Settling in to Staunton

Hello Bloggers! 

Photos: 

1) Taking to the streets to publicise the show

2) The back of Stuart Hall, our venue

3) The prize for the lucky winner of the water aerobics competition (also happenens to be the actor playing Antipholus in the Blackfriars' production of 'The Comedy of Errors')

4) + 5) High school students participating in a workshop led by myself, with some members of our company.

SO - as we start to pack our bags again, we reflect on this last stint. Slightly surreal in parts - alas, the Staunton Theatre Festival which we hoped to be part of didn't seem to quite materialise, so we were the only visiting company to survive. Quite small audiences, but - a wonderful community here, who have hosted us so generously. And the audience that did turn out absolutely loved getting involved in the pre-show games, and we had some lovely feedback. 

I enjoyed running workshops at the school - the students were incredibly polite: 'yes ma'm' , which threw me a little! 

On we go again, tomorrow is a day off, and Craig's birthday, so we will spend a day at Warm Springs Virginia, which promises to be a much needed spa relaxation in natural thermal waters. Horay! Quite excited to vacate the Howard Johnson hotel, and get back on the road again. 

Thanks to all our new friends in Staunton, and here's to more fun and adventure. Next stop, Roanoake!

High School Musical! - Making noise in Staunton, Virginia

photos: 

Top: The Main Drag - Staunton

2nd:  Enjoying the local ice cream

3rd: Paul and Adam arriving this morning with a huge hamper of breakfast and lunch courtesy of their lovely hosts!

4th:: The very enthusiastic Brett - our theatre manager!

5th:: The company nervously await at the bottom of the stairs before storming the Stuart Hall school assembly at 8am!

6th:: The company flop on the stage, after completing the tech rehearsal last night.

An early start this morning, as our troops bravely rose to make a surprise and noisy appearance before 350 school students at the 8am Stuart Hall School Assembly. Following the stern and formal daily announcements from the principal, Full Tilt stormed the aisles, towards the stage where they sang and publicised the show, which opens tonight. (See video clip below!)

We enjoyed an interesting day getting to know Staunton yesterday. We were invited into the rehearsal rooms at the famous Blackfriars Shakeaspeare Theatre, to watch their touring troupe rehearse 'The Comedy of Errors' - quite surreal to see another version whilst in production for the same show, but also fascinating watching an American cast working. I have to admit, I wouldn't be thrilled at the prospect of 20 actors filing into to my rehearsal, and these actors played up for our benefit - coming into the scene holding up the newspaper in which we appear, as a prop, and trying to make us giggle. The director is a British Director, Gerard Block who works at the Globe in London, and very much of the old school, a Shakespeare purist, and the rehearsals seemed to be all about the verse and the blocking (excuse the pun!). 

On from there to hit the main drag, Beverley Street, to sing and publicise - all met with great interest, and 'God Bless you for coming to our town!'. A stop for ice cream in the local parlour, and then on to Stuart Hall to rehearse, get in and tech the show. 

Fingers crossed that the good people of Staunton will turn out in droves, and will be open minded to this kind of modernised Shakespeare. We have had to tone down any sexual implication, and remove the scantily clad twins from the publicity image - so, let's see how the rest goes down! 

Bye Y'all - Emma x

Front Page News!

Full Tilt make the main story in Staunton's local press 'Go!'. Fingers crossed that this will generate huge audiences for our 4 performances, starting tomorrow! 

We've hit Virginia!

Hey Bloggers,

Great to hear that many are enjoying these blogs and following our journey. 

No photos on this one as yet, just an update that, we (happily) made a swift exit from Hagerstown, where we saw all of the inside of the motel before back on the road again. 200 miles South, through the state of West Virginia and then down again into Central Virginia, and here we are. As we piled out of the cars and into a restaurant for lunch, we were greeted with a stack of newspapers, featuring us on the front pages! Off to a good start. We have caught the edges of the Floridian storms, and been drenched with rain all day, which, if anything, makes us feel more at home! 

Virginia seems immediately different - the architecture is more akin to British red brick housing, and there are some beautiful, white, grand regency style buildings housing the Universities and Colleges. We arrived to one of these buildings - Stuart Hall, which is home to a boarding and day school for 6-12 year olds, and a lovely theatre space which will be our home for the next five days. 

Slight headache as we tried to organise the team into host houses, spread far and wide across the town, and 

Staunton is famous for its Blackfriars Playhouse, an authentic elizabethan playhouse, modeled on the Globe Theatre in London, and it forms the core of the annual Shakespeare Festival that we will be part of; check out 

www.americanshakespearecenter.com  

And so we all dispersed to our various homes, and shall re-group tomorrow, to make some noise downtown and make sure we raise our profile and generate enough audience for our four shows. First show on Friday night, so tomorrow is a rehearsal and planning day. 

No pictures today - my camera battery died

New York City - some pics

This will be a sleepy post, as I write this following a long slog drive from New York City, all the way through Pennsylvania, and to our pit-stop overnight destination a funny little town called Hagerstown, Maryland. Its 10pm and 2 out of four cars have now checked into another anonymous looking motel, and ordered fajitas from the place next door. In the background, the whoops and cheers of the televised Democratic Convention in Denver - Michelle Obama has just caused a stir with her new hairstyle - these events are produced by broadway professionals, never seen anything quite so theatrical! 

SO - what a whirlwind since the last post in Waterville. We have since left our mark in Bath, Maine - a beautiful and rather quaint town on the East Coast, where we were hosted by a very close and eager community (most of whom had visited their counterpart Bath, UK). Another long drive from New Hampshire, we arrived in Bath and created our playing space in an old disused church, come community centre(er) - it looked more like a masonic lodge than a church. 

Our show was received with such enthusiasm. The whole community turned out, with supper packs, picnics and rugs, and an absolute commitment to playing in our identity fair. We had a chorus of Dolly Partons competing in Mr and Mrs Ephesisos competition, and the winner, (happily in role as Henry VIII) led the crowd in a rendition of 'I'm 'Enery the 8th I am...' to mark his success. The pre-show event finished on a mass Zorba dance (see photo above), and we then had to try and cram in more chairs to accommodate the growing audience. The show went down really well - the cast did brilliantly well to adapt to quite an intimate space, and (dare I say) a significantly older audience. We were all generously hosted, and when re-united the next day to pack up and leave we all had amazing stories to share about breakfast treats, trips to the beach, sleeping next to ashes of dogs no longer with us, staying in a house where the bathrooms were doorless, and admiring an original Andy Warhol over blueberry muffins. 

It's so wonderful to stay at people's homes when touring - it's really where you get the true story and flavour of the place. Very interesting watching the politics change from state to state for example. And the smokers in the group were amazed that as we drove through Pennsylvania to find a diner where everyone smoked inside - smoking ban hasn't reached them yet! 

On the move again, we set off to spend our free day in the BIG APPLE. We arrived at our hotel in Stamord Conneticut at midnight after a very long drive (9 hours), and were delighted to find an indoor pool which we were allowed to use if we were silent. So within 5 minutes of arrival, we were in swimsuits jumping in, playing silent swimming pool games and bringing in Paul's 21st birthday! A few hours later, and not much sleep, we were all on the train to New York City - a 40 minute ride in from Stamford. 

It was so wonderful seeing everyone's face as we emerged at Grand Central Station - especially those who hadn't been to New York before. Everyone broke off to do different things - go up to the top of the empire state building, shop, go down to visit Ground Zero - and we met up again for lunch at a great retro diner in Union Square, opposite NY University. Everyone was busy sharing their purchases, stories and photos (of dogs wearing sunglasses for example). 

I saw a fantastic an off-broadway musical - 'Title of Play' about 4 nobodys in New York trying to get their musical onto Broadway. The whole show is about them creating the show that we are watching - Will and Grace style, the best of tight American comedy and finesse. Loved it. Lots of the crew went to see 'Spring Awakening' which seemed to be met with mixed reviews...

And to finish off a very full day, we all met up at a cabaret bar called 'Don't Tell Mama' just off 42nd Street, and within minutes, we had taken over the place, belting out the show tunes and sending up Emma Filby to sing with the pianist, which brought the house down. By 1 am I was escorting 18 very tired and overwhelmed people back onto the train and home. 

Next stop - Virginia! 

We are all missing home and our loved ones, and send love to anyone reading this (as I presume that you are connected to us in some way and care about our travels!)

Cheerio!

Emma xx (and here's a little video clip of our pre-show in Bath, Maine)

Video Clip - Waterville

A little taster of how our audiences responded to us in Waterville Valley...

(And now I've worked out how to post videos, I shall try and improve the quality!)

Back Online - Last days in Waterville

This post comes to you after five attempts of uploading - but I think the bears were chewing through the wires in Waterville, and I kept losing the pages! 

So here we are, in an internet cafe in Bath, Maine, having lunch and preparing for our evening show. 

But - before reporting on the present, I must catch you up on our last day in Waterville. 

Our second show was much better attended, sunnier and we had relaxed more into the American way! Our audience were once again up for the identity swap, and entered into the proceedings with zest. 

The following day saw our first rest, and (despite warnings from Heather and myself) most of the crew threw themselves off mountain bikes, and kayaked in the lake with the leaches. Heather and I chose the safer option of swimming, sunbathing and going to Walmart for supplies. The evening's entertainment was supplied by our host company, and their production of 'All The World's A Grave' a 20 strong company led by old school-style actor manager Donna (pictured above with her dog at our pre-show), and a play which attempted to merge all the 'best bits' of Henry V, Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello and R & J. I just about stayed with it until Lady M crawled on with a Hamlet soliloquey, and Hamlet killed Juliet over a stolen handkerchief. One needed to be quite up on their Shakespeare to keep up with this rendition's tricks and turns, reinforced by three witches using dialogue from all plays. Lots of corsets, doublets, thunder boards and passion. And we were invited to the after show party, hosted at a beautiful mansion in the hills, where our companies merged, swapped stories and emails. Somehow Paul and Sophie managed to find their way into the Ferrari in the garage for a photo shoot. Luckily, the key was locked away.

And then back on the road again - to head South to Maine. My car led the way with trusty sat nav, and Phil's car followed - only to find it was taking us the treacherous mountain route - real road swiftly turned into dirt track, and steep gradient - not ideal for our automatic people movers designed to cruise control along the flat highways.  At worst, we had all the company pushing my vehicle out of a ditch, at best, we cheared and whooped when we finally emerged out onto a normal road. Phew. 

4 hours later, with mud spattered cars and shredded nerves, we arrived in Bath - Maine. More on this to follow....Got to run back to the theatre to prepare for the show, and have run out of time. But - quick summary of Bath Maine:

It's 88 degrees

Most ate lobster last night

The show has sold out

We are being hosted by amazingly generous people...

More soon!

Emma xxx

Second Show in the Valley!

The First Show!

The First Show!

A crazily hectic day yesterday in preparation of our first ever US performance! After the all night torrential storms, we were relieved to learn that the weather would clear by 3pm in time for our outdoor events to start at 4.30pm! The marquee tent that we had hoped to perform in had miraculously disappeared, and we were left with a stretch of grass, framed by a breathtaking view of the lake and mountains and lake. So - we had to work out magic to turn the place into Ephesisos - our Greek Island setting for the play. We had been told we had the run of the resort, we could use everything - so we did! 

After a rehearsal run of the show in the morning, we got to work in our teams, preparing food for the pre-show, Heather busily cooking and transporting 60 portions of chicken kebabs, humous, greek salad...creating our playing space, flying flags and bunting, and hanging black drapes from trees to create a makeshift changing area, and setting up a cafe in the town square.

The show invites our audience to become someone else for the duration of their stay - arriving as 'holidaymakers' to the island, the newcomers are kitted out with new ID - a mask, and a breast plate depicting their new persona. They might be Homer Simpson, the Queen, Madonna, Kylie, or actors from the show - the concept being that they are empowered to play, lose themselves and experience a flavour of the theme of confusion and identity loss in 'The Comedy of Errors'. Once checked in, our resort host dishes out their new ID. Unsure how it would go down amongst our new American audiences, we were delighted by our first audience:

"I want to be Kylie!" shrieked one woman grabbing at her new ID, and Dolly Parton proceeded to sing through her canon throughout the pre-show event. Sharon Osbourne was reunited with Simon Cowell, and had a heated argument over the chicken kebabs, and a 6 year old girl from New Jersey became Tina Turner, enjoying her new large hairstyle! It was a hoot! A local bike shop owner was so taken by our crew, he lent the cast some bikes to wizz around the town square to whip up more audience, and promptly shut up shop to come and watch. He became Homer Simpson, entering into the pre-show games with gusto! 

Demetri (Paul Taylor Mills) and Brook (Lucy Gill) led our smallish audience in a 'baywatch' run down to the beach to do aqua aerobics - a prize for the person who waded boldly into the sea (Homer Simpson claimed it), and then back over for food and more fun, before the show began. 

By the start of the show, we had about 30 in the audience, all game and playing amongst one another and with the cast. They clapped and whooped through the first half, putting their masks on when the Duke came in, as instructed, and staying engaged throughout. The cast did brilliantly - considering a rather bitter wind blowing over the lake (we covered our audience in beach towels, and cut the interval in case they left!). 

All in all - a great start to the tour! We have another show today, which we will be sharing the the Shakespeare in the Valley casts and crew (A young American company who have done little else but try and convince our crew to buy them alcohol and go skinny dipping in the lake)

That's all for now - until tomorrow. Sending love and wishes from the mountains, and fingers crossed for today's show. 

Emma xxx

Preparing for our first performance in Waterville Valley

Top left - Rehearsing in town square

Top right - writing new script for the introduction of our newly ignited identity fair (How will the Americans take to our fun and games, and pretending to be someone else?)

Left - the lakeside gazebo in the town square, which will, in a few hours be home to our pre-show BBQ banquet!

Images of the day

(top left) Rehearsing on the beach at Waterville Valley 

(below left) Stopping on our journey today to admire the view in beautiful New Hampshire, at the foot of the White Mountains.

(top right) Teoni and Lucy have a shock at the Bear warnings at the Condo!

(right) Our first morning in the USA! Newport Vermont - just across from the Canadian border, near Montreal. Freshly filled up with coffee and bagels, and ready to set off.

Day two on the Big USA Tour

After a much needed sleep at our first 'super 8 motel' (first of many along the way), we set off on our first daytime road trip - from Newport Vermont, to Waterville Valley in New Hampshire. A stunning drive towards the white mountains, incredibly lush countryside, and our convoy of four people movers seemingly the only ones on the highway. The sun shone, our spirits were high, and we were entertained by signage along the way warning us of moose and bears. 

A little more confident driving now - our designated drivers are Emma, Heather, Phil, Emma Filby, Lillie, Justine and Craig, all braving the huge roads, the right hand drive and the satellite navigation systems that play alarming noises everytime one crosses a state border or a rest stop. Always a shock. In the small hours of last night, we crossed the border from Canada to USA. The border police seemed a little shocked to have been woken from their snoozing to a sea of yellow T shirts, excitable but tired faces and strange English accents trying to explain the purpose of our visit" "We've come to bring Shakespeare from England" - as we pressed our fingerprints into the security system devices. Luckily, and $120 later, they let us in. Relieved, particularly after our earlier scare at Montreal airport when we were all skipping towards our luggage to discover that Iaonnis (our resident Greek cast member) hadn't made it through - he'd been taken off for 'questioning', returning to us twenty minutes looking rather shaken.  Ah well, glad we got him, and forgot the first aid box which is still circulating the carousel at the airport. 

We arrived into the valley at lunchtime, agog with the breathtaking views of the mountains, lakes and streams - a ski resort in winter, and a outdoor pursuits holiday resort for new englanders in summer. Folk drive two hours up from Boston to stay in luxury condominiums, hike, swim, play golf, and take boats out on the lake. Picture perfect! With a population of under 400, this is smallsville, and the natural beauty is strangely coupled with a disney style purpose built town square - white mock tudor buildings, twee gift shops and ice cream parlors make it feel like toy town. We were met with exuberant welcome from our hosts here at 'Shakespeare in the Valley' - a summer long festival which has up until now featured a resident company of players (www.shakespeareinthevalley.com) run by Donna Devlin. They are therefore very excited to welcome their first international company, and once we do our turn on Tuesday and Wednesday night, we shall watch their latest production of 'All the World's a Grave'. !

And so, after a productive day of rehearsing down at the resort - perfect setting for the play - we rewarded ourselves with a meal at the Kyote Grill - great food, but like most things, all supersized. We feel like borrowers holding the double sized coke cans, and bags of potato chips. 

And now, I sit here in our condo, listening to a raging electric storm, and watching Heather, Lucy, Jodie and Teoni slicing up hundreds of chicken pieces ready for our pre-show banquet. Jodie and Heather have stocked up from Walmart - I think we will contribute to the recovery of the credit crunch.                         

And now to bed - to pray for a dry day - our show is outdoors, and apparently today is the first day of sunshine in three weeks. So think of us for our first US show, at 4.30 tomorrow (US time!). 

Bye y'all for now xx

  

Tour Kick Off!

Hello Bloggers! This is the first of many posts to keep everyone up to date with our travels across the USA and Canada.

After much planning, excitement and rehearsal, we have finally kicked off our trans-atlantic tour -The Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare in a Suitcase, is officially on tour!

This blog will be used to update on all our movements through the USA and Canada - a chance to upload photos and videos of our rich and strange experiences along the way.

Our company of 20 landed last night in Montreal, and picked up our four people movers and drove accross the border to Newport, Vermont - to catch up on some well needed sleep. We set off today for Waterville Valley, to perform at the Shakespeare in the Valley festival, staying for the next four days until 22nd August. 

More to follow - but for now, our first motel breakfast awaits - hoping it will be pancakes and syrup!

Byeeeeeeeeee for now

xxxx