One final Midsummer Night's Dream then the whole run is ended.

 

We did the second extra show last night to our biggest audience yet – 89 tickets sold! They were like sardines in the chapel. I thought it'd be a goodly number, though on Mon only 30 had been sold – dunno were they all came from. Of course thoughts turned to what would have happened if we'd tried to sell Fri and Sat too – though sod's law we'd have probably sold none. So it was a good night to end on. We have a Corporate Evening tonight with post-show discussion, buffet and wine so that'll be interesting.

 

Sun came up this morning. Opposite to last night when grey coulds covered the sky. Just as we were about to begin (15 minutes late after getting all the audience into their seats) it started to rain. So we went inside. It was a raucous opening – I was still using my outside voice and had to tone down. Though plenty of energy and aggression. Did a lot of running outside as Deme and Helena don't charge through the chapel as the audience is coming back in. Really enjoying Demetrius. It'll be a shame to let him go. Second half was excellent I thought. Really enjoyed scenes and watching others playing and creating.

 

I'd like another month to run the show and develop it. It'd be interesting performing in different venues. Or doing the whole thing outside. Or playing on a procenium arch stage. Endless possibilities.

 

 

Thoughts of the shows:

 

Forgetting a pencil to write down the Lion's prologue and pretending instead

 

Sitting in the crypt trying to shut out the shadows that looked like strange ghostly figures

 

A dog belting around chasing its tail in the garden whilst Titania and Oberon argued

 

A large proportion of babies and kids coming to see a show that finished after 10pm

 

Bottom's tail repeatedly falling off and finding its way into other scenes

 

More anon.

OUR FINAL WEEK

 

Strange situation. Seems light years away at the start, then it just flies and here we are now. We've done a lot of shows, had a few dramas, had amazing audiences, lovely criticism and its been a brilliant journey. We have 4 more shows – 2 extra "normal" ones, plus a Corporate Event and a Charity Evening. An eventful final week.

 

Last shows last Frid and Sat were great. Friday because we began slow and had to encourage the audience and draw them in, and Saturday because similarly the audience were a little reserved. I loved that one particularly. Its been my favourite show so far. Now got 4 chances this week to top that and I'm gonna give it my best shot.

 

A friend of my Mum's is over from Australia and she came to see us last Tuesday. She liked it so much she made some truffles and brought them all the way out to Roslin for us. They were delicious. She's known me since I was wee and has seen a few things I've done now and she really loved MSD. That means a lot.

 

Don't think the audience is gonna be full tonight so it'll be interesting what happens. We started with a few smaller audiences and it was nice to build up to sell-outs. It might be a shock to see less in the crowd tonight, but they've all paid their money so we have to give it our all, as usual.

 

A lot of people have been interested in what the company is doing next. For the record, it is "The Canterville Ghost" – an Oscar Wilde story adaptation. We now have a core audience, a growing mailing list, and a lot of email contact with people and organisations interested in Nonsenseroom. It'll be healthy to keep building the audience – amazing that its taken as little as under 4 years to establish and grow such a thing – now there is a tradition of theatre at Rosslyn Chapel – one of the best performance spaces in Scotland – and the company should be proud of this. It listens to its audience and hopefully in tandem with them it can produce better and better shows in the years to come. And because of the ambition, the dedication, the talent and excitement of the company, its members and supporters, I want to be involved whenever possible.

Final Friday Night

 

 

Our last Friday. It was raining.

 

So we did our 3rd indoors show. Started at a real lick. Lotsa pace and aggression. I forget how darkly the play begins – threat of death to a girl who disobeys her father's will. I got the impression the audience was pretty clued-up about the play. They were following it really closely. So we had to encourage them to like the silly, knockabout stuff as well as the beautiful, profound things. And they did. All of us told the story very clearly. And they were laughing a lot and enjoying themselves. The final play within the play was excellent – really took off.

 

The director challenged us to shake ourselves out of our complacency and comfort zones which we've all fallen into in the last few weeks. Its kinda natural. We get used to doing things – standing here, moving there, delivering the punchline like this – mostly because it has worked well so far. But if we treat the audience and the event as a new one each night we have to discover everything afresh and this makes the production spontaneous and immediate. It was very rich last night. I found all sorts of new things and wondered why I haven't been doing this before. Demetrius had a whole new dimension to him. I was a little distant – thinking about a friend of mine who I just seen off on a train back to London and I was missing her. It was a kicking show therefore. Especially the scene where Demetrius tells Hermia that he loves her and she rejects him. Don't remember too much about that one. Pretty emotional. Coupla pints after helped.

 

Totally forgot to plug my Mum's show. Her drama group do a Fringe production each year and this year are doing "Lord Arthur Saville's Crime" – based on an Oscar Wilde story. I saw a dress rehearsal because our shows overlap. Its very good. They got 4 Stars in the Evening News and thoroughly deserve it. They're very good at Oscar Wilde or Shaw or anything 19th/20th Century. Their actors know about those old-fashioned essentials like posture, deportment, projection, etiquette, even a simple thing like how to fold their hands and cross their legs. Its amazing watching them because they do it unconsciously – younger actors like me have to work hard at these foreign manners. Its an education to observe. A current trend is that it doesn't matter how actors stand, sit, behave on stage because its more about their pyschological landscape and their emotional agonies than anything else. I think this is misguided. And obstructive when it comes to performing anything older than John Osbourne's work. I don't particularly care about what actors personally are FEELING. Feeling is a byproduct of Though. I do want to hear what they're saying and know what they want and I hope they have the stagecraft to best display this to an audience. I think this is what we spend a lifetime learning. There is always a better way to present something, a better way to say it. We're lucky we've had a long run at this play to discover all the ways we can. And watching older actors like those in the Makars diligently going about their work is the best inspiration we have.

 

A Dutch lady saw us in the pub after and she offered her congratulations. She liked the play very much. And she said the audience and the players "Were as one". There is no higher compliment.

 

 

Start of Final Week

 

 

 

Bizarre we're now at this stage. Always seems years into the future and now its upon us. 6 shows in the final week.

 

Last saturday was our second Gala Night. It went off really well. The audience has a glass of wine to begin with, then the show, then a post-show discussion, then more wine and buffet and finally a tour of the chapel. Finishes late but it's a nice thing to be part of. The discussion was really interesting. People ask fascinating questions. I've been part of some of these events where it becomes more about the cast displaying their knowledge and opinions which is always really boring. Its much more interesting to find out what the audience has to say. And so it proved. I spoke to a couple who divide their time between here and Chichester which has a thriving theatre that stages diverse, interesting shows and gets very good reviews. Others had never seen a Shakespeare play staged before. Hopefully they'll be encouraged to experience more of his work. A kid asked if it was easier to learn Shakespeare than other work. It is. The rythmn helps. The syntax and grammer creates the most perfect way of capturing a thought and it's easier to learn perfection than the next-best.

 

Talking of which I went to see "Troilus and Cressida" last night. Its part of the International Festival. It wasn't very good. Very long with no flow, no excitement, no pace to it. A lot of blackouts. And most actors couldn't do what's demanded of them in this highly complex, political and social love/war story. The leads were young and poor and it was unfair to expect them to carry this epic. A huge set and live music obstructed the actors. The exception to all this was the actor playing Ulysses. He was extraordinary. The clarity, stillness and economy of speech and movement was amazing. He had a lot to say but I could watch and listen to him all night. If our current political leaders spoke and performed as he did, held authority and bound us to their particular spell, they'd be very powerful, dangerous men indeed.

 

The challenge is to start this week with a bang and get some momentum behind us. Really push to a brilliant run until the end. I hope we can sustain it because I think last week we ran out of steam on Fri and Sat.

 

There is was a rumour we might be doing extra shows. It looks like we are. There'll be extra performances on Monday 28th and Tuesday 29th.

Just When You Think It's Safe

 

 

Turned up at the chapel on Wednesday to discover that a cast member was very ill and wouldn't be doing the show so the director was stepping in and reading the part. Drama at the chapel! Amazing how focused we all became! I lent him my script to peruse all his new lines. He hasn't performed onstage in 3 years. I salute his bravery. Another cast member offered to play the other character part at the beginning and we went thru the opening scene several times to get him up to scratch.

 

Got ready early and went through all the scenes with the director. He knew most of the blocking and the comedy business – mostly his ideas after all. Got him dressed, a few words of wisdom and we went on and did the show.

 

It was great. The audience had been informed of the circumstances and there was a good atmosphere to begin with. I've done one of these before when someone was sick and someone else stepped in and it makes it a great occasion. I think it makes the audience more involved – the night becomes a one-off for everyone.

 

The director was very very very good! He didn't need much prompting for blocking.  He did all the physical stuff and got the gags and the audience loved it. Though he was holding a book for all of it, apparently people didn't notice. It was a cracking show. We gave the director a special acknowledgement at the end. Then we ran to the nearest pub. I asked if there was any part of it he had enjoyed – he said: "The End."

 

I loved the excitement of the night. We all raised our game. Through fear perhaps. But it made the show zing. We need to bottle that excitement, that adventure, and release the cork every night. Anything that breaks us out of our comfort levels and makes us be uniquely involved in the drama of the show every single night. Then it becomes this wonderful one-off event each time we do it.

3rd Week

 

Somehow we've racked up 11 shows already. Dunno where the time goes.

 

This week started strangely. Had a really bad run personally on Monday. Out of sorts. Details were obscured and I wasn't comfortable. Overall energy was low and the show felt slow. The house was full but the audience never quite got into it – completely our fault and a shame we missed that opportunity. So we tweaked things, cut some lines and speeded up the play at the end. It hasn't felt like a fully presented play – rather a series of gags and physical comedy that doesn't build to any climax. We're trying to sort that. Last night was excellent. A good level from which to build further. Audience was fantastic. I had more energy to give and it paid off. It was a very strange evening all round but the show was great.

 

What do people do in their days? Some people work. People see shows. The Muppets show has gone down well with those of the cast who've seen em. As has "Black Watch" – an incredible piece of theatre and a brilliant advert for the new National Theatre. Going to see Peter Stein's "Troilus & Cressida" on Sunday. He's one of the greatest directors alive so am really looking forward to that.

 

I've been running and doing lots of exercise. And a lot of emailing. Roslin is a sunny place today and gives a lot of space for thinking and writing.

 

Middle of the 3rd Week and we may be losing energy so we need to galvanise ourselves and find ways to keep it fresh. A trick I've been using is to consvince myself its the last night I get to perform and this is the only opportunity I have to make it great. In a sense it is, as the audience only see it once and each night is a different, unique event. So far we've been fortunate with the weather and had 1 indoors performance. I like watching the audience outside. I think they have to work harder and are more involved with the scenes. Sitting down inside is more passive.

 

One thing about the Gala Show on Saturday was Bruce asked the audience how many had seen a Shakespeare show before. Most of them. Then he asked for how many this was the first time. A few put their hands up. So we have a responsibility. Hopefully after watching this people will want to go read his plays or see more shows. Its so important to make a good impression. Especially as people can be turned off his work at school, for whatever reason, be it poor, uninspired teaching, rebellion at authority, or simply boredom. It might be good to think of this as a first time for every member of the audience. And if we can present it in a fresh way to veterans of Shakespeare, so much the better.

Second Week of Run

 

 

Its Thursday. 3 down, 3 to go.

 

The Festival has started. Officially. Edinburgh is a mass of costumes, flyers, drunkenness and music.

 

Today's a birthday for one of the cast. Several people have birthdays around this time including the director. Its a sign we should all be working together. There may be a few drinks in town tonight after the show. And then a few more.

 

Show's in a good state. Audiences keep coming. My parents saw it on Saturday and liked it very much. My Mum said it was "a tour de force" and my Dad said it was "long". Fair enough, it is. But Mum saw it again last night and was more impressed. Said it has bedded in now and she enjoyed it more inside the the chapel – made for a more intense atmosphere, especially with the drama of the first scene.

 

Saw a programme about a guy who works in prisons in the US getting prisoners to perform Shakespeare plays. Amazing man of unbelievable compassion. And the process was the important thing, not the final performance. Very humbling to watch these guys looking deep in their souls for something of truth and hope. And of course they"get" Shakespeare. Their lives have only been fear and conflict and revenge and intolerance and love and loss and all the other themes no playwright but Shakespeare has been able to write about so clearly and beautifully. It sticks 2 fingers up to all that talk of the "relevance" of Shakespeare and (deeply-patronising) attempts to make it more "reachable" for "modern" audiences. Absolute crap. Just do the plays. And get on with it.

 

At one sticky point the prisoners got frustrated and the director had to calm them. He simple said: "All we do is we try and find the beauty and truth in the moment. And if we don't find it, we move on to the next and try and find it there."

 

Nothing more needs to be said.

End Of The First Week

 

We made it this far…

 

Got to the end of the first week of the show and it has been successful so far. The 3 shows we considered Previews – a time to get things settled and try things out. Now we have a platform to build the show upon. Celebrated by going out en masse and drinking until the wee early hours. Much jollity had by all.

 

Audiences have been very good. 60ish for Thurs/Fri and 70ish for Sat. A great start. Hopefully we can carry on at this rate. Tickets are selling well at the Fringe and most people are not local – they have to travel to get here. Which is a good sign. We wondered if they might be reticent to become audibly involved in the play since they are in a church and it is Shakespeare – both of which inspire a lot of reverence – but people have been warm and responsive so far. Though I think we have to do more to coax them into it.

 

Saturday was a good show. The best so far. Most involving and developed. It was hot too! Sweating buckets by the interval. Its good – it should cost us to do a play of the magnitude. The energy and excitement was great. I really enjoyed Demetrius for the first time. Quince is brilliant to do – a real treat – but Demetrius has been more elusive. Now I'm starting to find my/his feet. The first scene with Helena has been bugging me all through rehearsal and on the first night most of what I'd been working on went out the window because of the audience. They responded differently to how I'd ever imagined and it took the scene to a different level. A valuable lesson. Each scene is very different and its easier to concentrate solely on that moment rather than think of the play as a whole or this particular stage of his personal journey.

 

Now we have a full week ahead with 6 shows. Time to learn how to pace ourselves. Fridays and Saturdays are great to perform on because there is a freedom about the weekend. Audiences are livelier too. But the challenge is to live up to the standards we've laready set, and then better them.

Opening Night.

 

It happened. We opened. It was great.

 

Began at 3pm with notes on the previous night's run. The sun was shining and the omens were good. Got down to the chapel and moved the pews into postion and focused lights and got into costume and warmed up. Good atmosphere in the group. Some inspired words from the director and we started. I was really excited. No time for nerves – there's plenty to get on with instead.

Wednesday 2nd August

 

Last day of rehearsals.

 

Second dress rehearsal.

 

Its been raining all day.

 

But it brightens up and we decide to do our Outside scenes in the dress. They go ok. Seems like ages since we've done them in situ. Rest of Dress is ok. Good even. The pace was up. There's a very positive feel about it. Puts us in a good place to begin the run tomorrow night.