Bury St Edmunds: Week 10
Back to it:
So, here we were again. We'd all had a lovely week off and enjoyed Easter and the copious amounts of chocolate that it had brought and now it was time to get going with the second leg of the tour. It was also time to deal with what would probably be one of the smallest venues that we would be visiting this year. Bury St Edmunds' Theatre Royal is the last remaining Regency Playhouse in England and so is completely different in layout to anything we would have experienced before or would do again. The auditorium has a small stalls area which looks up to the quite high stage and the rest of the auditorium is made up by a series of small boxes, all with their own individual doors leading out to the foyer. These boxes go right around the auditorium in a wide semi-circle on two levels and then above that is a small, but very high, gallery. But the theatre's most spectacular sight is saved for the ceiling which is painted to resemble the sky above (much like Hogwarts' Great Hall, but it doesn't change!) so the audience have fluffy white clouds in a blue sky over their heads for the whole performance.
We were a little concerned before we went to the venue that the stage may not be quite deep enough to get the set on and still be able to move around upstage of it, but actually the set fitted beautifully and we even had a touch more room than we had had at Worthing.
As the theatre is another part producing, part receiving house, Green Room facilities were excellent and there was even a pot of filter coffee constantly on the go during the fit-up. The lads were delighted to find a playstation attached to the TV and many a happy hour was spent lounging on the comfy sofas blowing each other up in Battlestation 4 or whatever.
The theatre itself is on one side of the town centre and right opposite the Greene King brewery, so there was always a scent of malt in the air as you made your way into the centre. The centre itself is beautiful with gardens leading to a magnificent Cathedral. The streets are partly cobbled and there's a surprising amount of shops once you find your way around.
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| Theatre Royal Auditorium |
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| The sky above the audience's heads |
A family affair:
Bury St Edmunds has a few family ties for some of us. I was staying with my 88 year old Great Aunt for the week, which was lovely. I try to get to see her whenever I'm in the Essex/Suffolk/Norfolk area on tour, but normally it's only for one afternoon so it was nice to be able to spend a few days with her. Bury is also the home town of our Director/co-producer/Levi/Turnwright/Military Policeman, Alastair Whatley, so he was home for a week. Some of our investors also come from the area and on the opening night, along with our producers Jon and Anne-Marie, we got to meet some of them. One was an old friend of Alastair's family and was telling us some good stories about some of Alastair's very first productions - both professional (Twelfth Night in the Abbey Gardens sounded brilliant. If a bit wet, apparently…) and non-professional (performances on Christmas Day in front of the family and friends sound equally brilliant. Photos please Mr and Mrs Whatley!).
On the Thursday night Alastair's parents had the whole company over to their home for a meal and drinks, which was a great success and all of the company had a fantastic time.
What we're fighting for:
At times it can be difficult to remember what is really important whilst we're all getting swept up in the trivialities of every day life. When we're getting riled up by a chance remark someone might have said, becoming annoyed at the ever rising price of petrol, fighting road rage in traffic queues or sometimes just being fed-up because we're tired and a bit grumpy that day. It's sometimes easy to forget that out there people are fighting, living and dying in some pretty horrible and desperate conditions. That there are places and situations that make our petty trivialities and moans pale into insignificance. On Friday we had a stark reminder that we are not just re-playing a war on stage every night, but that there is a very real war going on in the world right now. Several in fact. I really don't want to start sounding preachy and I think I am in danger of becoming so, so I'll get to the point.
The Friday night performance of Birdsong in Bury St Edmunds was dedicated to Lance Corporal of Horse Jonathan Woodgate, or Jo as he was known to his friends. A friend of Alastair's from his schooldays and also a Bury St Edmunds boy, Lance Corporal of Horse Woodgate was killed in March 2010 in Afghanistan by an insurgent's grenade whilst on patrol. He was just 26 years old. We were honoured to have some of his family in the audience for the show and at the curtain call Alastair made a short dedication to his friend, ensuring that Bury St Edmunds was able to remember and honour a handsome, brave, much loved and clever young man who, by all accounts, was destined for a great future. If you would like to know more about Lance Corporal Jonathan Woodgate, please follow this link which will take you to the newspaper article that appeared in the Bury press the following week http://www.buryfreepress.co.uk/news/local/latest-news/show-is-dedicated-to-fallen-bury-st-edmunds-soldier-1-6033066
Too loooooooooonnnnnnnngggggg:
I've had a few comments from my fellow company members about how long my blogs are getting each week, (sorry, I do like to go into minute detail sometimes. This is due to me liking to know absolutely everything about anything and everything and I forget that not everyone has this need…..) so you'll be delighted to know that that's it for this week. But before I go, I must just share this one story with you as I know the company would be horrified if I didn't. On the Friday, we had a visit from our Military adviser, Tony Green. It had been his 40th birthday several weeks before and as this was the first time we had seen him since, it was time to present him with his birthday present. An autographed Jerry can that we had recently cut from the show (Tony has always loved it so…..). But that's not the story. The story is what happened after the show that night.
Carolin had left the building and gone home before she realised that she had left her mobile phone behind. Hoping that the theatre would still be open she made her way back and managed to get in through the unmanned stage door….. Just as the duty manager was locking the building and setting the alarms and, crucially, plunging the building (and Carolin) into darkness. And then… posting his keys back through the theatre letter box, ready for the next day. Just as…. Carolin's moving about in the pitch black below set the alarms off. Somehow, in the dark, Carolin managed to find a side door and got out into a yard. But she wasn't on the street, she was trapped by a large metal fence with spikes on the top. Meanwhile, the bewildered duty manager had to phone our duty technician, Lawrence, to come and stop the alarms as his keys were back inside the building. Somehow, Carolin managed to scale the fence and get back onto the street where she immediately ran to the front of the building and confessed al to the duty manager. The theatre staff were great and very sympathetic to Carolin. Apparently, when the lights go off you really can't even see your hand in front of your face. But praise must also go to Carolin too for her bravery in scaling the fence!
So. There you go. That was Bury St Edmunds. A fantastic week in a lovely historic venue. Thank you all for making us feel so welcome.
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| The boys said that no girls were allowed in the tunnel, so the girls decided to prove them wrong. |
What we're fighting for:
At times it can be difficult to remember what is really important whilst we're all getting swept up in the trivialities of every day life. When we're getting riled up by a chance remark someone might have said, becoming annoyed at the ever rising price of petrol, fighting road rage in traffic queues or sometimes just being fed-up because we're tired and a bit grumpy that day. It's sometimes easy to forget that out there people are fighting, living and dying in some pretty horrible and desperate conditions. That there are places and situations that make our petty trivialities and moans pale into insignificance. On Friday we had a stark reminder that we are not just re-playing a war on stage every night, but that there is a very real war going on in the world right now. Several in fact. I really don't want to start sounding preachy and I think I am in danger of becoming so, so I'll get to the point.
The Friday night performance of Birdsong in Bury St Edmunds was dedicated to Lance Corporal of Horse Jonathan Woodgate, or Jo as he was known to his friends. A friend of Alastair's from his schooldays and also a Bury St Edmunds boy, Lance Corporal of Horse Woodgate was killed in March 2010 in Afghanistan by an insurgent's grenade whilst on patrol. He was just 26 years old. We were honoured to have some of his family in the audience for the show and at the curtain call Alastair made a short dedication to his friend, ensuring that Bury St Edmunds was able to remember and honour a handsome, brave, much loved and clever young man who, by all accounts, was destined for a great future. If you would like to know more about Lance Corporal Jonathan Woodgate, please follow this link which will take you to the newspaper article that appeared in the Bury press the following week http://www.buryfreepress.co.uk/news/local/latest-news/show-is-dedicated-to-fallen-bury-st-edmunds-soldier-1-6033066
Too loooooooooonnnnnnnngggggg:
I've had a few comments from my fellow company members about how long my blogs are getting each week, (sorry, I do like to go into minute detail sometimes. This is due to me liking to know absolutely everything about anything and everything and I forget that not everyone has this need…..) so you'll be delighted to know that that's it for this week. But before I go, I must just share this one story with you as I know the company would be horrified if I didn't. On the Friday, we had a visit from our Military adviser, Tony Green. It had been his 40th birthday several weeks before and as this was the first time we had seen him since, it was time to present him with his birthday present. An autographed Jerry can that we had recently cut from the show (Tony has always loved it so…..). But that's not the story. The story is what happened after the show that night.
Carolin had left the building and gone home before she realised that she had left her mobile phone behind. Hoping that the theatre would still be open she made her way back and managed to get in through the unmanned stage door….. Just as the duty manager was locking the building and setting the alarms and, crucially, plunging the building (and Carolin) into darkness. And then… posting his keys back through the theatre letter box, ready for the next day. Just as…. Carolin's moving about in the pitch black below set the alarms off. Somehow, in the dark, Carolin managed to find a side door and got out into a yard. But she wasn't on the street, she was trapped by a large metal fence with spikes on the top. Meanwhile, the bewildered duty manager had to phone our duty technician, Lawrence, to come and stop the alarms as his keys were back inside the building. Somehow, Carolin managed to scale the fence and get back onto the street where she immediately ran to the front of the building and confessed al to the duty manager. The theatre staff were great and very sympathetic to Carolin. Apparently, when the lights go off you really can't even see your hand in front of your face. But praise must also go to Carolin too for her bravery in scaling the fence!
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| We had Help For Heroes collections after some performances and had a visit from the Help for Heroes bear! |
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| Bear with Bear |
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| My very own Help For Heroes airforce bear. Named Harry after my grandfather who was in the RAF in WWII |
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| Tony with his birthday Jerry can |
So. There you go. That was Bury St Edmunds. A fantastic week in a lovely historic venue. Thank you all for making us feel so welcome.
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