Day 10

Our final day in the rehearsal room!

It is no mean-feat to have achieved the development of 50 pages of script, including the singing, the dancing and the acting in such a concentrated space of time.

No more could have been achieved...

We ran Act I twice during the day and Act II thrice.

Concentration also picked as the day progressed as it became apparent that 'this was it': we were out of rehearsal time.

There are still 6 hours with our young actors on Sunday to get ahead with the technical logistics, but our adults now have only two days over the weekend to consolidate what has been explored, developed, learnt et al.

There is a frustration, of course, that there is still so much more to explore - even greater potential - especially as we have laughed so much, been hysterically inventive and have served the words on the page so very well.

It is now Saturday before 9am and today we dress the set which is exciting. We have had many of the set elements in the rehearsal room and it will be good now to see everything in its context.

I will then sit down with a fresh script, transfer all my scribbled rehearsal notes and ideas in preparation for our production week.

A great deal needs to happen these next 7 days in order to bring together all the production elements, all the performers, stage technicians and creatives and mould them into South Hill Park's Christmas production of Beauty and the Beast.

The responsibility is huge and a privilege: this is where I started out as an actor 17 years ago.