Striking a set and clearing up afterwards is not nearly so much fun as putting a play on and this fact was reflected in the number of folk who turned up to do these tasks on Sunday morning – seven out of a possible nineteen people from the cast and back-stage crew. Despite this we managed the chore by lunchtime with good humour.
Outside Edge by Richard Harris was a great financial success for our Society and was a hit with the audiences although not my choice of play. It is a comedy with a cricketing theme and husband Jim as stage manager and set designer had to produce a run-down cricket pavilion. I had to find five sets of ‘whites’ and an inappropriate dress for the cast.
I bought the cricketing clothes at a bargain price from an online sports retailer although what we are going to do with them now I don’t know (anyone want five pairs of polyester trousers in various sizes and two sweaters?) The inappropriate dress for Sharon I made.
Your very own Fennie is in one of these pictures.
We had full houses on the last three nights, which caused a bit of a panic as we had to turn several people away who had hoped to get tickets at the door. This is very hard to do and it rarely happens that we sell all the tickets, but we have to be careful not to infringe our license by selling more tickets than we have seats for.
The assistance stage manager (prompt) was kept busy on the final night as at one critical point a certain actor missed a line, which affected subsequent action and the dialogue had to be back-tracked. Those of us within hearing exchanged startled glances as we realised that things were going awry but quick wits saved the day and Sharon managed to escape the ladies loos. (You need to know the plot).
We are now beginning to plan the next show. I hope to direct ART, a play by Yasmina Reza, sometime in August. This play won several awards and had very successful runs in London and New York.
I have two of the characters cast (Fennie being one of them) but am scouting around for the third. Any offers considered.
7 comments:
Ah, the satisfaction of a production that's done very well. You must be so pleased!
So, are you telling which is Fennie or will we have to have a poll?
You are obviously a wizz with costumes and a needle - the smocking in your previous post is awesome (I would have thrown it in the bin in tears after a couple of stitches). I enjoyed having a glimpse into your lovely home too! Well done on the production and I'm glad the hard work paid off.
Thank you so much for giving us the best seats in the house at The Market Theatre. It was grand to have a close up view of how a production is created, played and cleared.
Please also keep us posted on upcoming ART.
xo
Oh but WHICH IS FENNIE!
And why was the dress inappropriate?? The mind boggles but it sounds like fun. Good luck with the next one.
CKx
Hmm! This is all very interesting, but which one is Fennie?
Gald the play was a success.
Oop! Sorry , I meant 'glad'
Yup, come on Rosie.......where's our Fennie?
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