The Final Push (Thurs May 1st)
Do you hear that? That’s the sound of things dropping into place, or just dropping off.
With just three weeks to go before we open to a paying audience, a whole host of people are pulling together to package and deliver the show to the stage. The stress levels are increasing and there’s invariably a night where I wake at 4am with something I needed to remember.
The cast are working hard in running through the acts over and over, both in rehearsal (thrice weekly) and privately – each of them play many parts in this ensemble piece. With such a large cast it is inevitable that we have those who have to withdraw for valid reasons and we’ve had two such of our cast having to regretfully pull out. This necessitated a re-organisation of parts within the cast to cover – no mean feat for the cast when you think you’ve nailed your on-stage requirements!
We were very fortunate in having new recruits Steve Oakley and Peter Hornsby fall in to help out – I can’t thank them enough and they’re both top-drawer too – that’s always a bonus! The remaining cast have managed to take on extra requirements. Amanda, on piano at rehearsals, will soon be joined by the band allowing the choir to hear what they’re ‘up against’.
All departments have had meetings: the lighting, stage management and sound being particularly intensive – the show is technically very ambitious. Upwards of 100 lighting cues and over 100 sound and lighting cues. We’ve yet to mark up the microphone script – 18 microphones will probably mean over 200 on/off cues!
However, the show is looking very good with two weeks of rehearsals to go. The cast are anxious to handle the props, costumes and set items whilst they finally adjust their performances to suit their characters. The set, such as it is, is finished. We’re going with the ‘black stage’ premise with a few key pieces as per the original production. Plus, we’re using our brand new back projection facility for the first time – it’s really something to behold.
We’ve been very honoured to have actress Caroline Quentin record a passage of the Ode To Remembrance to open our show. Caroline was the star of the recent Stratford East revival of Oh What a Lovely War – the very same theatre that premiered Joan Littlewood and the Theatre Workshop’s production 51 years ago. The link back to the original makes us even more enthused to stage something special.
We’re hopefully doing a ‘flashmob’ in Fleet on Saturday May 10th – details will follow but it should be a lot of fun.
We’re very happy to be seeing a great uptake in ticket sales for the show. We’ve made the opening night just £10 to entice people out on a Thursday. I think some people regard the first night as the one that’s ‘finding its feet’ but that’s never been the case – the show has been rehearsed for many performances before opening night and will be in the shape it will be for the entire run, so take advantage of the offer. Plus, if you fancy, there’s a pre-theatre dinner offer from our friends at The Courtyard Café (see the link at right). www.hag.ticketsource.co.uk
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Halfway Through (Sun Mar 23rd)
Spinning plates, that’s what it’s like!
We’re now moving into the next phase of rehearsals. We’ve been selectively rehearsing some of the vignettes that comprise the show – almost all of them actually. Last week we started stringing them together, though we did spend some time on the waltz scene (where the officer class and their wives are seen gossiping about each other). Getting a cast who are still learning lines to waltz in time with a beat and delivering their lines in time was quite an achievement, needless to say we’ve got some more work to do on that front!
This week we begin rehearsing entire sections of the play in a traditional format – contiguous scenes of the script are rehearsed rather than isolated parts. This presents challenges such as playing in music and assembling the choreography on the fly and so it’s all hands on deck.
Our extensive prop requirement is being expertly handled by Alicia Forsaith and Julie MacDonald and ranges from grouse to a wheelchair. Items have to be sourced or made specifically for this production as you might imagine. The costumes are being run up as we speak – we’re being licentious with the requirement as a fully costumed production (in terms of vintage military kit) would require a sum of money more suited to the £45+pp ticket cost in the west end. Suffice to say we’re conscious of ensuring the countries and players are as identifiable as possible. You may well imagine that 14 pierrot costumes alone presents a sewing maelstrom.
Our pre-recorded music arranger, Alan Melvyn Dicker is furiously sourcing and arranging the cues we hear throughout the play that aren’t played live. Simply finding examples of certain musical phrases is like looking for truffles – it’s surprising how rare these once common pieces are nowadays.
The set design by myself and David Walton is complete and we’ll begin construction soon. Faithful to the the original Stratford East production, it’s a simple design that has to set the background for 30+ separate scenes. We’ve also taken delivery of our new back projection facility, an essential aspect of the performance – work is now underway to produce the video that will intermittently feature. This screen is obviously a main part of the set and will also be the canvas on which we will project the 53 slides that are hired specifically for a production of Oh What a Lovely War.
The sense of camaraderie is palpable – everyone wants to make a great production. It feels as if the entire Group is involved in one way or another – a truly collaborative effort for the love of it.
With only eight weeks to curtain up, over half of the tickets have already been purchased or reserved for the final performance. I urge you to book your tickets as soon as possible – leaflet drops will be made shortly and the publicity push will mean that your choice of date/seating may well be unavailable soon. www.hag.ticketsource.co.uk
At ease.
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Week Three on the Big Push (Sun Mar 2nd)
Ironic, given its theme, that this show is an exercise in military planning. There’s ne’er a minute that isn’t consumed by the logistics of running a play with music.
Oh What a Lovely War (OWALW) features 35+ separate vignettes, or stage set-ups, throughout its two acts and whilst there’s hardly any actual set change the ‘blocking’ and choreography of all those involved is a brain ache.
Blocking is the process by which it’s decided at which point a player enters the stage, where they’re supposed to be throughout the performance and when they go off. With 14 cast members playing many parts, this is a process that’s permanently in consideration.
Weeks two and three have concentrated on both script work and song work. For the first week we read through the script having the actors move into the centre of the ‘space’ to deliver their lines – in this way we can see the crossovers of characters and the number of people on stage at any one time. Week three concentrated on the singing – the choir pieces, the ensemble pieces and the solo songs with harmonies arranged for Sopranos, Alto’s and Bass all arranged and conducted by Amanda, our musical director. Some of these old songs certainly come to life when sung with these harmonies and bring a lump to your throat.
It was important to Joan Littlewood, the lead originator of OWALW, that the songs were sung with the feeling and intent of the time rather than as a recounting of traditional ditties. Our cast are working to give specific life to their songs – as soon as we’re ‘books down’ (when we’re not referring to the script) then their characterizations can flourish. For an amateur dramatic presentation, when we’ve limited time, this characterization is the ‘golden moment’ of the rehearsal process – it’s when I, as director, can see the overall shape and interaction – it’s the best part of the process by far and rewarding for everyone. The cast have been briefed to investigate some of their historical characters and to ‘look into their eyes’. Most of the characters are real pieces of the WWI chess board and need to be afforded their beliefs in order for the audience to make their observations. Although this is not played for laughs, the frankly grotesque collection of events that comprise the ‘war game’ are…well, that’s for you to judge: www.hag.ticketsource.co.uk!
To lighten up proceedings, I arranged for retired corporal Antony Gall to come down and surprise the cast and choir with a ‘square bash’ this week. See the 10 minute video for yourself is all I will say. This exercise saw us in the local press during the week. Part of OUR campaign to fill the seats is to ensure that our marketing is relentless (sorry!). Helen Lewis and I will be investigating every opportunity to shout it to the world, we’d REALLY appreciate it if you do too – word of mouth is truly our best friend. Thank you.
Finally, I’d like to welcome some key creative people to the production. Firstly I am thrilled to say that Kevin Cluett is on board as a member of the 14-strong cast. Kevin is a fantastic character actor and rounds out the already spectacular cast. Our hair and make-up is managed with consummate professionalism (truly – these people do this in their full time occupation) by the über-talented Ben Boyle, Carolyn Miles and Letitia Ibrahim. The team were responsible for the spellbinding FRANKENSTEIN, so we are in very safe hands (and endless raucous laughter).
I’ll update you with what happens in weeks four and five in a couple of weeks, in the meantime there’s the issue of props, pre-recorded music, sound effects, video production and costume to deal with. Lesley Parish has ordered over 100 yards of fabric so there’s a whole lot of stitchin’ goin’ on.
Stand easy.
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First Week in the Trenches (Sun Feb 16th)
That ‘veritable raft of blogs’? Yes, I didn’t say when they’d actually start. 😉
We’ve just completed our first week of rehearsals with two ‘get to know the songs’ sessions. One with everyone plus the choir and one with the solo songs and singers. Even at this stage the juxtaposition of the jolly, knockabout songs with the hymn pastiches and especially ‘Keep The Homes Fires Burning’ sung with delicacy is quite moving. Amanda Pennington, the show’s Musical Director took the cast and some of the choir through their paces with played-in music and accompanied piano.
The rehearsal period comprises a Tuesday and Thursday evening session at the Jubilee Hall in the village and a number of extraneous rehearsal sessions on Sundays at our set building facility in Hook. As you might imagine, there’s a lot of work to cover; not only line-learning the many parts each actor has to play, but the songs and the choreography too! It’s an energetic play and the pace never stops for the ensemble as everyone is on-stage invariably more often than not.
It’s at this stage that all the departments are gearing up for the production: costume design requires yards upon yards of cotton drill fabric, many hats, sashes and buttons, period music hall dress, military webbing – the list is almost endless and the job of creating these items is a military exercise in itself – all help would be VERY much appreciated, however small please! The technical department have a huge task ahead of them – the set, the brand-new back projection, along with the overhead projection, the lighting, the video production, the extensive sound requirements – there are 14 cast members, plus at least ten choir and a six-piece band to amplify! On top of that, the marketing effort will be the largest Hartley Arts Group has ever deployed. We’ll catch up with all these elements, and more, on the road to the show via this blog so you can see the work in progress.
The production is extremely lucky to have a veritable feast of talent who are putting themselves through the ‘wringer’ in presenting our version of the show. I know all of them are as passionate as I am in staging this critically-acclaimed play – their commitment in the coming weeks is a testament to the creativity that amateur drama relies upon to survive and flourish, a truly admirable voluntary effort of community; cast and crew alike.
I’m delighted to announce our terrific cast here in this blog, you’ll see a cast photograph on this site’s homepage and on our Facebook page this week. In alphabetical order our ensemble are: Chris Andrews, Paola Burgess, Julia Chapman, Brian Drew, Kelvin Fay, Jim Goodman, Bill Hansell, Helen Lewis, Lesley Parish, Juliette Pye, Gill Richardson, Keith Robertson, Shaun Terry and Brian Wilson. We’ll be having a ten-piece choir and a band too – I hope to have a complete list of names shortly.
Joining the creative team will be Helen Lewis on choreography (and there’s a LOT of that!) and professional musician Alan Melvyn Dicker will be arranging and performing all music that’s not played live by the band.
I was lucky enough to see the sell-out (before it opened!) Stratford East production of the show on February 4th. In the 51 years since its debut, the stage has seen other notable productions dealing with WWI – War Horse and Birdsong for example. I feared the effect that OWALW had would have diminished in the face of these emotionally-torturous productions, but the moist eyes and ovation extended this current production has assuaged me. This play still has the resonance and impact to deliver the message. Whilst we’re an amateur dramatic company and don’t have access to big ‘West End’ funds, be in no doubt that the cast and crew of our production will be pulling out all the stops to ensure that we deliver that same impact and in my view I believe the show actually works more effectively as a non-professional production.
More soon. At ease.
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Sunday September 15th 2013
Greetings and welcome to the very first blog of what I hope will be a veritable raft of blogs (we’ll see won’t we?).
The obvious intention of this blog is to share the production path for Hartley Arts Group’s production of Oh What a Lovely War which is to be staged from May 22nd 2014 for just six dates.
I’ve long cherished a desire to stage Oh What a Lovely War (OWALW) and I began to formulate a path whereby I could do just that. Nothing was guaranteed of course, but the intent was there.
The genesis of the idea sort of coalesced when fellow OWALW ‘fan’ Lesley Parish and I visited Farnham Maltings on 26th September 2011 to watch the Blackeyed Theatre Group perform the show in their unique way. Just five actors played all the parts – it was an enjoyable and bittersweet staging.
Lesley and I continued to wave the standard for our possible staging of the show and knew that being able to perform it in the centenary year of the break out of WWI would be an honour and privilege. Securing the rights from Samuel French took a longer than usual negotiation as a revival was planned (Stratford East – the theatre where it was originally performed is staging the show in 2014). We were tenacious though and gained the rights to perform it in 2014 a year ago.
I certainly understand the power of the play – performed correctly it is an observation on the futility of war, it shouldn’t opine an anti-war stance, above all it respects the many millions who committed the ultimate sacrifice under a noble belief – on both sides. Joan Littlewood, the play’s author and creative visionary, was careful to lay a patina over the tragedy in setting the proceedings as a seaside end-of-the-pier show with the main protagonists dressed in circus-like pierrot costumes. The ever-present ticker tape of military operations and losses playing out as a newsreel projection behind the cast. It’s a finely-balanced show that requires perfect timing and yet demands a continually fresh interpretation. It is deliberately ‘Brechtian’, you are left with your ears ringing to the sound of tuneful wartime songs and your thoughts processing the overwhelming human sacrifices.
There are two main aims for this play; one is for Hartley Arts Group to commemorate the centenary of WWI: the village, like many across the UK, having been affected by the wars and two; for the entire group to show off its skills, the voluntary contribution and creativeness – it’s a collaborative effort – the perfect coming together to pay our respects in 2014. An ambitious aim? Yes.
So, as at the time of writing this blog we have had a read-through of the script which was greatly enjoyed, if that’s an appropriate adjective. I have also had a preliminary meeting with Amanda Pennington regarding the musical direction (the music is almost continuous). There are live music requirements, pre-recorded musical requirements and possible choir requirements.
Lesley Parish is the show’s Production Manager, I am the Director and Amanda Pennington is the Musical Director. There are many more roles to be filled, so stay tuned, I hope that everyone who wishes to join is involved in some capacity.
I have embarked on a quest for a main show sponsor (the rear projection, the costumes and set are very costly and far above our usual financial remit for shows). If you know of any company or institution who may be interested, do contact me at: hartleyartsgroup@gmail.com
Until next time.
Gary