I keep writing a list and each time I do it gets bigger.

This list now has sub lists and my sub lists have extra lists which keep growing.

This means I am busy. This is definitely a good thing.

I am hoping that by tomorrow this list will get smaller.

Until then.......

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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…

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I am here because Blackbird opened at The Northcott Theatre last night which is our last venue before we close on Saturday. The whole Exeter experience has been fantastic and the team did an incredible show last night. What a way to end eh?!

I forgot! I forgot what this play can do to you. When you live with something for a while and when you are always ensuring that all still works you can detach slightly from the difficult and challenging emotions that the characters are going through. Maybe it's a form of protection? Maybe you try and see things from a new audiences perspective? Maybe you are focussed on making sure it works in the space? Last night hit me really hard. Last night reminded me just what this play can do. Both Charlie and George felt it and had commented how emotionally charged it felt. It felt dangerous and electric and did what theatre does best.

As I stand here and think about the epic journey I am about to embark on. It makes me think about my own personal journey and how privileged I feel to have directed such an superb play. None of which could have been done without all the people that have been involved in making this piece of work. Thank you so much. To my hugely talented and fabulous team. To all that have been involved in this journey. To all at Pilot and York Theatre Royal. To all our audiences and to Mr Harrower. Without all of you none of this would be possible.

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Blackbird is now in its final week at York Theatre Royal before it heads out on tour. We will be opening at the The Tron in Glasgow on the 15th Nov, Mercury Theatre in Colchester 23rd Nov and finally The Northcott Theatre in Exeter from the 28th November

Our run has recieved some fantastic feedback so far and some excellent reviews. Here they are:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2011/oct/21/blackbird-review

http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/blackbirdpilot-rev.htm

http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/34008/blackbird

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2011/nov/13/blackbird-david-harrower-york-review

http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts-ents/stage/blackbird-tron-theatre-glasgow....

http://www.playstosee.com/page.php?sad=play&id=315

http://www.whatsonstage.com/reviews/theatre/london/E8831319733229/Blackbird+a...

http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/arts/theatre_reviews_the_little_match_gi...

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/theatre/9332178.Review__Blackbird__by_Davi...

http://www.whatsonstage.com/reviews/theatre/london/E8831321484893/Blackbird+(...

Do catch it and us on the road!

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We opened, hooray. The last week of rehearsals flew by and the opening week was just as quick. It was an intense process but once that was well rewarded with the feedback we got. We have now done four shows and await our Press Night this evening. Both Charlie, George and the wonderful Carl Moir are working really hard so hopefully it should be a great show.

Will keep you posted.....

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We spent most of last week layering the detail to each moment in order to make sense of the beautifully rich text. This really paid off when we did a run for the first time on Friday afternoon. It was so helpful to see how it all hung together and more then useful for Charlie and George to see how the translations of moments felt. They both did an excellent job! It was clear to see where we need to go and what needs to be developed. Today I will be focussing on the physical language between them both and their relationship with the room. The rest of this week will be spent adding more detail and then running the piece.

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I am not sure what to do with myself today. The last week has been so intense and compelling that I am left with a load of energy that I only want to use in the rehearsal room. It is weird as this is unlike directing any other play. My process is different. I don't work through blocking scenes as it is one room, one place. With both characters wanting answers. The most important thing for me and the actors at the moment is making sense of the incredibly dense wonderfully writtten script. It is essential that we work through our understanding of it all keeping our choices open. Both Charlie and George are doing an outstanding job of making the dialogue entirely naturalistic, working to play each moment with finese and flair. We all know how much work there is to be done and when a moment really works it is when we all hear the script for the first time. Our days are hugely focussed and I sometimes wonder if I am pushing them too much and too far as it is only the first week. I then see George furiously working through the script in breaks and Charlie eager to continue conversations when rehearsals are over.

This may be the first time I have said this..... hurry up Monday I want to go to work!

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We have started, hooray!

All the things you worry about on first days are done today

Now to plan tomorrow and how to do all the unraveling

Blackbird days become Blackbird nights

The enthusiasm contagious

No one wants to leave the rehearsal room

Is the start of good things to come?

I think Mr Carl Moir thinks so.....

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You read the text again You think about what you want to get done tomorrow before the meet and great

You talk to your Stage Manager

You make lists. You make some more lists

You decide on first day exercises. You read some research. You regret reading that research as it is quite distressing

You watch your husband lead a conker competition dressed as Dick Turpin

You eat a delicious scone filled with jam and cream with our European guests

You get excited about getting started

You don't watch X Factor

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Yesterday was a real eye opener for me. After spending the last month researching and developing ideas for Blackbird I realised I had become imersed in my own world and had started to become worried about whether I would articulate my findings in my rehearsal room next week. I found myself reading my rehearsal plan in the office late last night deciding on appropriate exercises when I began to share my thoughts with Associate Artist Tom Bellerby. What started off as a brief talk became an interesting and thought provoking dialogue about the rehearsal period and the world of the play. It made me realise how isolating the pre work can be. It is your vision, your thougths and your world until you enter the rehearsal period and start to explore the work with your actors.

Thought of the week:

It is always refreshing to share ideas and to be challenged by new ones.

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I just had an excellent meeting with Craig Vear about the sound world of the play. I love pre conversations about the play where everything is new, yet well considered but you know that there is going to be so much more to discover.

It was really interesting to hear the moments that Craig had connected with and felt need highlighting. Some of which I had not thought about so was really exciting to see something in a different way.

Here is an updated picture of the set model. Still a few tweaks to be made but we are nearly there. The dressing of the room is really important. It is a space that nobody cares about. It needs to look  unkept and is rarely clean. It will be ingrained with dirt. It needs to look and smell like an old bin. It will have dirty overalls, old food, old rusty kettle, cups, stuff that displays its history. Its history is important as it will tell us who uses the room, how it is used and how accessible it is to maneuver round. Craig used the phrase a sick room (not in the literal sense) a room that is been left to rot.

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I just had an excellent meeting with Craig Veer about the sound world of the play. I love pre conversations about the play where everything is new, yet well considered but you know that there is going to be so much more to discover.

It was really interesting to hear the moments that Craig had connected with and felt need highlighting. Some of which I had not thought about so was really exciting to see something in a different way.

Here is an updated picture of the set model. Still a few tweaks to be made but we are nearly there. The dressing of the room is really important. It is a space that nobody cares about. It needs to look  unkept and is rarely clean. It will be ingrained with dirt. It needs to look and smell like an old bin. It will have dirty overalls, old food, old rusty kettle, cups, stuff that displays its history. Its history is important as it will tell us who uses the room, how it is used and how accessible it is to maneuver round. Craig used the phrase a sick room (not in the literal sense) a room that is been left to rot.

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Here is a sneak preview of the white card model for Blackbird

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Last week was spent filling my theatre boots with lots of fantastic work. I popped to Glasgow to meet Andy Arnold at The Tron and to see the space as Blackbird will be playing there in November. I then made my way to the glorious Edinburgh for an action packed two days where I saw 11 shows. Some were incredible, some were good and only one was not worth seeing. My absolute favourites were Monster In The Hall by David Greig and A Slow Air by David Harrower. It was really useful to see David's new show as he had also directed it. It was so beautifully written with very gutsy performers that it made me think about my approach with Blackbird.

Am currently working with Lydia (Designer for Blackbird) to create our set. We want to create a naturalistic canteen area which is uncared for and littered with rubbish. Our set needs to works for all our venues so we are looking at something that can expand. Our white card meeting is tomorrow so I will post some model pictures. Am also re reading the text at the moment as I am making sound decisions and looking at lighting ideas.

I will be holding final casting session for Una next week with George so will have updates on the final cast very soon....

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Am currently in the thick of rehearsals scrutinising the text daily and working hard to create a vibrant blue's soundtrack! The play is so well written and its non linear format is littered with so many clues that it feels like I am solving a murder mystery. The rich metaphorical scenes are filled with endless possibilities which is certainly keeping me on my toes. The cast are doing an excellent job in a very tight rehearsal period. We open next Thursday!

Today was our first stagger through and whilst there is lots to find and discover it was looking pretty good!  It has been really helpful that the ensemble cast have been working together since March. We are now in the process of going back through the scenes layering in detail and exploring choices. Tomorrow will be our first Skype chat with Jez Butterworth. He was hoping to make it to rehearsals but has been tied up with his other projects. Skype is such a fantastic tool that it will feel like we have had him there as part of the process. He will then come and see the show once we open.

The days are flying by and the nights are even quicker so am of to find the last sound score for the end monologue. Am thinking blues with an atmospheric feel. Do let me know if you think of anything.........

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It has been a whirlwind of a week mainly due to the fact that we have only had three rehearsal days but also this has been the first time we have put everything together. We had our first run, which went well. It was useful to see at such an early stage how the piece worked in its entirety and what parts needed developing. Richard was able to join us and it was clear that the original idea for the climatic end was not the ideal choice. We discussed other possibilities that had come from the discovery of how the scene was going to develop which resulted us in finding a much better option.

The rest of the week has been spent working through the scenes in detail, choreographing puppet dances, working out how the best way to use the overhead projector for the discovery of the Grandpa's secret lives.

A glimpse of ife inside Grandpa Jack's tent as he watches at what the other side is doing

Sid in his glad rags before they become filthy and battered from the constant rain. The costumes are currently being broken down and to be made to look like they have survived outdoor life for 14 years.

Until Tuesday when the madness of the Royal Wedding has passed and we are back to a wet and windy 2061

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Today was spent working through the script in detail, layering lots of thoughts and developments for each scene. The more we unravel the more apparent it is becoming that each Grandpa is trapped in their fear of the past, furiously wanting to the protect their grandchildren from the future.

 The debut of the Auntie and Uncle songs were revealed today. They have been written by Chris Madin who is currently in Canada opening The Railway Children. They are an amalgamation of the pop starts famous hits so expect a bit of Single Lady dancing and a bit of Jay-Z rapping.

It has been another fun week at The What Light camp. On to next week for puppet surgery, choreography sessions and working out how we incorporate all the lighting specials in to the piece.

Until then........

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Nancy is not impressed by the neighbours

Grandpa Dan is not impressed with Nancy's behaviour

Things are getting hotter in the What Light camp.........

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It's Monday? Really? It's 5pm? really? seems to be mostly the theme of the day. Auntie Beyonce and Uncle Jonas have had a good outing today during the blocking of their scenes. It has been tremendous fun watching Sean and Chris imitate the voices of our famous friends. I am choreographing puppet sequences which seem to be working out really well and have opened up the door to a whole load of hideous possibilities.

Uncle Jay-z keeps watch outside Grandpa Dan's tent

We are now on page 46 so only 6 more to go before the entire play has a shape. We can then add detail and layer each scene. We are also waiting for the lovely Chris Madin who is currently in Canada to write our fabulous cheesy pop tune. This should be a hit to remember!

To tomorrow.....to discover what the big secret is that the Grandpa's won't reveal......

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