Friday 29th: 2 – 6pm: Set painting. Nearly finished, after weeks of effort. (The work being squeezed into a 4-5 hour window on Sundays, between the Zumba class finishing and the cast drifting in for rehearsals)
Saturday 30th: 9.30am – 5pm: Set painting
6pm: Orchestra turns up to play thru the score for the first time, squeezing into the space that’s been left for them. Someone brings a dog. Mmm… the script calls for a 3-legged dog in the last scene…nuh, ah’ve no idea why either. Oh look, I’ve got a saw…
Sunday 31st: 1st Technical Rehearsal: OK, Stage, Sound and Lighting crews get to try their stuff for the first time. Go Techies !! All the weeks of ‘fluidity’(ie. nothing fixed) and whimsical change are behind us. We’ve got three days left now, to rehearse acting moves, scenery changes & lighting cues.
Given the amount of furniture, props and even actors that have been inserted into scenes, when considering backstage storage and scene-change access and manoeuvring, perhaps we should’ve used the vast 007 stage at Pinewood. If I’m (modestly) honest, I think the ‘stage-left’ and ‘stage-right’ crews have performed brilliantly, the high-speed Tetris of extreme logistics, under pressure and in hot cramped conditions. Like Chief Engineer, Scotty on the Enterprise, relaying concerns over the constraints (ie.lack of fluidity) of the laws of physics. (ie. “that’ll no’ fit in there, you cannae huv that, and my favourite, there’s NO space”) which has now led to a particular interpretation1 of Newtons 3rd Law of Motion – this blog. GRRRrrr
[1 – The pressure applied by the director on the crew, will result in an opposing reaction by the crew]
Tonight was the first real opportunity to test the physical components. The blackout curtain, installed only a few days ago, is very heavy and, when opened, has a tendency to ‘bunch’ fatly at the base. (Like a certain bear Mrs.P knows, when chocolate biscuits appear.. or should that be disappear?) This increased width then makes it difficult to manoeuvre furniture without getting snared and wheels tangled up.
Time ran away from us, and at 11pm (ish) before we could practice the difficult hospital scene (getting Rab into the very unwieldy bed behind the curtain, opening the curtain, and pushing the bed on stage while hoping it wouldn’t get snagged on the curtain) the decision was made to call it a night. Only 2 more rehearsals to practice this.. mmm. I’m not very optimistic.
Monday 1st: 2nd Technical Rehearsal
First time we actually get thru the whole play in one sitting…Yay! .. though it takes us until after 11pm. We need to get faster.
Tuesday 2nd: Dress Rehearsal (aka Stress Rehearsal)
All the way through and a fair bit quicker.
Wednesday 3rd: Day off
Thursday 4th: 6.15pm Opening Night…. .
Put finishing touches to the Leith Walk scenery, then clean the brushes.
No more time, no more painting. Finito.
In spite of the impending performance, to be finished painting feels like heaven right now. Relieved.
Put on my black stage T-shirt, and get into the zone. SHOWTIME !
7.15pm: Late-running Musical Director finally arrives…, we can begin.
All the ingested lepidoptera (ooh, I like that) dissipate.
The big red curtains swish open, and we’re off and running.
Did I say running? Usain Bolt would’ve been impressed. Everyone & everything just ‘clicked’, we set off at pace and just kept going. Wow – that was slick. Finishing just after 10pm (including an interval), we’ve shaved about an hour off Mondays running time.
Friday 5th: 07.30am
Ah’m knackered. Didn’t get in til 2am last night. Ah dinnae know what day it is.., it could be tomorrow, or it could be today.., it’s very early o’clock, so ah know it canny still be yesterday.
There will be more than a few folks reading this who’ll recognise the opening lines of the musical ‘Sunshine on Leith’ (SoL) in that last paragraph. Built around the music of the Poleclaimbears
Och, silly me, did ah no’ say!. OK, maybe I should explain. Auchtermuchty Theatre Group are performing SoL – and last night (Thursday) was opening night. After many months of rehearsal, it all comes down to 3 nights.
Ah’ve been helping out backstage at the theatre ‘cos –
(a) Mrs.P (in a mad moment) volunteered her (our?) services, and then needed a chauffeur tae get her there,
(b) having lived and worked in Leith before moving tae ‘muchty, ah feel I’ve been following in the Poleclaimbears paw-prints in reverse and (c) they let me have a cheese shop [see photo] in Leith Walk. Ah’ve always wanted a Cheese Shop.
Oh aye, an’ the actual Poleclaimbears texted tae wish us a’ the best, before the show. That wis nice o’ them.
For anyone no’ fae here, let me explain. The Poleclaimbears are braw. Scottish an proud o’ it – like Irn-Bru or The Broons, they couldnae come fae anywhere else. Me an’ Mrs.P like them enough to have seen them a few times and we overlook the Hibbee affliction thingy they’ve got. We accept that everyone should be allowed to make the wrong decisions occasionally. (Just not on referendum ballot papers) – but even I widnae grudge them their 114 yr wait to win the Scottish Cup (3-2 v Rangers)
I first heard the Poleclaimbears at a Leith Accies fund-raising dance in 1988, when the DJ played the whole LP. (If you’re too young to know about LPs, ‘google’ it on your i-pod, I not wasting ma time explaining)
Funny, ah used tae see Britannia [see photo] from my flat, before they built the Ocean Terminal (Shopping Centre), an’ now ahm helpin’ some fat bloke paint signs for the stage-set.
Saturday 6th:
07.30am: Ah’m knackered. Didn’t get in til 2am again last night. I’ve now got tae get up and move the car before the traffic wardens come round.
10.20pm: The curtain closes for the third and last time.
Another mostly slick show… Rab Henshaw being ‘helped’ into bed after the blackout curtain left him visibly exposed, was the only glitch I recall. The ‘Blackford Hill’ scene change (much criticised by the director during rehearsals for the time involved) only took 3 seconds to bring on tonight. (That’s F1 pitcrew slick, by the way – an a’ big thanks to JimR for offstage input here).
Anyway, 3 nights, 3 full houses and 3 standing ovations…and, despite being behind the scenes and ‘invisible’, it was nice for the stage crew tae get a mention at the end.
A wee libation, I’m sure, is called for to celebrate
‘So what’s next?’ , I hear someone ask, ‘Showboat?, Singin’ in the Rain ?, Ben Hur, the musical ?’
No. An ice cold cider is what I’m thinking…, an’ maybe a bath. Ma paws are killing me. Ah’ve been on them for 4 hours an’ ah feel like ah’ve walked 500 miles tonight, behind the scenes.
Sometimes, Mr.Mercury, the show has tae ‘paws’… and no’ go on.
Sunday 7th: 09:00am
Ah’m knackered. Didn’t get to bed ‘til 4am this morning, after the after-show party in the hall, an’ then the after-after-show party. Thanks very muchtae Sami & Donald for givin’ us somewhere tae crash at very short notice.
Mmm…, ah can smell sausages.., think I’ll get up now.
1.30pm: I’m on my way.. home now. The last couple of hours have been spent taking down the scenery, the lights, and emptying the dressing rooms. Like the comedown after Christmas, it’s a mixture of sadness, relief and achievement.
All’s well that ends well, the curtain has closed on the melodramatic madness. Any stress and back-biting has given way to congratulatory back-slapping (or maybe they’re just trying to get their knives back). To me, it looks like the theatre-y folks view life, not through rose-tinted glass, but misty blue gel. Or it could be a bottle of Bombay Sapphire I’m looking at. Ooh, that reminds me, there’s a new Gin bar in toon…, mmm…, mibbe that can wait for another time.
While we’re on the subject, I took Mrs.P to see ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Haymarket, London last month. Awesome. Brilliant…, Bravo… Grins all round
Being at opposite ends of the spectrum, I know I shouldn’t, but I did feel a wee tinge of jealousy. The layered depth of stage furniture seemed to be infinite in comparison to the 12’ 7¾ “ available in the Victoria Hall.
From a technical viewpoint, at no time did I get the impression that they were struggling for space behind the scenes. Everthing flowed so smoothly and appeared effortless. Grrr…, Grreat show.
Summary;
Playing to packed houses with a packed backstage.
The luvvies dun good, an’ the Teckies were mega-braw. That’s show-business.
Happy faces, grrrinning grannies, some shiny teeth at Sunshine on Leith
Paul R Bear 
