Act Two, Scene 6: From Market Town to Cathedral City.

Due to filming commitments I hope you'll forgive a short but sweet blog this week. Enjoy!

Newbury Corn Exchange

Going West.
The week began with a 3 night stint at the lovely Corn Exchange Theatre in Newbury, a beautiful grade 2 listed building, originally opened for trading in 1861 in the central market place. Rather different to the Watermill Theatre in Newbury where I've also performed, it's a large sweeping 400 seat auditorium and forms part of a wider arts centre and cinema. Performing there was rather a blur for me as I had been offered some filming work for the BBC during those 3 days. Commuting back and forth proved a little tiring although of course as a jobbing I was thankful for the extra work! Our audiences were a little small in numbers but the show seemed to go down very well with the students and punters alike. 


Flying in at The Key.
On Friday we all trekked up to Peterborough to open at the Key Theatre for the remaining 3 performances of the week. It was a tight turn around for our technical team - the first time so far on the tour that we'd done a venue to venue 'get in' without a full day in between. But all praise goes to our DSM Jess and Technical Manager Gareth who faced the challenge head on despite being one man down... (sending get well soon wishes to our sorely missed ASM Ed!) Added to that, a few of the cast had gotten stuck in terrible motorway traffic so our usually leisurely 'top and tail' run through in the new space was cut a little short. Despite all this, our first night in Peterborough was a resounding success with an almost full house and very responsive audience. I wonder if audiences ever realise how much their reactions can impact on the spirit of the actors performing. It really is a two way exchange, and although we always aim to keep the show tight and disciplined, how much and audience really listens and engages with the play is quite tangible to us.

Key Theatre Peterborough

We were given a warm welcome at The Key Theatre. Standing in the car park next to Kylie (my beloved Ford KA) with suitcase and M&S bags I was accosted by Micheal Cross, the Theatre Director who kindly and well beyond the call of duty offered to help me in with my bags. "I can spot an actress a mile off" he laughed, and of course at that moment I probably couldn't have looked any more like the stereotype. The Key is a modern purpose built space and the 360 seat auditorium is lovely to play; good sight lines and acoustically very easy on the ear (and actor's voice). The backstage area is currently under development thanks to a one million cash injection (bravo Peterborough Council) and so our 'dressing rooms' were in the temporary form of large two storey heated portacabins. Getting ready for the show in my little winnebago with Emma I felt like I could have easily been on set for Our Country's Good the movie! Saturday's matinee and evening show ran smoothly with a big thanks to Tom Hackney, our administrator and tour booker, who stepped in last minute as backstage assistant in the absence of Ed. We couldn't have done it without you! Although the lack of students on Saturday night meant the numbers had dwindled again a little, the good news is we are selling extremely well at our next venue, Harrogate Theatre.


Next Week.
I'm very much looking forward to our trip up North. A few years back I did an open-air Shakespeare production at Ripley Castle and more recently worked at the West Yorskshire Playhouse so I have had the opportunity to visit Harrogate a few times before. It's a gorgeous town and I can't wait to visit some old haunts. As well as scoffing a cream tea in Betty's Tea-rooms of course! 


Stay Tuned for this weeks SNEAK PEEK INTERVIEW: coming soon.....


Emily x


http://www.originaltheatre.com/