Saturday 26 July 2008

Oedipus Rex: Night 4 (Saturday)

The final night of Oedipus Rex at the Leper Chapel, the last night of in situ:'s 2008 Summer Season and the end of a two-and-a-quarter-year journey for the actors.

We started back in April 2006 with a handful of sketches which we worked up into performances and linked together over four terms of work. Last year's performance was an achievement for all of us, but when we reconvened a week ago we realised there was a lot of work to do. We all knew our lines, but the people who'd watched the video of last year's performance agreed it wasn't as good as we remembered (and it was filmed on what I thought was the best night!)

This year has been very different. The read throughs early in the rehearsals told us what we knew and what we needed to learn. The performance came together quickly, but soon exceeded what we'd previously attempted - partly by knocking about 20 minutes off, although no lines were removed.

It's hot again tonight, so we again drink plenty of water. But there are no nerves - and I don't even bother with a stroll to the toilet. And yet again we manage to perform at the same level as the previous two nights.

Someone tells us after that it's the first time they'd heard chorus work like ours and understood what is being said. Others are similarly complimentary.

We leave on a high and return to Richard's for the aftershow party. There are rumours of another Shakespeare next year. The Tempest? Or Twelfth Night? Whatever, it is looking unlikely that I will be taking part, but I do have other plans.

Friday 25 July 2008

Oedipus Rex: Night 3 (Friday)

On the way to the chapel I hear on the radio that today is the hottest day of year so far. It certainly feels like it and we're all gulping down water after our vocal warm-up. Within five minutes of completing my discourse on Chinatown and its parallels with Oedipus Rex, I'm thirsty again.

I'm surprised by the consistency we're achieving, compared to last year - and even this year's performance of The Winter's Tale. Our performance level, increased through practise early in the week and cranked up by the opening night adrenaline, seems to have stuck at around 95% of the level of that opening evening. Everyone is confident and enjoying performing. And tomorrow's the last night...

Thursday 24 July 2008

Oedipus Rex: Night 2 (Thursday)

I feel different driving to the performance tonight, but it's a while before I realise why. I think I'm starting to enjoy it. After the year putting this together and the weekend dusting it off and rehearsing, I know my lines and I know the performance. I feel confident.

Tonight we've sold thirty tickets - with walk-ups, another near sell-out. And instead of having to drag people along, the advance publicity in the local press seems to be bringing in more people we don't know, who want to see the performance of their own volition. We can't even say it's because we're doing Shakespeare this time.

The level of interest increases our desire to perform well and we come close to matching the level of the opening night. There are very few slips or missed lines and our movement as a group is again good. Somewhere we add another five minutes, as I notice I am heading for the door around 9:20pm, but the story doesn't seem to be suffering.

Remarkably, we're already halfway - only two nights left.

Wednesday 23 July 2008

Oedipus Rex: Opening Night (Wednesday)

I don't feel the usual nerves, I know my lines and everyone seems confident. We've sold 30 tickets, which means we'll be very close to selling out with people paying on the door.

The usual rituals are observed: changing into costume, a trip to the toilet and a vocal warm-up. Soon director Richard Spaul is outside The Leper Chapel explaining to the audience what will happen while we're inside, ready, waiting for him to return and join us. We're blindfolded, walking slowly, groping for the door, then we're outside, spouting our various discourses which are connected in different ways to the story.

At the signal we all remove our blindfolds and head into the chapel. The audience filter in as we form a circle, ready to begin the story. The hard work we've done over the weekend pays off. The choruses are tighter and punchier. The interjections confident. Only a very occasional line goes astray, the presence of an audience causing a surge of adrenaline which is driving everyone on.

By 9:15pm we're slow-walking towards the door for the emotional finale. We've shaved over twenty minutes off the running time by speeding up some of the scene transitions and choruses, resulting in a much more satisfying presentation.

We celebrate with an aftershow curry. Looking forward to tomorrow night...

Tuesday 22 July 2008

Oedipus Rex - final rehearsal

An exhausting night, topped off with a full run through.

After three days, we stagger through a flat performance and make some big mistakes, which get worse as we attempt to correct them afterwards.

The feeling after is one of anti-climax. Surely we haven't come this far to fall flat on our faces?

Monday 21 July 2008

Oedipus Rex - third rehearsal

Knowing the text, we concentrate on tightening up some of the choruses, speeding up some of the rhythms, reducing the volume of others.

Everyone is still tired from the weekend. Tanya says she feels unwell and leaves early.

We finish off with a speed run which seems to go well. Katrina fills in for Tanya, her Russian accent owing more than a little to Robbie Coltrane's in Goldeneye.

It's difficult to know if we've gone as far as we can or if more work is needed.

Sunday 20 July 2008

With Sore feet: Oedipus Rex - second rehearsal

More active today, we do several speed runs, which cement the text more strongly and introduce some of the staging headaches.

The longer, more active day is even more tiring than the first and several sets of eyes are drooping after the traditional in situ: picnic lunch on the grass outside the Leper Chapel.

The weekend's work on the text has got it really polished, so we will spend the remaining two rehearsals on improving choruses and interjections, followed by a speed run through.

Saturday 19 July 2008

Oedipus Rex - first rehearsal

The Oedipus group reconvene after just over a year to pull the show back together. Some of us went on to work on The Winter's Tale after last year's performance, some on the Ratman project, others we've simply missed.

Everyone's worked on getting their lines back up to scratch and is looking forward to getting started. Is this how professional actors work, I wonder? They know the whole Shakespeare canon and joining a new production is simply a matter of taking the script off the mind's shelf?

Director Richard is off to a wedding this afternoon, so we've decided to start an hour early, but 9:00am on a Saturday morning isn't the problem I'd imagined. We spend the whole day on dialogue. We sit in a circle, use the script less and less, relying on others to provide missing or incorrect lines, which makes them easier to learn.

Regular tea breaks keep us concentrated, but it's tiring. After four or five read throughs we feel we've made progress, so in the early afternoon, with Everton fans already arriving to see the match at Cambridge United's Abbey Stadium over the road, we finish.