We all say things we regret.
You know the sort of thing; "No, your bum doesn't look big in
that", "Keeping pigs seems like a good idea....", "I
do". That sort of thing. I'm now
wondering if I can add, "If you need someone to stage manage for you next year,
I will do it". I was up at
Edinburgh Fringe to see Six Lips' 'Faustus - the musical', and was clearly
carried away by the general vibe of the Fringe, and Mrs Love and I had already
decided to spend a week up there this year, so doing a job of work seemed like
a good idea.
So here we are, nine months later, and ready to take 'House of
Tragic She' to Brighton. And, all things
considered; the strange morphing of Stage Manager, into Stage Manager/Set
Designer/Set Builder, it's been reasonably trouble free. Yes, there was that awkward moment when Rocky
asked for three mini revolving stages for some yet to be defined part of the
show, but we met each other's gaze with steely determination; luckily, and in a
rare occurrence, Rocky blinked first, saving me hours of work!
The set has taken a little time, to make, but has been engineered
to keep costs down on transport - we won't need a van - but painting it white
on the sunniest day of the year left me suffering something akin to snow
blindness!
I've now been lucky enough to sit in the latter stages of the
rehearsal process and hopefully chipped in some helpful 'old man' comments now
and then. To their credit neither the
actors nor wonderful Matt Harper directing have visibly rolled their eyes
heavenwards.
One wonderful outcome for me, has been finding a solution to help
running the show's tech - sound, lights and video - on a budget. I have managed to find a great little app for
iPad called Go Button, which is a very natty little sound cue player that I'll
be using in my own shows in future.
It has been great to see the show take shape, and seeing Rocky,
Hannah, Stacey and Matt hone, re-shape and tighten this piece has been an
exhilarating experience. We've one more
York rehearsal before the actors and I head south, and I'm sure that more
changes will be made before first night in Brighton.
So, for the moment, no regrets.
Ask me again after a week with the girls in Brighton. Then ask again after two weeks in Edinburgh!
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