Blog by Rebecca Bradley

Right so it’s the Sunday before rehearsals start so I’m just reading through the script and continuing my work on the Scottish accent. I’m so excited about the play but my main worry does have to be putting on the Scottish accent and doing it well, but that’s not stopping my eagerness and excitement.

I’m on a summer break from the acting course at Queen Margaret University at the moment, which has been lovely, free time and sunny days, but it’s great now to have a project, something to work towards. I really am looking forward to getting my teeth stuck in to the characters of Nancy, Nell and Jean’s mother. So far I’ve been researching Burns life and work to grasp a better understanding of what life was like and the living conditions of that time.

Can’t wait for tomorrow, get to see where we’re performing, meet everyone and do a bit of singing, great stuff.

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Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yup, that about sums up my level of nervousness and excitement at the prospect of trying to do justice to arguably Scotland’s favourite son….EVER!!

I was amazed, humbled and terrified in equal measure when I was informed that the role or Burns was mine. I have been a great lover of Burns’ work from a very early age and competed in many Burns recital competitions throughout primary and high school. I even based my drama school ‘Movement Assessment’ (possibly the most daunting thing I’ve ever done, considering how ‘gracefulness impaired’ I have always though of myself) on debatably Burns’ greatest masterpiece, Tam O’Shanter.

Now I find myself trying to bring the great man himself to life and one question stands out like a sore thumb every time this concept springs to mind…WHERE DO I START??

Thus far, I’ve spent most of my spare time reading various biographies, guides and opinions of Burns and I think I’m starting to get a better understanding of what is a very complicated individual. From such humble, agricultural beginnings, it is fascinating to see just how far his talent and passion for the written word would take him…and yet how unfulfilled it would ultimately leave him without the love of a good woman (or twelve!!) to share it with. I was also very pleased to learn that, contrary to popular assumption, Burns’ was actually around 6’2” tall (only an inch and a half less than myself, as opposed to the 9 inches I previously thought I had on him) and was not quite as slim as many of his statues etc would tend to suggest…which considering he spent so much of his early life toiling in the fields, would seem to make sense also. I’ve got a long way to go to match his trademark “sideboard” facial hair, but I’ll give it a bloomin’ good go!!

All in all, I am incredibly excited to get started and really get my teeth into this amazing character!

Here tae us, wha’s like us…?!

 Lee's First Blog
 
With only a few days before the start of Rehearsals, now feels like a good time to start blogging! I have spent a good bit of this week working with my good friend (The Puppet) trying to gain a bit of confidence with my puppetry skills which prior to this week were pretty non existent, but we will get there! We also spent a day at The Mining Museum in which we had a great deal of fun with the publicity shots at various locations within the museum, which apart from the unusually hot weather was exciting stuff! Need to go through the novel one more time before Monday which i will be doing with Puppet in hand, as I have found this the best way to practice thus far! We also had a costume fit the week before last which was the first real cast meeting. This was a first for me….wearing tights is surprisingly comfortable….but removing them was a challenge in itself! Cast and crew seem  to all get along splendidly and i'm looking forward to the adventures ahead…

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First Rehearsal – Andrew Warnock (George Bailey)
 
For some time now I have been looking forward to this project with equal measures of excitement and trepidation.
 
Lets take the latter first. How could anyone approach such an iconic and well loved character as George Bailey and not feel a little overwhelmed? The story of Its A Wonderful Life and the characters therein tend to mean more to people than those of other Movies. So many people (me included) have grown up with the story and have attached a great deal of sentimental value to it over the years. For anyone taking on such a story, the fear of being compared and coming up short proves a gigantic psychological barrier and in weaker moments you just can't help but imagine a sea of dissappointed faces, shedding tears and wondering how you could do such a thing to them.
 
That's the trepidation part. And the Excitement? All of the above reasons. The challenge of taking something that people think they know inside out and presenting it as something new and fresh and relevant. The prospect of illuminating areas of the story that maybe people didn't see before, or at least hadn't thought of.
 
Anyway, it was with all these thoughts swimming round my head that I arrived for the first rehearsal. The day got off to a shaky start, as the rehearsal space at Roslyn Glen Hotel was unexpectedly shut. This proved a brief and minor set back and actually allowed us the opportunity to walk along to the nearby Chapel (one of our performance venues) and have a good look round. That done, we returned to the Hotel and got down to the business of analysing the text and breaking it down into small workable chunks. This is a vital part of any rehearsal process as it helps the cast towards a greater understanding of the story and the part they will play in it. The cast assembled here have thrown a lot of interesting thoughts and ideas into the mix and I am already starting to feel excited about the direction that the story might in go and the way its characters will develope. 
 
All in all, its been a fruitful first day.
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