The Tempest - rain and church bells

As I walked through the church yard at dusk, making my way down to Caversham Court gardens, I could hear a haunting melody floating up from the river. I was on my way to one of the final rehearsals of The Tempest and the music was coming from the live musicians who provide all the music and sound effects for the performance.

It was coming from the live musicians and the passing disco boat. One of the hazards of an outdoor production is the extraneous noises. In the Abbey Ruins, where we used to hold our outdoor productions, it was the shouting of inmates from Reading prison. Sometimes they even quoted the speeches they had heard many times in rehearsal. At Caversham Court it is the disco boat - that luckily comes past in the interval -  and the church bells. When the bell ringers are practicing  it is impossible to hear anything on the stage but they have kindly agreed not to ring during the performance week.

The cast and crew have been showing the best of British pluck rehearsing in the recent bad weather. Producer Coral Last was explaining the contingency plans for rain, including the potential to move the time of the interval and having on hand a supply of clear rain ponchos for the cast. There are currently still tickets available on the gate so if you've been put off buying a ticket because of the weather you can wait for a sunny evening and come down then.

Don't forget that there is no fixed seating so bring your own blanket or low backed chair to sit on, there will also be a number of chairs available for hire. Stewards will be guiding people to a seating space to ensure that everyone has a good view. It really is a beautiful setting,  right by the river and an exciting production so keep your fingers crossed for some good weather or be really British and come and enjoy some outdoor theatre whatever the weather.




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Open air production The Tempest by William Shakespeare 23rd - 30th July 2011 Caversham Court Gardens

Auditions for The 39 Steps Wednesday 3rd August 7.30pm and Sunday 7th August, 2pm at Progress Theatre


See Progress Theatre website for details of all our productions and auditions.

Update on the Tempest

Enjoy by Alan Bennett is the next show at the theatre but we've got time for a guest blog this week from the production team of The Tempest.

Open air Shakespeare is always popular among theatre goers and this year the Progress Theatre returns to the open air with its annual Shakespeare production and our director Chris Bertrand’s vision of The Tempest. The Reading Abbey is now closed to the public, so our plans were in ruins (pun intended), but now they’ve been revived thanks to the lovely people at Caversham Court Gardens who will host our venture into the unknown world of a new venue.

In April The Tempest’s Stage Manager, Matthew Drury, was out in the glorious sunshine to photograph the cast’s rehearsal and had the following to say about the challenges a new venue brings to us… 

“One of our biggest obstacles is getting power to light the stage. You don’t find a plug socket in the middle of a field, so you need to rethink many things you’d normally take for granted.” Though you may not think it, the lack of mod cons such as electricity has had a positive effect on the show. Forcing the director and ensemble cast to get creative and think outside the box. The show now features some wonderful elements of collaborative sound effects for the storm and costume design that uses the daylight to its full advantage. It’s going to be an inspirational piece, not to be missed.

One of Matthew's photos of the outdoor rehearsal

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Coming up...



Enjoy by Alan Bennett 6th - 11th June 2011

Progress Youth Theatre Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas 4th - 11 July 2011

Open air production The Tempest by William Shakespeare 23rd - 30th July 2011

See Progress Theatre website for details of all our productions and auditions.

Tempest Auditions

Progress Theatre's outdoor Shakespeare is back! We are still not able to use the Abbey Ruins because of safety issues but this summer we will be presenting The Tempest in Caversham Court gardens by the Thames. Auditions are Sunday 20th 2.30pm and Tuesday 22nd February 7.30pm with a call back on Sunday 27th February at 2.30pm, all at Progress Theatre.

Auditions start at the theatre but, weather permitting, at least some of the time will be spent outside. Director Chris Bertrand needs to hear how actors can project their voices outside with no walls to bounce the sound off. The rehearsal process will include work on voice training.

Chris likes to work with a company of actors who all get involved in developing the performance and work together as a team - there will be no bit parts in this production. He is looking to cast a company of about 20 actors, ideally 10 male and 10 female. The call back on the 27th will be where Chris will make the final decision about who will be in the company. He'll let people know that on the day but the parts people will play won't be decided until the first rehearsal.

Chris feels that as a magical fairy story The Tempest is well suited to an outdoor production. It lends itself to visual imagery and as water is a key image in the play being next to the river will be a bonus. Chris has run a series of three workshops over the last few months, where participants looked at different aspects of the play like the comedy, the relationships between the main characters and the use of music and sound. This gave Chris the opportunity to try out some of his ideas like having Ariel, a magical spirit, played by 5 actors. This worked well and will allow the spirit to be portrayed in a state of constant movement. The auditions are open to everyone - you don't need to have attended the workshops.

This should be a very exciting production to be in and to watch so if you can't audition put the performance dates in your diary - 23rd to 30th July 2011.

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.

Coming up...

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Thursday 10th to Saturday 19th February 2011

Auditions for this year's outdoor Shakespeare The Tempest, Sunday 20th 2.30pm and Tuesday 22nd February 2011 7.30pm.

Auditions for Enjoy by Alan Bennett, Sunday 6th March 3pm & Thursday 10th March, 7.30pm Progress Theatre.

Teechers by John Godber 14th to 19th March 2011

See Progress Theatre website for details of all our productions and auditions.