Exeter: Week 12

Exeter: Week 12

Ladies and Gentlemen of the blogging sphere. You are in for a real treat this week. Our Exeter blog has been written by none other than our leading man, Mr George Banks. So, without further ado, I shall hand you over to him:

Birdsong Blog Exeter

So here it is, my first ever blog entry. I’ll try and match the lofty standards set by our Lauren thus far...wish me luck.

We arrived down in Exeter on the Tuesday. The actor’s call for the first day in a new venue is 4.45-I arrived a little early to explore the town and buy everyone some fudge. When in Rome. Although normally very organised when it comes to digs booking apparently on this tour I’ve just decided to wing it every week. I managed to find a room on the train down and although this may seem like an unnecessary detail, I promise you it will come into play later.

Fudge bought I headed to the theatre. Good old googlemaps told me it was a twenty minute walk. Easy. What they didn’t tell me was that it was up the steepest hills on Earth. Now, I’m not one to complain about walking, but seriously, I looked like I had had a shower when I arrived. It didn’t help that en route I busted one of the wheels on my case and had to lug the beast along with me. You might think this would put me in a horrid mood, but when I arrived at the theatre I cheered right up. It’s located within the university campus and is a lovely space, with big patches of grass around it. You can’t be grumpy on a sunny day with that around you. I met Lauren outside and was informed that the get in had been pretty quick so stress levels were low and we should be starting on time. Fast rig, set when up smoothly...that’s about as much technical information I can provide you with. I always feel terrible that we stroll up more than 8 hours after the crew begin their day so was insistent that she sampled the fudge. She’s a particular fan of the chocolate variety, that’s valuable information right there.

The Northcott Theatre is next to the University's Great Hall
(Editor's note: Having spent 4 years studying at Exeter Uni, I can confirm the steepness of the hills.
One is even called 'Cardiac Hill'…….)

The space itself was very different from what we had experienced so far. The stage was on a flat level with the audience, making it a lot more intimate. If there are moments in the play when you travel as far as possible downstage then you would almost genuinely be on someone’s lap. A few nerves started to rumble through the cast as they realised they had people coming to watch. They located their seats and couldn’t quite believe just how close they would be to them.

One sound check and a warm up later and the show goes up. Despite our reservations about the relationship distance wise with the audience the space is a beautiful one to play. The sound pings through the auditorium like a dream, so you don’t have to work too hard to make your dialogue reach the back and the intimate nature of the seating means you can pull the performances right back and find some nice new detail within the play. It may seem like an odd thing finding new details, given how long we have now be up for, but the space really does play a massive part in the performance that you give. The audience were really receptive to the piece too and we continued to have lovely houses all week, nearly capacity and often standing.

After the first night we ended up at The Firehouse, a bar in the town. Little did we know we had found our haven for the week, visiting almost every night after the show. The drinks here were reasonably priced and the place had a relaxed atmosphere, but the thing that was absolutely key in winning our affection/loyalty were the pizzas. They make pizza here until 1.30 in the morning and they are RIDICULOUS. A big 14” square hot out of the oven and perfect for a ravenous company to descend upon. We ate more of these than should be humanly possible during our visit. They also served Otter beer which, given Carolin’s nickname within the company, made Alastair very happy.

Carolin requesting that you ‘relax with an otter’. You should, she’s very friendly.

Despite having checked into my digs after the warm up, that night I ended up back at the house of Jonny, Sam, Selma, Carolin and Lizzie. We had a few drinks and before you know it I was crashing on a mattress there (without a blanket, which we proceeded to find an entire bow of the next morning. Feel free to imagine the expletives I cannot type here). The conversation got on to tattoos at one point in the evening and so, before bed, I gifted Jonny with a Sharpie tattoo to celebrate his nickname. Not to be outdone, Hannah-our lighting operator for the week, insisted on inking me later on in the week. She hit me up with a rad Pikachu tat. You decide which you prefer. 

Goat versus Pikachu. Who wins? You decide.

Wednesday was an exciting day for the show, we now had putties! For those that don’t know putties were a piece of kit worn by soldiers in WWI to keep water out of their boots. They are essentially a piece of cloth that wraps around the leg from the base of the ankle to below the knee. We initially had ones that kind of work like leg warmers but as the show rolled on and they got battered it was decided that authentic putties would be the best way to go. Below is a picture of our lovely costumer Sinead demonstrating how to put them on in the warm up. I also think you’ll all agree Sam would make a wonderful leg model. That evening I ended up in my digs for the first time.

Look at those legs. Phwoar. I don’t know how Sinead can 

stay focused on the task at hand!

Thursday was a matinee day so, of course, it was a cast members birthday! This time Malcolm’s, who plays Azaire and Grey. After the cakes came out and the songs were sung we were very happy to present him with his gifts. A book, a lovely bottle of wine and a voucher for his favourite restaurant in Brighton...the name of which now eludes me. The matinee was a slightly different experience as it was a school’s performance. I think it’s fair to say that some people can feel slightly apprehensive about these as you never quite know how an audience consisting almost entirely of younger people will respond. They were, however, a fantastic audience and it kept us in high spirits for the evening.

We made plans for drinks after the evening show to celebrate Malcolm’s day. As Sinead has to do washing after the show a few of us stayed back to hang out with her in the wardrobe and travel to the bar together. Simon was one of those staying and had a little too much fun exploring the costume store, as you can plainly see...

Simon ‘The Bear’ Llloyd gives a little salute before engaging in a
 gripping and deeply compelling imaginary dogfight

The Wolf (Peter) is not impressed…...

Now then, confession time. That evening, we cheated on The Firehouse. With a younger, hotter bar at the Bikeshed theatre. Lovely birthday drinks followed (they do smashing cocktails) and after closing time we did go slinking back, tail between our legs, to the Firehouse. They forgave us, provided us with more pizza, more booze and after I crashed again at digs which weren’t my own. This time on a comfy sofa, avec blanket.

There’s not much else to tell you about our week down by the coast-which Peter was the only person to visit. He sent out a tweet saying he slept there...I’d like to think he was joking but with Peter you never really know. After the Saturday evening show we popped our cases in the dressing rooms to be loaded into the truck for Ireland and, from what I hear, the get out was pretty smooth sailing. Again, the crushing guilt that we’re all in the pub, devouring yet more pizza while our crew slog through the delicate dismantling of our set. They are champions.

Did he really sleep here? I wouldn’t put it past him, he was Chief Scout after all...

 I ended up crashing in various places and only ended up actually sleeping in my digs once throughout the week (Wednesday-for those who weren’t paying attention. Tut tut). Surely this lack of concern about my sleeping arrangements couldn’t continue into Cork? Well, you’ll just have to read the next blog to find out.

Twitter: @1georgebanks