This week has been one of those weeks that seemed exceptionally stressful and hardwork!
Thursday evening we had our first full run though, with all sound, film and lights, which was also our tech/dress run. As usual it was very hard work for all involved! Stopping and starting, forgetting lines and movements, but to add to it all we had Shakera Ahad with us as an outside dircters eye! The pressure was on!... It actually went suprising well! We had notes from Mr Director Matt Harper and then Shakera added to them! Shakera's notes on the performance we brilliant, constructive and eye opening, that caused many discussions amoung the group of how best to improve our work. The key points she raised was to slow it all down, allow the audience to feel satisfied with each and every moment, allowing them to come to their own decisions about this fragmented production. She even enjoyed the singing, which if you are not already aware I am not at all confident with!
We left Thursday evening (at 12:30pm!!) feeling exhausted yet incrediablly proud of ourselves and our most wonderful team! Confident that the notes we had been given were going to be easy to intigrate.
Friday then happened, The performance day! We all individually had particularly bad days, I was the cause of a 93 year old woman having to call out an ambulance (Bad times!) After arriving at the space nearly 40mins late we had to set up! Mr Love and Mr Harper where the heroes of the day! They set up the space with the beautiful set that Andy built, and the vast amount of technical equipment that we required! (Sorry about that guys) This meant that us girls could do what girls do best and decided upon make up and hair designs, and then have a little preshow stress about lines and running orders! Miss Natalie Roe then turned up with all our magnificent costumes and props to finish up our look!
Although this performance was a sharing, purley so that we could get some audience feedback to carry on developing the show over the next few weeks, we wanted to show the very best we could at this stage in our process! I believe we did! The show ran smoothly, with only a few mistakes, that apparently the audience didnt notice (Matt and Andy did though! Ooops!) We remebered most of our lines and most of the running order and most of the movement, and to me that means it was a success!
Our audience was lovely, responsive and constructive. When the performance had finished we asked them to stick around and give us their feedback or email us when they had had more time to think about what they had seen. We tried to talk to everyone there and push them for feedback good and bad, and they didnt hold back. The great thing about the show is that most people had different ideas and perspectives on what the show meant to them personally, which was very rewarding as a practictioner and to our team. We have a great grasp on what was missing,and what our audience want to see more of, and thus feel the next few weeks will be very productive and exiting as we try to add all that we have learnt.
We are blessed with the most wonderful team of creative people, a trusting and supportive ensameble and an audience who will only strenghten the work we have produced.
We leave for the Brighton Fringe on the 26th May and hope that our audience there will be as open and empowering as our audience here in York! When we get back we are putting the finished product on at Monkgate (Upstage) Theatre, on the 5th and 6th June and hope that you will all come back to see how far we will have come!
Huge Thank Yous to Andy Love, Matt Harper, Natalie Roe, Natalie Ailsa, Shakera Ahad and our wonderful audience! Six Lips would be nothing without all our kind support!
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