Friday 4 January 2019 ...

Having seen 29 of our 60 performances, and having said our farewells this afternoon at the children's party, I am reminded of our starting point in conceiving a staging of Beauty and Beast - Outsiders:

• The Beast
  
• Cyrano de Bergerac
  
• Edward Scissorhands
  
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame
  
• The Invisible Man
• King Kong
  
• The Phantom of the Opera
• Superheroes

Over 16,400 people have seen the show over the past 6 weeks and the 60 performances, and it is incredible that the vast, vast majority enjoyed the fact that it operated on many, many levels and that it was 'sophisticated', 'intelligent', 'layered' - not my words.

Theatres can be dark, noisy places and some 2-3 year olds may have been too scared - the Beast is a scary being - but how can any performance appeal to all 2-99 year olds alike?

"...this incredible piece of theatre...' said Julie Watterston in her review (see 'our stage review' link on the post dated 29 December 2008) and, in retrospect, for a Christmas show (which isn't a pantomime) it is: it was.

Perhaps the most challenging production to date, logistically, but the one with some of the most artistic rewards.

I was asked, by a young person, after the final performance in the foyer today: "Did you make it?" I was actually confused for a moment, and so the question had to be repeated - "Did you make it?" - because I didn't know whether there was a genuine contemporary awareness of 'this making process' or whether there was a beautiful child-like understanding of 'the making of things'. It was both; it was inspiring...

On the connected theme of  'outsiders', this leads into L'Etranger (1942) by Albert Camus which I began reading, in a translation by Jospeh Laredo (1982), yesterday, for the next project.

There is something very funny - psychologically - though haunting about the following as Meursault is called to stand vigil over his dead mother. Meursault is talking about how the Caretaker at his mother's 'home' greets him:

"Then he shook my hand and held it for so long that I didn't quite know how to take it back again."

As I read this, cups were dropped on the tea shop floor, shattering concentration but creating an exhileratingly, dramatic sound that somehow lent itself to the outside/inside motif. Tea was spilt and splashed everywhere - and silence fell upon the splintering sound.

A 10-year-reunion has been planned for the Beauty and Beast Company at South Hill Park on Friday 4 January 2019; it will be great for everyone to touch base at that time and tell their stories...

So, to the next story, and more on Camus perhaps, in:

Outside / Inside ...