With the show now up & running it’s getting like I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, as every day we seem to bid an emotional farewell to another departing & much loved member of our team. I’m pleased to say all the actors are still alive & well but with their work done, we’ve had to say good bye to members of our production team including Lighting Guru & all round top bloke Alex. Next it was the turn of set builder Rob Hill. Rob isn’t just wise & greatly talented he’s also a real calming influence; it’s like being in the company of a Zen Master, a sort of Yoda-like figure if you can imagine Yoda with dreadlocks & smoking roll-ups. Perhaps the biggest loss for us was saying goodbye to Associate Director Kate Budgen. Together with our brilliant Director Orla, Kate has helped shape this play into a production to be proud of. Anyway, with regular blogster Kate gone off to the big smoke I thought I’d better write this blog. Until the other week I’d never written a blog before, I wasn’t entirely sure what a blog was. I only started emailing a few years ago & until recently I thought Modem & Hard Drive were adult magazines.

Back to the play; well to rewind a bit, after a very tiring few days teching & doing dress rehearsals, we opened at the Severn Theatre, Shrewsbury & what a wonderful new venue it was. We were sold out for this opening night weeks ago which made it all the more exciting & we were Lyn Gardener’s Pick of the Week in The Guardian newspaper which is quite an honour in itself so no pressure there! It seemed to be a very successful first night, the audience were very warm & receptive & once we got out there on stage I personally had a great time & absolutely loved doing the show. Actors often get asked “Why do you do it?” I suppose that’s why, because we love it. Sorry to name drop but Derek Jacobi once said to me, “It’s a calling, a vocation & if it’s not then you’re in it for the wrong reasons.”

After opening at the Severn Theatre we then embarked on the community leg of the tour, taking the show to village halls across Shropshire & Herefordshire before returning to theatre venues later in the tour. The village halls are wonderful places to play; you really are in the heart of the community & will always be welcomed so warmly it really is quite touching. Such was the case in Clee St. Margaret’s & Clun where we enjoyed some wonderful hospitality, lovely food & great audiences.

Having had a few days off it’s been lovely to return to Wales, spend some time with the family & enjoy the sunshine. Tomorrow we play Farlow & Oreton Hall & although it’s lovely being home I can’t wait to get back to the show; that’s got to be a good sign. There’s nothing worse than doing a show where you can’t wait for it to be over, but I really do love this play. Let’s just hope the sun keeps shining.

Sean Carlsen – Owen in Tales of the Country

Sean’s blog has pretty much covered this week, thank you Sean! We are about to go into our final week of rehearsals, and tech the show as much as we can before Easter, because after Easter we head straight to Shrewsbury for our sold out first show! Eek. Lots to do, but so much progress was made this week that I’m certain we will get there. We have been working through the play in immense detail, making sure every beat of the story is clear, and every movement clean, sharp and precise. James spent a great many hours creating the most incredible ‘growing’ magnolia and then we spent a few more hours plotting when it ‘grows’ and how we integrate it into the action. It is a beautiful thing and is almost a character in its own right! For a touring show, I think we might just break some kind of record for how many props we use, stage management are doing a marvelous job keeping track of what is what and where is where. We have up til now been working on the floor, but from Monday we will be working again on our raised stage, to get used to the height and exactly what backstage space we will have.

Friday: Whilst searching for one of our Stage Managers today, the wonderfully named Titch MacLeod, I wandered into a back room at Pentabus HQ & there hanging on a clothes rail amongst assorted old costumes was a battered old tunic I’d worn in a Pentabus show 14 years ago. It was a strangely emotional moment, I suppose because it made me reflect on how life has changed over the last 10 years, having got married, had kids & like our protagonist Brian Viner, moved to the country. Which brings me back to Tales of the Country. I love this book & if our production can be as funny & engaging as the book I’ll be a happy man. At the end of week 2 there seems to be a general air of quiet confidence in the rehearsal space. We know we have a great script thanks to the wonderful Nick Warburton. We’ve also roughly blocked the play from start to finish & even managed a decent run on Thursday as opposed to the stagger through we anticipated. Now all we have to do is get off book over the weekend. Not an easy thing to do with 3 kids to help look after & the concluding 6 Nations matches to watch!

Monday: Even in the theatre you can get the Monday morning blues but it was smiles all round in the rehearsal room this morning. Possibly because our writer Nick had returned to the fold after a 2 week absence or perhaps it was due to Sarah Stanley’s happy news. ‘Stan’ as she is now known, turned up wearing a gorgeous antique diamond ring & announced her engagement (the lucky chap is called Ju by the way so congratulations to them both). The happy bug stayed with us as we enjoyed another productive day, with everyone off book & that evening had dinner at the King’s Head in Docklow (once again in the name of research!). Brian Viner joined us & presented Nick with a bottle of red wine with a picture of W.G. Grace on the label (Nick is a big cricket fan). Following Stan’s engagement, Brian & the ladies talked weddings while we tucked into some lovely, hearty food served up by the equally lovely Paula. That evening I sat in my room listening to some of the music we’ll be using in the show, composed by the very talented Benet Walsh. I was trying to imagine what the finished play would be like. As Benet’s rich, warm, evocative & slightly mournful music drifted around my room I felt quite uplifted. The music is so important to any production & this music is perfect.

Wednesday: In rehearsals we’re now using the set almost in its entirety & it looks fantastic thanks to our designer James Humphrey. Most of the day was spent working on the technical side of things, the mechanics of the play. We’re very fortunate to have rehearsals led by directors like Orla & Associate Director Kate Budgen. It really is a privilege to be working with them. However this detailed work can be a headache & the week 3 blues seemed to be setting in. It was lovely therefore to join some of the team last night in The Wheatsheaf for a much needed couple of beers.

Thursday: The morning was spent working the magnolia in to the play. This complex & very impressive prop literally takes centre stage in our production & this morning will be remembered as ‘magnoliagate’. However, before lunch we ran the first half of Act 1 & I think it was the best we’ve done it. Perhaps we’ve turned a corner.

I think the reason I got a bit soppy over a piece of old costume last week was because as well as making me think of family & home (both major themes in our story), it also reminded me that Pentabus is a company close to my heart. Over the years I’ve been fortunate to work in Ludlow quite a few times both with Pentabus & the Shakespeare Festival & Ludlow really has become a home from home. It’s good to be back.

Sean Carlson
Owen in ‘Tales of the Country’.

So, we are about to go into week three. Week two has been productive and exciting, as we have got much more of an idea of the nature and playing style of the world of the play. As well as experimenting with the visual storytelling, this week has seen characters and their relationships deepening and evolving. I think a lot of the charm and humour of the piece comes from really investing in Brian and Jane and their family’s journey. The more we understand who they are, hopefully the more their experiences will be recognizable to an audience.

The set is also getting more realized, we now have the sides of the marquee and the coconut matting on the floor, so it is really started to feel like an actual fete! Titch has been collecting props from all over the place, every so often delivering exciting boxes filled with stuff you might find at a fete; records, books, ornaments, stuffed toys….. The play features a magnolia tree, which grows throughout the play as the family adjust to being in the country. This week saw the arrival of this tree, which is a thing of beauty, but enormous, and cost rather more than one would expect of a fake magnolia tree. James immediately set about hacking it into bits with a saw (obviously with a careful and strategic plan as there is little room for error!) so that he can design it to allow for bits to be added by the company to represent its growth.

Wednesday afternoon saw a photo shoot with Ed Collier, which involved the company going out into the fields around Pentabus, in costume, armed with props that included a spade, a bottle of wine, a laptop, rubber gloves and of course an Independent. A couple of hours was spent placing the characters in fields, perched on stiles, sitting under trees, leaning on gates, in order to capture some excellent shots for the local press. Meanwhile, stage management had set up an actual white elephant stall outside Pentabus, with bunting and everything, so more brilliant photo opportunities there.

We are trying to keep all sound effects live, which feels in keeping with the authenticity of the design-to have recorded sound effects would potentially pull us out of the intimate world of the Docklow fete. Experimenting with ‘home made’ sound effects has revealed some hidden talents within the company, who have it seems, all mastered the art of dog barking, chicken clucking, mice squeaking, fly buzzing……and the competition was on to find the most authentic cock crow (Iain reigning champion so far, but all could change next week, I know that Simon was a close second and with some private rehearsal time over the weekend, who knows what might happen).

Friday saw our first stagger through, just to get an idea of the structure of the whole thing, which was immensely beneficial for all I think and a great way to end a busy week. Nick, who wrote the adaptation, is coming into rehearsal on Monday, to check in and see where we are at. Drinks and dinner at the Kings Head are planned after rehearsal. Last time we went to the Kings Head, we were doing a bit of star gazing as we left and very nearly got run over by an enormous tractor pulling into the pub car park (I could almost hear the driver muttering the word ‘twazzocks’). Hopefully this will not happen again.

Phew. The sun is shining and despite a frosty start, for the first time I think this year, I am not wearing 14 layers. I think, maybe, just maybe, spring is on its way. But who knows. Next week might see blizzards and white outs. So I’m not getting my hopes up. But anyway. We have had some incredible weather for our first week of rehearsals, which has made it a joy travelling the couple of miles from Ludlow to Pentabus HQ, and has really shown Shropshire in its most beautiful light. It has been a pretty joyful week all round actually-getting to grips with the play, the world, the characters, and working in Pentabus’s light and airy rehearsal space. Having our set has really given us a head start in understanding the space and working out how it might work in creating the many locations that the Viner family experience throughout the play.

After the first day of introductions, orientation, logistics of accommodation etc, James took us through his ideas for costume for the numerous characters, many of whom drop in and out of the action for a matter of seconds, never to be seen again. So the emphasis is on finding quick and efficient ways of demonstrating a different character, hats, glasses, scarfs, things that are quick to put on and take off. James throughout the week would disappear into the streets of Ludlow, Hereford, Shrewsbury for hours on end, trawling every charity shop, every boutique, every shop containing clothes that the people who appear in the play might wear. He would return to top up our increasingly full rail of clothes, and there would be trying on sessions to check how his purchases would look. some hilarious options that I’m not sure will find their way into the play (some very tight trousers for Owen, a bizarre flap cap which made the wearer look like he had a weird head extension, a tight pink t shirt for Iain (he plays one of Brian’s children Eleanor) that was just too tight to be appropriate in any way. Trial and error will continue, so that we ensure that costumes are authentic and truthful.

A highlight of the week was Wednesday afternoon, which was devoted to visiting some of the locations that feature in the play, namely Leominster, Docklow manor itself, the Kingsland Auction and the Kings Head. We had an hour in Leominster, so we all scattered throughout the town, dipping in and out of bookshops, antique shops, cafes, vegetable shops, soaking up the Leominster atmosphere and tuning our ears into the many different dialects that floated through the streets. Before returning to the trusty van (not me driving fortunately, Titch has taken on much of the ferrying around, which is quite brilliant. Not sure how I would handle driving a big old van crammed with actors. Titch meanwhile has it sorted.) I had a brief but strange encounter in a vegetable shop. I paused briefly outside it to look at their vegetable boxes (in the play, Owen has a ‘local produce’ stall and I just wondered what kind of boxes he might have and how vegetables might be displayed. serious stuff.) and I heard a voice say from inside ‘well dont just stand there, come inside’. I wasn’t planning to actually go in, but I kinda thought I had to, so went in and earnestly looked at some apples. There were about 6 men, all over 60, just standing in the shop, arms folded, or leaning on the counter. One of the men was just shouting at the others, while they looked on half amused, half incensed by what he was saying (which I tried my best to work out, but his accent was so thick I had no idea what he was getting so upset about). I decided to buy some apples, to justify my visit, which meant walking into the group of men to get to the till. The man kept shouting, I did my very London thing (I’m ashamed to say) of acting as if everything was completely normal, then leaving as quickly as possible. The man didn’t stop shouting once. Next, was a trip to meet Brian and Jane at Docklow Manor. I cant begin to think how weird it must have been for them, having 5 actors, 2 of whom will be playing Brian and Jane, rock up and wander around their house. But however surreal it must have been for them, they hid it very well as they were extraordinarily warm and welcoming and generous with their time. It was brilliant to fit the events in the play into the reality-to see the views,the chickens, the beautiful architecture of the house, really get a sense of why they had fallen in love with it. Great stuff to take back into the rehearsal room.

Next, the auction. An amazing place filled with the most incredible mix of people of all ages, all intent on finding a bargain. Rows upon rows of furniture, machinery, tools, boxes of miscellaneous objects ranging from the bizarre to the ridiculous and some so random I just could not imagine why anyone would buy them. (a toy dog in a welders mask anyone?) But what do I know. People munched on chips and sausage and kept warm by sipping hot chocolate and builders tea as the auctioneer began his patter, selling these weird and wonderful objects with a terrifying speed. There is an auction in the play, and we want to try and achieve a sense of the ritual and procedure of the event and it was great to get a flavour of how these evenings operate. We only stayed about half an hour (any longer and I might have made a bid on the dog in the welders mask) but I imagine that as there were literally hundreds of lots, it would go on well into the evening. We rounded off the evening with some food and a drink in the Kings Head, the pub nearest to Docklow Manor.

Back in rehearsal, we started from the beginning and the rest of the week was spent feeling our way through, getting the broad brush strokes of how the action might work, something which we can build on, expand, experiment with in order to find a way of telling the story in the clearest, most entertaining way.

A busy, exciting and productive week for all involved. Excited to hear that tickets are selling well for our opening night……

First day of rehearsals. Beautiful sunshine. Pentabus rehearsal room. The whole team gathered around a huge table. Hobnobs and tea. James, Rob, Titch and Orla were been busy all last week prop buying and set building and visiting locations/events mentioned in the play, so we shared the room with the basic structure of the set and a variety of odds and ends that might be useful to play with once we start getting the play on its feet. After some introductions and a top up of tea, the actors read it through for the first time. A fantastic first read, getting a sense of the broad range of characters, accents and locations and the rhythm and pace of the piece. James talked us through the model box, describing how the structure of the set can be adapted to work in fully equipped theatres, and also tiny little village halls. The play follows Brian and his family getting ready to hold a fete and there is an idea that as local produce and white elephant stalls are assembled, the random objects you might find at a fete are used to create the many different locations as we chart the journey from Crouch End to Docklow Manor. James and Alex have some brilliant ideas about using light and colour to change the atmosphere and Benet, a Ludlow based musician is coming up with some original music.

After lunch, a production meeting, and a bit of discussion about Herefordshire, Docklow Manor, London vs rural, the politics of the country…. Then another readthrough, this time stopping every time anyone had a question to ask Nick. A field trip has been arranged for Wednesday, we will go to an auction, to visit Brian at Docklow Manor, and then round things up with a (research based) drink in the Kings Head.

A very productive and exciting first day. Everyone disappeared off to continue to aquaint themselves with the delights of Ludlow (basically Tescos as nothing else is open in Ludlow beyond 6pm). I attempted to cycle back in the dark, with lights that did not really live up to their name (completely rubbish) and decided that I would not do that again.