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Yikes it has been over my month since my last blog entry. How very remiss of me. In my defence it has been quite a busy month with the conclusion of my producing project the preparation for which I described in the last blog here.
Having sold out the show, our responsibility was to put on a production worthy of everyone’s support for us. Fortunately we were blessed with hugely talented cast and production team. As this was a charity production, everyone was giving their time and talent for free, but that did not detract from the professionalism and dedication shown by those involved. Particularly our young production and creative team who were primarily drawn from the ranks of the National Youth Theatre. Britain is a world leader in theatre and, judging by those I was lucky enough to work with on Green Forms, that dominance is set to continue for quite some time if they represent the next generation of theatre practitioners.
Our designer, Gina Rose Lee, and lighting designer Aaron J Dootson were outstanding- creating the slightly heightened reality that took our production to a different dimension. The hardest working and least recognised people in theatre are often the Stage Management team and ours were no exception and we literally couldn’t have done it without them. Led by Claire Bamford, our unflappable DSM, they worked tirelessly throughout the process - always the first to arrive and the last to leave. James Meteyard, who also had the pressure of appearing on stage and Ian Smith were our hard working ASM’s. Ian’s propping skills were exemplary and it was easy to forget that he was just a 17 year old from Stratford who was just beginning to start his career, rather than a seasoned pro who had been doing it for years. Andy Whyment is a talented young and upcoming director who took time out to be the associate director on Green Forms. As well as providing many technical solutions to the challenges of staging the play, he has an innate understanding of language which is invaluable when working with such a precise text as this one was.
I would have no hesitation in recommending any of them and hope that next time I will be in a position to pay them for their hard work.
At the heart of the production’s success were, of course, our supremely talented cast led by Janet Ellis and Jan Ravens. I am in awe of how they bought so much to Alan Bennett’s fantastic words, delivering funny and truthful performances in such a short space of time. They were more than ably supported by the very funny Andrew Alston and the supremely talented Joan Iyola, who only had a tiny part in our production but is sure to go on to achieve big things.
And finally there was our director, Paul Clayton who, with his clear vision, creativity, attention to detail and finely tuned eye and ear for what is funny, led the whole production so brilliantly and ensured that we met our responsibility to that sold out audience.
There were numerous others involved in making Green Forms a success, not least Sophie Abbott one of the first on board with the project, Bernie Kearns who gave up his Sunday to build the set and Chris Madin whose original music so enhanced the production.
But final thanks must go to our audiences who not only warmly received the production and performances but who so very generously put their hands in their pockets to both buy tickets and to donate on the night. Whoever said “every penny counts” was not the one who had to count it, because it took hours. We were bowled over by the generosity that enabled us with pride to give Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres an incredible £10,146.67.
Sunday, 19 February 2012