So we are coming to the end of the ‘Tales of the Country’ tour. I joined the company last week for their last show before  the big smoke-in the delightful Abergavenny. I arrived at tea time, perfect. The set was all up and ready to go and everyone was just off to get some food before the half. We sat in a lovely little Italian cafe (which had made the front page of the Abergavenny local paper to celebrate that they had been running for 38 years. A strange year to mark, but any excuse for a celebration I guess! The very same paper also had Sean’s face on the front cover, as he lives near Abergavenny and appears to be somewhat of a local celebrity and thus warranted a feature about him, and the show. Fame indeed!) and while the actors ate, I grilled them about the tour. What had been the best show? (everyone had a different answer, which was good-showed there had been lots of good shows!) Where was the nicest venue? Were they sick and tired of the get ins and get outs every night? (diplomatic answers all round!) Who had been the most hospitable? (People apparently had been extraordinarily welcoming, offering everything from drinks on the house, vast plates of sandwiches and quiches to quite a lot of home made lasagne before the show. Acting on a stomach full of lasagne must have been an interesting one.)  I had not seen them all since the second show, and I was really looking forward to seeing how things had evolved, as it inevitably would over the weeks, as they got to know each other, and the play, so much better.

Abergavenny Theatre was lovely, intimate, and welcoming, but what I didn’t really think about until later was that this was the first venue in a while that had not been a tiny village hall, packed to the rafters with the local community all out for a good evening’s entertainment. I was not able to get to a village hall show and I wished I had, as I understand that the atmosphere was something very special. However, Sean had some friends and family in, and they helped make up the most fantastic audience who seemed to really respond to the world of the play, and the journeys that these characters made. It was a joy to watch-since Shrewsbury, the play had become so much warmer, the characters fuller and the (plentiful) stage business smoother and totally second nature.

Watching the get out after the show (I did offer to help on a few occasions, but the team had developed such a highly sophisticated system of who did what that I would have just got in the way. Honest.) was like watching another show-highly choreographed with everyone knowing their moves and the jobs they had to do, working brilliantly together. The incentive of lots of wine and a celebratory buffet in Sean’s local pub may have been a factor in their speed and efficiency, but they were done and out of the theatre in 50 minutes. bravo. We then spent a thoroughly enjoyable evening in the pub, who had very kindly layed on a buffet that was filled with the most incredible array of breads and meats (mostly unidentifiable, mostly wrapped in pastry or breadcrumbs).

The company then had a couple of days off before the get in at the Pleasance in London. I think it was safe to say that we were all a bit unsure as to what a London audience would be like, as the contrast from rural village hall to London theatre was pretty huge. The company had developed a good sense of what the local audiences would respond to, but the question was, would a London audience have the same connection? Well, yes and no. They seemed to really embrace the world, and the humour, but found entirely different moments of connection to the local audiences;  much of the humour in the play comes from audience recognising familiar situations and characters, which differed according to geography; rural references of course meant more to a rural audience, whereas London references  resonated more with a London audience. I’m sure I am vastly over simplifying things here, but it was just quite interesting to see the play suddenly from the two different perspectives.

Anyway. We have a few more shows left and then it is farewell. Nick Warburton is coming to see it on our final night, with just a few friends, so it is set to be a warm and happy final show I think! And then onwards, to plan what happens next at Pentabus. Watch this space…….