Rehearsal: Week 1

Hey there,

Stan here, taking over blogging duties for this week. Notice anything different? Alice spent the weekend making our blog look stylish and sexy: two words that we feel really sum up North. (Note: we really don’t think that!)

So, where are we at right now I hear you cry! Well, good reader, our show “The Man Who Thought the Moon Would Fall Out of the Sky” went into full-time rehearsal this week. We’ve been working at the People’s Theatre, where our little North adventure all began, only back then we were part of a group of 30 wonderfully talented Auditionees. It really highlighted what a wealth of talent there is in the region, and what exciting times there are ahead for the North East.

On Tuesday, we all went to the fascinating Tyne and Wear Archives & Museums to explore and research. We found the most incredible scrapbook, which is a source of inspiration for our show, about life in the North of England in the 19^th century. We worked our way through songs, recipes, poems, scandals, murder enquiries, pirate invasions, bank collapses, coalition policies. It just shows how, in some ways, life now isn't all that different from life then (though I appreciate there hasn’t been many recorded pirate invasions in recent times).

However, on the way back we nearly lost a member of North, and if it wasn’t for the Spiderman-like reflexes of Michael Blair, Meghan Doyle would definitely have been smooshed by a car. Stop, look and listen kids!

Does whatever a spider can.

Wednesday saw us return to the Maria-Crocker-Stomping-Ground that is Arc in Stockton to see the 154 Collective’s “Dancing with the Orange Dog". It’s incredible to see so many artists from so many disciplines coming together to make a show. This was proper collaboration. If it’s coming your way, check it out. The car ride home in Alex’s little jeep also provided many giggles.

Dancing with the Orange Dog

Then, on Thursday we were joined by the wonderful Anna, who was on work-experience and got to see the insanity of North first hand (lucky her). At 16 she was putting us to shame with her writing skills and her story-telling, and she’s just set up her own theatre company, Northern Kaos, collaborating with a group of young people to make exciting and original theatre. Remember the name!

Friday saw us begin to grow our story and take it to all sorts of different places. We all sat around telling stories of a man’s life according to a suitcase of his belongings. I won’t give too much away, but the show almost hit a stumbling block when George and Alice couldn’t even open the suitcase, despite three attempts. Fail well, my friends. Fail well.

Alice: Take 17

Love from the NOFFICE

North_NS