As a company we felt it would be a good idea to show our progress for Shoes to Fill. We decided to invite Refract Theatre Company along to a rehearsal in which both companies would show the work they had so far. We saw this as a good opportunity to perform to an audience who would then have the confidence and ability to critique and applaud our work. These work in progress showings are crucial to the our development phase as you can act on the feedback to help improve and develop the piece so that what we want to achieve comes across.
Matt Trueman in the Guradian proposes that ‘Audiences are used to watching incomplete and embryonic shows, but genuine novelty and risk should be at the heart of the work on display.’ (2009) This statement made by Trueman goes completely against the purposes of work in progress showings. If we didn’t do these showings that how would the work we are trying to achieve get better, which in itself is a risk, one we, as a company aren’t willing to take. That’s not to say as a company we don’t take risks but where there is an opportunity to improve then it is taken.
Refract Theatre, a company of ten members came along and they watched the material we had so far and then provided comments afterwards. We felt this was a perfect opportunity to develop a relationship with fellow companies, offering support for each other where possible. There was lots of positive elements of feedback that we received from then alongside some constructive criticism to help us improve. I feel that the feedback that was given helped us develop our performance. It also helped the performers get used to the responses that you may get from the audience such as laughter allowing them to know when time is needed to be taken when saying lines. This was a positive thing for us. (P.S. Refract had some pretty awesome work to show back!)
My overall view as stage manager I felt some things could have gone more smoothly and it would have been great if we could have performed without scripts. It also helped me realize how important lighting is to some of the scenes in order for it to achieve the response we would like, meaning I have to make sure the lighting helps do this. Another thing we need to work harder on is the transitions between the scenes, we previously had the cast sat at the back of the stage throughout however from feedback and observing myself I feel this may need to change. My next step is to now sit down with the lighting and sound designer and director and discuss exactly what lighting is needed and where sound is needed also, so it is all ready for our final production meeting before tech day. (Exciting Stuff!!)
I am very proud of the progress the company has made and feel positive that it will all come together in the short amount of time we have left.
Until next time,
Emmie
Works Cited
Trueman, M. (2009) Keeping work-in-progress theatre up to scratch. [online] London: The Guardian Newspaper. Available from http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2009/sep/15/work-in-progress-theatre-scratch [Accessed 28 April 2015].