“I know a bank where the wild thyme blows…”

(Photograph: Tristram Kenton) Peter Bourke as Oberon, Billy Seymour as Puck

…where oxlips and the nodding violet grows
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight;
And there the snake throws her enamell’d skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in…”

Oberon – A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The Summer of 2019 was spent in the wild forest, surrounded by the most madcap, energetic, inclusive fairy tribe I have ever known!

So the summer of 2019 was anarchic, energetic, magical, heart-warming season. Directed by Sean Holmes it really brought the love and joy of the play to the Globe. We even had a midnight matinee and got to see the sunrise over the Thames!

I also had the honour of starting the show by bringing on a huge box containing Hippolyta as a delivery man. Something that caused a friend to call out to me as I was doing it!

“Good things of day begin to droop and drowse, whilst Night’s Black Agents to their preys do rouse…”

The winter of 2018 began with the dark and atmospheric ‘Macbeth’ directed by Rob Hastie.  When I first heard that Macbeth was going to be performed in the Wanamaker I was delighted and this production did not disappoint.  Working with the candles in the scenes with the Witches I remarked;

“This is why I got into working with candles.” 

I feel like this production really got what was possible with candles in terms of making the space dark and haunted.

Alongside ‘Macbeth’ was the equally devilish ‘Dr Faustus’ by Christopher Marlowe, directed by Paulette Randall.  The backstage became a Hall of Mirrors:

(My photo – set design by Libby Watson)

So when I wasn’t bashing into, or apologising to my refection for almost hitting them with a door I was advising angels on how not to set fire to their wings and handing out a hundred lanterns.  But with good friends in cast and crew it was great fun!

In and around these two shows were the short plays under the title; ‘Dark Night of the Soul’.  All by female authors investigating the feminine response to the Faustus myth.

In the new year, we began what was to become a grand history cycle with ‘Edward II’ by Christopher Marlowe.  In my hood and tunic I ran back and forth and up and down to bring this show to life.  My partner (a history teacher) said it was one the best plays she had ever seen!  The cast were absolute sweethearts, even when they were nervous or grumpy!  

Alongside this was the story of Edward II’s great grandson, Richard II but in a groundbreaking production (which it really shouldn’t have been in early 2019) whose cast, creative team and stage management team were all women of colour.  Co-directed by Adjoa Andoh and Lynette Linton 

You can watch it on youtube here

(Just don’t read the comments).  I think it is a really powerful version of the play that highlights themes around family lines and honour.  Michael Billington wrote in the Guardian:

“…what really hits one is the play’s eternal relevance. When Doña Croll’s veteran John of Gaunt declared “That England that was wont to conquer others Hath made a shameful conquest of itself”, a spontaneous roar erupted from the audience as if in recognition of the current chaos.”

I ended up on this show quite a lot in the winter and while I admit it was tiring to do I felt extremely lucky and it was an honour to work on it as a man.

To complete the season, Tom Stuart wrote a new play called ‘After Edward’ concerning LGBT rights, Section 28, identity and where we go from here.  It was a dreamscape of historical figures like Gertrude Stein, Quentin Crisp, Harvey Milk and Margaret Thatcher.  Directed by Brendan O’Hea, it was sweet, moving and uplifted people so much they were dancing out of the theatre into the evening.

So, we finished with ‘Richard II’, the proud flag of St George across the stage and I sat in the sunshine with a beer at the end of another glorious season at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.  Next Theatre update will include my trip to fairyland for ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream!’

(My photo- set design by Rajha Shakiry)

‘I lack iniquity sometimes to do me service…’

(Photograph copywright Simon Annand (http://www.simonannand.com/)

The summer of 2018 for me was spent in Venice and Cyprus.  The wooden backstage world of Shakespeare’s Globe was my home, my food was obsessing about a handkerchief, my clothes the uniform of a Venician soldier and my friends the soldiers and courtesans of Cyprus.

If you look back at where I have come from in terms of my career, from basically volunteer work in 2011, to be standing on The Globe stage in 2018 is unthinkable.  Let us not pretend that this was not a HUGE step up for me.  Let us also not pretend that I was not supported by the great SM team who toured ‘Hamlet’ around the Globe and a Production Team who delivered. If there was a Stage Management equivalent of ‘hiding behind skirts’ I did that throughout the rehearsal period.  I’m not proud.  But, this is important, despite what I felt (nervous anticipation and anxiety) and what I did (everything I could think of) feedback was positive and I DID IT.  Your perception is but one part of your reality.

‘Othello’ is a great play, one I studied at A-Level so it was great to work on it on the Globe Stage with a great cast.  An Othello, who gave his whole soul to the show, an Iago gripping the tail of the whirlwind he created, a Desdemona head over heels, an Emelia piecing the clues together, desperate to deny the truth she knows in her heart.  It was great.  Every one of them so delightful to work with.

So, it felt like a milestone, perhaps time will prove whether it was the peak of my career or not, but I DID IT and it was better than I ever expected.

Next time, I talk about the Winter Season 2018-2019 when ‘good things of day begin to droop and drowse, whilst night’s black agents to their preys do rouse…’

The Brightest Heaven of Invention

In January 2017 I got the call.  It was from a friend from back in Wonderland.  I was being put forward for a role as a Candle technician in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse; the candlelit theatre beside Shakespeare’s Globe.  I went to the interview and gave it my all.  I got the job.  We arrive at my present.

(My photo).

I finished the 2016-2017 Season as Deputy Candle Technician on ‘The White Devil’ by John Webster and ‘Othello’ by Shakespeare (with a bit of ‘All The Angels’).  It was tough, and tiring to learn a new job, a new building, lots of people and of course, the two shows!  But the job was everything I hoped it would be and more than that; my enthusiasm at the end had not dimmed at all!  I left with a lump in my throat and hoped that I would return.

Summer 2017 was spent as a casual technician once more; turning sets around in the Globe, Theatre Royal Stratford, and the Barbican on the phenomenal ‘The Tempest’ for the RSC.

I returned to the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse to work as a Candle Technician later that summer on the very moving ; ‘Lions and Tigers’

This show still holds the record in my head so far for the most candles used in a show (350+!).  Some shows come close but not yet.

Soon after the ‘Winter Selection’ began;

‘Romantics Anonymous’ was an utter delight to work on and makes me feel all warm and Christmassy.  A show that everyone seemed to adore and I knew people who came to see it many times!

‘The Secret Theatre’ followed – a tough show but so very good.  Then ‘Meow Meow’ came to do her show ‘Crisis Is Born’ which was hilarious and backstage we watched entraptured every night!  It was a privilege to spray snow in her face every night.

In the new year came ‘All’s Well That End’s Well’ – a difficult play to stage but the reviews were good.  That was paired with ‘The Captive Queen’ which was gentle to work on but such lovely people:

We ended with the return of the touring ‘Little Matchgirl’

Heartbreaking, alarming in places (carrying off a flaming dustbin to the wings!) but fun and funny to enjoy the audiences.  Anarchic cast but so friendly.

This was paired with the beautiful Vivaldi’s ‘The Four Seasons’ puppet show.

(My photo).

So it came to the summer of 2018 and I realised another dream.  A dream that had been with me since I used to look across the river at it.  The dream of working on a show at Shakespeare’s Globe itself.  That summer, with the best Stage Management colleagues I could ask for, I went into The Globe with ‘Othello’.

More next time.

You wonder why I always dress in black

It has been a while since I have done one of these summaries of my life in the backstages of theatres.  My second full year of theatre came to a close by returning to Hackney Empire for ‘Jack and The Beanstalk’.

I laughed, I danced, I blasted the stage with dry ice (awesome), I got covered in glitter and confetti (as usual) and spent time with wonderful people.  It felt like coming home.  Even when, as below, I was under the trap door, with the beanstalk, looking up at the moon.  There were days of sadness as well, but that was because I was so tired, so wound up from touring and other personal things.  But it was a good one.

(my photograph)

Early on in 2016 I got to realise a dream.  Working with ‘Secret Cinema‘.  As it happened, it was on a film I adore: Doctor Strangelove (or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb).

A marvellous cast, an unforgettable experience.  Would do it again in a heartbeat.

From one immersive show I went into another.  Where nightmares come to life, in ‘Goosebumps ALIVE’

An immersive promenade piece, where various tales from R.L Stine’s work came to life.  I spent a summer crouched on top of a lift, where every 4 minutes I clawed at people’s faces.  Met some wonderful friends as a result.

In the summer I tried to see friend’s shows and catch up with people.  I set up the most insane show I have ever experienced.  I sat in the dress rehearsal.  45 mins that felt like 2.  Incredible.

From one immersive show to an immersive dining experience!  The revolting, daring ‘Dinner at the Twit’s’.

We terrorised, we feasted, we drank way way too much wine and killed ourselves over and over again.  But I made a new friend:

(my photo)

Then I took a break and went to Rome.

Then over Christmas I got a credit I longed for, ‘followspot operator on a pantomime’.  ‘Aladdin’

(photo by James Spicer of ‘Inside Croydon’: https://insidecroydon.com/2016/12/15/waddon-gets-a-panto-more-polished-than-aladdins-lamp/)

So very very tired I finished out the year on a pantomime as I began and looked forward to 2017.  That was when things really lit up.

Name badges

I wrote a guest monologue for my friend’s horror/comedy podcast: The Unseen Hour

(https://www.unseenhour.com/).  They record the show LIVE every month at the Rosemary Branch theatre in London.  See their website for more details.  Anyway, my monologue, for Episode 15: ‘Eunomia: Murder on the National Express’ was read by my friend Josie.  I intent to expand the ideas behind my monologue sometime soon.  Anyway, here is the text of the monologue but go listen!  Subscribe to the podcast, it’s full of talent!

“Have you ever gone to buy lunch in a sandwich shop to find someone restocking the shelves at exactly the wrong time?  Their trolley right in the way?  Did you get a little irritated?  Bitch a little with your friend afterward?  I have some information for you.  That was done deliberately to make you tell someone else about the shop.  Have you ever witnessed flirting between the person at the till and the person making the coffee?  Deliberate.  Has the person who was clearing up mistaken your full coffee for an empty one?  Did you both laugh it off?  Deliberate.  All of these interactions, all of them, have been designed to create a memory of the shop.  The people who work in the shop even have quotas of these little stories to fill each week!  Some of these interactions are tiny; such as ‘must make the customer repeat each order thrice’ or ‘always forgets if a coffee is supposed to be decaf’ or ‘at a rate of 1 to 3 puts meat sandwiches in the vegetarian section’.  They have all been told how to behave.

You all seem doubtful, just another one of crazy Sarah’s stories.  But you haven’t been there.  I…I used to work in a sandwich shop you see.  Not a nice local deli but one of the big franchises that you see in every street and train station.  You know the one I mean.  So most days in the train station, I served bitter coffees to the bitter commuters, sandwiches to the sandwiched queue then sending the leftovers to the leftovers via charity.  We all wore name badges a work.  When you first start you get to wear a badge that just says ‘trainee’.  Useless for the customer.  The true purpose of the name badge is to give the customer an idea of the character being played in the story.  Every badge has a character and behaviours to go with.  These characters create little stories which you can relate to others, subconsciously passing on details about the shop itself.  It’s a sort of unwitting ‘word of mouth’.

Harmless enough you might think.  But one day they gave me a name badge that wasn’t my name.

‘Melanie is not my name,” I said.  The rest of the team stared at me.

‘Melanie is your name, that is what your name badge says.”

“Melanie is not my name,” I repeated.

“Melanie obeys the code of conduct,” The Manager said, handing me my behavioural worksheet.

I used to have a name badge with MY name on it. Controversial I know.  In the story of the shop my namesake was a temp, so I got to be cheery with customers, ask anyone with obvious travel gear about their travels and got to stare out of the window dreaming of my next adventure.  Nothing too extreme.  There was a week where I shadowed my colleagues; ‘CJ’ the robotic team leader, ‘Caroline’ whose first language was not English and ‘Penelope’ the barista who would rhyme and rap her way through coffee orders.  Melanie; the new name badge they gave me was different.  Disturbingly different.  New worksheets, detailing our new interactions came in sealed envelopes that week.  We had to read them in private.  A ‘new initiative’ they said, informed by customer feedback.  But what feedback could justify the behaviour they wanted?

Now, if a customer asked for a double shot, it was my job to draw a specific symbol on their cup instead of their name.  I had to draw it in yellow marker instead of black.  No idea why.  A new coffee roast arrived in unmarked bags.  If a customer asked for the new roast, it was made with these beans.  The smell was foul and burnt.  I started being able to tell the customers who were going to ask for the new roast; they all seemed to have tiny mouths with thin lips stuck out in a pout that always made me think of a moth’s proboscis.  They all used what looked like antibac gel but was a sickly yellow.  Somehow they always managed to smear mayonnaise on their cheeks.  I saw inside one of those coffee bags once; it wasn’t coffee beans at all but some kind of black syrup.   It moved like marmite or tar.  The team leader saw me; that was my first warning.

A new worksheet said I had to let one of these customer follow me home.  Just to the corner of my street it said, but what assurances did I have?  They were already freaking me out with their sludge drinks and fat smeared cheeks.  I refused.  They tried to get someone else to do it but we closed ranks.  No way.

Our interactions became outlandish and vile.  I watched colleagues lean over the counter to breath as hot and loud as possible into a customer’s face or refusing to change the obviously skipping music.  ‘It’s not skipping’ they said as the same off-key phrase played again and again for an hour.  I questioned the team leader.  They looked down at their tablet and swiped something.  I snatched a look.  There were charts and analysis. There were thumbnails of videos.  I raised a formal complaint.

I was called in for a disciplinary meeting.  My behaviour had broken the code of conduct they said.  ‘Our customers expect a certain experience’ they said, ‘we monitor and adjust this experience to produce the optimum outcome.  Your behaviour on your way home is not appropriate for the brand.’

Incensed, I said that they couldn’t dictate what we did outside the shop.

They said that I was Melanie and that my behaviour reflected the brand no matter where I was.  They said Melanie follows the code of conduct.  They said that Melanie was a big part of the storyline and had great potential for advancement.

I said that Melanie was not my name.  They said ‘Your name badge says Melanie’.  I took it off and stormed out.  I still sometimes see those customers on the street, gleaming fingers and mayonnaise on the edge of their thin lips.  Sometimes I think I see them outside my home.  What are their experiments trying to accomplish?  Am I still part of the storyline?  How much of what happens in shops is a play?  How far does their brand influence spread?  Is this their attempt to control us all?  Am I still part of the customer experience?  Are you?”

Forget everything you think you know about The Force

We used to believe in The Force.  We used to understand The Force.  Now everyone is wondering;

“Who are Rey’s parents?”

Now, for fans who have been following Star Wars for a while, have read some comics or played some games (Knights of the Old Republic for example) this question seems strange in a way.  We are curious of course but this question doesn’t form the answer to why The Force is with her.  After all, from what we have seen, The Force doesn’t necessarily run in families.  There are all sorts of examples in the expanded universe of other force using traditions, spontaneous force sensitive people.  Like the Harry Potter universe, a force user can be born to non force-sensitive parents and force sensitive parents can have non force using children.  There are examples in the expanded universe of species who are immune to the Force or have protective abilities against the Force.  I have now said ‘Force’ too many times for it to mean anything.  But still, it doesn’t matter who Rey’s parents are.

Does it?  Remember that as it currently stands, there are only a handful of novels and ONE cartoon series that are considered canon aside from the films themselves (see my previous post).  Which means that, everything we know about The Force can only be based on those (and for Abrams, let’s be honest, he is going to base the next two films primarily on the films).

So if all the information we have about The Force comes from the films, what do we actually know about force users?

Consider that Qui-Gon’s question to Shmi Skywalker is;

“Who was his (Anakin’s) father?”

Then consider that Anakin is a Jedi and BOTH his offspring are force sensitive.  Then look again at Mace Windu’s surprise that Qui-Gon is talking about a prophecy of the balance of the Force.  Qui-Gon even says Anakin may have been conceived BY the midichlorians (ugh).  Could he be saying that there are no spontaneous force sensitive people?  That it is passed down through families?  How else would young Force users be detected so early in their development if not through families?  I think there are hints at a screening process in the Republic but still..

In conclusion, forget (almost) everything you think you know about The Force. Contemplating this fact made me realise a new fear concerning the Star Wars franchise. The fear that the franchise will go the way of ‘The Terminator’ franchise.  In that, every film will either be crap or have to directly relate to events in the originals.  The latest Terminator film was set in and around the original films, will Star Wars be like this several Christmasses from now?

Life in the shadows and dust

(Theatre life year 2)

It’s been a while since I blogged about the my work in the Theatre.  Suffice to say that has been because I have been quite busy.

When last I spoke I was about to journey down the Rabbit hole into ‘Alice’s Adventures Underground’.  I spent roughly 6 months in Wonderland and while there was good and bad days it was a profound experience that forged a friendship group that is still pretty tight.  Perhaps it was because we all went mad, drank too much or didn’t see the sun but there was some form of fellowship forged in those Vaults.  We spent almost every day and night together.

 

When it was over in August we all shot off into new projects but slowly as winter came around we began to bump into each other again and soon there were parties and gatherings.  Being a Wonderland veteran means a lot to me.  I loved my time in Wonderland.  The production, of course returns to The Vaults next year!

(https://www.alice-underground.com/)  Go on the trip down the rabbit hole!  You won’t regret it.

What project did I rush off into in September 2015?  I went straight into rehearsal and soon after on tour with the new musical ‘The Silver Sword’.

An actor prepares

Credit: Robert Day

My constant companion, the faithful dog ‘Ludwig’ kept me company in the wings!  The cast were the most talented group of actor/musicians you could meet.  Touring however, can be extremely tough – long days and nights on little sleep.  I am now an expert on what is and isn’t sleep having ‘slept’ on tour buses, trains and coaches.  I learnt a heck of alot though and grew in my experience and skills as an ASM.

When I came back, on little rest I went back to where I got started, my home base theatre, the glorious Hackney Empire for Jack and the Beanstalk !  It was like coming home and what a most wonderful ensemble to work with!  I also had the pleasure once again to blast dry ice across the stage 😀

So I finished 2015 in a glittery daze from pantomime and settled down to doing my tax return.  2016 has had some amazing adventures so far.  I look forward to telling you all about them!

See you in the theatre.

P

The phantom menace (or how I learned to stop loving Star wars and worry about it)

(I was so happy when this happened)

Its been a long journey to get back to where I started before Episode VII came out.  This isn’t a review of ‘Episode VII: The Force Awakens’, more an essay about the Star Wars franchise now.  Short version – I enjoyed it.

EXPANDED UNIVERSE:

Star Wars had been a love of mine since I was too young to understand it.  There are things I knew about it before I properly watched it.  Darth Vader was the baddie but also Luke’s father.  Luke’s best friend was the space pirate Han Solo.  There was Princess Leia, Chewie and so on.  I loved it.  I read Star Wars magazine in my teens, I even bought into the idea of the ‘special edition’.

I read a lot of the books.  I mean, most of them are awful and forgettable but the Timothy Zahn ones,  The Dark Empire comics and a few others I enjoyed.  There were some things that became established.  Lucasfilm endorsed the books after all.

So Episode I comes around in 1997 and my first reaction was “it was okay.”  I then reflected and reflected and Episodes II and III came around and I basically came to dislike the franchise as a whole.

It wasn’t just that Episodes II and III are bad, its just that I felt they betrayed me somehow.  I have several books and went to exhibitions at the Barbican and exhibition centres about how the Star Wars saga was a modern interpretation of classic myth.  That Lucas knew Joseph Campbell’s ‘hero with a thousand faces’ and was an epic dreamer reinterpreting mythology and classic storytelling through space drama and also bringing in all kinds of other influences.  Then it turned out it wasn’t any of that.  It was just co-incidence.  Given free reign he would create ‘a firework display of a toy advert’.  I stopped caring a great deal about Star wars.

Now flash forward to the build-up to Episode VII.  I held a lot of trepidation (see below).  I felt it was likely to be awful but I would still probably go see it.

As it is; Episode VII is actually a lot of fun.  I sat in the cinema, a single tear down my cheek as the Resistance arrive over the lake and blaster fire starts and I thought (no I yelled in my mind);

“I’m enjoying this.  This is how it should feel to watch ‘Star Wars’.”

Sure, it was hugely derivative but the characters were good and I cared about them and it was FUN!  It felt a lot like they were smoothing ruffled feathers of fans who had been hurt before as well.  As a result of all of the above I just forgave it of its flaws.  Another thing that was refreshing was that I could watch it without having watched or read a bunch of other stuff (see General Grievous). There were just NEW characters and I knew what they were about (Snokes!  Hux!  Poe!).  It was exciting!  As I say, it feels like they were bringing things back to a good place so they can tell some new exciting stories in the universe.

LEGENDS:

Something didn’t sit right with me that the expanded universe was being disregarded

If any book or expanded universe material (like say Knights of the Old Republic) that came out before April 25th 2014 was no longer canon, what about all the things that have been taken from them and used in the films?  Off the top of my head, ‘Coruscant’ and ‘Kashyyk’ planet names are from Timothy Zahn (though the concepts are from Lucas).  Also, General Grievous featured in the Clone Wars cartoon but that is no longer canon.  So even characters who appear in things around the prequels aren’t canon either.  However, I can understand the need to draw a line under what has come before in order to free-up the film-makers.

Now, J.J. Abrams is a great film-maker and I have enjoyed some of his work.  However, when he made Star Trek, having said he wasn’t a fan of Star Trek alarm bells rang.  It’s an alright film and has the decency to establish a new continuity for the films (although some fans feel this is a slap in the face).

So when ‘Star Trek into darkness’ came along and saw him rip, wholesale, scenes from ‘Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan’ and plug them, out of context into the film I really turned on him.  Now some, argue he is giving these scenes a new, exciting context and I can agree with that a bit but doesn’t it just undermine the original concept which was strong to begin with?  What I mean is, you can take a poor idea and make it good or a poorly presented idea and make it better and more meaningful but can you just rip off a good idea without it just being derivative?

So imagine my terror when I realised what was about to happen.  The Expanded universe was now free to plunder.  I feared I would see great characters like Mara Jade, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Admiral Daala, Prince Isolder, Jacen and Jaina all ripped off and plugged poorly into the new film.  As it is, we didn’t see re-imagined versions of EU characters and for that I can only be thankful.

HOWEVER.  The dark side of this is still around.  It seems that fan favorite Grand Admiral Thrawn will likely appear in the cartoon ‘Rebels’.  No doubt, ripped off, out of context.  It also means he could appear, ripped off and out of context potentially in another of the films.  Maybe you have faith that Abrams will do him justice but I have seen ‘Star Trek into Darkness’ and I doubt it.  Hopefully I will be proved wrong, just as I was with Episode VII.

P

Bounce the tabs

I had the extra special pleasure of working on ‘Mother Goose’ at the Hackney Empire to close out a year of working hard backstage.

There were tough times, times where I questioned whether I was doing the right thing, whether I was cut out to be a technician but I always kept on.  I now have more opportunities available to me than when I began, which is essentially the result of hard work and being pleasant to work with.  I also learned more than I can account for, both in terms of skills, but attitude and how I present myself.  All useful, though having a thicker skin would seem to be the most valuable – still working on that!

After a few months doing various casual bits and pieces I have just been given a contract to work at ‘Alices Adventures Underground’ at the Vaults for the summer.  Make sure you come by the rabbit hole and take a trip to wonderland.  It’s an incredible journey!

http://www.alice-underground.com/