Loved today. It was suggested that now the actors were more intimate with the characters and had been demonstrating considerable improvisatory skills, setting them on a piece of the novel (description, narration and dialogue etc) to play with as they fancied might be an interesting exercise. It certainly was. We explored chapter 15, the 'Lunch at The Rendezvous', shifting tense, allowing them to take lines and description they felt most appropriate or inappropriate to their characters, leave out lines, improvise dialogue etc. We wanted to see how much pure Pym narration could be used theatrically and how much it might hinder. We were surprised by the results. It could take a lot. We had to constantly remind ourselves that this is a novel. Obvious I know, but you can’t pretend it is something that it is not. The big attraction here is that Pym is a novelist  who has written four theatrical characters with wit and acute detail in an incredibly economic way and we must honour Continue Reading

I think I can safely say that in every project I lose energy/ideas two thirds of the way through. Towards the end of day two I couldn’t summon up any further thoughts or things to develop. So it was an early ‘shower’ for the actors and time for myself, Amanda Whittington (playwright) and Juliet Forster (Associate Director at York Theatre Royal) to have a conflab about what needed to be looked at further. Day 2 was very positive though. How to play all the characters that we feel are necessary and how to use the four actors alone was a challenge and key objective for these three days.  It was about asking what are the surrounding characters value to the quartet themselves, what is the importance of their relationships and how does our four leads perceive them? It was also important to sort out if the action of the piece takes place in ‘real’ time i.e. here and now and that the scenes being played out are naturalistic or if the wistful nature of the novel shows itself through frequent Continue Reading

How does a novel, full of description, 3rd person narration, past tense and internal complex dramas become theatrical and dramatic? Playing it literally it feels academic and literary so we swapped it into first person but kept it as direct address and suddenly we had an intimate relationship with the characters, they trusted us and confided in us. One of the most important aspects of this adaptation is preserving the Pymisms, Barabra Pym’s acute, funny, observant, sad comments. Initially we spread them out amongst the other characters but it appeared they knew too much about each other, they were too aware. However, with the comments stripped back to what the three commenting characters might know or maybe surmised, then the observations became playable. The key is that all four characters (three at least as Marcia is more complex) are obsessed with each others lives and therefore can legitimately talk about them or comment using Pym’s observations; it is about choosing which are Continue Reading

For the past few days my right ear has been feeling blocked and stuck up, today it feels almost totally deaf, I'm sure it must be a cold or some such so I'm not over worrying, but it is very annoying especially as we start production week, or bump-in as it is known here. Anyway, in an attempt to sort it out I went for a Hopi ear candle session at a therapy centre round the corner from the academy. Interestingly afterwards the old Chinese 'uncle' who treated me said, without him knowing why I'd gone, that a lot of black smoke was coming out of that ear more that the left. It feels a bit looser, but still semi deaf, though now sounds a bit squelchy in there. At the same time I had a half hour back and shoulder massage. Bloody hell! Not the relaxing ones we'd expect in the UK, a right old Chinese pressure point, beating up of a massage. I thought I was going to snap. Certainly feel a lot looser but could do with a relaxing one know as a treat. Typical, I finally decide to treat Continue Reading

Bloody hell! Today I went to the nearest I'm likely to get to a paradise beach for a while. Palm tress, golden sand, sea, perfect blue sky etc. Got myself a little umbrella all to myself, hardly anyone around, bit of a swim and loads of reading. I am now going deaf in right ear, which I have been doing over the last few days but the sea swim has done for that proper. You will be pleased to know I can't over rub your noses in it as I forgot to take my phone, hence no pictures, but I think you know the sort of place I'm talking about. Someone actually slung a hammock between two palm trees, it was idyllic. Ok, here's a few google pics to give you an idea. Tanjong Beach is on Sentosa island and at the eastern end of the three beaches and by far the less commercial and least crowded. I arrived midday (cue Noel Cowards song, and there were dogs there) and I left at 2 and it was really quiet despite being mid 30 temperature. It is, of course, in Singapore style totally man made, Continue Reading

Although things are hotting up for the show i.e. rehearsals done and dusted (and very nicely so), and next week is the bump-in (get-in) I'm at the same time getting myself ready to leave. It all feels very quick and yet that I've been here for ages, it's quite a nice little lifestyle to settle in to. Very much looking forward to getting back home to Dan and Bertie and oddly enough some rain and cooler weather, and starting on something new getting some meetings going and seeing what is next. Tomorrow, Sunday, is my last tourist day so wondering how best to spend it. Beach? Forest? Shops? China town? I quite fancy the idea of the beach, despite its inevitable rammed-ness. The nearest, and better beaches by all accounts, are those on Sentosa. This is an island slap bang next to the docks which has been turned into a massive theme park, beaches and exclusive accommodation. You get it by driving or taking the monorail from the obligatory shopping centre on the mainland. I did this Continue Reading

Slight misunderstanding today which could have resulted in an incident. We have a footstool in the show and this afternoon I suggested an actor should move 'in front of the pouf', little did I know that that word isn't understand here in context of a footstool they thought I was referencing an actor. A couple of them looked a bit shocked. V good day though. Made some excellent progress. Ran the second half and I got that first feeling of it being a really exciting play. Some cracking acting going on too. They are now starting to find new ways to tell the story so I am beginning to hear new connections I hadn't heard before, finding a new understanding of the script. I also remembered today what a bloody good play it is. It's a slow old process but the runs start as of tomorrow so the fun begins for everyone. Continue Reading

Most memorable and most surprising in Melaka were the trishaws. Outrageously decked bikes and carriages, themed decorated and fantastic. Whole arrangements of plastic flowers, or moulded canopies a la Batman or Malayan house, Hello Kitty (a lot of those), Garfield or just highly ornate hearts and flowers. They are pretty amazing. Some had sound systems blasting out the back which I would find a bit disturbing, but even with that, they were such good fun things. However at night was when they really came to life. We didn't realise in the daylight but they were all interwoven with lights which made them even more camp and outrageous. Good on the Melakans I say, homosexuality might be illegal but their keeping its subculture alive nonetheless. I ate Durian! A 'one bite durian puff' to be precise. A chocolate-less profiterole with a stinky durian cream inside. Tasted of onions to me but with the wrong smell a kind of rotting smell. It still tasted of onions hours later as it kept Continue Reading

With Matt, Huang Ying and Jim up to Malaysia for an overnight trip to experience a brief flirt with the periphery of the the 'hippy trail', albeit only just making the trail. Melaka is a UNESCO world heritage city and although it's a fair sized city, the interesting visitors bit is just a few small streets down by the sea. It's oddly unimpressive, its not got wow factor but it has detail, it's small, chaotic, untidy, intriguing and another melting pot. This trip has really brought home the island mentality we have in the UK. It's fascinating spending time in places where there has been a constant toing and froing of nations taking over, invading, leaving etc and seeing how a further culture has grown from it. On the west coast of Malaysia (4 hours drive from Singapore) Melaka is a mix of Portuguese, Dutch, a bit of British no much, a lot of Chinese and of course, Malay. You can see all these in the architecture and in different aspects of the culture. However, having said that, Continue Reading