Bookgroup Night - The Long Song

Once a month I attend a bookgroup in Manchester which I really enjoy. I've been part of it for a good few years now and its a lovely group of people, not overly serious, happy to have a relaxed chat and a laugh (and the odd glass of wine!), not afraid to disagree with each other, and not trying to show off how much they know. We read a wide range of books, everyone gets the opportunity to suggest something, from Sci Fi to Dickens. It gives me an opportunity to discover literature that I would probably never have read otherwise. Bookgroups should probably come on the NHS (although there might be a problem with the wine if they did!)

This months book was The Long Song by Andrea Levy. She was the lady that wrote Small Island which was dramatised by the BBC last year. That book won heaps of awards, and rightly so, I loved it. This book was set in Jamaica and was told from the point of view of a slave that worked an a plantation, around the time of the abolition of the slave trade. I'm a bit simplistic when it comes to books, I don't like clever clever authors, I like a good story, and I really enjoyed this one. Its a place, and a time in history, that I really don't know much about, and despite the potential seriousness of the subject matter it was told in a very personal, often funny, and very engaging way.

Next month's book is 'Half of a Yellow Sun' which I hear is great but quite harrowing, Gulp!

My Guest Blog

Nervous Times - Our first guest blogger hits the rehearsal room.

Alison- Risk Manager for Co-Op and keen Twitter user!

Gosh, well, where to start? That really was one of the most fascinating few hours spent in the company some of the creative team and cast behind the forthcoming Library Theatre production of Hard Times at Murray Mills, and my mind is whirring. Committing things to print in a way that will not bore you rigid though, that’s a toughie! I guess there are three main things that I want to focus on - what I saw, what my impressions were, and how I felt as an observer of the process.

Well first things first, a little about me, I am a theatre enthusiast, but have only limited experience ‘behind the scenes’, so excuse me if I get any terminology wrong. It’s also my first attempt at writing a blog, so bear with me.

I was so excited to be given this opportunity, but it filled me with trepidation as well. I’m aware that it’s a rare thing to be allowed to observe rehearsals, and I don’t want make a mess of this chance! So, I was a bundle of nerves as I headed off for the rehearsal venue (by the way Google maps, it takes nowhere near an hour to walk to Hulme from Victoria station, but Hulme Park is an interesting place to while away half an hour). I was met at the reception of the Zion Centre and introduced to a few people (whose names I instantly forgot!) and then taken to the actual rehearsal space where Chris (Director), Elisa (Assistant Director), Ed (Deputy Stage Manager) and a couple of the cast were assembling, with more cast arriving later.

In short, what I was observing was two sections from the second half of the play, and the basic pattern for approaching both was the same. Firstly everyone would sit in a circle, and the cast would read their lines, with Chris reading the stage directions. There would be regular pauses where Chris and the cast would reflect back on, not just what the words on the page said, but what the characters may have been thinking and feeling at that time, what they meant by those words and what in their experiences may have contributed to that. Then, using the benefit of those discussions to adjust the performance. Subsequently, the scenes would be fully worked through a few times using minimal props etc, to allow both creative, and practical aspects to be addressed. This makes it all sound very simple but it wasn’t, and it opened my eyes up as to how much is involved in turning words on paper, into a stage performance.

For example, the first scene, involving two of the actors, Gareth and Richard, involved a game of dice. They had to work through the rudiments of the game to get to a position where they were able to be comfortable with the gaming. There were also a number of design aspects that needed to be surfaced and addressed e.g. the table that would be used needed sides for the dice to bounce off (books were used to create temporary sides), the size and weight of coins that would be needed, what additional cast might be needed in the scene and how to transition between action and dialogue in a way that would keep the focus of the audience. Additionally, the finer points of how characters would react to each other, even how a particular character would laugh, referencing back to the book for clues. Throughout all this, notes are taken to pass to the relevant areas responsible for realising the ‘practical’ aspects of the production (props, music etc).

As an outsider, I was quite surprised as to how ‘collaborative’ the process was between cast and Director. For example, in the ‘in the round’ readings, Chris was asking the cast members what their character meant by a certain line and allowing them to explore their motivations in depth. It was challenging, and really highlighted how much preparation the actors had done at this relatively early stage of bringing a performance to life. I was quite glad I wasn’t on the receiving end of any of those questions! It was similar when the scenes were ‘acted out’. The performers were given a lot of space to make choices about how their characters would act and why, what felt right for them and to try different ways of approaching a scene.

Another thing that was highlighted to me, was, once you move from the ’read through’ to the ‘walk through’, how much more is added to the performance, and, even though detailed discussions had already taken place, how many more choices, and questions, in terms of the performance are opened up.

I was impressed by the agility of the cast in taking on board suggestions for sometimes slight changes that make a fundamental difference to the overall performance, and immediately incorporating them. For example, at one point the Director asked Lynda, playing Mrs Sparsit, to react in a slightly different way to a particular line, and the way she then interpreted this in her performance, added a whole new, and very funny, aspect to that exchange.

The atmosphere in the rehearsal room was very calm (apart from the terrified blogger in the corner) and incredibly focussed. At one point a storm developed directly overhead, there was thunder, lightening, pounding rain, and yet the cast didn’t miss a beat.

So, what was it like to be an observer for this short time? Well, everyone was very friendly and welcoming, even though they had this outsider thrust upon them, but I still found it hard to get over the feeling that I was gate-crashing! Chris encouraged me to join the circle when the cast were reading through their lines, but initially that felt so wrong, almost like I was the only person there that didn’t have a valid reason to be in the room. It was also very strange glancing up and seeing some extremely familiar faces looking back at me in the shape of Lynda Rooke and Roberta Kerr, people I am more used to seeing on my television screen. And, when I was at the side of the room watching the action, I was trying so hard to be unobtrusive I did forget to breathe a couple of times! But overall it was an amazing experience, which I feel so privileged to have been given, and I can’t wait to see the finished result in a few weeks time at the Mill. When hopefully, if I haven’t made too much of a hash of this, I’ll be blogging again!

An Opportunity and a half! Rehearsal eavesdropping!

So anyway, the long and the short of it is those lovely people at the Library Theatre either liked what I wrote, or were getting desperate, and I got asked to be one of four Guest Bloggers for them. What this was to involve was attending a rehearsal of Hard Times, and writing about it for publication on their theatre blogsite. And then later attending a dress rehearsal of the full show and blogging again. I was beyond thrilled to be given the opportunity, but nervous too as it was way outside my comfort zone.

The first of these two events was the rehearsal that I attended on 9th May. It was a fascinating experience seeing the process first hand. I've read a lot about the theatre, and even trod the boards in a very small capacity as part of a project at the Royal Exchange last year, but this is the first time I have had the privilege to see behind the scenes of a professional company. There was so much to absorb, I could have stayed there for days. I do wish I could have relaxed a bit more though. Everyone was very welcoming considering I was trespassing on their territory, and I usually manage a good approximation of appearing confident even when I'm not, so I'm not sure why I decided to go for the terrified look every time someone spoke to me!

I stayed for around three hours, and then headed for the station with my head spinning with thoughts and ideas of what I could write. I actually started on the train home, and then as soon as I got home I rushed upstairs to my computer to make a start at trying to put all that 'stuff' into some coherent form. And funnily enough, although I was absolutely exhausted by the time I had finished, I really enjoyed the experience, and was quite pleased with the end result. I'll post the actual blog as a separate entry - but if you head on over to the Library Theatre's Blog you can read mine and my fellow blogger's efforts - I find it interesting that we all picked up on different things even though we were essentially watching the same process.

An Opportunity - blogging about Lear

As I mentioned in my first post, a few people had been encouraging me to start a blog for a while, and I'd done nothing about it. A few weeks back though, an opportunity arose that kicked the thought back into my mind.

I saw a 'tweet' from the Library Theatre asking for guest bloggers for a site specific production of Hard Times that they are to stage at Murray Mills in Manchester. They were asking anyone who was interested to submit a short piece of writing to them about a production that they had recently seen. It seemed like a good challenge, and a chance to see if I really could write about my experience so I decided to have a go. Also, I had missed out on getting tickets for this production as it sold out so quickly, and part of the blogging experience was to see a dress rehearsal, so I thought it was worth a try. A few weeks before I had been to see King Lear at The Lowry in Salford Quays and I decided to use that as my subject. It was a bit of a rush job, but I was quite pleased with the result - this is what I submitted....
" Heading to the Lowry to see the Donmar Warehouse production of King Lear I have the nervousness of going to a Shakespeare I have never seen or studied - will I understand it, will I know who is who, or spend three hours attempting to look intelligent whilst actually somewhat out of my depth?

On arrival there is an air of excitement, this production has been sold out for months, and the cast is led by the legendary Derek Jacobi. No chance of getting near the bar or cafe so I purchase a programme to flick through, and am astonished to discover that it contains the complete play text - what value! Some programmes seem to be £5 for a bunch of adverts. On entering the auditorium I am amazed to discover that my 'third row' seat, due to the layout, is actually in the front row of the stalls, how exciting!

The set itself is startlingly simple, wooden planks to three sides with patches of whitewash and plaster - and yet, during the course of the play, due to the power of the performances, clever lighting and sound, and minimal props, I am transported to palaces, blasted moors, clifftops and more. Every performance was distinct and engaging. Whilst the character Lear is central, I was surprised to discover that he doesn't actually command the most stage time, and despite the star billing of Jacobi's Lear, this was a true ensemble cast.

The pace of the play was breathtaking, swift entrances and exits making full use of the stage, and I was gripped from start to finish. I am not a big fan of American-style standing ovations that seem to be fashionable these days, but this cynical theatre goer was one of the first on her feet when the cast took their bows. A truly memorable performance."

Hello

Well hello there blogosphere! Welcome to my ramblings (although I suspect I will be mainly be talking to myself!)

As a little introduction I suppose I should tell you a little about myself. My name is Alison, I live near, and work in Manchester, and I am slightly obsessed with all things theatre, with a little bit of other arts thrown in. There is actually a defining point when my interest developed into obsession, remind me to tell you about it sometime.

Because I go to the theatre so much, and get involved in arts related stuff when I can, a lot of people who know me have been encouraging me to write a blog for a while, but like most things, I never got round to it. However, just recently I have a had a few opportunities to try out my writing ability, which I have really enjoyed, and people have said nice things, so I think it’s time to give it a go. Also, I’m involved in a few other things this year that it would be nice to remember, including the Manchester Day Parade and the Manchester International Festival, so I might actually have something to talk about.

So there it is, my first blog post. Not exactly Shakespeare but it’s a start. If anyone other than me is reading this I hope you enjoy my musings, I’d love to have your feedback.

Alison