The Suppliant Women [production week]

So, in theory, this should be the week where the show is lit up and dressed up for all the crew to see, while allowing the cast to sneak in some bonus runthroughs of the show. It also gives you the chance to change elements of the piece that, now looking at it from a different angle/light, it no longer works in the same way or whatever. Then you have the previews where you may, again, change more things. Basically, a week of tweaks – a tweak week, if you will.

And for the most part, it rang true… Well, except for the sneaky runthroughs. I don’t think I’ve been part of a show where the dress rehearsal is also the first runthrough (nor have I ever missed a dress rehearsal that also happens to be said first runthrough). A couple of previews and three endings later, opening night and the impending reviews loomed. In place of pre-show nerves, I usually have an impatience to get started, but even that didn’t appear. I don’t know if it was because I was trying to remember all the notes we’d received the hour beforehand, or if I was focussing keeping glaring screw ups to a minimum (the only runthrough I’d had by the first preview was the one from earlier in the day, making the first preview my second go). On with the show!

(See pictures below, taken by our resident invalid, Diane)

As I said before, my posts are (deliberately) a week behind. Thing is, the number of reviews and talk pieces that have come out in the last week has been so high, after number 4/5 I gave up sharing/retweeting/bragging. So, as of tonight, here are the features we’ve received so far. Come our final show, I’ll post everything together, all neat and tidy like.