Love's Labour's Lost ...And Won, First Night Nerves

This year's open air Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost... And Won opened last Wednesday at Caversham Court Gardens. I was helping on the box-office that night so got a good view of the first night nerves - I'm talking about the production crew, I'm sure the actors were all fine.

Getting ready for the audience (photo Richard Brown)

For the first time this year we are able to take payment by card on the night. It is a mobile phone based app rather than the usual card machine so box office manager Heather was slightly anxious about using it for the first time. She was very relieved that the first customers were friends of hers and willing to act as card using guinea pigs.

There is a 'Bard's Bar' available for audience to buy drinks before the show or during the interval and bar managers Helen and Tony were busy trying to attach bunting advertising the availability of Pimms.

There are seven front of house stewards needed every night, in addition to the box office and bar volunteers. The steward slots are filled by a mixture of Progress members and Friends of Caversham Court Gardens. The job of training them all every night falls to front of house manager Stuart. He has to ensure that they are aware of all the safety procedures and are happy with selling programmes, hiring chairs and guiding the audience in the dark.

I don't know if site manager Laura had first night nerves as she was too busy rushing about ensuring everything was running smoothly for me to ask. I did hear the handheld radio's go off several times with the inevitable question "is Laura there?"

Love's Labour's Lost... And Won runs until next Saturday 26th July and has been getting good revues like this one from Get Reading here. You can enjoy the evening safe in the knowledge that you can buy your ticket by card, get a Pimms and hire a chair - everything is under control.

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. 

Reading Open Air Love's Labour's Lost... And Won by William Shakespeare Wednesday 16th July – Saturday 26th July 2014 at Caversham Court Gardens

Auditions for Noises Off by Michael Frayn Sunday 27th July 2.30pm or Monday 28th July 7.30pm 

Full details about out theatre and all our activities can be found on our website.

The Roses of Eyam backstage

During the dress rehearsal for Roses of Eyam I went backstage to talk to some of the young actors. I found Poppy going over her lines in the dressing room while waiting to go on stage.

The busy cluttered dressing room will be familiar to any reader who has performed at Progress (or any other theatre I'm sure). While there will be a tidy up session before the performance, with nineteen actors sharing the limited backstage space a certain amount of  chaos is inevitable. Performers have to be very disciplined about hanging up costumes and putting vital props somewhere safe. This can be difficult with quick changes and there will probably be several moments of panic during any show while an actor frantically searches for a missing shoe or cloak (and I'm not just talking about youth theatre productions!)

When putting on a show with anyone under sixteen there are legal restrictions on the number of rehearsals and performances. This meant that the Sunday had to be kept as a rest day before the first performance on Monday so there were two dress rehearsals planned for the Saturday.

During the first rehearsal the director noticed that the bottom of the large trunk recycled from God of Carnage still needed painting (it is going from cream to black). While there were willing hands to do the painting it was quickly realised that there wouldn't be time for it to dry before the second rehearsal. Luckily there are no laws about the number of hours adults spend at the theatre so no problem with them staying late to paint after the second rehearsal.

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. 

Progress Youth Theatre The Roses of Eyam by Don Taylor Monday 14th July - Saturday 19th July.

Reading Open Air Love's Labour's Lost... And Won by William Shakespeare Wednesday 16th July – Saturday 26th July 2014 at Caversham Court Gardens

Auditions for Noises Off by Michael Frayn Sunday 27th July 2.30pm or Monday 28th July 7.30pm 

Full details about out theatre and all our activities can be found on our website.

Shakespeare in the carpark

There are two Progress productions starting in mid-July. Next week I will find out what is happening with Progress Youth Theatre's The Rose's of Eyam but this week I caught up with the open air Love's Labour's Lost ... And Won.

I had been told they were rehearsing at the theatre but when I arrived the cast and crew were all in the car park. There was more to this than the fact it was a nice sunny day. As the performance will be in the open air it is important the actors get as much experience as possible performing outside. It is much harder to be heard without walls to bounce the sound off and they need to get a feel for this. They have been holding rehearsals outside since mid-May and so far have only been driven inside once by heavy rain.

Director Dan Clarke consulting with assistant director Alex McCubbin

From Saturday they will be rehearsing in the beautiful Caversham Court Gardens so keep an eye out if you are down by the Thames. As well as rehearsing the play the cast will be practising setting up and taking down all the backstage tents that are needed during the performance. Being an actor isn't all glamour!

I don't normally take photos of people's backs but this was a good opportunity to show off the Love's Labour's Lost ...And Won polo shirt.

Producing shirts for each Shakespeare production has become a tradition at Progress. Those involved keep them as a memento and it is a good promotional tool. You usually see a range going back several years at set building sessions. I've still got my favourite pink one from a Midsummer Nights Dream in 2007


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. 

Progress Youth Theatre The Roses of Eyam by Don Taylor Monday 14th July - Saturday 19th July.

Reading Open Air Love's Labour's Lost... And Won by William Shakespeare Wednesday 16th July – Saturday 26th July 2014 at Caversham Court Gardens

Auditions for Noises Off by Michael Frayn Sunday 27th July 2.30pm or Monday 28th July 7.30pm 

Full details about out theatre and all our activities can be found on our website.

Producing God of Carnage

Anna Jennings' real love is musical theatre and she joined Progress to take part in Little Shop of Horrors in 2013. She has become very involved in Progress since then, directing in this season's WriteFest, doing front of house and performing in Progress writers' plays on Radio Berkshire.

Anna (far right) in a scene from Little Shop of Horrors (2013)
Photo Richard Brown

Anna is known as the social secretary among her group of friends so had always thought that she would have the necessary skills to produce a show. She knew God of Carnage director Glynn Oram as he wrote Three Little Words, the play she directed for WriteFest. When Glynn sent out an email asking for people to help with the production she volunteered to be producer.

She has got on well with the standard tasks of finding people to fill backstage roles, keeping an eye on budgets and generally tracking progress and has had plenty of help and advice from long standing members.

Anna told me about some of the things she has learnt in the role. Perhaps the most important is that if you are asking people for a photo of an eleven year old boy then it is best to mention that it is for a play at the beginning of the conversation. She has also learnt that she is not very good with polyfiller (but it makes a great exfoliant) and when visiting the basement props store wellies are a better footwear option than stilettos.

Alan (Geoff Dallimore) and Michael (Richard Tripp) share a drink
Photo Richard Brown

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. 

God of Carnage by Yazmina Reza, adapted by Christoper Hampton Monday 23rd June – Saturday 28th June 2014

Progress Youth Theatre The Roses of Eyam by Don Taylor Monday 14th July - Saturday 19th July.

Reading Open Air Love's Labour's Lost... And Won by William Shakespeare Wednesday 16th July – Saturday 26th July 2014 at Caversham Court Gardens

Auditions for Noises Off by Michael Frayn Sunday 27th July 2.30pm or Monday 28th July 7.30pm 

Full details about out theatre and all our activities can be found on our website.

Gatecrashing a God of Carnage rehearsal

I timed my visit to a recent God of Carnage rehearsal just right and was able to watch almost a whole run through. Even with some stopping and starting to rework moves I still found myself gripped by the action and the ebb and flow of emotions and alliances.

The action takes place in a living room and the small coffee table on stage was well used for putting  down drinks, bowls of clafoutis, decanters and art books. For the actual run they will be using a much longer table that Geoff Dallimore (who plays Alan) is bringing from his house. Understandably he doesn't want to bring it in until the set has been built and painted so for the time being they are making do with a smaller one.

The actors were using some of the props for the first time in this rehearsal and having to work out things like when they should put down a glass. They didn't have all the props yet so some were being mimed. They did a good job of keeping track of it all and keeping in mind that they couldn't pick up the real coffee cup until they had put down the imaginary bowl of clafoutis. They also discovered that some things wouldn't work – those delicate brandy goblets really weren't going to stand up to being wrestled over.

For the run the clafoutis won't be imaginary, there is someone lined up to make it – in fact there are two volunteers so a bake-off is planned.

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. 

God of Carnage by Yazmina Reza, adapted by Christoper Hampton Monday 23rd June – Saturday 28th June 2014

Progress Youth Theatre The Roses of Eyam by Don Taylor Monday 14th - Saturday 19th July.

Reading Open Air Love's Labour's Lost... And Won by William Shakespeare Wednesday 16th July – Saturday 26th July 2014 at Caversham Court Gardens

Auditions for Noises Off by Michael Frayn Sunday 27th July 2.30pm or Monday 28th July 7.30pm 

Full details about out theatre and all our activities can be found on our website.