As noted earlier in this blog, keeping regular diaries and journals isn’t a strong point and here I am blogging the final days of Salt’n’Sauce in the seasonal hiatus between Christmas and New Year — so much for this being a complete heat-of-the-moment, up-to-the-minute record of the production. I have been writing about the show […]
This article, first published in December 2006’s edition of the Writernet Bulletin, explores the writing and production of Salt’n’Sauce for Theatre West’s autumn 2006 season at the Alma Tavern Theatre, Bristol.
I wrote the following notes on ‘ownership’ of a play script in response to a request from Jo for a ‘few lines’ on the subject for her creative writing essay titled ‘Whose play is it, anyway?’ I think it’s important to distinguish between the script and the production when asking to whom a play ‘belongs’. […]
Simon warned earlier this week that all the shows he’d worked on had got cool receptions from audiences at least once during their runs. I was starting to feel a bit complacent that it wasn’t going to happen with Salt’n’Sauce, but it happened tonight. Things were looking good at the start of the evening. The […]
Wednesday, 1 November 2006 Not such a great house tonight (17), although the audience responded more expectedly to the play. Bristol Evening Post‘s reviewer, Harry Mottram, was in and congratulated me after the show — he seemed to like it, although, as the play points out, this doesn’t necessarily mean a thing. Thursday, 2 November […]
There was a good preview for the show in today’s edition of Metro, a free daily newspaper given away on the local buses that many passengers pick up as they board. It’s well-researched and written and sums up what the show’s about nicely, and it’s illustrated with a shot taken at yesterday’s tech and dress […]
Following Saturday’s rehearsals I feel that the cast has nowhere to go except to perform the play to an audience. Sam ran the show three times at the weekend and picked the actors up on a few points, but I didn’t have anything to add. The only thing left to practise is cueing and timing […]
While I was pleased with the above, I was worried that a lot of the lines didn't come across as I'd hoped and wondered if the audience would be able to follow the action. I'm always keen to trust the audience and know that it's important not to spell everything out, but doubts about whether […]
Interestingly, the read-through showed that the transitions often marked dramatic beats within the scenes and came out of what was going on in the subtext. In the penultimate scene, for example, Emily, who John fancies, tracks down John and Paul enjoying an early afternoon pint. She's wearing a T-shirt advertising Crispin, John's archrival's show, and […]
We're holding the first two days' rehearsal in the Coopers' Loft at Bristol Old Vic, and everyone had arrived by the time I puffed and wheezed my way to the summit of the building at 10am. Alison and Ann from Theatre West joined Sam, the cast and me for the initial read-through. Sam kicked things off […]
Steve's play, which tells the life story of the Russian novelist, dramatist and short-story writer Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (1809-52), is directed by Andy Burden and performed very energetically and imaginatively by Martin Aukland and Julia Gwynne. The script is an absurdist comedy featuring inventive use of props and puppetry, which merges cleverly into near-realism when […]
It was the first time I'd heard any of the script aloud and I was pleased that the dialogue came off the page well — there were even a few laughs from the performers. Sam began by asking the actors to do some readings to judge their instinctive interpretations before giving them ‘brushstrokes’ of direction […]
