Monday, 30 January 2012

First Day In The Theatre

Greetings everyone from a very excited actress!!

I am unbelievably excited about this production and got even more so when I walked into the theatre this afternoon and saw that the set was up, the lighting was being rigged and the desk for mixing the sound and lighting was set up in order for the Technical Rehearsal to take place.

I didn't end up rehearsing today, but we did get our dressing rooms (boys V. girls) and ours has zebra print tables which are very nice indeed! I shall endeavour to post a picture later on this week.

Look at what greeted me when I got to the theatre:


If you look super closely at the poster - that's my name on it! That made me super happy :)

A lot of the time, techs can be quite laborious and time-consuming, and while they are definitely the latter (think everyone is finishing around 10pm tonight having started at 1pm - some much earlier), it doesn't feel laborious because everyone seems to be having such a good time.

For those of you who don't know, a tech rehearsal is to fix the lighting and sound in place before we do a dress run (which is doing a full run of the play with complete make-up, hair, costume, sound, lighting, set etc. without stopping). The dress run is due to take place on Wednesday afternoon, on the day we go up!! 

I should be doing my bits tomorrow and am very much looking forward to putting on my costume! Depending on how my make-up and hair goes, I'll put up a picture - want you to get the full experience, so if it's a bit shoddy tomorrow, I'll leave it till Wednesday!

One of the best things about today, was the fact that every cast member and Tom brought in some home-baked goods. I didn't however, because like a pillock, I forgot. But I will!! Those were some good home-bakes!! Yummy yummy yummy.

Here's a cheeky little pic of the stage:


In this photo is Joe (Shelley) and Rhiannon (Mary) sitting next to our lovely SM (Stage Manager). That strip of light at the back is known as "West Brook". I'll break it down for you: Harriet's last name was Westbrook and she drowned herself in the Serpentine River. So for the majority of the play, we will allude to her link with water using that back part of the stage. So we "cleverly" renamed it "West Brook", like a watery brook... Geddit...? Clever ain't we?

Anywho my luvvlies, I have one long arse day tomorrow (10am-10pm) and will no doubt be throwing myself about the stage so need to get some shut eye. Poor H, supposed to have a quiet night to himself tomorrow but I've ambushed it because getting back to mine from his adds nearly an hour on to my journey and I need to get into bed asap!! Bless him, he's such a good'un!

I'll speak to you all tmrw!! 

Lots of love xxx

Thursday, 26 January 2012

26th Jan

Good evening everyone :)


Today was another pretty short day. We did our third run and out of all the ones we've done so far, it was definitely the one that was the most full of life and energy. Tom told us to be free and try out new things, even if we weren't sure about them, so that was what we did.


One scene in particular, which I'm not in, had me in utter hysterics. It's a scene in which the others act out the allegory of Plato's Cave. It challenges what we perceive to be real to what is actually real. It's quite convoluted so I'm not going to go into it now, but basically, it's quite a complicated and wordy scene. However today, the guys mixed it up and had a great time with it. We had the Artistic Director of the Jermyn Street Theatre in today to watch and he said that what makes the play is the spirit of it - fun. And that's what he thinks we've captured, which was great to hear.


I tried some new things in my speech, which I've yet to hear Tom's opinion on! We get our notes tomorrow so I'll let you know how it went down...


xxx

Wednesday, 25 January 2012

A walk in Hyde Park...

Good evening loyal readers,


So today, I have a bit of a treat for you... I took myself to Hyde Park and had a little walk around the Serpentine (where Harriet killed herself) and I filmed it. I shall upload them in just a moment...


Today, we had a sit-down day and received our notes from the run yesterday. They were definitely shorter than Monday's notes - we had 6 pages this time instead of Monday's 9 and it took an hour less to get through. 


We then had this "Italian rehearsal" that I mentioned yesterday. What I initially thought it was, was doing the lines at super speed in an Italian accent and I was sort of right, but there aren't any Italian accents involved. It's basically to test that we know the lines when put under pressure, like having to do it at high speed. And for the most part, we were fine!


After that, we had another costume fitting and... I got my costume!! It's brilliant. I don't want to say too much about it yet as I'll post a proper picture when it's all done properly, but what I can say is that it's fantastic and I'm very chuffed.


It was another relatively early finish today so before meeting H from work, I went off to the Park and here's what happened...












So there you have it! 

And to finish, I took a spooky photo...


xxx






Tuesday, 24 January 2012

Rehearsal photos...

Also guys, here's a link to the website which has some rehearsal photos of us doing our thang!! Take a look:

1 week today people!

I can't believe that this time next week, we'll be nearing the end of our first preview performance. Utter madness! And so exciting!!


We had an incredibly short day today so this won't be the longest blog in the world, but I'll fill you in the nonetheless.


Today we did our second run, which was considerably better than the first - and even that one was pretty good. (I think) Tom made less notes than he did before so fingers crossed he thinks this one was better, considering we'd tried to take on all the notes he'd given us yesterday on board.


We had a bit of an audience today. As well as the usual Tom and our Stage Manager, we had the Development Director and the Lighting and Sound guys in, as well as the Marketing Manager. It was the first time they'd seen or heard the piece since the readthrough and the reaction we got was great! It can only get better :)


We finished at lunchtime and if I'm honest, I was a bit of a lazy cow and spent the rest of this afternoon having a duvet day in bed catching up on all my favourite programmes and eating things I shouldn't. Then again, my last day off was just over 3 weeks ago, so I don't feel that bad...


Tomorrow should be fun - we'll be doing what Tom calls an "Italian Rehearsal", I'll fill you in as and when!!


Until then my lovelies, sleep well & I'll speak to you tomorrow!!


xxx


PS: Hello to my lovely new twitter followers - a massive thank you for the support, it means the blimmin' world!!

Monday, 23 January 2012

23rd Jan

Well, we got our notes today from Tom and Howard (Tom passed them on). All of them were really constructive and helpful. 


Howard's main note was not to take the play as some Chekhovian masterpiece or take it too seriously. So we spent the rest of the afternoon loosening everything up and linking the thoughts together whilst still having the separate intentions behind what we were saying, in the hope that it wouldn't be the length it was on Friday (the second half was 15 minutes longer than the first, despite being shorter page-wise). Oops.


We decided to do a second run tomorrow instead of today because the note session was nearly three hours long and we therefore need time to process them and a lunch break isn't really enough time to do that. So in the afternoon we worked through a bit of Act 1 and some of Act 2. We reworked my monologue and sped it up so that it wasn't self-indulgent (not an original conscious decision, I might add!). It felt soooo much better after we'd done that and I feel a lot more confident about it. With what we've done, Harriet is even more seemingly off her rocker and creepy, so thumbs up to that!


Hopefully we're going to do three runthroughs this week (including a Saturday rehearsal) so we'll be well prepared for the dress run on the Tuesday we go up for previews, which I'm hoping (fingers crossed) my Dad can come to as it's during the day and he can't come to any of the proper shows because he's starring in Noises Off at the Old Vic at the moment. Here's hoping!


And just a final note to say that the people I'm working with are the most considerate, kind people and I really do leave rehearsals with a huge smile on my face each day. Having the time of my life :)


xxx

Friday, 20 January 2012

It's Friiiiiiday!!!

Yep, it's that time of the week peeps - Friday time, or as we have nicknamed it in rehearsals Funday! We're crazy that way...


Today we did a run for the first time and it was AWESOME. We were so proud of it. It needs a lot of work, yes and is about 3/4 way there, but it's in such a good place, we can't help but feel 100% positive about it. 


As promised, here's a pic of the rehearsal room:



The little lines on the floor is the mark-up of our stage and that's our various bits of crap strewn over the chairs at the back. It was much neater this morning, but I took this as we finished at 5pm so it had got a little messy by then!

And here is a pic of our (very many) prop cases:


There are absolutely loads of these bloody things, which while incredibly useful to keep props in & use as carriages etc., they all look fairly similar so it's quite hard to remember what is in which box. Saying that, I don't have to do any of the prop-ing so it doesn't really affect me... :-s But the others are awesome at knowing what they're doing - give me too much to do, and it fries my tiny brain!

Both Howard and Tom (writer and director respectively) seemed really, really pleased with the run which just affirmed how we felt about it. There were only a couple of lines forgotten, which considering how long and wordy the play is, isn't bad going! We get our notes on Monday and according to Tom, it's going to be a week of running it and working the notes into the runs so we really get used to the flow of things. Can't believe that in a week tomorrow, we'll be in the theatre teching!! 

I shall let you know on Monday what the notes were like!

xxx

PS: We all went out for cast drinks for the first time (when we were all present) this eve. We went to a really awesome Tiki bar which had 2 cocktails for £7.50. Lovely jubbly.


Thursday, 19 January 2012

Sorry!!

Hey guys!


I'm so so sorry I've been lax over the last couple of days, it's been pretty busy what with an audition to prepare for, rehearsals to attend and an art exhibition to go to with H (very posh I know!).


Right! Down to bizniz (that's "business" in my chav speak). The last couple of days at rehearsals have been quite bitty. We've been going over and over scenes so that we know them backwards. Again, I've been watching a fair bit and learning. The closer we get to going up, naturally, the more pressure is on. However, looking at it, I think we'd be fine if we had to go up tomorrow. I mean, it's not ready as such, but it's in a fantastic place and we're all feeling really positive about it.


I've done my monologue a couple of times and it just seems to be getting stronger and stronger. I am so excited for what my director's got planned for my entrances and exits. He's really making sure I make a statement when I come on stage, to which I am so grateful to him for. He really could just not bother that much with Harriet; but quite the opposite & I'm chuffed!!


I also found out roughly what I'll be wearing and I'm still going to keep schtum on that one - however I will post a picture of me in costume once we're up and running.


There's so much I want to share with you all! The stage, the first night, the Press Night, the costumes - everything!! I can't wait :)


And tomorrow, we've got Howard - the writer - coming in for the first time in 2 weeks to watch rehearsals and we'll also be doing a run of the whole play for the first time, in front of him! I may vomit with nerves...


I'll let you know how it goes!!


xxx

Monday, 16 January 2012

Eeeek!! 2 weeks today!

Another weekend that went by far too quickly! Hope you all had a lovely one :) For my part, I spent it working & falling asleep on H infront of the TV, a trait that's bound to become tiresome v soon if it hasn't already...


So! As the title of this new blog suggests, it is indeed two weeks today until Bloody Poetry opens! Which is an absolutely terrifying prospect, not because it isn't ready yet (I mean it isn't, but it deffo will be) but because of how quickly these last 2 weeks have gone by. They've zooooomed, I tell ya, zooooooooooooomed!! As well as being pretty nervous, I'm also incredibly excited. 


We did a sort of stop and start run of Act 2 today and it looks GREAT! I know that sounds incredibly optimistic but it's true. It makes sense, it flows beautifully and it's funny as well as really sad. Everyone's putting so much in to it that it can't help but be a brilliant end product.


I re-did my monologue again today in front of some of the cast - and it was received really well. They said it was really frightening which is great, because if I'm honest, I want to scare the bejeezus out of the audience! 


I'm just having such a brilliant time with these people and can't wait to get it properly on it's feet so we can take a step back and think "yeah, this is awesome. Go us!". 


I hope those of you that want to come have booked your tickets or at least will do so this week! It's cheaper before Friday remember!


I'm in every day this week so will try to blog every day about what went on in the rehearsal room. I'll also try and get a picture up of our rehearsal room as it is at the moment, with the floor mark-up etc.


Lots of love xxx

Friday, 13 January 2012

12th Jan

Happy Friday everyone!


I'm just going to quickly blog about yesterday as it was a very quick session & my dinner's nearly ready :)


I was in first thing to do a quick costume fitting. We had a chat with the costume lady, Emily, and what they have in store for Harriet is AMAZING. Well, I think it is anyway. Because what they could have done is not really bother too much with Harriet as she's not necessarily the focal point of the play but NO!!! What Emily's thinking is A to the WESOME. I'm so so excited! When I learn more, I'll fill you in, so I guess you'll just have to keep checking these blogs... :)


I then had a small rehearsal of my big scene late-afternoon, which went really well. I'd worked on it a fair bit which my director commented on - it's always nice when work you do is recognised, and I want this to be brilliant so am making sure I'm working my little tush off (ok not that little, but ya get me!). 


Aaaaaanyway, I'm gonna skidaddle now because I can smell my dinner wafting in from the other room (maybe H has put the plate infront of a small fan in the direction of the living room as a hint...?). 


Have an awesome weekend lovely, blog-reading people. And please do keep spreading the word about it, I'm really chuffed with the reception so far. Keep it coming!


Lots of love xxx 

11th Jan

Hello everyone :)


Well, it's the end of the second week & I'm going to recount the last 2 days tonight from the comfort of H's living room with a yummy spag bol on the way!


On Wednesday, I was only in for an hour & a half or so and not doing a great deal so I spent my time just listening and observing the others and my director. I'm on stage for the majority of the second half but most of my dialogue comes at the beginning. It's so clever the way Howard's written it - like Harriet's ghost is really strong and prevalent in the aftermath of her death when she's harbouring a lot of anger and resentment against Shelley, but then as her plan starts to come together, she gains inner peace and becomes less of a strong, angry character. It's beautiful, really :)


I finished that rehearsal really early so spent the rest of my day meeting H for lunch and then we went to see my friend Katie in her play Swallows and Amazons at the Vaudeville (follow her on twitter - @katiesaladdays). She's about to go on tour with it all over the country - as far as Edinburgh I think - so if you've got the chance, go and see it because it's bloody brilliant. Absolutely magical, especially for children. And if you go on your own as an adult, you'll just feel like a big kid! Here's the link to know more about the show & book tickets:



Something else which was really cool was that our Stage Manager found this website called Shelley's Ghost and there's the most amazing stuff on it - like photos of Harriet's actual engagement ring from Shelley (PS. it sucks) and her original suicide note, plus original letters between Shelley and Mary. All incredibly interesting stuff. There's also a picture of the book of Plato's Symposium which makes up an important scene in the play, where they act it out. If you want to check it out, do, it's really interesting.

X

Tuesday, 10 January 2012

10th Jan


I stayed at H's last night so the commute from his to the rehearsal space was really nice and easy. So easy, in fact, that I decided to hop on the Underground and accompany him to work then turn around and come back to start rehearsals - just trying to kill time! Though I'm sure he would rather have read his book than have me gabbing in his ear all the way!
Anyway, today was a pretty short day with rehearsals from 10.30am-1.30pm, and it went by like lightening - time really does fly when you're having fun! Today we did more group scenes. In those ones, it's only Shelley who can see or talk to me, so I had fun creeping out the actor playing Shelley - a lot of japes to be had with that particular game!


I have a favour (or 4) to ask of you...


  • The play is on twitter (as is the theatre it's on at) so please do follow or check them out at least - @bloodypoetryJST / @JSTheatre
  • It needs word of mouth & I can almost guarantee it'll be a runaway success so please, please, please tell people about it.
  • If you want the e-flyer that we've been asked to send out which has all the deets, PM me your email address on twitter & I'll send it your way.

Oh and a last 1:


  • COME AND SEE IT!!!!!!

And just quickly, tickets will be more expensive if you book after January 20th 2012. Beforehand, they'll be about £13, after more like £15-£18. You can book them on the Bloody Poetry website link I've put above.


Thanks for reading everyone - hugely appreciated - and speak to you Thursday (costume fitting day - aaaaaagh!!!)


XXX

Monday 9th Jan

Good evening everyone :)


I'm blogging about yesterday today because I was a little preoccupied last night & it'll be like that for tmrw's rehearsal as I'm going to see my gorgeous friend Katie in Swallows & Amazons at the Vaudeville Theatre tmrw night:



(that's her on the far right)

So! Yesterday was suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper fun!!!!! I got to do my first rehearsal of my big monologue. I had such a brilliant time & the best thing is, I feel really, really safe in that rehearsal room, which is so important (can't remember if I've already said that). The director really helps guide you through any sticky patches and because he's so flipping bright, you know you can ask him almost any question & you're almost guaranteed he'll be able to give you the right answer.
The monologue itself is pretty draining and I have to say, quite disturbing to perform. Harriet was so unbelievably messed up at the time she killed herself & Howard has really captured the essence of that. Make fun of that last "wanky" statement but it's true. It's really sad actually & I can't help but feel sorry for Harriet - I just wanna give her a cuddle & tell her Shelley was just a prick & that there's plenty more fish in the sea! But that's just my opinion - those who want a second one, COME AND SEE THE PLAY!!!!!
I also did my first scene with the others before I did the monologue which was great fun. It's one where Harriet talks to Shelley and it's well creepy!!

I'll blog about today's session in just a second!

PS: Saw Girl With The Dragon Tattoo last night with H. GO AND SEE IT.

xxx

Sunday, 8 January 2012

Friday 6th Jan

Hey y'all!


Hope you've had a cracking weekend :)


I am absolutely shattered! I had Friday off, yes, but then was working on both Saturday and today all day - when will I sleep past half 8????


On Friday I went to watch some rehearsals, which was absolutely fantastic. They were doing the big scene in Act 1, which features everyone but me. It's quite fast-paced at times and very wordy, so takes a lot of time and concentration to go through. My co-stars rock. Simple as that. They really do. They're all so professional and able to have a laugh whilst also getting the job done, which is so important when you've got quite a long time of it.


And what was rather exciting was that I got a text in the morning telling me that Bloody Poetry was mentioned in a certain publication... I couldn't help but take a picture:




(I'm getting told off my H for taking a photo of it on my knee & in portrait but if you click on it, it should be clearer!!)


That was rather exciting!


And what else is quite cool is that H & I spent a lot of this Sunday evening Pimpin' My Blog! Yep, that's right, we gave it a little overhaul so now there's a link to my Twitter feed (please do follow if you feel so inclined) and the font's a bit cooler (H's choice, not mine). Pretty proud of it myself :)


Anywho, Sherlock's about to start & H has made dinner so I'm gonna do one. I'm called tmrw at 4pm to do my opening of Act 2 monologue so that should make for an interesting blog (she says...)


Happy Sunday everyone!!


xxx

Thursday, 5 January 2012

Day #3

Hi everyone!


So yesterday was a bit difficult to get a blog done because I was busy meeting H off the train, cooking dinner and getting some much needed shut eye!


However, tonight I am in the comfort of my own bed with all the time in the world so can blog properly!


Yesterday was a great day of rehearsals. We were sat round the table again going through the scenes. We managed to get to the end of the play and we discussed absolutely loads of stuff. It's so interesting the topics of conversation and new tid-bits of information that crop up. We also found ourselves laughing a lot! That tends to happen with all rehearsals in general. Around 4pm, a little bit of hysteria rises and people just need a cuppa and a biscuit! Yesterday morning just in case that did happen, I bought Malted Milk biscuits, chocolate chip digestives and Custard Creams - the tea breaks were definitely good.


In fact, here's an idea of how things get. Here's a pic of the rehearsal room later morning / early afternoon:



And here's one from later in the day:






As you can see, in the earlier picture, everything is relatively calm and by the second the biscuits have come out and tea cups are everywhere! My seat's the one with the jacket on (closest).


I had a day off today and have one tmrw. Today I spent it properly, seeing a friend, going for food and then to the cinema. Tmrw, I plan to go to rehearsals for a bit and watch what it is they're doing. They're doing a big scene which features all the characters (bar mine) and I just want to observe them and the director, to learn really. 


I'll blog about that over the weekend! Have a good Friday my lovelies :)


xxx

Tuesday, 3 January 2012

Day #2

So, Day 2 of rehearsals are over and it was great!

We started at 10.30am, which is when we'll be starting pretty much every day. It's really easy to get to from where I live and even easier from H's house so piece o' cake!

At the moment, we're in the "dissecting" part of rehearsals, which makes sense seeing as we only began yesterday! What happens is, we sit around a table and go through the script bit by bit and then go back over that bit, take it apart and talk about it. With a play like Bloody Poetry, it's essential to do that. The plot isn't confusing or anything, but there's so much history and information in it, if we don't know what's going on, we can't exactly expect the audience to!

To give you an example, here is a diagram of all the different kinds of relationships within the play:


Sorry the lines are a bit squiggly, I don't have the most steady hand!!

And Claire Clairemont was Mary Shelley's half-sister. This was her:


So that's just an example of everything we're talking about, and then there are loads of other people to consider who stuck their nose (and various other parts of their body) in!

At one point today, we just went "what was wrong with them all?!?!?". Seriously, no one today would put up with the crap they used to dish out to each other. Unbelievable!

Hopefully we'll start getting it on it's feet next week, but until then, I'm really enjoying just going through it all.

I'm going to try and post a picture of our rehearsal room sometime this week so you can see where it all comes together!

Night night :) xxx

Monday, 2 January 2012

Little linky...

Here is a link for the play that I'm doing - come and see!


Primavera Productions' Bloody Poetry

First Day On The Job

Hey all!


Ok, so I have a job to kickstart the New Year with, which as you can imagine, makes me very, very happy.


It's a play called Bloody Poetry and it's by Howard Brenton - a hugely renowned British playwright. Predominately, it follows the lives of the poets / writers Shelley, Byron & Mary Shelley (Frankenstein). Here they are below:


                


I play the part of Percy Shelley's estranged wife Harriet. As far as the entire play is concerned, it's probably the smallest part, but 100% significant. She's a brilliant character to get to play. This is what she's supposed to have looked like:



Pretty, wasn't she? :)

It was our first day of rehearsals today & I feel it went really, really well. Everyone was so lovely and made eachother feel welcome immediately. There was tea, and flapjacks and croissants - very welcoming indeed! :D

We did the read through, which was great and then chatted for the rest of afternoon about the play & it's context. The writer, Howard, was there and it was a real honour to meet him and hear his opinions of his own play.

I can't wait to get stuck into this play - it's probably the first time since graduating that I've had a part I can really get my teeth stuck in to. Harriet went off the rails a bit when Shelley left her for Mary and that particular part of her life is my big scene so I can't wait!

First day down, another 2 months to go... 

BRING IT ON!!!!

Introduction

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I hope everyone had an absolutely blinding festive period, I know I did!

So, this short blog is an introduction to me and my life. Sounds a bit arrogant, doesn't it? But it's my blog and I'll... blog... if I want to! :)

My name's Emily, and I'm 24 (25 this year whoop whoop!). For those of you still drunk from New Year, it's the year 2012, the year of the reckoning apparently, according to Hollywood...


... I'm kinda thinking I need to get good things done this year before all that kicks off!

So as said in the little side bar, this blog will be about my life as an actress, the jobs I manage to get, and I'm sure the downs as well as the ups, but here's the catch...

I want to be able to see if I can stay positive about most things when they go wrong. You see, I made an agreement with someone who's pretty important to me to do this. And not just for them, for me too. I've done it for 2 days now (what with it being a New Year's resolution an' all), and I feel better already.
Usually, I see the bad side of things, never the silver lining and it's just not healthy, especially when you have a job that's unstable as mine can be. 

Here goes... Wish me luck!!