Day 1 / Week 4 / Tuesday

In rehearsal three weeks ago...

Going into the production week, with performers taking two restful days to consolidate all that had been explored and discovered in mind, body and soul over the past three weeks, was totally refreshing.

We rehearsed on Saturday [a rare thing for me] which meant that Sunday and Monday were days off. But only because the pieces will be playing from Tuesdays through Sundays.

I also had time to develop some thoughts on style, content, technique, production elements and the minutae of storytelling in all its facets, modes and nuances. And to catch up on running an Arts Centre...

Day 1
Week 4
Tuesday
48 hours until the world premiere...

A blisteringly hot day to be alfresco; 4/6 of the stories tech-ed, if that is what it is, amidst a thoroughfare of curious, passing Durrellians up at Trinity.

The following were challenges:

• the sun
• the heat
• the bird poo
• the wind in the trees
• the running
• the planes

Wow! How to keep focused and still be able to communicate something of the life and times of Gerald Durrell - in his own words.

An absolute security of being, and knowing what is trying to be communicated, is essential here because there is no foldback: the resonance is in nature, the air - everything dissipates into the ether and seems gone in milli-seconds. But we know that. We knew that.

So: there has to be a constant energy - almost like a running tap.

Like running a marathon, even!

A relentless energy to sustain audibility and interest.

Essential: vocal, physical, intellectual and emotional power.