Pre-production Press Report on Red Riding Hood

Report (with colour photos) by Kat Wootton on the centre spread of the Bordon Post dated 14 January 2004

OCTOBER
"We want to know, by the end of tonight, which parts people are interested in doing. And it's an opportunity for people to come here and show how. they can project. I'll go through the main parts, and give everyone who wants to, a chance to act out apart."
Director Jo Smith welcomes all-comers to the auditions for Little Red Riding Hood, Headley Theatre Club's pantomime for 2004.
John Owen Smith, local historian, writer, lecturer and Fullers Vale Wildlife Pond Association chairman, has written nine pantomimes, with two more on the way. He likes to keep busy. And directing the premier of his version of this popular panto, with 50-odd players is certainly doing that.
It's a cold, damp October night. There's a bit of jostling at Headley Village Hall, but most people know which parts they want to try for. Characters are called out, and anyone who wants to have a go puts their hand up. They are then, one by one, asked to go up on stage and read from part of the script to show, firstly, how they can play the role, but also whether they can be heard clearly. Many of the youngsters seem a bit embarrassed and nervous during the audition process, but they gamely trot up to the stage and have a go, nevertheless.
When the part of Red Riding Hood is called out, there's a sea of waving hands, and it takes some time to get through all those who want to try for the lead role. Luckily, Jo says, he has known most of the youngsters since they were little, and has a rough idea of their abilities, but auditions are a good chance to get an update.
Headley Theatre Club is in the enviable position (for an amateur dramatics group) of having a lot of youngsters to call upon. They have so many that they are able to split them into two groups - youth (11 + ) and juniors (6-11).
Having so many also means that rehearsals can be a bit of a rowdy affair. So while Jo explains the
roles and "keeps the rabble in check", producer Dil Williamson "blows the whistle!"
"And as always, there is lots and lots of work to do for other people," explains Jo to the hopefuls. Having a good backstage crew is as important as that onstage. Sound, lighting, costumes and set all need long hours devoted to them. Anyone who doesn't get a part in the show will be welcome backstage.
At 10pm, Jo calls a halt. Everyone has read and reread for different parts, while Dil has made copious notes. Now, she and Jo must decide who will be cast - a task which they aim to complete over the coming weekend.
"We'll let you know," calls Jo, as people wend their way home.

NOVEMBER
The panto has been cast, the set has been designed, and now rehearsals begin. Jo's version of Red Riding Hood involves a fete, some elven queens and a daft police inspector, various groups of villagers, elves and estate workers, as well as the title character, her family and a wolf. The final cast numbers in the region of 50, and that's a lot of people to get on and off the tiny village hall stage. Director Jo, script in hand, is explaining how he wants the scenes to look.
For each scene, actors need to know where to come on to the stage, where they must move to during the scene, and where they exit. It sounds straightforward, but when you have several people on a small stage at once, you don't want a shuffling melee with someone standing in front of a person delivering a line. The director must 'block' scenes - placing each actor - and the actors must remember where they are supposed to be. The sensible ones write the moves on their script, as it is easy to forget moves from week to week.
The phrase 'to upstage someone' means standing further back on the stage (upstage) than the other actor, who is thereby forced to turn and talk, putting their back to the audience, a no-no in theatre because the speaker cannot be seen or heard.
There is a lot of shuffling around: "You come to here, and then you're here for this bit. No, back a bit"
There is a also lot of waiting to go onstage, and the youngsters get a bit noisy in the rather echoey hall. "Crowd control," mutters someone and Dil steps in to quell the noise. After the tea and biscuits break, halfway through the evening, Jo says: "It's coming along. We'll get there."

DECEMBER
As the play's opening night draws closer, whole acts are run through, to get the timing right and fine-tune scenes. Actors are busy learning their lines, and attempting to play their parts without using the script. This inevitably slows down the panto for a while, as everyone tries to remember moves and lines, entrances and exits.
Says director Jo: "Tonight is supposed to be without books. It's always a bit chaotic at this time, but it'll all pull together after New Year." Jo has had plenty of experience at this, so he knows not to panic just yet.
Laurie Lewis, playing Edwina Noodle, is going through her scene. Suddenly she stops, open-mouthed, grasping for a line: "Aargh! I knew this last night!" she despairs. There's sympathetic laughter from her fellow cast.
"Right," says Jo, "be ready, make your entrance please … and again…"
"I will prompt on the night but if they dry I shall stare at them and let them get themselves out of it," he says later. "In a panto, there's no point getting embarrassed if you forget lines; that's half the fun of it - and the audience loves it if you do. As long as you look like you're enjoying it, they will too."
"Dilys is coping with a constantly changing chorus - people keep dropping out and others keep coming in. She's tearing her hair out a bit," he adds. But he has faith that it'll all be alright on the night.
Laurie comes off stage. "I knew it at home," she says, frowning. "I'm better when I'm in costume, when the adrenaline is flowing…"
Laurie is also responsible for the juniors, who make up a lot of the chorus scenes in the show. "They are really good," she says. "Half of them know their songs already."
John McGregor, playing Lord Bertie, explains his technique for learning lines: "I shut myself in my bedroom and repeat it until I can say it. I used to have a tape in the car with all the lines on - that works quite well."
Does he get nervous? "No, not really. I get butterflies but not stage-fright: I love being up there. This is a panto - it's meant to be fun."
No nerves either for 22-year-old landscape gardener Jamie Stickler, who is playing the Wolf: "No, I don't get stage fright. I've been a member of this group for the last 19 years. I do it for fun. I prefer the joker sort of part rather than anything too serious." And are the lines coming along? "My script lives in my car between rehearsals and never comes out."
Meanwhile, at the back of the hall, swathes of material have been laid out on the floor, a sewing machine is going at full speed, and two men are meddling with various bits of lighting equipment. They are trying to extend the cables so that whoever is doing the lighting can have more room to work: "Otherwise they're in the cupboard, really."
Pru Harrold is making 12 skirts for the chorus. She is helping Laurie with the junior cast: "After a performance they're very hyper. I'd hate to ~ their parents after a show! I've just been trying to teach them to react onstage, even when they're not talking."
She's also been teaching them to speak up so that they can be heard even at the back of the hall. "And because we've got live music, they're going to have to sing over it," she says.

NEW YEAR
After a brief break for Christmas and New Year celebrations, theatre club members are straight back to work, set building on New Year's Day. Rehearsing is in earnest now. The cast have had Christmas to learn lines, and a bit of a rest, so they return to Little Red Riding Hood with renewed enthusiasm.

JANUARY 11th
It's Sunday afternoon. The show goes on in less than a week. More than 50 people are crammed into the village hall for the dress rehearsal.
"The last two rehearsals have been in the scout hut, which is even smaller," says Jo. "This is the first proper run-through in here, so it's a bit chaotic."
Costumes are hanging on a rail at the back of the hall, there's a piano and drumkit near the stage, and the cast are being dragged into the foyer one by one to have photos taken. The Wolf has one arm in a sling, the curtains aren't being opened at the right time and teenage cast members are giggling and hitting each other with props. Jo looks a little frazzled.
He calls everyone into the hall for interval notes: "Be careful you're not blocked by someone when you're saying your line … speak UP, please, so the audience can hear you; it helps if you face out front … slow the lines down - I know you know them really well but they're coming out like a machine gun … what happened with the set change in that scene? … If you get lost and don't know the song; just bluster on…"
John McGregor looks on with a bemused smile: "It's got the makings of a good show," he says. "This is usually the rehearsal when everyone is panicked. They come away afterwards thinking: 'Ooh, was I that bad?' and then it tightens up. Then we'll have a couple more rehearsals where it all sorts itself out."
Jo agrees: "It's amazing how an audience pulls it all together. As long as the actors are confident and enjoying themselves, it'll be fine."
And they really are enjoying themselves - no angst, no tortured artistes finding their motivation - just local people putting on a fun show for other local people. The cast are having a great time and it's infectious.
Justine Carter, playing Red Riding Hood, summed it up: "I really enjoy it; It's just a laugh."
As if on cue, cast and crew collapse in hysterics when someone forgets to come on. Jo's smiling. The tiny tots on stage doing their dance are smiling. And the handful of us watching the rehearsal find ourselves smiling, too. That's the feel-good factor in action.

Little Red Riding Hood dates: Friday January 16 (8pm), Saturday Jan 17 (2.30pm matinee and 8pm evening show), Friday Jan 23 (8pm) and Saturday Jan 24 (2.30pm and 8pm), at the Village Hall, Headley. Call 01428 712892 for tickets, or they can be bought at the door.


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