Week two has been and gone already. All too fast. But much has been achieved. On Monday we all trooped to a tiny studio in Kennington, where we spent the day with Nick the photographer creating some press shots for Edinburgh. Armed with costumes, hats, bottles, bugs, badminton rackets and foliage, we were prepared for photo hilarity. We tried many a set up, from Victorian family photos, to peering over tables and into glass jars and from over 450 photos, we managed to choose around 7 shots that we thought were strong and eye catching images for the press. It was a bit of a race against time, with the deadline being at the end of the day. But we did it. The cast also had their first costume fittings today, and Orla and I went along at the end of the day to see how James (set designer) and Sydney (costume designer) were getting on. They had been in a little room at the National Theatre costume store, an amazing place filled with row upon row of every kind of garment/hat/shoe you could possibly imagine, including a massive gold plated cloak and a huge head dress in the shape of a toucan. Obviously. Wonder how we can get those into the show….
Actors play at least 5 characters each, (apart from Charles and his grandfather) so careful thought has to go into how to to best represent each one, when sometimes they only have literally a couple of seconds to go from one character to another. Sometimes it might be just a hat, or a cloak that provides the transformation, so that single item must be accurate in what it is signifying to an audience. Whilst we were there, Joseph Alford was trying on items for his numerous characters, one of which being the ‘poor and needy of Shrewsbury’. Sydney would disappear for a few minutes, and do a kind of supermarket sweep around the endless rows, and arrive back with about 10 different styles of cloak for him to try. Did he want one with a hood that goes over the face, or one with a point that made him look a bit like someone from Lord of the Rings? Or one with an inner lining? Brown or blue, stained or clean? None of them quite right? No matter, another swoop of the warehouse and she would be back with another lot to try. Painstaking, but worth it. They have begun to find some beautiful costumes.

Tuesday we were back in the rehearsal room. But with a slight difference. While we were at the photo call, the set had been delivered and put together by the wonderful stage management. We arrived to see our set, full and complete, in the rehearsal room. With a massive and beautiful floor, and an entire back wall of compartments, it looked incredible. And very big. I could not quite get my head around the fact that it could be built/ taken down in 20 minutes, which is our Edinburgh turnaround. But because our rehearsal room is used every night, we needed to do exactly that each day. The first time we took it down, it took half an hour. By Friday, it was down to 20 minutes. And that was with only 3 people doing it. In Edinburgh, there would be more hands on deck, making it even quicker. Amazing! And so incredible to have the set so early on in rehearsal. The play is fast and furious with characters coming and going all the time. So Tuesday was all about the actors beginning to orientate themselves on the set, going through everything we had worked on last week. There are 40 scenes in all and each one builds from the previous one, so it is very difficult to work on a scene in isolation without getting into rhythm and momentum of the piece. So Orla begins each day by going from scene one, working through what has already been done, then continuing from there. Each time more detail and layers are added, and it is a joy to watch as gradually moves become slicker, lines become easier to remember, and characters become stronger and more realised.

Also on Tuesday, James, Sydney and Joni took the Pentabus van from London back to Shropshire, to go to a magical place called ‘the land of lost content’. This is a kind of museum of oddities, ran by a woman who has basically collected and stored everything she has ever laid eyes on. I have not been, but I hear it is a place of wonder and a perfect place to hunt for props. They came back with many an interesting item, including a big stuffed owl, which we have named Ollie. Clever us. Rumour has it a big stuffed lion’s head might make its way into the rehearsal room. I hope this is true. Kind of.

The rest of the week saw us continuing to work through the play, with various people dropping into rehearsal, including a visit from the writers Steven and John mid week. They seemed to really enjoy the direction that the play is heading in. Which is fortunate. It was also Orla’s birthday on Wednesday, so an excuse for large amounts of chocolate cake. Mark from Blind Summit joined us for a couple of mornings for some intense puppet work, which was very exciting to watch. Charles Darwin begins life in the play as simply a blanket with a head, and it is all down to the cast to help bring it to life, and to Harry, to give him a voice. It is magical to watch this inanimate object being given life and personality, and it is amazing how quickly as an audience member you invest in it as much as you do the actors. Charles then moves from baby to small boy, which is a harder job for everyone. The puppet needs 3 people on it and so every movement needs to be choreographed. Mark’s detailed and rigorous direction ensures that each tiny movement is authentic and truthful and it is incredible to watch how a simple shift in movement can completely change how much we believe in the puppet.

It has been another week of joyful discovery and progress is being made on all levels. Let us see what week three brings……