A little from column a and a little from column b ...

On Thursday evening there was no rehearsal but a production meeting for the costumes and such. And they are looking very fancy indeed ... there's plenty of reference points between the set and the 'Aussie bush' theme that I've tried to set up. It's hard to think of much more to say about the meeting other than it was productive, mirthful and brief. Excellent all round really.

Onto Saturday rehearsal ... 

some angst had been sorted out between rehearsals and I was loving everyone very much again ;-)

The same concerns are there but there is genuine movement towards the end goal and this gladdens my heart. I'm not sure if I that's obvious in the way that I carry myself but, I did feel things moving with, as I said, some of the same concerns about the production & cast as I have mentioned previously.

It's a curious thing in this production how isolated I can feel from time to time ... I desire friendship with people, I suppose most people do; I like talking to people and engage in the same camaraderie that the actors get amongst themselves whilst working on big cast shows like this. I've been in the cast of a couple of productions where I've felt this. Early 90s productions of Barnum and Les Miserables come to mind and had close casts. Recently I was the lead in a production of Allo Allo where it was as much fun backstage as it was onstage. 

However, I think when you direct there's a distance that needs to be kept from that to get things done but with this production, more than any other, there seems to be little time to enjoy peoples company. And I can gets a bit lonely ... sniff sniff ;-)

Another issue that seems to be taking up some brain power is the differing levels of commitment ... It's more an observation than a criticism. In the usual run of a community theatre show there's some accommodation for people missing the odd rehearsal. Many actors are in multiple productions or are juggling work commitments etc ... But this is causing some real issues in this production because, although each rehearsal schedule needs a certain amount of flexibility, the lack of consistent cast attendance is stymying the smooth progress of rehearsals and upsetting the need for clarity that the Altogether Drama (AD) cast need. They can be quite unsettled if things don't go to plan and it takes some time to get back into the swing if they're uptight. I'm not sure that everyone has an awareness of the needs of our AD cast in that regard and consequently I get frustrated.

By and large Workshop puts on quite a high level of production given its limitations, punching above its weight in the sporting parlance, and we do this on shoestring budgets and with limited people hours to make the place run efficiently. That being said, it has been one of the learning curves that we've experienced in seeing, acknowledging and understanding the exact nature of the commitment to be undertaken. I see this as potentially a good thing as future productions of this type will benefit from the experience and knowledge gained here.

So here we are: learning things, working hard, energy, passion, laughter, frustration, a bottle of Chivas for those not so cold nights, questions, answers and a dash of angst. Everything in the theatre seems, well, normal.