Aaaand having said that... silence! :)
Our lovely blog admin has been having internet problems recently so we've got a backlog of material waiting to be posted. Patience my dear theatre followers.
In the meantime... a short word about what goes on behind the scenes during the preparation for a Fringe show. It's all too easy for actors to forget that a show isn't all about them (I know, I was an actor for many years before I decided I wanted to direct - it's not [always] a matter of conceit, sometimes you just don't realise the work that goes on backstage), but the crew are definitely the unsung heroes of many productions.
Lear was originally conceived with an ambitious technical spec. It is a firm belief of mine that the thing that often distinguishes amateur and professional productions is mostly the lighting, sound and set. The committee of the student drama society to which we belong set a clear target to treat all our productions in a more professional manner, and this fitted with our philosophy well.
As part of the original production, we teamed up with Cardiff-based DJ, Nick 'F-block' Cotton to produce a full-length original score for the production, synched to the 'beat' of the dialogue. And if that sounds utterly pretentious and/ or unlikely to work... I don't blame you for doubting us! But it worked. Better than we could ever have hoped in fact. Edmund's famous bastardy speech in particular was transformed as a result. That's what our reviewers all said, so it has to be right.
What often works well in theatre is combining several different styles music, and we also took advantage of that, making use of a range of sounds, from 'nasty' drum and bass to start off the second act through to classical music during the aftermath of the dramatic battle between France's men and those of Albany.
With the music in place, it was then a matter of ensuring the lighting complimented it perfectly. We spent a solid three hours defining different lighting levels the day before the opening night, and it was just as well! The venue's lighting desk has a nasty habit of crashing during operation and needed re-setting each time. It crashed twice during the run, leaving Ben - our lighting tech/hero - to scrabble around in silence frantically trying to get everything up and running again before the audience noticed. As it happened, amazingly no-one did notice, because the first time the desk crashed was just before the start of the performance, and the second time was during the battle sequence, when the strobes were in full use and covered for the fact that none of the other lights were working!
Those were stressful times, but it all held together. I imagine the lighting desk in Edinburgh will be more reliable!
The final element we wanted to make absolutely sure was right was the set. Conveniently, we were able to choose a concept that allowed us to be a little sloppy in the way we constructed everything - in fact it encouraged our set makers to take as little care as possible...
The idea was that the audience would be walking into the set of an abandoned theatre, with a decaying box set, grafittied and vandalised, onstage. In the opening scene, Lear's son (in our version) runs through the audience, as though seeking to hide in this abandoned theatre. The idea, of course, is to create an element of 'meta-theatre' in the performance, with the aim of making the audience feel as though the characters are closer to their own reality, thereby enhancing the relevance of the action. Simultaneously, the fact that the characters continue with the play, even though the setting suggests they are aware of the nature of their surroundings, was intended to lend a surreal atmosphere to the play, reflecting Lear's own madness. Finally, the decay of the set also reflects the central theme of decay in Lear - decay of the mind; decay of power, and decay of a society.
At least that was the theory!
Whether all those themes came out or not, people seemed to appreciate it. It's been a challenge translating the concept with as much impact to the Edinburgh performance, but we're hoping that all the elements will end up being just as strong. We'll just have to wait and see.
In the meantime, here's a mixed version of the original Lear soundtrack for your delight and appreciation. I may have posted this link before, but if that's the case, please listen to it again - it's a real treat (thanks Nick!):
http://soundcloud.com/f-block/full-king-lear-soundtrack
