Wednesday 19 June 2013

2 Days to go!

With 2 days to go we have managed to wrangle a day to rehearse in the venue! This gave myself and our lighting designer and technician, Michael Ellis, the chance to try out some of the lighting we wanted to use and gave me the opportunity to test the set to see if it was the right size. We arrived at 10, with the actors called at 1pm to give us the chance to experiment with the space.
 
With the lighting up, being in the venue, the performance itself began to change. Everyone's performances became more distilled, more intense. Today's dress run was a half-dress and tech run through, using the hire costumes from AUB and the costumes made by Tanya Pye and myself that were ready enough to be worn in order for the actors to get used to wearing them.


Here is a peek at our production!
 
 










Costume -
With the remainder of the costumes needing to be hired and finish being made, and very little time remaining it is all go now! I am working on Mercutio's, Lord Mountague's and Romeo's doublets in order to give wardrobe mistress and chief maker Tanya the chance to finish the dresses. Lady Capulet is almost completely finished appart from the trim needing to be added at the neckline and the sleeves needing finishing.
Juliet has been fully cut out now and the pieces just need sewing together. The two servants costume, Gregoria and the Nurse, have finished being made they now need dying and for the fastenings to be sewn in and Rosaline has not yet been started.
I have been assured though that the costumes will be finished in time, so now it is just the final push to get everything in place!
 
Set -
The set, thanks to the help of Graham Cooke in building the bench for our production to my specifications and his assistance with the netting, is now almost complete. All that remains to do is to get the set put up in the venue on the morning of the production.
The set I have planned is minimal but should serve to create the impression of being outdoors, the main idea of being in a courtyard. The Tudor element will come from the costumes. For this impression I am using camoflage netting attached to the backcloth of the theatre and draping down to the floor, with an opening in the centre and at the sides. This, with the stairs through the audience, also mimic our entrances and exits at our Swanage venue.
 
Props -
Props have become an issue, the swords in particular. In rehearsal, the actors have been using wooden swords, made by Graham Cooke again to my specifications, however they have an unfortunate tendency to break. I have looked into hiring swords from a props department however the ones that I have found are metal I have had to deem it too much of a health and safety risk.
In response to this however, Graham has come up with a way to make the blades of the swords strong enough that they should be able to handle the battering they are getting in the stage combat scenes. He is also making, in addition to this, the dagger for Juliet.

Sunday 16 June 2013

5 days to go until we open!

The last Swanage rehearsal before we open at the Lighthouse Theatre in Poole and it was all go! We managed a full run and to get one of our actresses in costume - our Lady Capulet.
 
As an exercise in getting everyone relaxed and more confident in there performance, I decided to use a technique I have seen employed by Director and lecturer on the BA (Hons) Acting course at the AUB, Kenneth Robertson, and got the actors to perform a run through in the style of a Western, accents, mannerisms and all. This resulted in some interesting nuances emerging from the text as the actors used and reacted to sections of the dialogue in different ways.
After this we ran the play seriously, back in Tudor style, and the actors had a much more genuine reaction to their dialogue and a better understanding of the text.
 
Here is a sneek peek at the latest rehearsal photographs!
 



 

Wednesday 12 June 2013

Rehearsals continue - 1 week to go!

With just over a week to go, its been all go at rehearsals! Here is a sneak peek from last Sundays rehearsal at our July venue - the Swanage Amphitheatre...

Juliet and Romeo






On discussion with the Lighthouse Theatre our tickets should be going live by tomorrow, and so it will be all go on show promotion but in the mean time its been getting the costumes sorted. As we have very little time before the production, myself and wardrobe mistress Tanya Pye have decided to hire as many costumes as we can for the Lighthouse show, which will leave more time to get all the makes completed for the Swanage shows. With this in mind, we have been looking into hiring and to our delight have already found full costumes for Lord Capulet and Samson, and doublets for Romeo, Paris, Prince Escalus, Tybalt and one of our musicians with pottential doublets for Mercutio and Abram.

Volunteer Nell also joined us today to help make Gregoria - origionally Gregory - our Capulet servants dress. This costume is being made by draping on the stand. While Nell was getting on with this - and I was covering some of the never ending admin work - Tanya was able to get on with and has almost completed Lady Capulets dress.

This leaves in terms of makes and hires for the Lighthouse show;

Makes;
  • Juliet
  • Rosaline
  • Lady Mountague
  • Lord Mountague - doublet
  • Apothecary Cloak
  • Friar Laurence
  • Balthazar/Abram/Peter's shirt
  • Balthazar Sash
  • Peter Sash
Hires:
  • Lord Mountague - breeches
  • Tybalt - Breeches
  • Balthazar/Abram/Peter - breeches
  • Shoes - 9 male, 5 female

Saturday 8 June 2013

Wonderful news on the Set!

This morning I was greeted with an unexpected windfall in the form of camo netting! I was offered a loan of some camo netting - the stipulation being that I was not allowed to cut it or damage it in any way. The two pieces of netting, when stretched out, come to just shy of the proportions we need to cover the back wall of the Lighthouse studio.



My plan is to use the camo netting, with strips of fabric woven in, to create the effect of being in a Tudor courtyard, with a gap arch formed between the two pieces for a centre opening. I am going to leave space at the sides to be used as side entrances/exits as well and the plan is to have some fake roses in the arch way, representations of the Tudor rose.

In order to get the fabric I needed in budget to weave into the netting, I discovered that at B&Q - another of my new favourite places - there were sheets of 3mx3m pure cotton dust sheets that are actually very good quality - and only £15. My next task was to dye it green! I picked up two hand-wash dylon dye sachets, one Olive Green the other Tropical green, and used the only container big enough - a cleaned out wheelbarrow - to dye it.





I used the entire of the two sachets with 12 litres of warm water and 450g of salt.


With the help of my current set-props builder - the parental assistant - by the end of this week we shall have a bench/tomb built. This is a long plank of wood with added supports to help it hold the wait of our actors when they lie on it, that will double as a bench for the majority of the play and then be used for Juliet to lie on in her 'tomb'.

Friday 7 June 2013

The Costumes Begin!

We are now - after delays from glandular fever and setbacks galore - finally at the stage to start on the costumes and not a moment too soon with two and a half weeks to go!
 
Volunteer Alee Brucato has been an absolute star and started on tracing off our pattern pieces so that we can get the rest of our volunteers - and wardrobe mistress Tanya Pye - started on the dresses first thing next week! I have headed to fabric warehouse today to collect the first of the fabrics that we need. Having already collected the fabrics for the doublets of Lord Capulet, Benvolio, Lord Mountague and Prince Escalus and the underskirt/sleeve fabrics for Rosaline, Juliet and Lady Capulet and Lady Mountague, this trip to fabric warehouse means that we now have the makings of well over half of the costumes - we just need the human effort!
 
With the trip to Fabric Warehouse I was able, with the £50 initial funds for the fabrics, to get the fabrics for the Friar, Juliets overdress, Lady Capulets overdress, and the Capulet servants fabric for a dress for 'Gregoria' and the shirt for Sampson.

I am also pleased to announce that on the current last of the digital designs I have finished rendering Mercutio's design!
 

Monday 3 June 2013

First rehearsal on Location!

Yesterday : Co-producer/wardrobe mistress Tanya Pye, five of our cast and myself headed down to rehearse at our Swanage venue, the Swanage Amphitheatre.

An open air venue, this meant we were able to begin working on the larger scenes that require more space such as choreographing the fight scene between Tybalt (John Celea) and Mercutio (John Emmanuel) for Act 3 Scene 1, and for Tanya, who has been studying Tudor dancing, to teach the choreography of the first of the dances for the ball scene.

It also gave the actors the opportunity to get a feel for the space, and for us to begin running scenes with the entrances and exits. Despite the sunburn, it was a very succesful 4 hour rehearsal and allowed us to get the first of our rehearsal photographs!











Today
 
After a meeting for the upcoming production of Roald Dahls 'The Witches', for which I am assisting with the Set Construction, the designer Eleanore Bull kindly let me address her group of volunteers in a call for assistance for putting together our costumes. After discussing it with wardrobe mistress and head maker, Tanya Pye, we have decided to use bought patterns and alter them for the majority of the made costumes, with the servants dresses being draped on the stand.
 
We still plan to hire all of the breeches - 9 in total - and all 14 pairs of shoes.
 

I spent the afternoon finding patterns online for the jackets, and also working on the set design and now I have a working floor plan for the Lighthouse Studio Theatre! I shall scan this in when I am next at a scanner, but with this production, and my work as set assistant on the October production of No Pasaran! my technical drawing has improved dramatically.

Saturday 1 June 2013

Romeo and Juliet - the beat goes on!

Tomorrows rehearsal we have decided to head down to the Amphitheatre! As it is an open air venue in the park, we are going to let the actors get a good look at it and run some of the scenes down there to let them get a feel for it. This has the added bonus of getting us a bit of publicity from anyone who happens to be passing or in the park already, through watching what we're doing.

On costume news, we will be getting the actors measurements tomorrow and starting on the costumes next week! Having already posted the first of the costume designs - initially just intended for the ball but with the exception of the masks I have decided to use these as the costumes for those characters throughout the play.

That leaves the Friar, Lord Mountague, Lady Mountague, Paris, Peter, Rosaline, Balthazar, Abram, the Apothecary, the servant of Capulet, Sampson and Gregoria (this actually is an old English name and is a play on Gregory, though in our interpretation this character is played by a woman) to be designed for. I have already completed Friar Lawrences design, but have yet to be able to get to a scanner to post it. Below is the mock up of Mercutio's design! I have not been able to yet digitally render it, as I have the others, but this should give a good idea.


Mercutio's mask is the jester. I felt this was appropriate for his character in the play! Despite his cousin's rank as Prince, or perhaps because of it, he tends to flout rules and common courtesy, and is known for his wit.
 
Paris is in the final stages of his design. Being that he is of higher rank then the Capulets, but not Royalty, I have decided to put him in a very plush and ornate jacket, much like the one used for Prince Escalus, but not in the Royal colours. I have decided to put him in a bright, almost turquoise blue. Initially I had thought of putting him in a dark blue but it looked too royal, so I feel making the colour brighter will help.

In the mean time, the posters and fliers are designed! They are just waiting to be printed - we, Tanya and myself, have been scouting places to get them printed, and hope to have them done by next week, and in even better news, the tickets for our Lighthouse performance should be going online we are hoping within the week!