Job nearly done.

We are halfway through production week on Glengarry, and it is going well! so well, in fact, that we are a full day ahead of schedule. This means that, instead of slaving away over a hot technical rehearsal, Nick the lighting designer and I were in a restaurant by 8pm, sharing a bottle of wine. It is quite a straightforward show in terms of lighting, there are no quick changes of costume, few sound effects and no projections, all factors which can work together to create a technical rehearsal of epic proportions. Nick and I have been in Techs at the Library which have started on Tuesday evening and finished just before the show opens on Friday night!We moved on to a first dress rehearsal later on yesterday, which also went very well. As I expected, the actors are having to do a bit of adjustment in getting used to the seating booths of the Chinese restaurant. The chairs which they have been using were not really an adequate substitute for the seating which has been built, and the corners of the booths have turned out a bit deeper than I expected. This means that if the actor gets tucked in there, although it is very comfortable, they can’t be seen from a few seats at the front of the auditorium near to the side walls. Since we have time for two more dress rehearsals, I’m hoping that this will sort itself out as they get more used to the space. Also I am going to buy some cushions to pad out the corners so they can’t sit so far back. We have reduced the height and size of the tables too, because they too were proving to be a sightline problem.The set is looking good now that we have got it ‘dressed’. There are massive quantities of box files and other paper work piled up on all the shelves, notice boards on the walls, wire baskets and other office equipment on the desks. This has taken a long time to achieve, so I felt a bit weary at the thought of having to do It all again! This was because the painters were in last night to finish off their work and usually we clear the set for them. However, it turned out that they could cover up the shelving and so we only had to take down the notice board and move the filing cabinets. It is always a relief to me when the painters come on stage because the things which have been bothering me get sorted out; for example on this show, the outside office door is a dark wood grain effect and the painter had seen this as being rather distressed and worn looking, whereas I expected it to look quite smart. Consequently, every time that door has been opened, I have been thinking, that door is not right!

But no tantrums to report! Because everything has gone so smoothly we have all been behaving very well and we remain a happy company. My next, and final update, will tell you about the first night!