Sarah Miele our acting ASM has written a blog about her experience on the road for Blackbird. Here is an insight in to her travels
Glasgow 15/11/11 – 19/11/11
So, while on tour with Blackbird I’ve been asked to write a wee blog! I am doing some ASM duties while on tour, so helping look after costume and set, as well as another undisclosed duty (you’ll have to come and see the play to find out what it is!...). This week we’ve been at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow and it’s been a lot of fun! Tuesday was pretty busy, as we had the get-in and a tech run, which always takes a while and there were some adjustments to make in the new space, as it was bigger than the Studio at the York Theatre Royal the piece was performed in originally. Then it was the opening night performance, which seemed to go down really well (see the 4 star reviews we got in The Herald and the Scotsman!). So we were definitely off to a good start! The rest of the week ran pretty smoothly, too and on Thursday night the writer David Harrower came to see it – a bit nerve-wracking for Charlie and George (playing Una and Ray), but also very interesting and helpful for them! He gave them a few pointers and answered their questions, but seemed to like the production! Meanwhile, I think I have finally familiarized myself with the set (which involves A LOT of rubbish, all of which has a specific place on set!) and looking after costume is pretty easy. Only one minor incident this week when George cut his finger near the end of one performance and managed to get some blood over his and Charlie’s (white!!) costume – uh-oh!! But no need to panic, as with a bit of magic scrubbing it all came off and poor George’s finger survived with just a plaster, hurray! Next stop Colchester…
Colchester 23/11/11 – 26/11/11
We had a lovely week in Colchester, which is a beautiful wee town – apparently the oldest Roman city in Britain according to George! We were at the Mercury Theatre this week in their Studio space, which was quite similar to the York Studio and much smaller than the Tron. I think George, Charlie and Katie (Director) were quite happy about this, as although the Tron worked well, the piece works best in quite small, intimate spaces, so it’s good to do it in that sort of space again. The audiences were really good this week, very responsive and attentive and we got some really great reactions. The post show discussion on the first night was very good, too and it’s always interesting to hear people’s questions and their very different opinions and reactions to the play. It is the sort of play that really makes you think and provides no anwsers for the audience, which I think is great, as part of theatre is to be challenged and made to think, as well as to be entertained. The most fun part of the week (in my opinion) is watching George and Charlie warm-up. They always try to run different bits of scenes and text during their warm-up and they’ll give each other different accents to try it in (some better than others, but always hilarious!) and in different styles like Panto style or Tennessee Williams – I swear I could watch them for hours! It is a pretty intense play, so I guess they have to let off steam somehow!…In other news, the set (ie the rubbish!) seems to be getting a little bit smellier everytime we’re cleaning up, but I think we’re just imagining it! Though it is a bit worrying when you can’t tell if it’s real mould or the fake mould…but I’ll leave that to our DSM Carl who knows this rubbish inside out! He’s been having a bit of a fun of his own this week. Carl is also being the passerby while we are on tour, as there needs to be somebody from the office the play is set in to walk past and knock on the door twice during the show and speak to Ray, George’s character. Carl tries to wind George up sometimes and keep him on his toes, once asking if he can come in and make a cup of tea and another walking past with a giant clipboard asking him to sign something. George is too much of a pro though to be caught out! Everyone’s really enjoyed our time at the Mercury Theatre and now there’s only one week left of the tour and 4 shows to go! Next and final stop, Exeter.
Exeter – 1/12/11
It’s the 1st of December! Only 24 sleeps until Christmas. The Blackbird team are in Exeter at the Northcott Theatre for the last week of the tour. We had our opening night performance here last night and everyone was pretty pleased with it! It’s a bigger space again, a bit like the Tron, but everything seems to have fitted well into the space and we had a good audience for the first night! It was also the last time Katie and Mark (Production Manager) will see the show!! And it seems they thought their last one was a good one! It’s been really great working with them both and hopefully I’ll run into them again in the not-so-far-future! Yesterday was pretty hectic before the show, as some of our props had accidentally been chucked out as rubbish (they were sitting in our spare bin – oops!) and then as I went to open the suitcase with all the costumes in I found that the washing liquid has leaked and spilt over everything!!!! Oops, again. But luckily Carl managed to source some other props and after I spent a mad hour and a half washing all the costumes and the case, everything was cleaned up and managed to dry just in time for the show! Phew. And on the plus side, the costumes smelled extra nice and clean, as Charlie mentioned! So we have only 3 shows to go (as there’s no matinee this week), so we’ll have to make them good ones. And talking of Christmas (not long to go now), I’ve been promised a CD of Charlie and George’s warm-up songs (yes, their brilliant warm-ups include songs!) – what a stocking filler! The Northcott Theatre is situated in the lovely campus of Exeter University and although it’s quite an uphill walk to the theatre from the digs Carl and I are staying at, it’s a nice walk and today, Charlie and I have decided to have an explore around the city! Fingers crossed it doesn’t rain…
