The ASM Diaries

Hi guys! We're now into our second week of rehearsals and all seems to be going well so far. Our actors are now off book with Ron continuing to fine tune certain parts of the play in terms of interplay, interpreting the nuances of the dialogue and character development. As an ASM I'm continuing to observe the action taking place while taking note of props and set that are being used. In other company's ASM's aren't usually involved this stage of rehearsals which makes this company unique as they usually start rehearsing later on to learn their track for the show. Rebecca continues her role as a DSM by writing and re-writing the blocking in the Prompt Book as we develop the play, as well as giving the actors their calls to rehearse. Occasionally she'll have to prompt the actors when they've either forgotten or paraphrased a line. Charlotte is more or less doing what I'm doing in terms of observing and note taking. Selfie of Me, Rebecca and Charlotte

The following three days more or less carried on the same way as they did in days one, two and three with more observation and note taking in rehearsals. The process can be long and repetitive however this is necessary for the actors and stage managers to learn how to work the show to a professional standard. The next few days more of less went like this. A leaflet I saw in the Co-Op this evening on day 5 while shopping. Day 4 When Rebecca, Charlotte and I arrived at the guide hut we began by trying to attach foot rests to the wheel chairs with no real success, so Rebecca contacted Mark to help solve the problem. After that unsolvable problem we continued rehearsing from page 17 picking up from where we left off. Day 5 We began by talking about last nights game, England 0 Belgium 1, England go through anyway so it didn't really matter if we lost anyway. Mark sorted the problem with the wheelchair foot rests, apparently it was one of those simple things you don'

Day Two The day was more or less the same as yesterday in terms of blocking. We started at 10am continuing blocking through the rest of Act One and most of Act Two while Charlotte and I jotted down our props list. Ron gave Charlotte and I more to do with our Acting ASM roles adding lines for us to say and more stage directions. We had a tea break at 11:45 then resumed work at 12:00. That was then followed by a lunch break at 1pm resuming back at 2pm, continuing to block through the first three scenes of Act Two. Line changes and cuts aren't unheard of depending on what the director wants for their production and a few of those have been made already, not suggesting anything bad about it, it's just something that is done in productions. It was pointed out that the wheelchairs we are using could possibly obstruct the view of some audience members in the front rows of the auditorium, hopefully this is a problem we can easily find a solution for. We wrapped up the rehearsal at 5

Today was an early start. I cycled over to Southwold for 9:30 to set up for the read through at the guide hut where our rehearsals will be taking place for the next two weeks before we move to the workshop where the set is in development. When everyone arrived and had been tea'd and coffee'd up we began with Mark welcoming us followed by information about company vehicles and where you have to go to borrow a bike for the summer to get about locally. Our Director Ron then gave us an introduction to the play Body Language which was written in 1990 by Alan Ayckbourn, followed by Tory who showed us a miniature cardboard cut out of what the set looks like. After introductions the actors began reading Act One which took about an hour followed by a 15 minute tea and coffee break. After reading through Act Two we stopped for a lunch break at around 12:30 . At 13:10 we began blocking (stage directions) the first 17 pages of the play. Charlotte and I were given blocking for our Actin

Well guys, we've just had our first company meet up of the season and all seemed to go very well. I cycled over to the Blythe Hotel for seven o'clock where the meet up was for the first cast and crew of the company before we begin rehearsals for Body Language tomorrow morning. As always there is a mixture of new and old faces. This year we are pleased to welcome actors Harriet , Charlotte and Lee , and ASM also called Charlotte (we may need nick names to differentiate). Old faces and stalwarts back again include actors Michael , Clive , Claire , Richard , Darell is joining us tomorrow as he couldn't make it tonight, Rebecca our DSM and her boyfriend Will who's worked with us in the past, our set designers and props  Tory and Polly (Who I apologise for not including in my last post as she had taken part in the get-in as well, sorry!), Miri our costume designer and her boyfriend Joe , Mark and Peter the company managers, Alan our carpenter and director for th

Well folks, I've just completed day two of the main get in at Southwold Arts Centre. Here's how the day played out. I arrived at the workshop at 9:30 to meet Mark, Alan, Ross, Polly and Rebecca. We then drove back to Brampton in two company vehicles to pick up rostrum for the seating for the auditorium. We met up with Erin, Tory and Miri while there to load the vehicles. The photo above is one of two vehicles we loaded rostrum into. After loading up we returned to Southwold to unload, this time there was no mother and toddler group to help clear away and no cupcakes as a reward. The afternoon was spent assembling the rostrum for the raised floor for the auditorium seating. There has recently been a redecoration in the arts centre so everything was looking a little red. Rebecca and Erin went under the stage to pass us up the seating where it is stored all year round. As they passed us the seats from under the stage we placed them in rows arranged alphabetically

Well I’ve just done the first of two days preparing the auditorium for the Summer Theatre and Southwold Arts Festival which happens from 23rd-30th June. The day started at 10:30 this morning. Mark, Alan, Ross and I drove to Brampton to pick up some of the components for the rostrum used to assemble the auditorium seating ready for tomorrow. Erin joined us at Brampton to help. When we drove back to Southwold, and after a brief coffee break we helped a mother and toddler group move their toys and play equipment out of the arts centre that took place earlier that morning. As a reward we were treated to cupcakes by one of the mums, I had chocolate flavoured, Yum! After helping the play group we then got on with unloading the vans and cleared away chairs and tables for the main seating to be brought up from under the stage where they are stored all year round. Mark and Alan had to wear helmets while blacking out the windows on the roof because of nesting seagulls in case they were att