ALASDAIR SATCHEL’S WEBLOG

First night …

21st July 2008

Our first night’s been and gone. All went well. Thank goodness.

We had a special preview on Thursday for the builders who worked on Mull Theatre’s new production centre, which was rather enjoyable. Some of them were a bit timid when it came to the interactive scene with the phone and they passed it around from person to person. Which was not ideal, as you shall see when – or if – you make it along to see the show. Only one person answering the phone at a time, please!

The actual first night itself went very well. We were all pleased. All the key props and lines were in place at the right time, so what more could you ask for? For me I now want to find out how I can pad my character out a little bit more, how can I fill him out to just the right side of pomposity. The best way to do this is to interact with people in the theatre environment. It’s a very subtle thing as you don't want to go too far overboard so that the audience are turned off by your presence. You just have to get it so that they are curious about how odd you are, and want to know more. It'll take time, but I'm sure I'll get there.

One of the more tricky things is maintaining the character in different circumstances. At the beginning of the show, we're interacting and improvising outside with the public as they enter and then, when they're in the space, we're playing the script that Euan and Dave wrote. So you've got to play the character at the same level all the way through the performance, both inside and out, or else the audience will notice, and possibly assume that you're another character, or a cruddy actor. (One of which may be true...)

This is a problem that Helen and Ed, as Lucy and Julian the eco warriors, have been finding. Children seem to congregate around them outside, and really identify with their characters, but whilst inside, in the world of the scripted part of the play, the characters are really quite unlikeable. Both Helen and Ed are great actors and have the situation well in hand, though.

So it's now time for the tour! Yippee!!!! Invergarry here we come!

As we're tootling along the road we're going to play a few travelling games to while away the hours. My personal favourite is “Dutch Car!” where you try to spot a Dutch car before the others in your vehicle. This is worth 5 points. Yellow cars are worth 2, Eddie Stobart lorries are worth 2. If you shout “Dutch car!” and you get it wrong, it's not a Dutch car, your points go back to 0. Oh it's mean, but I love it! We'll also be playing the one-word-letter game from “I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue”, where you take turns to provide one word in a letter between two people. That's very silly indeed.

Car registration plates also do a good turn, if you try to come up with phrases that start with the first letter of the last three letters of a car registration plate. For instance, YKN, might be Your Knotted Nose, Young Knight's Nocturnes, or something more puerile and rude, as is often the case.

So if you've got any ideas for games we might play on the road, please do send me an email at education@mulltheatre.com  and let me know. I'll keep you up to date with how we get on as we progress along the highways and byways of Scotia.

© Alasdair Satchel, 2008

Links

• Mull Theatre
• Right Lines