Day one of rehearsals started with a long improvisation/Viewpoints exercise followed by the announcement that we would go straight into a stagger run (thanks Jen!) It felt like a real mess at times but we did find some magic moments amongst the rubble. A guided improvisation on the themes of the play in the afternoon led to a lot of really interesting discoveries about character and relationship.
Battles in the rehearsal room
Sisterly love
Someone (okay it was me) had decided that having a fundraiser the first night of rehearsals would be a good idea. So, sweaty, exhausted, battered and bruised; having rolled around the rehearsal space, wrestled, improvised, cried and all the other things you do when creating a play, we abandoned our rehearsal leggings; put on our sparkly fascinators, red lipstick and cocktail dresses; packed our bags full of bunting, fairy lights and raffle prizes and battled peak hour on the tube to get to Genesis Cinema.
Jen, Sophie and Erin all jazzed up
The evening was a resounding success, with a full event made up of D/deaf and hearing audience members. We were really lucky to have the opportunity show Ted Evans' film Retreat (and have him in attendance), alongside performances by Brian & Duffy and Stephen Collins who were representing Deafinitely Theatre (with Paula Garfield along to show support), alongside Confession and Small World provided by BSL Zone (with Maggie representing BSLBT in the audience). There were lots of other amazing people including many of my friends who are wonderful at constantly supporting my artistic endeavours with their presence.
A great turnout!
You can see more pictures here on Facebook, thanks to David Monteith-Hodge (Photographise)
Erin Siobhan Hutching