We have all had our own journey in these rehearsal weeks and every day has been different.   Some days you leave exhausted but uplifted, others you leave reflecting on how much work there is still left to do. During phone conversations with friends I find myself talking in a loud voice using strange words that only my characters would use and I dream about flying houses, high-lighted lines, diagrams and scribbles on scripts.  Nothing to worry about at all!

But, what thi...read more

From dog to Dog Boy

Theo seems to have got some tips for his Dog-Boy character from my excellent, detailed description of Badge.  In fact I am quite astonished by his increasing ability to dribble, wag his tail, bark, bite, present puppy-...read more

Man’s Best Friend

They say a dog is man’s best friend, so, being a stranger in a new place, I was delighted to make the acquaintance of Badger the dog in my new residence. Although, Badger doesn’t see very well, at all, and doesn’t move very much, at all, so my first cooking venture in his company may have caused some offence to the poor creature.

In search of cooking tools in cupboards, Badge was sort of, well – in the way. Every cupboard...read more

The Christmas Show is still running in Woodbridge, and in Ipswich we're already starting on rehearsals for our Spring 2010 Tour - The Long Way Home, written by Charles Way, who also wrote IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER which we toured back in the Spring of 2000.

So, we welcome Theo, Susan, Jumaan and James to ...read more

Brrr!!

The coldest snap in British theatre since ‘Romans In Britain On Ice' and we're all gallantly struggling through frost and snow into the Sir John Mills, adopting the very same ‘Dunkirk spirit' the Germans did as they advanced on the French coast in 1940; we must get there at all costs, take no prisoners, strafe, stab, kill.  Similarly we actors must also be strong in the face of impending unemployment as 2010 is upon us with a vengeance and the literal and metap...read more

Breaktimes and lunchtimes are fraught with diplomatic niceties in the first few days of any rehearsal period.  And of course one wishes to present oneself with professionalism and courtesy!  One tiptoes along pleasant conversational by-ways, making sure one does not say anything rude about any director, actor, production, or indeed...read more

"Don't worry! You'll be fine:  you're blind, and you've got a job to do..."

I'm writing this entry whilst being berated into participate in an ‘audience participation' sing-a-long... not to spoil it too much for you...

Richard's return (as composer) is imminent and a palpable feeling of relief that someone who is adequately qualified to direct the music fills the rehearsal. I'm off the hook (for one day, at least!) Hopefully he will like what we've rehearse...read more

The Lily of Lacuna or An Actor Pops One In.

The days may grow shorter and colder but new jokes are busting out all over, as if Spring had sprung betimes down Funnington Avenue.  But how can this be?  The play is writ: it is untouchable, the hallowed text shall not be interfered with, and each night the High Priest, Ivan, locks it away in the Holy of Holies, the Eastern Angles office safe.But this dear reader is not so, for by both night and day the Tinker Monkeys and Gagsmit...read more

"Yes, that's all very well, but where are you going to stick your gun?"

After a weekend of relaxation, skipping town and return for the morning's rehearsal, your here blogger has been greeted to the third week of rehearsals, which have an energy all of their own. The performance is in sight, all have worked hard over the weekend to get on top of their lines, and even the technical crew are starting to pin us down on set pieces and props.

We were welcomed this morning ...read more

Flu jabs!

Today was a strange day... it seems Eastern Angles are providing flu jabs for all its company! Well, you wouldn't want to watch a snotty Lady Fitztightly or Mrs Bonnet all night would you? It's not that we don't trust you, our beautiful audience, its just we know how hot it gets in here.

Rehearsal Week 2.

When it comes to doing Austen you're decidedly in Received Pronunciation Land, and that you might think would be right up my proverbial cul-de-sac, but apparently you've then got to differentiate between them.  Peppering the Christmas shows with dubious characters like authentic Arab street traders with Julian is always a lot more pleasant in that you egg each other on to more and more ridiculous excesses; I'm sure there is probably still a fatwa out on at least...read more

Week 2

People aren't really sure exactly what an assistant director is meant to do. Are they the personal assistant of the director? Are they just there to help the actors with their lines? Do they just make the tea for everyone? The philosophy I was taught, and have always experience as the best, is being an assistant to the production - or basically everyone's assistant. So, you could do all of the above, or none, if that's what the production need...read more

The third day of rehearsals and the Musical Director has arrived, so the building is full of singing - musical ditties that we know will be stuck in our brains for the next 2 and a half months! The Designer is measuring people up for costumes, and the set has started to be built....read more

Welcome to Christmas!

Yes, for us, Christmas starts on Day 1 of rehearsals, and we've just welcomed Greg, Sally, Sophie, William, Vera and Penny to the Sir John Mills Theatre. The Readthrough is when everyone involved in the production sits down and reads through the script. P...read more

The night before the Readthrough. Tomorrow we'll meet our new cast, and begin rehearsals for Egusi Soup. And it will be over in a flash. With so little time, it will have to be full speed from the off. Better keep the coffee flowing. They're going to need it. 

Week 1 of rehearsals.

I arrive at the first day of rehearsals with that typical feeling, a mix of excitement, nerves and that all too familiar sinking feeling created by a vivid imagination and professional paranoia; I walk in the room the director takes one look at me before his face drops and he makes a quick aside "We sent the letter to the wrong actress, I meant to cast the other girl!" Luckily for me this was not the case.

I was the only one out of the fo...read more

(1) What were the specific challenges in designing the set for SEA? Was a real boat considered?

I think Ivan did consider a real boat at first. This would not have been something I would have thought of because then I would have had nothing to design! Real boats are quite cramped anyway so not very conducive to theatre. I suppose a cross section had occurred to us but we quickly realised that this staging would not be very dynamic and always limit us to facing the same direc...read more

Week 1

Choosing digs is a daunting task. You're presented with a list of 30 or so names and addresses and minimal descriptions - double room, ensuite, own TV does not really give you much indication of what you're in for. There is no way of telling if your landlady is going to be a psycho or a nudist or a lesbian. So when I turned up at my Ipswich dwelling I was prepared for anything.

Turns out, my abode for the next 2 months, is an actor's dream! A beautiful ...read more

WEEK ONE - LEARNING THE ROPES

As soon as I read the script I knew that we were going to have to get to grips with a lot of nautical terminology. In my group recall we had come unstuck on the pronunciation of the word ‘halyard' - without even contemplating what it might mean. I'd read a bit of nautical fiction when I was younger - Joseph Conrad, C.S. Forrester, Patrick O'Brien - and had done some basic sailing at school, so in a way I think I had something of a h...read more

Week 1

And so, on Monday 2nd June 2008, it began. A journey that would change the lives of all involved. A rollercoaster ride of emotion, line-learning, actioning and jib sheet hauling... The 'We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea' rehearsals.

We started the week with company introductions, which is always slightly overwhelming (so many names to remember!), followed by a read-through of the play. After auditioning months before and having the script resting in my flat f...read more

There are five of us in the Mediterranean Mercedes van. Also sandwiches, Real McCoy crisps and the touring set from hell. There's not much you can't tell us now about Allen keys or Ref 22s, scaff clamps or gobos, Green King or backache. Nick Murray Brown. He's the tall one, looks like Oscar Wilde, playing conservationist Matt. Wields a Manfrotto lighting tower with the expertise of a caber-tosser at the Galashiels...read more