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Bit of a mouthful. Moothful. Mewthful? Hmmm... |
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Written by Gemma Barrett
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“Alright, darling?”
It is not often that the lone female will respond to the cat calls that come from the other side of the road in a positive manner. The young man in question looked really rather surprised as I stopped in my tracks and hot footed it over in his direction! No, I had not been seduced by the ancient courting ritual of ‘shouting boorishly at strangers in the street’, but such was my desperation yesterday, that I found myself whipping my script out of my bag and demanding the chap drop his drill and read my lines to me. Yes, I have spent the last week agonising over what, I have now decided, is the hardest accent in the world. Ahhh, Geordie is only easy when you're bouncing on a trampoline shouting 'By'ca Grohv'.
Luckily for me, a kindly director has put me out of my misery and has allowed my ‘randy student’ to relocate from Strother to Cambridge (maybe it wasn’t kindness, maybe it was the fear of riling up the north eastern contingent of our audience…) So for now I shall postpone ordering the box set of ‘Extreme Fishing with Robson Green’ and allow myself to enjoy Ant and Dec without analysing their vowel sounds.
In other news we are a week away from press night and on Sunday the pilgrims made it into the space which is to become Harry Bailey's tavern. Bar and beds are to be erected in the next few days so very much looking forward to seeing the place come to life! (Was saddened to learn that it is apparently very tricky to fireproof hay and therefore we will be bale-less. Maybe I'm not saddened- maybe I'm baleful. Ha. Baleful.)
Anon.
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'A Treatise on the nature of Chaos and Bottoms' - A Director's blog |
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Written by Tom Daplyn
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Thursday, 11 March 2010 15:24 |
'Why is it so difficult to make things look messy?' - This question has been repeating in my head all week. The Canterbury Tales is full of chaos; bed-hopping in the dead of night, pokers up posteriors, chickens in pursuit of foxes (surely that should be the other way round?!), and other scenes of barmy bedlam, all of which make for a great show but are a pokered up posterior to stage! To this end, I have found myself pondering other questions this week: 'Is there such a thing as 'over-acting' when it comes to perimortem convulsions?,' 'Just how close to another actors bottom is it reasonable to demand your long-suffering cast place their noses?,' and the eternal dilemma - '69 or reverse Cowgirl?!' The cast have been fantastic, throwing themselves into each humiliation with great gusto and, as a result, the answers of, 'Oh yes indeed,' 'It depends on lunch,' and, 'Yeehaw!', have been revealed to us. Pilgrims, I salute you!
Tom. |
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Written by Gemma Barrett
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Monday, 08 March 2010 12:34 |
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Well, Glad tidings to all!
This, the inaugural blog of an unlikely Friar also marks the fact that we are halfway through rehearsals and two weeks away from first preview (great big thankyou to Mr Christopher Warren alias The Miller for pointing that one out!) Tales are taking shape and harmonies being bashed out. Still, I suspect opening night will sneak up on us like a competitive pilgrim playing grandmothers footsteps, so first concern is getting those lines learnt.
Slightly jealous of the lads who are reprising their roles from Tacit’s previous production of the show over Christmas and are therefore making their pilgrimage without lugging their scripts along with them. Thank god for rhyming couplets; ‘A! false churl, for Gods sweet bones! / This hast thou done for spite, now make ….’ Hmmm, groans? Loans? Ah yes… ‘atones!’ The show is really physical so the sooner I can shed the script the easier it will be to jump on a knight’s back without the danger of inflicting paper cuts.
As far as what we’re getting up to in rehearsals goes, not sure about how much to give away… but having spent Sunday leaping onto the Pardoner and licking his face as a decrepit old Hag, let’s say it’s a blessing that fellow cast members are an affable bunch and have a good grasp of personal hygiene. There’s four more tales to get cracking on and am both excited and intrigued by what Director Daplyn has in store; at an educated guess- lots of ye olde dabuchery!
Tickets go on sale today from Tacit’s website so if you’re reading this you’ve made it to the right place, so shan’t hold you back with further mutterings and let you get to the business of booking!
Fare thee well folks! |
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