I am in Shropshire for a week, staying in good old Ludlow, to spend some time with Pentabus as we work out what happens while Orla is off on maternity leave. As seems to be traditional whenever I write on this blog, firstly I will comment on the weather. Which is truly AWFUL. Torrential rain, cold, nasty. And to top it all off, I arrived at Pentabus yesterday to find John and Thomasina amidst sodden carpets and blocked drains. Apparently they arrived in the morning to find the place flooded! I am now sitting thankfully upstairs and away from the water, while the sound of a water sucking vaccum cleaner (never knew such a thing existed but a very useful piece of equipment in such times) suggests that those carpets could be some way off being dry again. And this is June?

Anyway. Weather report done. This week I will be mainly working with the company on the planning and scheduling of future projects, reading some scripts, and on Friday John and I are off to Birmingham to spend a day at a playwrights’ workshop at Birmingham University.  Really looking forward to this, it is always exciting to meet new writers and hear new work.

So Easter beckons and temperatures plummet. Again. Snow. Sleet. Biting winds. I realise I mention the weather in most of my blogs, but when in the countryside I tend to notice it much more and it can make so much difference to my cycle ride into rehearsal. (yesterday’s cycling involved a lot of swearing at the wind as it threatened on a few occasions to blow me off the path right onto the A49. I took it personally.) As well as going into tech, this week has been all about cars. At the beginning of rehearsals, we were all hit with a horrible cold; every morning we arrived to find yet another person coughing and spluttering, I don’t think anyone escaped. Nasty. And now, it seems our cars are catching car plague. My battery keeps dying, Sarah’s car has exhaust problems, Claire’s car hit the garage to get some bodywork replaced….. who will be next?

Anyway. Back to the show. We have just finished tech-ing this very morning and are about to do our first official dress rehearsal, a brilliant way to end before the Easter break. It has been a full on few days, but very exciting to see everything come together. Alex’s ideas for lighting are truly beautiful and Benet’s music fits the world so perfectly. The creative team and stage management have been working all hours (Alex even slept at Pentabus HQ the other night. Commitment indeed. Nothing to do with the fact he had been accidently locked out of his digs. Oops.) and James has pretty much emptied the charity shops of Hereford in order to put the finishing touches to the set and the seemingly hundreds of costumes. We had a bit of a costume parade on Monday, where we went through every costume and every costume change for every character. Matt and Sarah, who play Brian and Jane have it fairly easy as they are the only ones who do not change characters. The most Matt has to do is take off his jumper and Sarah has to wrestle with some slightly too tight rubber gloves, but this is nothing compared to what others have to do during the course of the play. Iain I think wins hands down for most costume changes, as he plays over 15 characters. I don’t think he has much of a chance to breathe during the show, as soon as he walks offstage, it’s off with one costume and on with another, sometimes having only seconds to change. The challenge for everyone has been not to bring the total frantic-ness of these offstage transformations onstage with them-otherwise all an audience will see is a slightly out of breath actor with half a coat on. They have to make it all look easy and effortless. And by the time we reach Shrewsbury next week, they will have it nailed.

Backstage is a whole other show, what with the costume changes, offstage animal noises, packing, unpacking and repacking the various boxes that become part of the fete. At one point, Titch and Sarah form a two person band, banging drums, blowing whistles, ringing bells to support the onstage action of a march in London. Experimenting with just how enthusiastically they need to bang those drums has been an important (and pretty funny) part of getting the balance right-there was one point where the offstage banging and whistling threatened to become just a bit too entertaining! Probably only for us though, not sure an audience would feel the same….

Cake has also featured heavily this week, particularly yesterday, where not only did we manage to comsume hot cross buns, chocolate and lemon cake and donuts, but Nick, the writer, had very kindly sent us a box of delicious Chelsea buns. Strangely we had room for them too. Oh, and some fish and chips. Well. It is hard work being in tech. Gotta keep those energy levels up for all those quick changes. Not sure what my excuse is, but anyway…..
There was also a brilliant article published in a local magazine about Brian Viner, where Pentabus get a good mention. Excellent.

At the end of the day today, everyone will head back to their various corners of the country for easter and we will all return on Tuesday, ready to throw ourselves back into a final day of rehearsals before our big move to Shrewsbury. Happy Easter!

Hello. Just a small update. It is the end of the week. Casting for ‘Tales of the Country’ has been in full swing. The wonderful Jenny and Thomasina in the office had arranged a couple of jam packed days for us in London, where we saw over 40 people for the roles of Brian’s wife Jane, and for the children, who will be played by a single actor. No mean feat to play not one, but three children, and also another 15 parts on top of that! With very little time, we had to assess how comfortably actors could switch from playing a laconic Herefordshire Policeman to an intelligent 10 year old girl asking for a puppy! Orla and I were joined by Nick on the first day, who sat in on the afternoon session, and then by Brian on the second day. After spending months reading his columns, his books and of course the different drafts of the play, it was so great to finally meet Brian in the flesh, making him more than just a character on a page! I couldn’t stop thinking as we heard actors read scenes with Brian and his children how utterly surreal this must be for Brian; to watch his life transmute into something that he kind of has no control over, but that ultimately aims to represent his experiences over the last 7 years.

Not only did Brian join us to observe who we might be casting in the play, but he wanted to write about the experience in his weekly column. It kind of makes my brain hurt to think about it, but his book is being adapted by a writer, which is then being interpreted onto the stage by the company, which is being written about by Brian in his column, which is in turn being written about by me on this blog! We waited on tenterhooks until yesterday, when his article about our auditions was published. What would he say? Did he enjoy it? I’ll put the link to it here so that you can see for yourself, along with links to previous articles which give Pentabus a mention……

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/brian-viner/

We saw some fantastic people and next week sees our hunt for Brian Viner himself.

Yesterday we had our first production meeting in London, where we all got to say hello to each other, and begin to discuss the nature of the project. James, who was the fabulous designer on ‘Origins’ has created another cracker for ‘Tales’, with a simple but beautiful set that can be put into the various spaces that the play will travel to. Along with Alex, the lighting designer, they have to work to create an interesting playing space that can be adapted to play in both tiny village halls and a 400 seater studios. Everyone seemed really focused on getting things going, which is very exciting, and plans have been made to begin props buying and set building… watch this space!

We go into rehearsal in 6 weeks or so, much to be done between now and then and a great team to do it. Maybe Brian will pop along to casting next week to catch some people reading to play himself…or maybe that will prove too weird for him, who knows!

Hello. I am writing this the day before Christmas Eve. Rather weirdly, Christmas is upon us. How did that happen? I realise it has been a fair few months since I blogged for Pentabus. Kinda terrifying how quickly time has gone. Anyway. I thought I would write a final blog for 2009, just before the new year (and decade) kicks in. Things have been very busy in the Pentabus offices, with lots of planning and tour bookings being made for ‘Tales of the Country’. A few weeks ago, Orla ran a few days of r and d with 5 actors and Nick, to workshop the current draft, time well spent as many important and exciting discoveries were made, and Nick is now well on his way to a final draft. Brian Viner and his wife came to the read through at the end of the workshops, and he then wrote some very excellent things about us in his column, a great signal of his approval. Hurrah. I am coming on board as Associate Director on the project, which I am utterly thrilled about and can’t wait to get cracking in 2010. Elsewhere, Pentabus has commissioned Tim Price, one of our fantastic PIGS writers, to write a full length play for our future programme, which is brilliant.

And most importantly, the company got together for a bit of a Christmas feast last week. I travelled up to spend a few days with Pentabus, and spent most of the time eating, supping wine, and nosing around the shops in Ludlow, many of which were beautifully filled with tempting Christmas treats, and had decked out their shop windows in the most theatrical of ways. Selfridges eat your heart out. Lovely. One highlight for me on this particular visit was a meal at La Becasse, the restaurant where the writers on our PIGS writers week, spent an afternoon each in their kitchen. I had never been before, so was quite excited to actually experience the taste sensations that I had heard talk of far and wide. I was not disappointed. Orla and I booked a table for 1pm, and we didn’t leave until nearly 5pm. It was a freezing, misty and proper wintery day, and I couldn’t have imagined a more warming and comforatable haven than the restaurant. We were treated to some of the most extraordinary dishes, and once Will (the Michelin star head chef) found out orla was in the house, he sent out a few more surprise dishes, which were very welcome! Every time a new dish was brought over (yes, every time, we had 8 courses!) a detailed description was given, but I was always too busy staring in awe and wonder at what was now in front of me to pay attention! And each time I would try to guess exactly what was going in my mouth, savouring every mouthful, and telling myself that next time a course was brought to me, I would actually listen! I didn’t. But it was kinda fun identifying the different flavours. Highlights for me included a perfect horseradish ice cream with smoked salmon, and a little chocolate er….thing (sorry Will) served with different flavour sorbets. Over tea and petit fours (funnily enough still had room to eat them. all.), Will popped out to say hello, which was pretty excellent. I had never met him before, and while Orla and him chatted away, I felt more than a bit star struck.

So. If we weren’t sure we had eaten enough at la becasse, the next day was Pentabus’s official Christmas celebration at the Clive, a lovely restaurant across the road. More delicious food, a spot of wine, some rubbish cracker jokes, dodgy hats, and talk of imminent Christmas celebrations. After a final round of ‘happy christmas’, I hopped on a train back to London. very full.

Happy Christmas to everyone, am keeping my fingers crossed for a white christmas…… see you in 2010!

Hello. My name is Kate. I am the Associate Director for Pentabus Theatre and I have been given the daunting task of writing the first proper blog for the new Pentabus website. I am feeling the pressure a little bit, having never written a blog before, but I think it is a case of just writing some words and seeing what happens. So far so good. And I am trying to avoid the overuse of exclamation marks, which I have a tendency to do….

So. I have been here for a little under three weeks, back in lovely Ludlow, to help out with PIGS, this year’s writers’ week, which finished last Friday and was I think rather a brilliant success. More of that later.

As I look out of the window over lamb filled fields, I feel pretty lucky to be here with Pentabus, particularly at this point in the Pentabus journey. It is busy. And exciting. A new website, their 35th year, a new play going to the Edinburgh Festival and then to TheatreSevern in Shrewsbury, several more in development….. it is all happening. I spent some time with the company about this time last year and this is the first time I have properly been back, with the official title of Associate Director. And I am completely thrilled to be a part of everything. Only thing I am not quite so thrilled about is my big shiny face on the website. Vain I know, but I actually have had emails from friends saying they have been quite terrified by it. A photo of less enormous proportions has now been taken and will replace massive head soon. Phew. Anyway. PIGS. Orla, the Artistic Director, spoke to me earlier in the year about this year’s writers’ week, and how it was going to focus on all things food, in particular, pork. It has been my job to seek out interesting people, visits, info, to feed to the writers during the week in the hope that they might be inspired, invigorated, compelled to find a story. Where to start? Well, with a lot of phone calls to farmers, food shops, abattoirs, food and drink festival organisers, butchers, restaurants, nutritionalists, chefs. Trying to convince them to let 6 writers rock up to their place of work and grill them about what they do. Orla befreinded the head chef of La Becasse, one of Ludlow’s Michelin starred restaurants, and after spending a day helping them out in the kitchen, mainly gutting fish, he said he would allow a writer a day to come and work in the kitchen. I did not get around to doing this, but after hearing about everyone’s experiences, and meeting all the chefs in the pub, I really want to go and do it. I return in June. I will do it then. If they will let me. Anyway, on the whole I was surprised at how willing people were to help us out. One butcher (wonderfully called Mr Tudge-bit of a local celebrity in the area apparently. Think it is all in the name.) accused me of ‘buttering him up with trowel’. Not sure about that, but my buttering worked and we spent the most fantastic couple of hours at his farm, riding on tractors, watching pigs cavort in the mud, sampling his freshly cooked bacon and talking about his life and his work. Other highlights included:
-Nosing around the writers’ accommodation. They stayed in apartments above where I am staying (a quirky little place I affectionately call ‘the cave’ (due to its lack of windows) all owned by the same lovely woman, who has a penchant for bizarre artwork and hanging dried hops on the ceiling. One of the rooms was huge, and had a beautiful big wardrobe in the centre. Nothing odd about that. Open the wardrobe and you discover a full and complete kitchen. Cooker, microwave, toaster, crockery, fridge, kettle, kitchen sink. I felt like I had walked onto the set of a play. So brilliant. And weird. I will attempt to upload some pictures so you can marvel at it also.
-Going to the Slow Food AGM (for networking purposes, not that exciting in itself) at the Feathers, a building that on the outside is just extraordinarily beautiful, all black and white timber, gorgeous, but is let down by a bar and restaurant that feels like a dingy roadside caff. But. The AGM was held in a room upstairs, and I had to hold back a gasp on entering as it was so amazing. Wood pannelled walls, low ceilings, roaring fire, I felt like I had been let into a secret room known only to members of Slow Food.
-Going to a pig farm and seeing pigs that were less than 24 hours old. All scrabbling around and crawling over each other to try and find the warmth. Someone in the group asking the farmer ‘don’t you just want to pick them up and hold them?’ Answer: ‘No’. Right. No time for sentimentality in this business as we were whisked from pig pen to pig pen, moving through the 7 stages of pig right up to seeing pigs that were due to be taken to the abattoir.
-Going to visit Douggie at his abattoir in Leintwardine. Walking into the tiny little shop, greeted with beautiful cuts of meat, jars of pickles and jams, the aroma of freshly cooked sausage rolls and watching a transaction between customer and butcher that took nigh on fifteen minutes. All she bought was some bacon. They had a lot to chat about. You don’t get that in London. Then being led out the back by Douggie, given a white coat and hat and trustingly following him into another building. Opening the door and being hit with the full on vision of animals being sawn in half with huge metal saws that dangled above us in true horror movie style, dripping with blood, when they were not in use. Knowing that these animals were alive not 20 minutes ago. Watching these men, engrossed in their job, skillfully cutting out innards, chopping off ears, the strange beauty of these carcasses as they are efficiently taken apart. I have never seen anything like it, particularly so close up, and I have to say it was a real education in many ways.
-Setting up a ‘taste workshop’ for the writers and after sampling a local cheddar, all agreeing that it was quite delicious and after mishearing the word ’round’ agreed it was quite obviously made from ‘rams’ milk.
-Eating. A lot. Mainly brownies. We had brownies on a daily basis. We had ones from the food centre, which were pretty bloody lovely, but not a patch on the ones we got from someone I know only as ‘Lucy from the market’. Oh my god. I cannot describe how amazing these were. Our enjoyment marred only slightly by John coming into work on Monday with a laminated picture of a brownie with the words 1 brownie=250 calories underneath it. It is now stuck on the cupboard door in the kitchen. Thanks John.
-My car window breaking and falling down into the door, ringing up Tim, one of the writers, who came to my rescue with a wire coat hanger and a plastic bag…..!
-Sitting around the table on the final day listening to where each writer’s head was at in terms of ideas and stories. A very special experience, listening to writers read their own work.

So. Perhaps this is enough for now. Lots more to say but I don’t want to overdo it on my first time.I feel like helping with PIGS has connected me to Ludlow in a way that I would not have been able to otherwise, engaging with people I wouldn’t usually meet, working out the networks that exist in the town and going to places that I would otherwise not think about going to. I look forward to my return in a few weeks, where I will be tootling around the countryside delivering workshops about our next show Origins.