15th September, 2009 - 10 Theatrical Anecdotes #1

We are approaching the 10 year anniversary of our little theatre company, and I thought I might take this opportunity to write about 1o anecdotes from various shows that we’ve performed. The astute amongst you, may pick up on the fact that this is an incredibly easy way to get 10 blog entries, in the great catch up drive. Well. You are cynical beyond measure.

Before we did the Scottish Play, I dismissed the stories about the play being cursed as so much old codswallop – a kind of fun dressing room tradition. However, as I was getting ready to stage the show, I began to get an uneasy feeling. Part of this can undoubtedly be put down to the very dark mood of the play – dark plays are often not enormous fun to rehearse – they get under your skin. But it was more than that. As I travelled round the suppliers, the sense of unease increased. Everyone I came across – costumiers; lighting technicians; stage managers – they all seemed to have a story about something going wrong in a previous production.

Our production was staged in modern battledress, and we’d hired some replica guns from a local armourer. The guy who ran it was formerly in the SAS – he was fit as a flea, and his face was scarred and weary. He had the look of a man who had seen it all. And when I told him about what play the guns were for, he said this: “There’s something bad about that play man. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something bad about it.” Then, as he handed me the guns, he said “Be careful with these.”