During nine eventful weeks of summer, the production team of the first play of the new season were getting ready to put on the first show of the new 2016/17 season. At the abbey theatre in St albans where I work at, The Browning Version / Black Comedy was to be the first play to start the season off on the main stage, with rehearsals happening over the course of the summer period.
This wasn't a production for which I had purposefully volunteered to be a part of, however it just so happened that a college I know who works at the theatre and just so happened to be stage managing the production, asked on her Facebook 'Who's around to help out with some painting?' I volunteered myself and that lead to Karen asking me if I was around to help on the production which was happening now.
The show itself was a double bill of two one act plays. The Browning Version by Terence Rattigan and Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer. The show in September that was originally scheduled to happen was supposed to be Abigail's Party by Mike Leigh, but for some reason, that got pushed back to November. So this double bill took the missing spot. Both shows a complete contrast to the other. One a drama about an old school teacher in the late 1940's and the other a comedy set in the 60's where a group of people are plunged into darkness after a fuse blows.
It was a busy show to work on, I dare say the most busy out of all five shows I have done so far at the Abbey Theatre in the four years I have been a member. I say that because what it involved this time were myself, another ASM and the stage manager on each night the show was on, after the browning version had finished we came on took the set for browning version down and set up the set for black comedy and when black comedy had finished, we'd clear up the stage give it a through tidy up and then set up the set for Browning version for the next night. Out of all nine shows during the run, I did five altogether.
The Browning Version, The first of two plays in the double bill.
The show ran from the 16th - 24th September on the main stage. With a preview night on the 14th and charity night on the 15th. The charity night got cancelled which cut one performance off, which meant the cast and any crew that were doing that night all got the night off, which is no big loss.
The Browning Version set, I thought was one of the best sets ever constructed. It was the flat which belonged to Mr and Mrs Crocker Harris and one of the things that the Abbey Theatre archives really well is period drama, for the furniture down to the costumes and make up. It all looked authentic and fantastic.
It achieved the drama very convincingly and the story was very heart felt and moving to watch. It's a very contemporary story about an old school teacher who is leaving the school and taking up a new job and his wife is having an affair with another one of the teachers who is a good friend of theres.
There is also a young student called Taplow who at the heart of the story, gives his teacher a presents which makes him rethink his entire life.
Black Comedy, the second play of the double bill, a hilarious farcical comedy.
After the interval we travel forward fifteen years in time to the mid 1960's where Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer is set. It's about a struggling sculptor living in a rundown basement flat in chelsea who is engaged to a young toff who's father is a colonel and they are preparing for a dinner party and an extra special guest is said to arrive. To make the flat look nicer they have stolen some of the neighbours furniture and antiques who has gone away for the weekend, but returns the night before.
It was very cleverly organised in that it's party played in the dark. Before the party starts, there is a power cut and the fuse blows. When the fuse blows the lights go up and the audience can see what's happening and the actors on stage have to act as though they are in the dark. It was very cleverly constructed in making sure that the comedy aspect of it was very well portrayed.
I thought it was very carefully cast, all members of the cast excelled in this and gave excellent performances.
The design of the set, though it had to look the same is also relatively different with props and furniture added to make it look like a rundown 1960's flat. It looked bare in some places, with lots of extra space and didn't look very pleasant place to live.
The pace of it was great, I remember watching it thinking, it goes so quickly. Doesn't drag out, it was a show that had to be carefully constructed. There had to be an ASM backstage to help actors and make sure they had all the correct props and extra bits that they needed. There was a scene which one actor went of set and had to put different bits of furniture on stage, like a rocking chair. So it was just a matter of take the first chair off him and pass the new one to him and he would go back on stage. I remember the actors used to sweat a lot of stage, and had to be on their mark a lot, and there were some occasions where that didn't happen or the timing wasn't quite right, a buddha wouldn't smash etc. There is a risk when you do something like this, will people laugh, will the comedy work, will every work as well as it is supposed to. Most things worked, just be sometimes where there would be a cock up in some shape or form.
At the end of the show, there is the strike, were we dismantle everything and put everything away or back where it was, tidy the stage etc. This took us a good while to do, even with so many extra people coming in to lend a hand and help out as best as they could. I can just remember everything working so well as a team effort among anything else. This whole show felt like it only worked because we had such a precise, dedicated team of good, hard working people who all combined to make this show work.
As an unexpected pleasure, though this show wasn't one I at first would have put myself forward for. I'm very happy that I did. It was great fun, and everybody was lovely. It's an experience for which I can put forward and use in my working life, so I'm very grateful for the opportunity. It all started as me doing a favour for Karen and she gave me something back so Karen, for that I say "Thank You".
