Keith's blog

Open Day
Sunday 31st August was Open Day. As I mentioned a couple of blogs ago this is when the RSC throws open its doors to the public giving them an opportunity to get some idea of the behind-the-scenes work that goes on, join in workshops, enjoy concerts, football matches and the like.
 

So it was an earlier than usual Sunday wake-up time for me but worse for poor Zoë, as stage manager of the first events at the Courtyard - the flying demo and rope-work etc, she had to be in at 8.00...needless to say, to avoid the rustle of divorce papers I didn't moan to her about my 10.30 start! Anyway, in the car and off I went to start the day on time.

On arrival, having first collected my packed lunch and Open Day t-shirt (first things first!), my first engagement of the day was a photo shoot. Members of the company had been asked to be in a group photograph to go to the press that Monday to launch an appeal to raise £1m for the Transforming our Theatres Appeal - more info at www.rsc.org.uk/appeal

I made my way round to the riverside of the theatre behind The Swan where the artist's block is to be built that will accommodate dressing rooms, the greenroom etc, to join my colleagues. Ellie Kurtz the photographer (who also took our fab production photos), arranged the grouping, some of us draped ourselves over the scaffolding cladding the back of the building, while others perched on a stepladder framing a huge card Theatres Appeal logo with Nada Zakula our press officer anchoring it, squashed precariously behind at the top of the ladder. Michael Boyd, Vikki Heyward (the Executive Director) and Greg, John Woodvine, Patrick S, and David T complete the frame sitting in front and below it.

I had one eye on my watch as Alison Bomber (Voice Department) had rung to say that there was a last-minute rehearsal for the choir and orchestra at the Holy Trinity Parish Centre in preparation for a lunchtime concert of RSC music in Holy Trinity Church. There is a huge collection of scores for shows going back over 100 years that have languished in the archive unperformed for decades; wonderful stuff some of which John Woolf and Greg have excavated for this concert. I arrived, hot and scant of breath having legged it the full length of Southern Lane, and was delighted to see Forbes Masson again, he's a fabulous singer and actor and was in the legendary Histories season; we were to read an excerpt from Richard II together backed by incidental music written by a then unknown Vaughan Williams for the RSC in 1908, we also sang a song as Oberon and Puck, a setting of their dialogue following Titania's falling in love with Bottom as an ass, written by Richard Peaslee from Peter Brooks iconic Dream in 1971. In true Open Day flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants spirit this rehearsal was actually the first occasion that all, nay not all … most of the musicians, singers and readers for the concert were all in the same room together at the same time! With about half-an-hour to go we crossed the road to Shakespeare's church itself to practise whatever we could before the public were let in at one o'clock. The concert went brilliantly, it was fascinating to hear treasures hitherto hidden unheard for decades and the audience were very appreciative; I hope more of these jewels are dusted off and brought to light in the future. After the concert no time to draw breath for me as it was straight into the poetry reading which followed hard upon at Holy Trinity. It's theme was gardens, the programme put together by Lynn Darnley (voice), for this, we really had NO time to rehearse, and the public were let in as we were setting up! But onward and upward, it was a triumph and the church was a wonderfully atmospheric venue to read in, if a little tricky acoustically for the spoken word. Its funny how an element of busk gives any performance an edge that invariably works for the good, Open Day demonstrates this par excellence.

My duties done for the morning I wandered over to the theatre gardens to have a look at the football, it was the middle of a match between Mace the building contractors, and sponsors of Open Day, and a team of my fellow actors. I watched for a bit cheering on my colleagues, it was great fun played in good humour, the ball ending up in the River Avon more than once to be rescued by passing boaters. Unfortunately the actors lost, the main blame in post-match analysis, being laid to footwear; whilst slithering around on the increasingly muddy grass in their trainers, the Mace team had been well equipped with proper boots. As I was leaving, another actors team were preparing to play the staff from The Dirty Duck, apparently they lost that one too a goal of theirs being somewhat controversially disallowed that would've given them a draw! I made my way through the crowds to the car; there was a real buzz all along the waterside and a great turnout, especially given the slightly inclement weather.

Back in the car I set off for Bearley. I'd arranged to have lunch at Zoë's mum's as her aunt Beezie, cousin Jeremy and his wife Dee and daughter three-year old Alice were visiting; it was great to see them again, Dee is expecting twins so there's a lot of excitement about that. They'd been in Stratford in the morning; apparently Alice particularly liked the 'Dressing Up Box' costume workshop, the sonnet readings on the ferry across the river and the tour of the RST building site, what a renaissance girl she is!

Having had a delicious lunch, a natter and a bit of a sit down with the Sunday papers I was back in the car to Stratford, for the evening to take part in a staged reading of Fratricide Punished, as described in my last blog a pretty strange version of the Hamlet story with me as Claudius. The script we used was based on William Poel's prompt copy for the performances given Oxford Playhouse in August 1924 and in October of that year at the New Oxford and Little Theatres in London to be revived for a one-off Sunday performance in 1926. It's difficult to know how funny Mr Poel intended the script to be but our audience laughed uproariously as apparently they did in 1924.

We were finished by 9.30, and it was into party clothes for a fundraising do at The Duck for two charities being supported by Kev Wimperis and Matt Aston (both are members of the Courtyard stage crew), Children With Leukaemia and Cancer Research UK respectively. To raise money they're both in training for the New York marathon, should anyone wish to pledge money, thanks to modern technology you can do so via the internet - Kev's charity and Matt's charity. It was very jolly and after a well-earned pint, tired but happy I made my way home.

PS: If you want to catch up on what happened on Open Day visit the Virtual Open Day at www.rsc.org.uk/openday and if you didn't make it in person this year I urge you to do so in 2009.

KO 12/09

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About blogger Keith

         

Likes: Music, cycling, food, theoretical physics

Dislikes: Queuing, flying, mice (and creatures of similar size), smoking

Keith plays Marcellus in Hamlet, Egeus in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Marcade in Love's Labour's Lost as part of the ensemble.