Opening night nerves?

In my previous post I was worried about how things would go. Well here we are three days later, we've built (and taken away again) two theatres in two different schools, done two dress/tech rehearsals and performed two brilliant opening nights of The Tempest - with two different casts to two separate groups of 200+ East London year 7 and 8s.

And that's just the start of it!

By the end of the tour these 27 young actors will have performed to over 2000 people in 9 different venues in the space of 11 days.

I'm sure there will be the odd hiccup along the way, that sort of punishing schedule would put pressure on even the most seasoned professional actor. But so long as we take a breath, regain our focus and carry on I'm sure we will be fine. When one of the young actors stumbled everso slightly on a line yesterday, this is exactly what she did: took a breath, regained her focus and started the line again - delivering it, and the rest of the show perfectly. I couldn't have been more proud. If we as a team can take a leaf from her book I know the 2000+ audience members from every corner of London will see the thrilling show these young actors are capable of.

The Final Bend

I am filled with trepidation, as I always am at this point of the rehearsal process. We have one more rehearsal - a dress/tech rehearsal on Sunday - and then we perform to out first audience! 200 year 7s waiting there with baited breath, excited to be out of lessons and trying to work out what it is they're going to experience.

As a director or assistant I'm always nervous at this point - there are just so many unknowns. Will the costumes distract? Will everyone remember their props? Will it all be loud enough? Will it be too loud? I must say usually all this concern is over nothing. And this cast have constantly surprised me with their high standard of work even though we keep throwing more and more at them.

I guess what it comes down to is that it's getting closer and closer to that point where there's not much I can do anymore! Me and Joss won't be onstage, or even directing them as they go. We can note - and I'm sure we will - but the long and short of it is we have to let them take the reigns now.

It's out of our hands now and into theirs, our jobs are nearly done and we get to see what they will go and create. The fear is whether I've done enough, and the joy is seeing they don't need me!

What they think...

You've heard me raving about this project but this week I've been interviewing some members of the cast. So don't take my word for it! Here's what they think:

Me: What about this project has surprised you?

Joseph (age 14): That I have quickly learnt my lines. Coz it would take some time for me to learn them normally. Why? Because I understand the meaning of the words, before in school I wouldn't understand the meaning and get stuck on words.

Immanuel (13): That I'm finally acting with people that actually enjoy acting. Normally in school I'm the only one that enjoys doing drama. So I'm happy to see that everyone is passionate about it.

Marcel (15): How quickly you can make friends here and how quickly you can grab the concept of the text and stuff and how fun it is to learn.

Peter (13): The difficulty of the language and how quickly I got to know what it means.

Manasseh (15): How quick it's gone, how quick it's been and the progress. It's really fast and it has that sense of professionalism and it doesn't stay in one moment. You have to stay on track and stay on board.

What have you particularly enjoyed about this project?

Joseph: Meeting new friends and being treated as a professional actor.

Callum (14): There's so much that I can't put it down to one thing. But just the fact that we're working with such a great team of people. They're all willing to do something, willing to take part and we're all bonding - almost like a family, it's really good.

Francisca (15) and Chelsea (14): The exercises are quite fun. 

Yeah, they're fun, but sometimes they can be hard work.

You can come in and be like "I'm not doing it". But then they're watching you out of the corner of their eye and you have to. So you have no choice really, but I like it.

Peter: Meeting new people and learning blocking, the physical activities... and the breaks!

Manasseh: The mere fact that you can achieve a lot in such short time where you don't really see it in stuff like school. With an opportunity like this you realise your potential. and you experience and realise things that you didn't know before.

Bethany (15): I've Enjoyed working in depth with the play and getting to really understand what everything means.

What have you found challenging?

Immanuel: The challenge is getting all your lines learnt by the deadline. That's very challenging -  I'm nearly there, all I need to do is learn one more scene.

Francisca and Chelsea: Waking up.

Learning the Shakespearean language.

Marcel: Trying to actually learn how to say the words in the text and trying to remember all the words in the script.

Michael (16): Arriving on time.

Bethany: I think the challenge has been learning lines. Because you have to learn them exact and where the punctuation is.

From your experiences these last few weeks: what piece of advice would you give to another actor?

Immanuel: Never give up and always try. Even if something's hard just ask someone for help and you will get it right.

Callum: Don't learn it in lines, learn it in blocks.

Francisca and Chelsea: Don't be prejudice against what you think's going to happen, have an open mind and just go with it.

Have fun and have breakfast.

Marcel: Just always listen and be open to new stuff. because if you're open to new stuff like this you'll find it fun and exciting.

Michael: To articulate. When you're speaking make sure that you are clear and the audience - or whoever you are speaking to - can understand each and every single word. A.R.T.I.C.U.L.A.T.E!

Bethany: Be more confident because you're better at things than you think you can be.

And if you had just one word to describe this project, what would it be?

Joseph: Excellent

Immanuel: Exciting - because every day you come in and something new will happen. You never know what will happen the next day. Everyone comes in with new stories and it's fun because it helps us all bond with each other.

Callum: Unique

Francisca and Chelsea: Roller-coaster

Marcel: Exhilarating

Peter: Excellent

Manasseh: Breathtaking

Michael: Privilege

Bethany: Amazing

What a week!

I can't quite believe we've had a full week already, but what a week it's been! We've got two casts, 28 brilliant actors and one incredible ensemble.

So what have we been up to? Well, not only have we cast the show, started working on making sense of the text and begun blocking. We've also crammed in 3 masterclasses as well!
Our first masterclass was led by Mary Howland. It focused on voice technique and how this can be used to make sense of Shakespeare's text. We now use these vocal exercises as the basis for our daily warm-up. Much like a sports warm-up these focus on stretching muscles but with an aim to increase volume, clarity and vocal dexterity. A particular favourite of mine is Raisin Face/Lion Face, as can be seen below - I'll let you decide which one you think we're doing!

Our second session with Mary looked at deciphering the clues provided in the text. We began by getting our pencils and getting really stuck into our scripts. Putting double slashes when a phrase is finished and single slashes when a phrase is unfinished phrase - deciphering this using the punctuation provided in the text. We went on to consider the nucleus of phrases and bringing out the euphonious words where appropriate. A number of the actors seem to have a career in advertising beckoning!
Our next masterclass focused on movement - finding ways of moving through space and how this impacts on character. The session was run by Simon Rivers who some of you may recognise from the BBC series Doctors and who played Mephistopheles in Present Moment's production of Doctor Faustus.   Beginning with an exercise to develop focus - we saw how movement can combine with sound to create rhythms within our ensemble. This also introduced the importance of working as a team, and providing an awareness of the other actors - something he developed through a number of exercises.
Next the actors improvised what it meant to move as: fire, water, earth and air. Known as Elemental work these experiential exercises aimed at stretching the actors imaginations and bodies. Also proving very fruitful when discussing these styles of movement in relation to character.
There were a number of other exercises including mirroring and status games but too many to mention here. This was a workshop focused on introducing ideas and - through experiential exercises - developing a palette of movements in the actors' muscle memories.
The final masterclass of the week was a puppetry workshop by Raven Kaliana of the Little Angel Theatre. We looked at the possible uses of puppetry within the wider context of theatre. What they can do easily and what can be more of a challenge - before thinking in the terms of The Tempest where puppetry may be a good solution.
We looked at shadow puppets and how to create them. Introducing the idea of three dimensional shadow puppets and moving light-sources. How this can easily create textures, landscapes, journeys and scale using little more than a handheld torch and some crumpled fabric!
We then moved onto more traditional puppets and the fundamentals of creating them. Starting with a pole, a mask and a piece of fabric each of the groups of actors created vibrant characters - each with individual personalities and ways of moving.
All three masterclasses have provided me with revelations and I know from the actor's reflections that they have too. Whether it's discussing which characters are which element, finding ways to create personalities from lifeless materials or speaking the text with a greater understanding of the character's thought processes. I have seen these actors develop in front of my eyes this week and this is all work we will build on and take with us into production. You may not see any of these exercises in the final performance but the work done and insight gained will be more than evident.

Ding ding, round one.

What a brilliant first day. Any nerves I had before the day disappeared when I met the dynamic group of actors who were waiting for us! I was unable to be involved in the audition process and had therefore not met the ensemble before. But the 8 schools selected have not let us down. There is a diverse mix of age and experience and I can already see the skeleton of two great casts emerging.

So what did we do? Joss began the day with an introduction to our expectations for the project, and what is required from each of our actors during this process. I followed with some silly games and 'ice-breakers' and then Joss led the ensemble through some improvisation exercises. It should be said by this point the talent and creativity of the company was really becoming evident. When our designer Libby Todd delivered the design presentation the excitement amongst the cast was tangible. One of the cast highlighting the opportunity to work with professional design and costumes as a particularly enjoyable surprise in our reflections session at the end of the day.

After lunch there was some singing followed by movement improvisation before we split into smaller groups for the latter session. These included measuring for costumes, an introduction to the Arts Award and the self evaluation integral to our creative process. While these we're going on Joss and I began work on some of Shakespeare's text - I must say that I was surprised at the ease with which some of the ensemble took to Shakespeare's language. When there was something that couldn't be understood the rest of the company, at this point the audience, would offer suggestion and collectively decipher the text.

Last year I wasn't involved in the project at such an early stage - but it's wonderful to see the ease with which this company has bonded socially. A number of the actors reflected upon this in the final session and some went further to say that it has created an atmosphere that meant they were not afraid to get up and act in front of a group of people they've never met before that morning.

After all this you can well see how we might all be exhausted, but that's just day one! Today we have movement and voice masterclasses to look forward to and we aim to be cast by tomorrow morning. A good breakfast eaten and lots of water packed we're ready and raring to go.

This is it!

I'm sat on a bus on my way to our first rehearsal all together. Present Moment Theatre Lab 2014 kicks off today! I'm sure I have the same feeling of nervous excitiment that all the young people have: what is everyone going to be like? What's the show going to be like? Will everyone be better than me? How will I know?

Experience tells me all will be fine - and after that first tentative 5 minutes we'll be flying into the work. Playing silly games, learning everyone's names and trying to tell Shakespeare's story. But there's always that little feeling of dread...

The best advice I can find to give myself is: use it! Ride those nerves, use that energy and that excitiment. After all it's not an unwilling audience out there, it's a group of 30 very talented young people who I'm sure can't wait to get started!

Here we go...

So here we are, right at the beginning of a very exciting project - Present Moment Theatre Lab 2014. A production that engages with young people from 8 schools across London.

Working with a group of 30 young people over a 4 week rehearsal period, we will create 2 productions of William Shakespeare's The Tempest which we will then tour to the 8 schools involved, with 2 Gala performances at RADA in the middle! We will also be running masterclasses on Voice, Movement, Puppetry and Stage Combat as well as working towards gaining the young people's Arts Award Bronze. There's a lot to get through and this all takes a lot of preparation.

When I said we were right at the beginning if this project then, this was obviously not quite true. The beginnings of this project expand all the way back to the end of Theatre Lab 2013 (if not before!) However, this week we had our pre-production meeting and things suddenly became very real. It was the first time the creative team came together in one place and it made me realise it was high time I started this blog.

I'm Michael Beigel and I'm the Assistant Director. I'll be writing on here regularly and letting you into some of the secrets of our creative process. I hope you enjoy coming with us on this journey.