It’s been a hectic twelve weeks or so as we’ve worked full tilt on Breathing Spaces, our community play that will be performed over the next two weekends in four parks across Nottingham.
In that time we’ve written the play; recruited a cast of twenty people (many of whom have gone on to do additional research for the performance); held countless rehearsals, and had to deal with a number of people having to leave the process; written a song (The Ode to Mr. Hawksley); learnt a dance; made and acquired several sackfulls of costumes; have begged, borrowed and created all manner of props (including a tandem, a big pile of cakes, a wheelchair from 1918 and a toffee apple with a tooth in it); and have dodged the rain on countless occasions as we have tried to navigate our play around the different spaces that we will be playing in.
We have printed the programmes; hired a van; employed a photographer; and put together a crack team to move props around as the play moves from 1845 (and a little earlier) to the present day. The band (small but perfectly formed) has practised playing some old tunes (Daisy Daisy anyone?) as well as the Breathing Spaces theme that will accompany the audience as they traverse from location to location. We have put out chairs and then put them away; we have eaten lunch as we have made notes on our scripts; we have made back up plans for inclement weather; we have (and are) crossing our fingers for sun.
We have worked with a good number of primary school children to make some birds to put into the Arborteum aviary. Nothing to do with the play but hopefully it will look good. And some of them may come along to see the show and bring their families and friends along with them.
We have been learning our lines and working out our costume changes; we have made cuts here and there to the text; we have counted the pennies to make sure we don’t go over budget; we have worked very hard and had a great deal of fun.
And now – after all this effort and energy and chaos – all we need is an audience.
(Oh, and whilst all this has been happening we’ve been making ten short films as well).
