We had covered up the mirrors in the common room with our map and our timeline of events in the play and when we walked into our final day of development for Shoot Doris Day and looked up at our work it felt as though we had been concocting some sort of master plan. The intricacies and complexities of being human right here and now were there before our very eyes. We could see that ‘This happens because of this event’ and ‘this reaction was a result of that ‘etc. But it became apparent that Carl - a young man who has a difficult home life was the main catalyst for the events. His wants drove the action and brought about change in others. It was decided that we would follow his path through the story so identify what was going on for him and how he impacts on others in scenes and in between what is seen. Through our following of Carl, we began to question the structure of the play - if certain things were to happen how could they have a knock on effect to the story as a whole? Perhaps this was something we felt was important to discuss as within the room we all had different ideas about what actually happens to Carl in the end. I think that this is what has been so valuable this week.

We worked openly and didn’t strive to agree for the sake of it but actually shared what we felt was there - knowing and respecting in others that we all have a different experience of life so far. Looking back at the week Kath’s play really made us mindful of this. It was refreshing and productive to work in this way. We needed at times to remind ourselves of why we were there - which was to give Kath the opportunity to hear and see the play she had created in order to take it to point of completion. It was so easy to get carried away with our thoughts and impressions as it felt as though everyone in the room had made a connection with this story and more importantly the people in it.
In our final session we got to see some of the silent scenes to gain a sense of how they go into dialogue. A question that had popped up was is there a need to speak or is it enough to see these moments?It was really interesting to sense the difference in energy of the characters when they were in silence/ Michael’s stillness against Carl’s physical agitation. It was also great to realise how much is said without words - even in the scenes with dialogue. The observations on what we do to get what we want were so captivating and there was some lovely work by the actors. It really felt that they wanted to do justice to the characters that they had been discovering all week. Our last exericise was to reflect on the story from each characters perspective and to see how this had changed over the 4 days. I started with Mrs Spears Cat which didn’t last long.Poor dab…
We all said our goodbyes and more importantly wished Kath our  very best wishes with the next stage of this wonderful play. I think we all felt reluctant to let go of it as it’s so juicy! And I know i’m not alone in looking forward to finding out where Kath goes with it.

Julia Wyndham-Assistant Director

When we came back from lunch Kath came in all of a flutter as she’d just bumped into Gruff from the Super Furry Animals in the Café downstairs – Their song ‘Shoot Doris Day’ had inspired the title of the play and we were all quite amused at this little coincidence.

The afternoon started with the actors mining the play for questions from their characters perspectives. How come this happens or what does this mean etc. These questions formed the basis of our exploration work. We read though each scene and at the end asked the questions and shared any thoughts. There were many revelations – I think the most shocking one was about Father Dulty. ‘Well I never!’ We all proclaimed… It was great to work in this way – it provoked anecdotes about teenagers on mobility scooters and recollections of stories from the media about the treatment of people with learning disabilities. Our experiences became pertinent as the play opens itself to making connections with real people in real places. Our focus and main discovery was the development of the sub plot – or more accurately the story that we don’t see but hear about through the character Carl. We agreed that this had a huge impact on the timeline of the play and would influence Carls’ intentions into the story that we do see. An interesting exercise was when the actors had to talk about their character in the third person as a means of seeing what really hit home from their reading of the play – it was great to hear this and the plan is to ask again in a few days to see what has changed.

-Written by Julia Wyndham, Assistant Director

A quick update on our SHOOT DORIS DAY workshop. I have been working with the wonderful Kate Perridge at the Sherman to cast our first workshop period on the play and we now have four fantastic Welsh actors coming to join us on Monday in Cardiff, where we will all meet and read through the play for the first time. We have Helen Griffin, Garnon Davies, Matthew Aubrey and Ri Richards on board. I can’t wait.

The play is set on an allotment within an estate near Cardiff and at its heart is the relationship between a young man and his mother. We have been talking about the play, the characters and their world for a long time and Kath has been working hard on a new draft. It has been a joy to realise just how rich and full a piece Kath has written, there is much to discuss and ask questions about and research. But. we can only do so much talking. And we are now at a point where we need the wonderful insight of actors and to hear it out loud. Things will be discovered within seconds of hearing it that hours of talk and discussion could not uncover. It will be thrilling to hear how the actors will take the words on the page and make them live for the first time. And to get their thoughts and insight into the characters, the story, the world. How will they make sense of it all? Well, we will soon see, as we kick off on Monday morning. We will be blogging from the rehearsal room with updates as to what we are getting up to!

Meanwhile, Orla’s incredibly well deserved appointment at the Traverse means that Pentabus will be searching for someone else to take over as Artistic Director, so it is a rather thrilling transition for both Orla and the company. Not to mention busy. In WE ARE HERE news, our fantastic winner Katherine Chandler is currently in the midst of working on a new draft of the winning play ‘Shoot Doris Day’. I met her a few weeks ago in Cardiff, where we chatted about her journey as a playwright, and about the play itself. We had such a huge response to the project, and read some wonderful pieces of work, but for me, reading Katherine’s work was particularly thrilling and we felt strongly that she had something special to offer Pentabus with this play. So, the process of developing the play with Katherine has begun, with the support of the Sherman Theatre. In a few weeks time, we will be spending a week in Cardiff with 4 actors, myself and Katherine, where we will spend time reading the play, getting to know the characters, the story, and exploring its dramatic potential. More details will be revealed soon on our current programme page.

Wednesday: Our last day in rehearsals in Shepherds Bush, where we decided to get a flavour of what it was like to perform outside by doing a run through on the green. It was a really useful thing to do, just to get a sense of what we might be up against at Latitude-wind, rain, noise, people coming and going, uneven floors, unpredictable audiences……Orla had come into rehearsals the day before (bringing with her all kinds of delicious baked goods) and given us some brilliant  things to think about, so it was good to test things out in an outdoor environment. Of course, we would not know the exact nature of the space until we got to the festival, so it has been really important as we have got to know the show to keep open, flexible and adaptable, and not to get too fixed on doing it a certain way, as it would almost certainly have to change once we got there!

After our outdoor run, it was all about logistics. Who would take the 200 little yellow plastic ducks for our hook-a-duck stall? Who could fit a hat stand in their car? How would we get a massive suitcase full of clown props down to our departure point? What time was the bus going? What time would we all need to meet in order to get our tents up and props ready in time for our tech? An exercise in precision timing. Finally, after distributing props, costume, spare tents and sleeping bags throughout the company, we all left to go and pack before our departure in the morning.

Thursday: A threatening sky, but no rain. A phone call from Olly Hawes to say all were present and correct and that nobody had missed the bus. Excellent start. I was driving down with the car full of camping paraphernalia and May Fair set. I had no idea how much one needed in order to camp. It took me about 3 hours to load the car with all our stuff. Ridiculous. But, not having camped since I was 12, I had decided it was better to be over, than under-prepared. Head torches? Yes. Certainly.  Not one, but two. Loo roll? but of course. Bin bags? Only a fool would forget them. Jumpers? Approximately 17. Waterproofs? Plentiful. A last minute purchase of a pair of waterproof trousers had invited laughter from those around me, but let me tell you, they were the best thing I could have possibly brought with me this particular weekend.

About half way into our journey, the heavens opened. Pouring rain. Arrived onsite to see hundreds of people already marching around in mud clogged wellies, defiantly wading through puddles carrying sleeping bags and tents. Got lost as people wearing offical high vis jackets consulted maps and each told us different directions. Got stuck in the mud up a hill. Panicked. Had to get a couple of Latitude staff to help push me out. Drove to the performer campsite.Realised we needed our wristbands before we would be allowed into the site. Got a golf buggy back to the artists entrance. Got a decent covering of mud in the process. (sense a running theme yet?) Got wristbands. Got golf buggy back to campsite. Rest of May Fair team already setting up camp, so joined them in setting up in the rain. Rain then cleared as we gathered what was needed for our tech. Headed through the festival to discover the outdoor theatre, which turned out to be the most lovely space, a stage nestled in trees, amidst a wood where all kinds of exciting things were beginning to appear. Had an hour tech (fortunately it had stopped raining) which gave us time to plan our routes, plot the where our various locations would be, test the sound and see what it felt like to act in the space. Radio mics were very quickly decided upon, as the air carries the voice so easily that audiences would not have heard a thing otherwise. Tech done, it was an evening spent getting to know our surroundings, and soaking up the festival spirit.

Friday: Sunshine! Glorious, beautiful sunshine! Our magnificent clown, Dan Wilder, arrived this morning, and so the morning was spent at the top of the field where we were staying,rehearsing Joe Harbot’s piece about the May Fair clown, much to the amusement of new arrivals (balloon animals, miles of bunting appearing from nowhere, custard pies, spinning plates etc, you name it, we had it in our suitcase!). Then it was down to the outdoor theatre for our first show at 2pm. A lovely crowd, and an adrenaline fueled first show-it is a funny thing performing in a space you have not had time to get used to before, so it really was just a case of turning up and doing it! The company were brilliant, and audience response was lovely, but it was important to spend time after the show talking about what worked in the space, what didn’t, what to try differently in show 2. What really felt great was that this was a piece that people could easily wander in and out of, and catch a glimpse of something happening. After our feedback session, it was a chance to go and explore the festival again, which was bursting full of things to see, and people to bump into-the bush, paines plough, nabokov, theatre 503, hightide, the lyric, the opera group, clean break, fuel…the list goes on of companies to see and shows to watch!

Saturday: Rain. Relentless driving rain, the kind that makes you feel like you have had a shower after 30 seconds of being in it. We awoke to the sound of it on our tents, and it did not stop until tea time that day. Fortunately, we did not have a show today, so we didn’t need to worry about how to do it, let alone how to get an audience in an outdoor uncovered space in the torrential rain. But walking through the festival, people dealt with the rain pretty well, I guess living in the UK it is inevitable. And yes, the waterproof trousers were on all day and yes they were great, and I can only assume envied by those in the May Fair company who were without such an item.

Sunday: Rain. torrential rain. No wait, glorious sunshine, no, no, my mistake, driving rain again. This blog might be pre-occupied with the weather, but when camping and performing without cover, it is understandably at the forefront of one’s mind. Which one would we get for our evening show? A beautiful summers eve? or a bit of a flood? No time to think about that, as today was all about hook-a-duck, and diving into the festival with our makeshift stall. After getting borrowing buckets and bottles from various places around the festival, we blew up a big paddling pool, filled it with water and loads of plastic yellow ducks. We then spent some happy times playing hook-a-duck with festival go-ers, while Dan made balloon animals and did magic tricks for the youngsters. And then it was set up time for our 2nd and final show. And predictably, the heavens kept open as we set up in the soaking wet. costumes had to be quickly modified, wellies now part of all the action, lines changed to accommodate costume changes, journeys modified to avoid slipping and falling in the mud…..hats off to our wonderful company, as they all just got on with it and got stuck in, rain or no rain, we would make this show a cracker!

So we started. In the rain. With about 8 people in the audience. And then, gradually, as the show unfolded, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and people started to wander in. By the end of the show, we had a really lovely crowd and very warm response to the show. And actually, I thought something really came together in a way it had not yet before, in a way perhaps helped by the rain, there was a freedom, a spontaneous, joyful spirit to the performance, as actors really found their home in the space and made the different stories from our fabulous May Fair writers really fly. So what if our helium balloons had deflated so much with the wind and rain we couldnt use them? So what if our air horn didn’t work? So what if our maypole was dripping wet? None of this seemed to matter at all. What mattered was that I think we managed to deliver something of the May Fair to Latitude, and that the festival worked its own magic on us, and I feel really proud of the company, who threw themselves entirely into the experience. For our Latitude debut, I think we did ourselves proud. And as a result, have learnt so much about what it is to make theatre for that kind of an event, in that kind of an environment. Come rain or shine.

And so there we are. We ended the festival watching Eels play the crowds, with people in various wet weather gear, dancing in a crowded and happy tent.

Fast forward a year and it’s my great pleasure to be assisting Kate on Mayfair, Pentabus’ project for Latitude festival. I’m sure this has been blogged elsewhere, but just to remind you: Pentabus asked five of Britain’s most exciting new writers - John Donnelly, Joe Harbot, Vanessa Oakes, Gbolahan Obisesan and Lou Ramsden - to attend a writers week during Ludlow’s Mayfair. Their task was simple: to each write a short play about the Mayfair. And so, after a week of experiencing as much of the Mayfair as possible, first drafts were submitted. A month later, we had the final drafts. And now we’re at the end of our first week of rehearsals.

That relationship between people and place has been something I’ve been constantly reminded of this week. The place that defines our project is Ludlow. The performance we’re making is, after all, a series of short plays set at a fair in Ludlow, created by a company from Ludlow. But as soon as one starts to consider things a little further it gets more complicated. We’re performing our plays about Ludlow in Suffolk, for example; at festival - something that’s closely related, but essentially different to a fair. And we’re rehearsing in London. In a space that, until very recently was the home of the Bush theatre. It feels good to be rehearsing there - we’re in the old auditorium, the site of thousands of great theatrical moments. But equally one can’t escape the feeling that we’re inside a building that’s verging on disused. There’s a lighting rig that doesn’t work. The offices are cluttered, but devoid of human activity. Out of date leaflets are scattered everywhere. it feels a bit like a theatrical ghost town. Are we bringing new life into the building or prolonging it’s slow demise? How is that going to effect our piece!?

Then there’s the plays themselves. In one two lovers steal away from the fair to the relative privacy of the woods, this allows them to behave in ways they wouldn’t be able to elsewhere. In another there’s an argument based on where someone’s from - ‘He can f*ck off back to Knighton!’. And in another a hopeless father tries to show a restless daughter the value of living in the same place as her ancestors. And of course there are all the early questions and probings that arise at the beginning of rehearsals: ‘Where is the fair from here?’ ‘Has he really never left Shropshire?’ ‘She spends her life travelling from one place to another - so she wouldn’t understand that, would she?’ ‘She wants to go somewhere else - but he can’t understand that’. ‘Well if I were in the village I grew up in, we wouldn’t need to point out directions - everyone just knows’. ‘He’s from a generation where it was expected that father and son would live and work in the same place’.

Then of course there’s the people working on the project. Each bringing their own experiences and ideas to the table. I wonder to what extent they’re defined by the place they’re from. There’s no way of knowing, regardless I thought it would be interesting to ask everyone where they consider themselves to be from:

‘I genuinely don’t know the answer to the that question’

‘Northumberland’

‘Cumbria’

‘Purely. And Cheltenham. And Deptford. Is that too greedy?’

‘Cambridge’

‘The Fens?’

‘The Fens!’

‘London. West.’

‘London. North - but I’m not really a North London person! A lot of my friends consider me a Welshman.’

‘It’s not where you’re from it’s where you’re at’, (pause, followed by, with what I perceived to be an air of sheepishness about it) ‘I’m from Southampton.’

‘I’m a Scouser. And I use that term because if you say Liverpool, it has football connotations’

‘You’re a blue are you?’

‘No, I’m a red, but that’s why Liverpudlians use the term Scouser, instead of Liverpudlian’

‘A small village outside Huddersfield’

‘Which one?’

(Elusively) ‘Let’s just say Huddersfield’

Next week we’re planning on doing a run on outside, on a green just across from the theatre. Another discussion that’s cropped up more than a few times this week is about the space we’re performing in at Latitude - the ‘far away forest’. Essentially, we have no idea what it’s going to be like, but we’re hoping that the green will go some way towards providing similar conditions. Maybe that’s asking for too much.

I guess that it’s a combination of the differing but also the similar things we experience in the places we’ve been that allow us to understand and identify with each other better. This project has definitely reinforced that idea to me. With five days to go to Latitude, I think we’re in a pretty good place.

Olly Hawes

Assistant Director

May Fair

Ben Webb