We had the first evening of auditions last night - the next is on Sunday.
A very good turnout - I could cast the play from those alone, if I were to choose to. But that would be unfair on the people who are coming on Sunday, so I won't!
We've even had a couple of new prospective members coming along, with at least one or two more expected at the weekend. It's very gratifying that people want to join Ottershaw Players - we've obviously got a good reputation to attract new members - but unfortunately there aren't enough parts for all the exisiting members, let alone the new folks. I hope that if people don't get a part they understand that it's nothing personal!
The hardest decisions to make when casting are having to leave out someone who is a very talented actor. Sometimes they are just not physically right for the part (too old; too young; too tall; too short; too stout; too thin) and even though you know they would give a corking performance, if only the character was different, there's just no way you can shoehorn them in. I sometimes wonder, when telling someone these reasons for not casting them, whether they really believe you, or if they think it's just an excuse.
All I do know is that on Sunday night I'm going to have some tough decisions to make...
Friday, 29 February 2008
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
Readthrough
Last night we had a readthrough of the play. This is for the benefit of the group membership, so that people can get an idea what the play's about and if there are any parts they would like to audition for.
From my point of view it was a great success. Around 25 people turned up - most of them to read - and the majority will be auditioning. Which is great because they all read very well and lifted the script off the page to a certain extent already. I knew that the play was amusing, but I hadn't realised that it was drop-dead funny too!
Hopefully we also have a handful of people coming along to audition who were unable to attend the reading. If so, I'm going to be slightly spoiled for choice and at least half of those who showed an interest will end up disappointed.
From my point of view it was a great success. Around 25 people turned up - most of them to read - and the majority will be auditioning. Which is great because they all read very well and lifted the script off the page to a certain extent already. I knew that the play was amusing, but I hadn't realised that it was drop-dead funny too!
Hopefully we also have a handful of people coming along to audition who were unable to attend the reading. If so, I'm going to be slightly spoiled for choice and at least half of those who showed an interest will end up disappointed.
Friday, 22 February 2008
Ready... Steady...
Go!
Wednesday night we had our first technical crew meeting. Our fabulous stage manager hosted (thank you Lyn!) and Claire & David, our brand-new design team, showed us a model with their ideas for the set.
Our usual designer, Alan, keeps telling us that he wants to take time off from designing and building sets (though on most productions he will turn up with a fantastic idea and then build it anyway!) so this time around we've granted his wish.
Claire and David have been involved backstage with quite a few productions. Claire has wanted to do some set design for a while and the ideas she presented on Wednesday show a great flair for the job, even on a set which I asked to be very simple - just two standalone doorways and a window.
Most of the evening was spent discussing the set design and we batted around a few ideas about how it would work. Claire's going to incorporate a couple of changes - mainly simplifying the build of the window and swapping over the two entrances, from left to right and vice versa. We also discussed and settled on the colour scheme.
David has some great ideas for how to build the set and we're going to spend some time rooting around in our storage/build/rehearsal hut on Sunday to find flats which we can incorporate into the set.
Also on the agenda was wardrobe. My Mum is looking after this and already has lots of great costume ideas and has started sourcing materials and patterns.
We touched briefly on sound and lighting, but at this stage we don't have our personnel - our preferred lighting guy is happier getting involved a bit later in the process.
After 3 hours of enthusiastic and productive talk we finished up. Now we're looking forward to a reading and two audition sessions next week...
Wednesday night we had our first technical crew meeting. Our fabulous stage manager hosted (thank you Lyn!) and Claire & David, our brand-new design team, showed us a model with their ideas for the set.
Our usual designer, Alan, keeps telling us that he wants to take time off from designing and building sets (though on most productions he will turn up with a fantastic idea and then build it anyway!) so this time around we've granted his wish.
Claire and David have been involved backstage with quite a few productions. Claire has wanted to do some set design for a while and the ideas she presented on Wednesday show a great flair for the job, even on a set which I asked to be very simple - just two standalone doorways and a window.
Most of the evening was spent discussing the set design and we batted around a few ideas about how it would work. Claire's going to incorporate a couple of changes - mainly simplifying the build of the window and swapping over the two entrances, from left to right and vice versa. We also discussed and settled on the colour scheme.
David has some great ideas for how to build the set and we're going to spend some time rooting around in our storage/build/rehearsal hut on Sunday to find flats which we can incorporate into the set.
Also on the agenda was wardrobe. My Mum is looking after this and already has lots of great costume ideas and has started sourcing materials and patterns.
We touched briefly on sound and lighting, but at this stage we don't have our personnel - our preferred lighting guy is happier getting involved a bit later in the process.
After 3 hours of enthusiastic and productive talk we finished up. Now we're looking forward to a reading and two audition sessions next week...
Monday, 21 January 2008
It's Official
Hurrah! The licence for the play arrived from publishers, Samuel French. Which means that we can now officially put the play on. Which is good, given the amount of pre-production work we've done so far...
I also spoke to Claire (props and design) who told me that she thought the play was "fantastic". Not that I can take any credit for the writing, but it's good that people are anticipating a funny and entertaining production already. That should really give it some positive energy.
I also spoke to Claire (props and design) who told me that she thought the play was "fantastic". Not that I can take any credit for the writing, but it's good that people are anticipating a funny and entertaining production already. That should really give it some positive energy.
Monday, 7 January 2008
Rolling on
What with Christmas and New Year and getting ready for this year's Farrago, I've not done as much work on the play as I'd hoped. But most of the background technical stuff is getting done.
Last night I gave copies of the script to Lisel (my assistant director), Lyn (stage manager) and Claire (props and set-design). I need to get a script to Jonathan, our lighting chap and then get a technical team meeting organised for late-January or early-February.
I'm now very happy with the poster - and all the feedback on it has been very useful and encouraging. I'm glad I spent some time doing a re-design.
Last night I gave copies of the script to Lisel (my assistant director), Lyn (stage manager) and Claire (props and set-design). I need to get a script to Jonathan, our lighting chap and then get a technical team meeting organised for late-January or early-February.
I'm now very happy with the poster - and all the feedback on it has been very useful and encouraging. I'm glad I spent some time doing a re-design.
Friday, 28 December 2007
New Poster Design
I wasn't altogether happy with the posters I'd designed previously, so I got some advice from a professional poster designer on what may have been wrong with them.
His advice was spot-on and helped me to see some of the mistakes I'd made.
The concept was OK, and I've kept that (thanks Jo!) but the old poster was too 'busy' and cluttered and one's eye didn't know where to look next. Hopefully I've addressed the issues and made a design which is clearer, more concise and easier to read.
Click the poster over to the right there and let me know what you think...
His advice was spot-on and helped me to see some of the mistakes I'd made.
The concept was OK, and I've kept that (thanks Jo!) but the old poster was too 'busy' and cluttered and one's eye didn't know where to look next. Hopefully I've addressed the issues and made a design which is clearer, more concise and easier to read.
Click the poster over to the right there and let me know what you think...
Thursday, 13 December 2007
Character Notes
I spent some time recently going through the play making notes on each of the characters. Nothing too in-depth yet, but enough for people to know how to pitch a performance at audition and to give us something to build on in rehearsals.
It's nearly Christmas now and though we don't start rehearsals until early March, the time seems to be slipping past very quickly now. Auditions will be in late February and we will have a read-through in January so that the whole group can hear the play and decide whether they want to take part, or not.
I've also put together my rehearsal script. I take a photocopy of my script, blown up from A5 to A4, with the text on the left-hand page. The blank right-hand pages can be divided into columns for recording ideas about characters' actions, motivations, moves and any other ideas or notes which come to mind. This works alongside the 'official' prompt copy which our SM will keep and acts as a useful aide-memoire for discussions on characterisation.
It's nearly Christmas now and though we don't start rehearsals until early March, the time seems to be slipping past very quickly now. Auditions will be in late February and we will have a read-through in January so that the whole group can hear the play and decide whether they want to take part, or not.
I've also put together my rehearsal script. I take a photocopy of my script, blown up from A5 to A4, with the text on the left-hand page. The blank right-hand pages can be divided into columns for recording ideas about characters' actions, motivations, moves and any other ideas or notes which come to mind. This works alongside the 'official' prompt copy which our SM will keep and acts as a useful aide-memoire for discussions on characterisation.
Friday, 7 December 2007
Audition Dates
I've booked the hall for the auditions (Feb 25th and 28th, if you're interested), so now I just need to forge on with putting together an audition pack. I can't quite decide whether I will include extracts from the play in the pack to use as audition pieces. Part of me wants to do something different this time around. I may use some extracts from a different Wilde play and spend some time playing games and doing improvs, just to see how people react to that.
In other news, my very favourite stage manager has agreed to SM the show. Thank you Lyn! I can't emphasise enough how secure it makes me feel to have a good SM on board from the get-go. Not only do I know that the show itself will run like clockwork, from the tech rehearsal onwards, but there's also the small matter of knowing that all those decisions made in rehearsal will be diligently recorded in The Book for ongoing reference. It's also grand to have an extra pair of eyes, able to catch things that I may not spot straight away.
Actually, I'll have TWO extra pairs of eyes helping me in this production. One of the group, Lisel, would like to start learning about directing and has asked to be assistant director for the production. I'm glad to help and very willing to share my meagre knowledge, but I do worry slightly that I'm not a natural teacher by any means. I'm sure Lisel would be glad to do any odd jobs that may need doing - and I'll be glad of the help - but I have to make sure that I don't take that assistance for granted!
In other news, my very favourite stage manager has agreed to SM the show. Thank you Lyn! I can't emphasise enough how secure it makes me feel to have a good SM on board from the get-go. Not only do I know that the show itself will run like clockwork, from the tech rehearsal onwards, but there's also the small matter of knowing that all those decisions made in rehearsal will be diligently recorded in The Book for ongoing reference. It's also grand to have an extra pair of eyes, able to catch things that I may not spot straight away.
Actually, I'll have TWO extra pairs of eyes helping me in this production. One of the group, Lisel, would like to start learning about directing and has asked to be assistant director for the production. I'm glad to help and very willing to share my meagre knowledge, but I do worry slightly that I'm not a natural teacher by any means. I'm sure Lisel would be glad to do any odd jobs that may need doing - and I'll be glad of the help - but I have to make sure that I don't take that assistance for granted!
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
Only 6 months to go!
I've been making some progress on the pre-production of the play.
A tentative schedule has been mapped-out and I've started working on a scene breakdown.
I've also created a couple of poster designs which you can see at my other blog.
A tentative schedule has been mapped-out and I've started working on a scene breakdown.
I've also created a couple of poster designs which you can see at my other blog.
Thursday, 20 September 2007
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