Moonlight, Magnolias and Peanuts

The audition notices for Moonlight and Magnolias included the comment that being in the play would not be suitable for actors suffering from peanut allergies. Peanuts feature heavily in the script - the actors eat them, use them as weapons and generally leave them scattered around the stage.

The other food the actors get to eat a lot of during the show is bananas. Old banana skins are also scattered around the stage.

Director Liz Carroll looks on while actor Alison Hill displays their collection of aged banana skins



Some of the food mentioned in the script doesn't have to be eaten on stage so can be made to last longer. Cream cheese bagels have been made by varnishing real bagels and filling them with white plaster.

 

 

Liz said that she has a problem-solving cast and crew, when you come to watch the play see if you can spot the problem they successfully solved using fox's glacier mints.

If you are interested in what goes on at Progress Theatre then sign up to this blog. Enter your email in the box under ‘about us’ and click on subscribe. New postings are made weekly so you won’t be swamped with emails.

Auditions for Trainspotting by Harry Gibson, adapted from the book by Irvine Welsh, Wednesday 6th November at 7.30pm or Sunday 10th November 2013 at 2.30pm, Progress Theatre

Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson Monday 11th – Saturday 16th November 2013, Progress Theatre

 

Progress Youth Theatre, An Absurdist Double Bill Monday 9th – Saturday 14th December 2013, Progress Theatre 

 

Details of all our productions and auditions can be found on our website.

The 8th Annual WriteFest starts this Wednesday and runs until Saturday, although tickets for Friday and Saturday are already sold out.

This is tech weekend when all the lighting, sound and stage management is put into place. With eight different plays to sort out this makes for a long weekend. It started on Friday night with one of the plays, three on Saturday and four on Sunday followed by a full dress rehearsal of the whole production.

For the technical crew there has been quite a lot of waiting around. Each play is allocated a two hour slot for their tech to give time for any problems to be ironed out but of course if things run smoothly and are not too complex they might finish in less than half that time. On the plus side it means the technical team have time to make tea, get something to eat or chat to passing bloggers.

All the plays have to share the same lighting set so to a certain extent directors  have to use a generic positioning of lights but there is enough capacity to include the odd special effect for an individual play. With a very simple set lighting can be a good way to create an atmosphere of time and place.

The other thing that has to be sorted out at the tech rehearsal is moving smoothly from one play to the next. When I was there they were looking at The Invisible Guest and director Stuart Merrall was explaining that the play starts with a pile of pink card (cherry blossoms) in a pile and lightly scattered at the front of the stage. Needless to say the blossom doesn't stay in a neat pile so at the end of the play stage managers Emma Walsh and Rebecca Gibbs have to come on a sweep them all off-stage.

The set for The Invisible Guest, the director was deciding which balloon to go with

Compere for the evening is Jon Speed, who is directing Our Father and was last seen as Captain Carrot, the 6'2" dwarf in The Fifth Elephant. It will be Jon's job to keep the audience informed and entertained during the scene changes. Let's hope for his sake it doesn't take too long to sweep up those blossoms.

If you are interested in what goes on at Progress Theatre then sign up to this blog. Enter your email in the box under ‘about us’ and click on subscribe. New postings are made weekly so you won’t be swamped with emails.

The 8th Annual WriteFest Thursday 17th - Saturday 19th October 2013, Progress Theatre

Auditions for Bold Girls,  Sunday 20th October at 7pm or Tuesday 22nd October at 7.30pm, Progress Theatre. There is also a pre-audition accent workshop Monday 14th October at Park United Reformed Church

Auditions for Trainspotting by Harry Gibson, adapted from the book by Irvine Welsh, Wednesday 6th November at 7.30pm or Sunday 10th November 2013 at 2.30pm, Progress Theatre

Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson Monday 11th – Saturday 16th November 2013, Progress Theatre

 

Details of all our productions and auditions can be found on our website.