From CD to Stage

One of the most successful elements of our debut production of H&M was the music which was provided by Bellowhead and haunted the various scenes throughout the play. Last night, KateD and I had the chance to catch them live in Wolverhampton during their current tour.

Hopkinson's Favourite for Real

The gig was great - their unusual rampant, eclectic sound running riot through our ears - and afterwards I got to say "Thanks" to the band's manager with whom I'd been in contact during H&M when he expressed his support and even got us featured us on the band's Home Page.

With most of their "Burlesque" album being featured, there were many occasions when a melody or refrain provoked a memory and a smile from the show which used extracts from almost all of its tracks. But the highlight of the night came from the fact that the songs chosen to finish the main set and then at the very end of the show - "Fire Marengo" and "Frog's Legs & Dragon's Teeth" - were the same two songs I had chosen to end Act One and Act Two of H&M.

A big, familiar finish - and a great sense of affirmation...

LTG Away Day

After all of last week's planning, on Saturday Team H&M made their way down the M1 to Welwyn Garden City and the Little Theatre Guild's inaugural New Writing Seminar. Keen to support everything being shown during the day, I made an early start and, together with KateD, hit the road shortly after 7am.

The Barn Theatre Auditorium

The sun shone on Welwyn's stab at Utopia, and the incongruity of a theatre in a suburban housing estate was matched only by its prettiness. A warm welcome awaited, along with tea and biscuits, and it wasn't soon until the first play began. Called "Dumbing Down" (with a proven pedigree and actually from 2005, so not exactly "new") the play about the state of state education set an unnervingly high benchmark for the day with its immaculate presentation and trio of great performances.

This was followed by "Arrivals", the first of four rehearsed readings - and its inappropriate use of the word "orifices". Honestly, no-one goes to the theatre to hear that shouted at them. Jesus...

As lunchtime approached, our tummies started rumbling and the others called to say they were nearly with us. So, our attention was taken away from the stage and put towards getting things ready for our performance.

When lunchtime duly arrived, so too did the first members of Team H&M. We were treated to a lively and entertaining address from playwright Steve Thompson, but not even this could stop the urge for our cast to head for a nearby KFC.

With everyone now back at the theatre, thoughts turned to our own performance and so we got to see very little of the other rehearsed readings. I did catch all of the 2005 play "The Regina Monologues" though, which had a very nice set but was only about as good as you'd expect half-a-dozen instances of self-pitying exposition to be.

Our Day in the Sun

Away from the darkness of the auditorium, Team H&M were enjoying the sun and being with one another as they ran their lines. In truth, this was the highlight of the day - the chance to be together, to be in a nice place and feel that sense of excitement again. Soon, costumes were donned, props readied and a final practise was taking place backstage.

In The Back of The Barn

At 5.40pm we were up, 70 minutes behind schedule.

With my diligently-prepared cue sheet shunned by The Barn Theatre's SM, I was operating the sound, which I hadn't expected. So, Team H&M Associate Member Paul kindly volunteered to do our pre-amble which I had written into the actual performance for myself to do. However, when I was told that I couldn't have house lights as I'd instructed, he remained in total darkness and despite his best efforts, our entrance wasn't quite as grand as I'd imagined.

But then our Groom ran on - and Hearts & Minds was back!

The team did a great job. We were all impressed with Tom especially, who had joined us and achieved so much in such a short space of time. I think we got more laughs than the rest of the day combined and I smiled throughout as I watched from the wings and enjoyed being in the company of these great people again - cast and characters alike.

One wobble occurred when the on-stage CD player broke. Of course, this was always the intention, but it actually broke forty seconds before it had been scripted to. Nevertheless, Team H&M covered and continued brilliantly. Bravo!

The day was, in theory, a good chance to showcase H&M and The Crescent, but it's hard to know what was achieved - or who the audience was. Being last on should have been a great climax to a day of support and unity, but with things running over an hour late, the crowd had dwindled. Worse, I don't think anyone involved in any of the other shows had stayed behind to support my script - even though I'd been there all day. Indeed, it was so sparse that no-one caught the bouquet - all of this was quite a change from our 100% sell-out record.

We were treated to a free drink and a bit of cheese afterwards, but there were only a few people left in the bar. That said, everyone was keen to know exactly why Dan had called the wedding off, so we certainly engaged those who had seen our 30 minute extract.

There was a lot of fun and camaraderie - this was what we achieved. But as an aspiring writer, I got little out of the day, other than a few snippets from Steve Thompson's lively speech (everybody at the Barn seemed to be called Thompson). I couldn't watch a lot of the other things because I was busy preparing ours, and of those I did get to see, what possible conclusions could be drawn - apart from not to ever use the word "orifices"...?

Ultimately, was there anyone in attendance who could take H&M on further or be interested in putting it on?

So, as we gathered behind the theatre to ceremonially let our balloons fly up and disappear into the sky, I wondered if this was the last we'll see of H&M too?

No Looking Back

I'd almost forgotten what it was like - to have so many things to pick up, and be constantly worried about Traffic Wardens as the car's left precariously (and illegally) during a mad dash into the theatre or Confetti.

Alright in the Back?

But we're virtually all done now, and with the car all but loaded, one side-effect of wanting to put on a good show is that the rear-view mirror is going to be useless for our trip to Welwyn Garden City tomorrow. I should have thought of that(!)

Or maybe I can let the balloons out of the sun-roof as we do a smooth 70 down the M1...?

LTG Seminar Rehearsal 2

We finished preparations for our imminent jaunt to Welwyn Garden City tonight, and despite being a bit short on numbers, things went well in the Committee Room. I introduced a new element to what we'll be doing which will showcase a different aspect of the script and a lovely bit of of Louis' performance as Chris.

The H&M Committee

We had cake, strawberries and TEBSLPA (The Erstwhile But Still Lovely Production Assistant Producer) even popped in to say "Hello".

This and Tuesday's rehearsal have been as much about logistics as they have about refreshing everyone's memories and allowing Tom to acclimatise. Despite only doing a couple of scenes, there's been lots to gather, and plenty more to do tomorrow. We've also had to sort out lifts and who is bringing what - and, more importantly, who.

I'm a little worried about space in my car. With KateD, costumes, props, and the elements of scenery that Confetti are so kindly providing, it will be a squeeze. But despite not really knowing what to expect, I'm sure this and the work will be worth it.

We could have gone into this half-heartedly, but that's not Team H&M's style. The cast are going to be great, we're going to have fun and provide a fitting end to what I hope will be a good day...

LTG Seminar Rehearsal 1

So tonight, after buying the wrong batteries, I headed back to The Crescent Theatre and once more found myself preparing things in the Rehearsal Room ahead of Team H&M's imminent reunion.

I've popped in a couple of times since FourPlay ended, and - quite rightly - things have moved on in anticipation of the theatre's new season (its 75th) which starts next Saturday. Our posters and flyers have gone and my key fob doesn't work anymore.

But for some of us, H&M isn't over quite yet...

Tom Takes Centre Stage

The cast gradually reconvened and were introduced to our new addition. It was great to see everybody.

[In a wonderful example of serendipity, Tom later recounted how he had accidentally met Caroline (Lucy) earlier in the day. Sat nearby on a bus, he overheard her telling a friend about being in a play in Welwyn Garden City on Saturday - which caused him to wave his script at her and prompted Caroline to become a little confused(!) He was obviously destined to come in and help us out...]

We soon kicked things off and there was an air of bravado as we ran through a couple of scenes again. All nervousness had gone - having a sell-out show will do that - and I was impressed by how well everybody had remembered their lines.

After a couple of runs, attention turned to costumes and logistics. The theatre's own selection of wedding dresses eventually revealed a suitable outfit (thank goodness!) and we designated our drivers for Saturday.

It became apparent that a few subtle things in the script won't work because of the edited-down nature that the New Writing Seminar demands, but I'm sure there's enough to demonstrate the theatre's and the script's capabilities.

It was nice - but over far too quickly. It's an unexpected reprise for a great two weeks and I hope to make the most of being back with everyone again over the next few days.

Back in Pink & Black

Tonight, KateD and I went to the Crescent ahead of tomorrow's first get-together before the impending LTG New Writing Showcase this coming Saturday. With loads of help from Chairman Andrew, we soon readied as many of the costumes as we could.

Dresses to Impress

It's odd thinking of getting back together again, although circumstances mean that two people from the original team will be missing for our jaunt on Saturday. That's a little bit of a shame, but the positive side of that is we'll be welcoming the esteemed Tom Moody on board HMS H&M.

[Eagle-eyed readers of this blog will have seen him already here, with Tom having joined myself and Zena to throw sardines around last year.]

Even though we'll only be doing two scenes in our allotted half-and-hour, staging this is already starting to feel like a production in itself, albeit a small one. There are props and sound effects to sort, and the remaining costumes - significantly we won't have Ivory Tower's wonderful Bride's and Bridesmaid's dresses this time around. In addition, we'll be learning to do things in new ways as the set-up at The Barn Theatre will be completely different.

Those who know me will attest that although H&M finished nearly two months ago, I have continued to bore them with memories about the wonderful people who made it and who are never far from my thoughts.

It will be good to see them again.

Blogging the Drum

Went to The Drum Theatre last night where Script, the West Midlands agency for dramatic writers, were conducting a seminar about how they can help people with their creative writing.

Sadly, The Very Big Telly Wouldn't Fit in my Bag

Predominantly, the evening covered screen, and to that end we watched three short, very well-produced films - including the award-winning "Cathy and I" - which had been written and developed with Script's help. Their writers were in attendance and after we'd watched their work, each talked us through the process they'd gone through to bring their ideas to the very big telly that sat amongst a collection of iMacs.

More beneficial for me though was meeting Script supremo Peggy Paterson. We had a quick chat about what next for H&M and she was very pleased to hear of Samuel French's interest, confirming that they usually don't look at scripts which have only been produced by amateur companies.

Having been brought to the stage, H&M is past the point where Script can help, but this may be the route to go through next time.