Post show review! No Pasaran!

No Pasaran is now done! The show was well attended, and thankfully there were no technical problems or cast disasters during the run (though there were a couple of pairs of ripped trousers!) I was joined in my backstage crew duties by Michael Ellis for all four run days, and for the final day Ludovic Scott joined to assist for the final two shows under stage manager Tash.

 

With the make-up artist dealing with the rest of the cast I ended up doing the scar make-up for Tom Robinson (playing Jimmy, an irishman turned Fascist) which needed to be applied during the interval of every show, showing the time progression and was a very interesting and fun experience as I have never done scar make-up before. During the second act there was a backstage lul during which myself and the other crew got to enter the back of the audience and watch a little of the show - so I am relieved to say that even from the back the scar was visible and looked realistic.

 

Tom backstage getting into character when I finished his scar.

 

The show itself was a little like Les Miserable crossed with Miss Saigon in that there was no dialogue with everything being sung save the sporadic naration from the 'Grandson' of the main character. Included in the show were also a number of spectacular flamenco performances.

 

The projection provided an interesting backdrop (one of the first things I did when the projection came up was mark a line on the stage at the back for the actors to stay in front of where the projection would hit them) but the physical set that Roy had hoped for in terms of the mobile spiral staircase with balcony and the mobile half tank, never materialised due to an issue with the contractors. Despite this the lack was not noticable and did not, in any way that I could see, impact the running of the show.

 

Since the show, myself and the cast have been emailed two reviews of the show - one from a member of the International Brigade Memorial Trust, and one from NODA; please see below!

 

http://rhymesandroutes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/no-pasaran-musical.html

 

Unfortunately I cannot find the NODA one on their website as I believe you must be a subscriber for that, but if you are a subscriber please let me know if you see it!

No Pasaran! Show week!

Over the last few days my roles on No Pasaran! have been dramatically altered! I was asked to crew the show, but over the last few days I have become wardrobe assistant, dresser, make-up artist for opening night and I have built a last minute part of the set!

To explain - during the get in on Monday, part of the set that was needed was to make the piano that cannot be removed from the stage look like a pile of rubble. Unfortunately the company that built the rest of the set didn't have one, and so that job came to me. I am proud to say I managed to make it in the required two days and it was on stage and working last night for opening night!

Starting the rubble cloth - a 3.6m x 3.6m loose weave cotton drop cloth

Texture effect created by using a mix of black and white matt emulsion sponged directly onto the cloth

 

Half completed, showing the texture effect in the light

 

With the weather turning cold, the cloth wasn't drying and so I used a heat gun to dry the last and worst of the wet spots!

The completed rubble cloth in the theatre doing its job! (hiding the piano that we couldn't remove from the stage)

I bulked out the cloth and created texture by stuffing the underneath with news paper to create a more 3D effect

The costumer, Carol, is a lovely lady who was on her own in sorting out and dressing the entire 28 person cast, and so I was enlisted to help in as wardrobe assistant and so far have allocated costumes, mended costumes, altered them, pinned ripped seams and dressed for numerous quick changes during the show!

Example of my work on alterations - unpicking a seam and adding a popper for a 4 second quick change between the second and third scene!

On Wednesday night, the night before we opened we were hit with a problem. Our make-up lady had found out she couldn't make it the next day and with Carol busy on the costumes there was no one to do it and do I was asked to step in - and I am honestly very proud of what we managed to achieve for the opening night! Olivia Ling, one of our leading ladies and an absolute star, was able to help with our two children's make-up.

Now we have 3 more shows to go and things backstage are getting into a good rhythm!

Last of the last minute prep!

With the refresher rehearsal tomorrow and the first show the following morning, the last minute prep is finally finished and it is all looking good ready for testing with the rest of the set tomorrow! In a last minute decision by the director, the garage is now having a physical set rather then a projected one, and so it was a dash down to the car specialists to hunt up a simple device to transform the set into a garage. The new additions are; a set of wheel covers to hang in the garage scene, re-hemmed and re-hung curtains to a better ballance, and the newly repainted stands and stool!

Before                                                    After

 

The stool was previously black, but with all of the rest of the furniture used being wood Tony asked me if I could paint the stool wood effect to match and I have managed to create a fairly effective effect!

As the stool already had a finish on it, the best option in this case was to use acrylic as it is durable, will stick to just about anything and can, if necessary, be washed off at the end of the run to return the stool to the black finish beneath.

Tomorrow's rehearsals are being held at the Friday morning venue and we are leaving the set there overnight, and I am delighted that for the Friday run and several dates after Diana Steadman, the stage manager I worked with on 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', will be coming on board as the shows stage manager!

Preparing for the next round! GI Joe

With the next round of shows begining next week - with a Thursday rehearsal and then two shows on the Friday, its all go with getting the last of the repairs and alterations done for the set! Last time, there was no full tech run before the first two shows and so there were the usual host of problems that come with an opening night plus a couple of extra hiccups.

With this in mind, after taking notes from the first show, I have come up with a list of things that need alteration and changing;

 - hemming the curtain bottoms

 - improving the hang of the side curtains

 - sanding marks from the stands

 - painting the stool brown

 - creating an image to be projected for the garage

 - getting more camouflage netting

 

Next Friday we have two shows, one at a school in Dorset in the afternoon, and another in the evening in Melbury Osmond nr. Yeovil. This is going to be interesting as I believe the school will be front projection, but the Melbury Osmond venue is I believe going to be back projected. Up until now I have only been able to see it front projected due to the size of the rehearsal space and the first venue, so it will be interesting to see how the images affect the tone of the performance when left up for the full scenes rather then just to introduce for the majority with the front projection.


For more information on the performance itself, venues and tickets please follow the below link to the company website!
http://stateofplayarts.co.uk/gi-joe/