Wednesday 7 September 2011

Show Report

It's been an awfully long time since I did a show which took a whole day to rehearse for technical - that is, to run through the sound and lighting cues and get them perfectly matched to the action. Most of the shows I've done lately have been fairly naturalistic and take place in a single environment. "Vertigo" was an exception, but since we were touring all the lighting it couldn't be over-complicated, despite all the amazing multimedia and soundscaping that helped make that show what it was.
But that's what we've been doing today in our first full day in Durham; teching the show. And it's jolly complex. The lighting design is closely bound up with the action and it has a huge impact on how that is achieved and vice-versa. After a day we were halfway through the show and by about 9pm all starting to flag, and it's then that it all goes out of the window a bit if you're not careful. The delicately balanced conceit that we are horses was strectched to its limits, I fear, and Jamie's cleaning my hoof out was the final straw. My tippy-toed Trooper overbalanced and the illusion was shattered. Hope that doesn't happen on opening night.

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