Hello! Jack Brownridge-Kelly here, reporting in with the first blog EVER for The Velveteen Rabbit! The set is up, the tea is flowing and there are regular intervals of warm up games to punctuate some lovely moments of creativity. So far, we’ve got to the end of the play with most things up and moving in the space and as I write this Seamas Carey is in the building playing and teaching us his gorgeous compositions.
Fi and Simon have been working hard to bring the amazing set to life and we are working hard to try not put our hands on the freshly painted surfaces. We’ve all got to grips with the space, and as someone who plays a Jack-in-the-Box, I’ve had more than an appropriate level of fun exploring the variety of cracks and crevices to jump out from. Though I learnt the hard way not to go down the manhole headfirst. The less said about that the better.
All our characters are developing nicely and it’s a pleasure to watch everyone explore and play and an even bigger pleasure to work under the joyous Katie's direction whose infectious laugh means she must be the best audience member for every comedy ever. Some real camaraderie going on here folks!
However, I think I speak for everyone when I say that the golden moment that shines above the rest has got to be Bin Ball and if we achieve nothing else with this production at least we can hold our heads up high knowing we have achieved that. What is Bin Ball you may ask? Well, well, well it’s exactly what is says on the tin: passing a rubber bouncy ball with one hit per person (no second hits, no dropping on the floor) across the space until it eventually reaches a blue recycle bin. There were pure feelings of elation when we finally got it in (probably on our 50th attempt).
All in all it’s been a grand first week and as we move in to the nitty gritty of the show, as D:Ream once said, things can only get better.
