Bracknell and beyond....
Southwark Playhouse seems to have a very different atmosphere. With its domed ceilings and ever constant rumble of sounds from passing trains above it sheds a new light on the show. It’s not what I expected and that’s what makes it so exciting. How will the actors use this ‘space’ (it seems more that than a theatre) and how will the audiences interpretation differ from previous runs? These are all questions that will be answered this week and I can’t wait.
Bracknell was hugely enjoyable and I was lucky to witness the plays transformation from an outdoor show which was easy to watch and which explained everything to an indoor, dark and definitely tenser piece of theatre. The midnight run definitely helped and allowed this process to take place. It was very much the gateway into what Alastair wanted for the Southwark performances. Under the orange moon that hung ominously over South Hill Park , Alastair, Gemma and myself hid in shadows and lay in prickly bushes as the four boys emerged from the woods, torches in hand (very famous five!) and commenced the play but this time for no-one and with nothing set in stone- ‘ Anything Goes’ were Alastair’s final gentle words of advice as the boys tightened their school ties and greased their hair. From that moment on, I was transfixed and as they went through the motions of the play, a rawness and a belief emerged- I became hypnotised watching these four young public school lads become Juliet, Romeo, the nurse, or Friar Lawrence. The kisses and intimate, almost inaudible conversations provided moments of pure beauty for us to see but these were cut into by danger and extreme violence that was very real. It was a night that will never leave my mind and never cease to amaze and at the same time scare me a little.
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