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History ensemble member Nick Asbury on the delicate art of sleeping on ladders...
Sleeping on ladders
In Towton - the Battle in Henry VI Part III staged using all the ropes - I get to climb the upstage right ladder, flail around a bit all angsty and injured, then fall back to earth fetching up with my leg hung artfully over the bottom rung of the ladder and fall asleep for twenty minutes.
 It's a spectacular death, which in truth I defy anyone to have ever seen, as there's a lot more interesting things going on elsewhere - namely various suicidal actors throwing themselves about on ropes and falling from the gods or whatever. I'm doing what I'm doing merely just to get on and be a dead body for a long, long time. The Molehill speech of Henry VI; the father who killed his son and the son who killed his father; the dying speech of Clifford; the dismembering of Clifford by the York brothers - all take place whilst Hannah, Alexia, Geoffrey Streatfeild, John MacKay and myself lie there trying not to move. Geoffrey even gets sat upon. Oh, the indignity. Now that's ensemble.
I'm telling you it's not easy. The feet start to cramp and if you even get one limb slightly out of place at the start, you're going to be regretting it in two minutes let alone twenty. Pins and needles set in. Your face starts to feel like blancmange. And to cap it all, some other bloody actor might come along and tread on your fingers - which happened about two years ago. I had my eyes closed at the time so I still don't know who it was, but I have my suspicions. And palpably I haven't forgotten. Those fingers make me good money when I'm not busy lying around a stage...
But, after two years, we're getting pretty good at it. Indeed, so good am I that I'm fast asleep by the end of the Molehill speech. And certainly when we're doing this crazy octology I found, to my shame, that I was rather looking forward to it. It's the only time I get a bit of horizontal time in the whole thing. As I write, it's Sunday and we are about to do Richard III for the penultimate time. We have just done seven different shows in three days. Yesterday was so exhilarating and knackering. I don't know about anybody else but I found it very hard. But, like everything I suppose, the more we pushed ourselves the more we got out of it. But by the time Towton came along on Part III, I was ready for a kip. In days gone by I would always love to keep half an eye open and watch the audience as I lay there. Or listen to the sounds. Just listening to theatre can be very exalting sometimes. But I'd love seeing the grimaces on the audience's faces when Clifford gets cut up. Seeing the tears appear in their eyes when Chuk does his speech, or Keith and Lex realise they've killed one another. But in the height of an octology, you grab rest wherever you can get it. The trick, of course, is to fall asleep not only in the right position to be comfortable, but also to shield any involuntary movements you might make whilst asleep. It's like falling asleep whilst watching a show: you have to make sure your head lolls forward, because if it tips back not only are you advertising to the world your disinterested state, but as the head goes so your mouth drifts downwards and you let out a rasping back of the throat snore which could break windows at forty paces. Or is that just me?
Needless to say, I always wake up on cue. Honest. The trick there, obviously, is not to wake up with a start. It wouldn't do suddenly to jolt upright with a short exclamation and a percussive fart. Not when you're dead. You've got to glide in and out of consciousness like you're on a train looking out of the window. It's an art, one at which we're getting pretty good.
Of course, it takes practice to make perfect. Perhaps it's because I'm a musician, but I've always maintained that acting, like any other art form, is a craft. It takes constant practice, which needs to be maintained, honed and perfected. And you can't do that sitting at home on the sofa, waiting for the phone to ring. It's why people who start getting work early in their career very often keep on working, as they get the chance constantly to be doing it and get better. You could have someone with exactly the same talent, if not more, but with a different face who doesn't quite get a lot of jobs early on and then falls into that cycle of not doing it enough, losing confidence and being left behind. It's tough. Which is exactly what Michael is trying to avoid with this notion of ensemble and bigger contracts. The notion that actors perform better with the threat of penury hanging over them needs to be challenged. Within this job we have grown, all of us. Become better actors. And it feels great. To know that we're getting somewhere. I was talking to a member of the audience last night and they just could not believe that in a weeks' time we will all be splitting up and drifting off into the ocean. They somehow thought that all this energy - all this talent - should somehow be harnessed into something more.
And it does feel weird. But what I hope is that we as individuals - we'll always be together in spirit - will harness all of that energy and take it into our next jobs, our ensuing lives. Even if it's just knowing how to sleep without moving. I'm working on the snoring. Practice makes perfect. Talking of that, I can hear the theatre beginning to wake from it's own slumber this afternoon. And suddenly, I don't want it to stop.
 Respond to Nick's blog
Responses to Nick's blog
"Bank Holiday Saturday lunch time:
"We are currently in between Henry VI parts I and II of the final octology of the run. So far the plays have been fantastic. I have seen all the plays over the last 2 years at Stratford, but wanted to see them all in historical order for one last time. It has been fascinating to see how the plays have changed, grown and adapted over that 2 year period. The performers are to be commended for their dedication, ability and hard work. It is just a shame that there will be no permanent record of this achievement, except in the memories of the performers and those people lucky and sensible enough to have bought tickets and seen the plays. Good luck for the last 3 plays, I know they are going to live up to my expectations.
"I have also been reading these blogs over the 2 year period and have thoroughly enjoyed the extra depth they have given to the plays and the process that this great undertaking has undergone."
Jenny
"Please please give us more blog! What was the ending like? How did you all say goodbye? WIll you be meeting up again as an ensemble? What auditions/ new ventures are you going for? Don't leave us hanging on ladders...I can't just go cold turkey."
Kate
"Hello Nick (and RSC people)
I guess it must all be over now, please could you blog again and let us all know how it ended and what everyone is up to next.
"I saw the whole cycle in Stratford and was utterly moved, if I had the time and money I would have come to see every play again in London. Unfortunately the closest that I could get was to read your blog.
"I hope the audience on the last night gave you the standing ovation that you all deserve, and wish the cast and crew the best for the future, if I was a casting director I would hire every single one of you.
"Next time you are in Herefordshire pop into the Pandy Inn in Dorstone and say hello, it is a good old fashioned village pub with Butty Bach on tap and some good local cider too."
Zoe
Watch extracts from the Histories
 View scenes from Henry V and behind the scenes in rehearsals.
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Latest blog posts
- Listen. Time passes. Listen.
- I feel alive
- Things happen to you
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- Battle of Barnet
- Buckets of blood
- Hamming
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- Unforgettable
- Lighting grids
- A new stage
- Gloriously
- The men in black
- Really listening
- Making history
- Happy birthday!
- Bleeeuurghhh!
- Dead weight
- Card sharks
- Tomorrow I scalded myself with tea
- You stink
- Turning to slush
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About blogger Nick
Likes: Cricket and music. Fields and dark pubs with no music
Dislikes: Lager, crowded streets and light bars with music |
