work I never doubted what we wanted to achieve was possible…this faith made me constantly seek solutions instead of giving up…

And it turned out that faith was entirely well places…so yes last week was a challenge but it was a challenge I, with the assistance of some brilliant people, met and so it was also an excellent week…I am thankful that in so much of my life I have those three things present so much of the time.

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