Paines Plough Blog

We’re super excited to announce our full Programme 2012 today.

We’re presenting 11 productions in 44 places across the country from Edinburgh to The Isle of Wight.

Some stuff you already know about, like Matt Hartley‘s SIXTY FIVE MILES which we co-produced earlier in the year with our friends at Hull Truck, and the two shows we have currently running in London – Mike Bartlett‘s LOVE, LOVE, LOVE at The Royal Court and Kate Tempest’s WASTED at The Roundhouse.

In addition we’ve lined up some real treats for you, wherever you live. WASTED continues its tour to festivals in Brighton and York. There’s a national tour of our Manchester International Festival smash hit soul opera THE 8TH by Paul Heaton & Che Walker culminating with a very special performance at The Latitude Festival. Simon Stephens’ LONDON opens its tour at Salisbury Playhouse in a co-production with both Salisbury and Live Theatre, Newcastle.

For the first time in three years, we’re presenting a season of work across London, all of which has premiered outside the capital. Love, Love, Love is currently running at the Royal Court. Wasted visits the Roundhouse. The 8th opens its tour at The Barbican. And we’re thrilled to be bringing our Roundabout Season to to town in the Autumn. Three new plays by Duncan Macmillan, Nick Payne and Penelope Skinner will be presented in our own purpose built portable in-the-round Roundabout auditorium at Shoreditch Town Hall.

Also we’re bringing back our 2009 hit GOOD WITH PEOPLE by David Harrower for The Edinburgh Festival. A new series of Come to Where I’m From will include playwrights from Brighton, Cheltenham, Chipping Norton and the Isle Of Wight; and we’re delighted to again be working with the students at Rose Bruford College on Sean Buckley’s SMITHEREENS.

Here’s a note from James & George:

“We’re hugely proud to announce our third annual programme of work as Paines Plough’s Artistic Directors.

“Our passion for new plays continues to grow thanks to the extraordinary playwrights that lie at the heart of our company. This year we’re presenting work by a huge range of writers, from Olivier Award winners to the stars of the future.writers who between them have won 2 Oliviers, 3 George Devine Awards, 2 Bruntwood Awards and a host of other accolades, whilst continuing to identify and support the stars of the future.

“We believe everyone should have the chance to see outstanding new plays, no matter where they live, so our commitment to national touring deepens this year with visits to over 40 different UK villages, towns and cities. We’re piloting new touring circuits The Local, Neighbourhood and Campus to make sure our unique brand of new plays reach every corner of the UK.

“After two years working outside the capital, we’ve been overwhelmed by the demand for our work to be seen in London. In response we’ve put together a London Season of productions, all of which have already been seen on tour. In typical Paines Plough style they’re spread right across the city so audiences can experience the work in their local theatre – whether that’s Shoreditch Town Hall, the Barbican, the Royal Court, the Roundhouse or the Albany, amongst others.

“As ever, we’re working in partnership across the programme, and are delighted to be working with old friends as well as new – including the National Theatre, Manchester International Festival, the Roundhouse, Birmingham Rep, Sheffield Theatres, Latitude Festival, National Student Drama Festival, Salisbury Playhouse and Live Theatre Newcastle.

“With these partners, we’re presenting astounding new plays by world class playwrights in places nationwide for people everywhere. We’re priveleged and excited to do so, and look forward to welcoming people to a Paines Plough show in their local theatre.”

So there you have it: Programme 2012. We hope you’re as excited by it as we are.

A blog by Harriet Stewart – Company Stage Manager on WASTED

7am. The day starts with a rather invigorating shock that my bedside alarm is actually going off. It feels like 20 minutes since I set it. Stage management are always the first to arrive, last to leave, so the early start is very usual, and yet so is the shock. Whether at home, or in a Travelodge – the day always begins with tea – Caffeine Hit Number 1.

8am. After a shower and quick breakfast, its onward to the venue. Having our fantastic producer, Hanna, with me on tour, is a huge support and I can rely on her for the morning van run, feeling as bleary eyed as me! I can rely on her too for joining me in Caffeine Hit Number 2.

10am. Arrive at venue. Engine off, and it’s a speedy van-unload, helped by any venue techs I have working with me that day. (Hopefully 2. On good days: 3; bad days: 1;  and days we don’t want to talk about: 0)

10.15-10.30am. Recce the venue, talk to the tech manager about how we are going to set the show up, and what the plan for the day shall be.

The challenge, and an interesting part of a small-scale tour such as WASTED, is taking the show to a huge variety of spaces, from 600-seater venues with a traditional proscenium arch, to a shop front, literally, with 4 lights on a stand and a domestic electrical set up which won’t manage all our equipment. Every venue can create a different challenge – sometimes, trying to work out how the set will fit in, I have the Crypton Factor theme tune in my head. Seriously.

It means the show and company have to be adaptable and I have to be able to think on my feet and problem-solve each day, to get the show up and looking at its absolute best.

Coffee anyone? Caffeine Hit Number 3.

10.45am.Then it’s straight on to the dance floor. No, I’m not throwing shapes - that comes later. It’s the first part of the set to be laid. Followed by: the rest of the set, rigging the projector, getting the av working, and running in our own sound desk and equipment, and our extra set-lights. All being well, and problem free, I have time to stop and have a bite to eat for lunch.

1pm. Plonk myself down with Hanna who is hard at work at her laptop in the venue cafe, or dressing room if no such thing exists! After munching and distracting her from her work its back into the theatre to start on the lighting – with coffee number 3, Caffeine Hit Number 4 in hand.

2pm. Each venue pre-rigs our lighting plan, so when I get to the venue all I need to do is focus the lights, then do checks. A focus can take anything from an hour (if you’re lucky), to 2 and half hours. And this is where the chocolate comes in… and possibly, dare I say, Coffee 4 Caffeine Hit Number 5.

4pm. If everything is on schedule, I’ll have a couple of hours to finish little jobs off – running sound checks, lighting checks, setting props, ironing costume, tidying up, re-painting parts of the set, making props, etc. … the list is long.

6pm. The cast arrive: often a welcome sight. Time to run a cue to cue on stage – giving me a chance to check all the lighting states are working as they should be and everything is lit well enough. The cast walk each scene – stopping when I need them to. As venues and the lights used can be so different, this often involves a lot of tweaking and updating states, adding in light where needed.

6.15pm. I run a microphone check with the cast – and afterwards, we run the first part of the show purely for sound purposes, so I can make sure the levels are all correct – its also a good opportunity for the actors to run lines, get focussed, clear any, hmmm, hang-overs.

6.50pm. If I’m lucky, I may have a snack and sit down before we get to the half – but more often than not there are little bits to be done. By this time I’m off the coffee and moved onto the harder stuff: coke (diet) – if things are bad, it may even be a red bull – Caffeine Hit Numbers 6, 7 and 8.

7.10pm. The cast and I vacate the stage area and auditorium around 15 mins before the show for the house to open.

7.20pm. Dressing room. Essential group hug.

7.20pm 45secs.  Yes that was a 45 second hug. And now it’s time to leave the actors at the 5 with the fond farewell, “See you on the other side” and get into position in my control area.

7.30pm. I love this show and never get bored of watching the performance, and cueing it is always fun – I operate the sound and av and the microphones live during the show and I cue the lighting to the lx op.

8.30pm. Once the show has finished, its to the bar… but only for one and a quick 15 min sit down! The last small job of the day is still to come… the get out. Luckily, our get outs are all hands on deck, so the team can be 7 or 8 strong with all the company getting involved – we are now a well oiled machine and our record get out time is 50 minutes including the van pack – the giant game of Jenga!

10pm. Van packed, drinks done, final checks to make sure nothing from WASTED is left behind, and its back in the fun bus and off to the pub… or dance floor… or hotel… or next town… or sometimes, if we’re lucky, home.

**All times are subject to change and are made at CSM’s discretion.

When James and I began our tenure as Artistic Directors of Paines Plough, we did so on a promise to our board, our playwrights, our funders and our audiences that we would find a way of putting on more plays, for longer runs, touring them to more places across the UK, and returning more regularly to the same places than ever before in the company’s illustrious now 38-year history.

So in preparing our first two programmes of work (Programme 2010 and Programme 2011), we focussed our collective energy and resources on producing as many plays as we could, in collaboration with as many partners as possible, touring those productions as widely and for as long as we were able.

Spurred on by the incredible warmth towards the company from across the theatre industry, we were able to produce 9 plays in 2010 and 10 in 2011, touring to more than 30 places each year.

Because we were so firmly fixed on revitalising our touring circuits, partly by chance and partly by design, one of the many places we didn’t end up visiting was London.

Towards the end of last year, we got a bit of stick for ignoring the capital, with some bloggers going as far as calling our touring policy “snobby”. We were a bit surprised by this – after all, there was already a healthy stream of new plays being produced weekly right across the city (unlike many of the places we were touring to, where provision was low to non-existent). Plus, our touring productions were often visiting theatres within easy reach of central London (Watford, Oxford, Cambridge) where we felt confident that those living in zones 1-6 could catch our work.

Looking at these cries from a positive perspective, they seemed to suggest that there was a growing demand for our work across the capital. Fuelled by the huge success of Dennis Kelly’s ORPHANS and Steve Thompson’s ROARING TRADE (both directed by our predecessor Roxana Silbert), people living in and around London were keen to see the work that the rest of the country was getting access to first.

Encouraged by this interest, we have been working hard to make sure that as much of the work we’re producing this year visits the capital as possible. As we put the finishing touches to Programme 2012 (soon to be announced in full), we are pleased to say that four of our upcoming productions can been seen in London. Mike Bartlett’s LOVE, LOVE, LOVE opens next week at the Royal Court Theatre, Sean Buckley’s SMITHEREENS plays the Soho Theatre in June and THE 8TH by Paul Heaton and Che Walker is on the Barbican main stage for one night only in July.

The third production slated for a London transfer is Kate Tempest’s WASTED. Compared with #LoveCubed and #The8th however, #KateTempestWASTED is visiting the city in a slightly different way.

For a while now we’ve been fascinated by the idea of London-wide touring. A circuit of venues we’ve coined NEIGHBOURHOOD, the idea is that rather than transferring to a single city-centre theatre for three weeks, you tour around London doing shorter runs at a wider geographical dispersion of theatre spaces, allowing your audience to see your show in their local ‘neighbourhood’ theatre.

It’s nothing new of course, and not something we thought of first. For many years companies have taken the same piece of work to various homes across London, with the most prominent recent examples being Fuel and Will Adamsdale’s JACKSON’S WAY which played 25 different Greater London theatres and the upcoming MAD ABOUT THE BOY which by the end of its current life will have played The Bush, the Young Vic and the Unicorn. There’s an interesting Guardian Stage blog from Lyn Gardner that touches on it, here. If anything, this idea is a bandwagon we want to jump on and light a fire underneath.

Because nearly everyone (at least everyone we know) lives in Zones 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. Yet the most popular theatres tend to be in zones 1 and 2. There’s obviously a logic to this, but in the same way you can fall in love with your local pub (and expect beer, food, entertainment and atmosphere to rival – nay, better – any West End drinking hole), why not your local theatre?

As this was a touring circuit completely new to us, we needed a funding partner to help research and pilot the project. Fortunately the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and Royal Victoria Hall Foundation shared our passion for investigating new ways of presenting work in London and – along with some of our other new touring circuits – are invaluably supporting our research on the NEIGHBOURHOOD concept.

So when our Assistant Producer Hanna was booking the tour for WASTED, we decided to try this idea out. We consulted programmers of theatres considered to be located in ‘outer London’, to check this concept wouldn’t cause them problems competing for audiences with other venues. Some said it would, but the majority felt confident that if people didn’t have to travel then why would they. Ultimately we managed to book WASTED in to five ‘NEIGHBOURHOOD’ theatres, to test the concept:

So far it’s working well. We sold out the 200-seater Albany and had a good stab at filling the 600-capacity Watford Palace Theatre. If it works, NEIGHBOURHOOD is something we want to grow in the coming years, sharing our knowledge and contacts with our Associate Companies, and other start-up touring outfits.

As ever, we’ll keep this blog updated with our progress. In the meantime we look forward to seeing North East dwellers at Redbridge Drama Centre next week.

After last week’s Halfway Red Herring, it’s time to let you in on all the goss of not the last one, but two weeks of this rather splendid WASTED tour.

Week Four of the WASTED Five Tour. The Shop Front Theatre in Coventry, the Hat Factory in Luton, Phoenix Arts Centre in Hampshire and the Firestation in Windsor.

Then week Five and we were storming The Albany in Deptford, Arts Centre Washington and the Astor Theatre in Deal.

Whichever theatre we were at, you could count on some pre-show regularities: Harriet hard at work setting everything up, the cast chilling out and running lines, Hanna hard at it between meetings and working on her laptop, and the occasional bromance.

However, as the tour continues, it seems catching forty winks these past two weeks has also become a familiar pre-show preparation..

Halfway through the tour, it seems poignant to moot on various ‘Number One’ best moments: the ‘Number One’ best sandwich ever. Bread, ham. No mucking about. Thanks Tescos. Thanks Hanna; 2. The ‘Number One’ embarrassing moment: heading up to a group of kids straight after a show while still sat in their seats, and engaging them in conversation, before realising this was not the group of kids we’d been asked to chat to. Thanks Hanna; 3. Number One inspiring moment: chatting to the right group of kids and hearing their really incisive and enthusiastic thoughts on the show; 4. ‘Number One’ post- show tipple: Jagerbomb; 5. ‘Number One’ place to stay on the road: Travelodge; 6. Cary having a ‘number one’ in the bushes.

No, this isn’t a Stef O’Driscoll Best Moments, but when we got to Deptford, Kwake Bass was back to perform live with us, which he did from up on the balcony and it sounded amazing. And as we were also performing the show in the Thrust (3 sides) because we had packed out the place! we needed to tech and rehearse the show during the day; and fortunately Stef, Champion A.D, was able to step in. Bernd was also on hand to help with attending to the new space, and along with Harriet and Stef discussing and solving much, it made for a great show. I caught a snap of the empty seats before they quickly filled. The night was massive. Huge standing ovation. Incredible buzz. We came off stage and just wanted to go straight back out. Instead, we headed to the pub where this play is set and where we rehearsed the first day, and enjoyed some down-time.

Before we sign off for this blog, Harriet has also begun bringing her camera out on tour, and has been taking some beautiful pics. Next week, Harriet shall be posting a blog of her own with some of her photos. Until then, here are a few moments she’s captured in the dressing room during the half.

PS: some thoughts to leave you with till next week: getting size envy when faced with Windsor’s very own Fun Bus. The fact that it did not stop raining the entire time we were in Newcastle. Kate Tempest’s new book is incredible and everyone should buy it. Hanna smiles for the camera, come rain or shine. I should really take more photos whilst on tour for this blog or we may have to resort to drawing our escapades.

I post this as we come to the end of a week’s break. But now we head to Canterbury, and James’ hometown of Folkestone. Look forward to seeing you there!

Thanks to the brilliant @HeardinLondon, our Administrative Intern Stephanie found this remarkable poster, which chimes heavily with our very own WASTED:

So its halfway through the WASTED tour, and what better way to celebrate this exceptional tour by all sharing in a fun game!! The photo blog, Picture Us WASTED, will recommence next week with a fortnight bonanza, but for right now, what type of actor are YOU??

To write about a day in the life of an actor on tour is to write of the infinite quandary of our cosmos: so many types of actors, so many types of days. Below is a fun, slightly tongue-in-cheek, 10 question quiz, to help you discover what type of actor you are or could be, on any given day of a tour.

1. Your bedside alarm rings at 7.30am Do you?

A- up you get. You wanna get in the shower in time for breakfast and an hour’s vocal warm-up.

B- snooze it five minutes, if not more. There’s no way though you’re getting up for breakfast. And you did a vocal warm-up yesterday.

C- wake up in blind confusion. Smack the off-button. You ain’t getting up till at least midday. You didn’t get to bed till 5am and that hangover ain’t clearing any time soon.

D- there’s no way you will have set an alarm for half 7 in the first place.

2. Your digs landlady has left you a clipping of a local review of your show by your door. Do you?

A- pick it up. Read it quietly to yourself in your room, taking down any notes the theatre critic has kindly made of your performance to take into later consideration.

B- pick it up but without looking at it, pop it in your pocket for a later burial in a far away public bin. You don’t want to upset the landlady and she meant well, but you no longer read reviews. Not since the Bletchley Times spelt your name wrong and suggested they’d rather eat their own face than watch another of your performances.

C- pick it up. Realise what it is and throw it back on the floor. You need to attend to the three S’s before even entertaining any ideas of theatre and work.

D- you never made it back to your digs last night.

3. You’ve never been to this city before. Do you?

A- make sure you take out with you your Lonely Planet guide. You don’t want to miss a thing.

B- head out for lunch with the rest of the company in a local pub. Sit out in the beer garden and take in the ambience. Perhaps go for a walk round the shops if there’s time.

C- head out for lunch. The company are heading to a local but you fancy Wetherspoons. You know what you’re getting with that. Besides, it’s right next to your digs. Perfect.

D- watch This Morning, followed by Cash in the Attic, followed by Neighbours, followed by Quincy, followed by Countdown. Followed by, heck is that the time? You better get to the theatre. You’ve just missed the half.

4. It’s the half (half hour before the show starts). Do you?

A- warm up. Get your vocal exercise book out and follow its instruction methodically as always, careful not to skip anything.

B- warm up. You’ve noticed your higher range is slightly weak so you decide to concentrate on that. Perhaps try loosening the shoulders. See if that helps.

C- choose not to warm up. Get into your costume though and make sure it all feels comfortable. Yep, it does.

D- have a couple of cigarettes. Helps with the stress. Especially after the Stage Manager’s had a go at you for turning up smelling of alcohol.

5. You’re about to step out onto the stage for your first scene. Do you?

A- go through your three circles of concentration, your objectives and your super-objectives.

B- go through your lines.

C- check your flies.

D- sneak a peek into the audience. That girl you met last night said she’d come along. You wanna make sure you push all your best emotions and facial expressions in her direction. She was hot.

6. It’s the final show in this city. Do you?

A Help strike the set. It’s best it’s done quickly so more hands the better. You want to get an early night in before heading to the next theatre. Another week, another community to inspire through the medium of theatre.

B- have a quick drink then help strike the set. More hands the better and you want to have a couple more drinks somewhere else.

C- get to the bar and get in the drinks. You’ve got at least a couple hours of drinking time before the set is packed up. It’s always nice to get some praise from the audience.

D- leg it off the stage, throw your costume on the dressing room floor, run next door to the Wetherspoons, order yourself a line of Jaeger Bombs. The tour van can pick you up en route. You just can’t remember if it was your turn to drive it.

7. You’ve got the Sunday off. Do you?

A- get up early. Get down to the gym. Read through your script. Have a pleasant Sunday lunch with your nearest and dearest. Get an early night.

B- meet with some friends you haven’t seen in a while. Enjoy a few glasses of vino but not too many. You want to get a good night’s sleep in.

C- get a video in, a take-away. Start with a couple beers but your mate comes over and you end up getting really drunk. You get your script out but only to use as an intermediary between your lap and the very hot plate of curry.

D- wake up in a strange city, in a strange bed, a red stamp on the back of your hand, wondering why you hadn’t gone home on the tour van.

8. It’s the first show back after a week’s break. Do you?

A- get together with your fellow cast members that afternoon for a line-run, a discussion of new ideas you’ve had for the show, and to show them the drawings you’ve done of each of them.

B- get together with your fellow cast members to do a quick line-run before the half. You’ve not looked at your script for a week.

C- you’ve not looked at your script for a week. It might be quite exciting to go onstage and at times, be completely surprised by the lines you’re saying. Maybe that might bring about the spontaneity your drama teacher always harped on about.

D- just hope and pray the week you’ve just had, the most hedonistic, alcohol-fuelled week you’ve ever dared have in your life doesn’t harm what was already a rather compromised performance.

9. It’s the final show of the entire tour. Do you?

A- do as you’ve always done. You’re a professional, goddammit.

B- really go out there and enjoy it. It’s your last chance. It might be your last job ever. Have fun out there!

C- try out some new things. Drop in a few jokes of your own. Don’t tell the other cast members though. It’ll be a right laugh. As long as no one’s allergic to cat hair.

D- take the night off.

10. It’s the end-of-play party. Do you?

A- take some headshots along. You never know who you’re gonna meet.

B- dress snazzy. You never know who you’re gonna meet.

C- dress as you always dress. You know exactly who you’re gonna meet. You never liked them anyway.

D- not go. You got so smashed the night before, you’ve not slept for 48 hours and quite honestly your last performance was such a debauched embarrassment, it’s best for all concerned if you stayed away.

Results:

A If you answered mostly A, you are an actor.

B If you answered mostly B, you are an actor.

C If you answered mostly C, you are an actor.

D If you answered mostly D, you are an actor, frighteningly.

Here at PP HQ we’re big fans of Apple’s app store. We’re forever downloading small, curved-edge squares that we’re convinced will make our lives easier/faster/more fun/better organised (delete as appropriate).

In fact, if by chance someone from Apple is reading this blog, we would be very open to a conversation about corporate sponsorship. You get to be associated with ‘the national theatre of new plays’ and we get shedloads of Apple products. Seems fair.

Our latest acquisition is PHOSTER which gives you a batch of ready-made design templates using classic graphics and fonts for inspiration.

So we’ve had a go at re-imagining covers for Paines Plough playtexts of the past. We’ve been inspired by trips to New York book shops where we’ve found book-jacket art to be far more interesting than the stuff we tend to get in the UK.

But we reckon that there’s far better design talent out there than is currently housed at PP HQ. So we thought we would launch a competition.

With Kate Tempest’s WASTED currently touring the length and breadth of the UK, the competition winner will receive a PP goodie-bag, including PP playtexts from our archive, a signed copy of Balance, the incredible debut album by Kate Tempest’s band Sound of Rum, and a pair of tickets to see WASTED at the Roundhouse on the 9th May.

All you have to do to enter is to design an imaginary playtext cover for WASTED and send it to office@painesplough.com as a JPEG or PNG with WASTED PLAYTEXT in the subject line before midnight on the 7th May. Tweet us @painesplough with the hashtag #katetempestwasted to let us know you’ve submitted an entry and we’ll tweet the name of the winner on opening night of WASTED at the Roundhouse on 8th May 2012.

You can design the cover however you like. It can be typefont-based like our own below or it can be image-based. It can be any style, colour and composition. It can include logos and creative teams or not.

We’ll post the winner as well as some of our favourite runner-ups on this blog in May.

We can’t wait to see what you come up with.

So it’s week three of the WASTED company, tearing it up all over the country. If life was a game of Dominoes and cities were pieces, we knocked down two last week, sixteen more till this brilliant tour ceases. (Now go back one more time, cos that opening needs to be spoken in rhyme.)

Here’s a round up of last week’s adventures on the road…

First up Watford Palace, which we were able to commute from London, so we all hopped on the train. Though not the blue choo-choo that Cary found himself on at the end of last week. Then it was back in Tour Van Number Two, with Harriet up front in the cockpit, flying up to the Milton Rooms in Malton, Yorkshire.

Arriving at 4pm at the Palace, as sure as clockwork, Harriet was hard at work setting up the space; and what a space it was. Really lovely traditional theatre and certainly the largest on the tour so far, and I think the largest overall too. We’d all had a couple days off and were back for Tuesday the 3rd. No time for that Monday morning ease back into work kinda’ vibe though. We had to be on it. It was a busy few hours before the show went up, and huge thanks and respect must go to Harriet for managing it all. It was also our first show of the tour with Kwake performing live with us. It was excellent to see him again. He was straight away working through the cues and the levels, and in no time at all, was banging out some wicked tunes and music for us. The show had a real buzz and energy to it, and we had a brilliant audience who gave us lots of laughs! The night also saw James and the rest of the PP team return to watch it, and just as last week with Kate in the audience, it was very special to be able to show them how the play was moving on with quite a few performances under its belt.

The next day, the WASTED Five (Harriet, Hanna, Cary, Lizzy and myself) all hopped on board the Funbus up to Yorkshire. Mixing business and pleasure, we both worked on the blog and played what has become a staple diet and necessity of the tour: ‘Bop It’. If you haven’t played it, you might be forgiven for thinking it’s a 5yrs-and-up game, that we bought from a kid’s toy shop. If you have played it, then yes, you will know that it is a 5yrs-and-up game, that can be bought from any good kid’s toy shop, but it’s also so much more. It’s a test of nerve, precision and rhythm. And a great way to wile away the road hours.

We arrived in Malton pretty late, and we were all pretty knackered; be it from driving (Harriet) or bopping (the others), but when we turned into the driveway and witnessed before us where we would be staying for the night, we couldn’t believe it. The place was a castle. Beautiful and imposing. Any thoughts of knocking it on the head early and calling it a night vanished. Bags down in our luxurious rooms, we headed to the bar of The Old Lodge. Welcoming staff, a warm cosy pub atmosphere, lots of red wine and guinness was sipped. Last week, you might remember that Hanna threw down the glove and challenged us to some boardgame action. Well, it just so happened this place was stacked high with them. First we played a game called ‘Smart Ass’. Next we played ‘Chairs’, a version of Jenga, except with…chairs. Miniature plastic chairs. It was pretty nail biting stuff. And sure enough, who won? Yep…not Hanna, unfortunately. In fact, I thought I would chart, photographically, the progress Hanna’s piece made in Smart Ass. You see that photo below on the ‘start’? That was it.

The next day we walked the 5 minute journey to the Milton Rooms, where we were met by one of its Artistic Directors, Nick. What a lovely reception he gave us, truly welcoming. It set the tone for the entire day. It was a great show, so many people of all different ages came out to see it, and everyone had such great things to say afterwards. The Milton Rooms team helped us strike the set afterwards, but not before making sure we were set up with cheese and wine and beers and fruit in our dressing room! Brilliant. It was then all back to The Old Lodge to share in a couple of rounds before hitting the hay. We were in fact meant to have been driving back that night but this hotel was so good, we could not pass on the opportunity to enjoy another night there. The next morning we woke bright and early, filled up on cooked breakfasts, and collected ourselves in the lobby before the lengthy journey back.

In next week’s blog, find out what we got up to in Coventry, Luton, Bordon and Windsor, after a sleep and chocolate fuelled Easter break, and a weekend of finding ourselves at a loss of what to do at 7.30pm.

(Note from Hanna: I’d just like to point out that yes, it is true I never left the start in ‘Smart Ass’, and was indeed overlapped twice by Cary and once by Lizzy, however I particularly excelled in both ‘Chairs’ AND ‘Bop It’, and once I get round to entering the pool league, I’m pretty sure I’ll be awesome at that too.)

Week Two of this fantastic tour, and it just keeps on getting better and better. Firstly though, I would just like to make a slight editor’s correction to last week’s suggestion that it was WE that cracked the Wagamama Puzzle Sudoku. It was in fact Lizzy, and deserved props should go to her for that.

Now onto Frome in Somerset, leading the charge before Exeter and Bristol .

Quite a change from Cardiff, we pondered the reception Wasted would get in Frome. To help with our pondering, we found some beautiful pubs to sit and chill. The weather beautiful, the sun shining, we went inside and struck up the Pool League. With James away, it led the way for another to top the table. As it stands, it goes Ash, Cary, Lizzy, then Harriet. More on that next week. (Hanna: “Pool isn’t my thing but get me on a boardgame, and I will whip all y’all.” Challenging words Hanna. Let’s see if we can get a boardgame going next week. Rock n Roll…)

We need not have pondered. From Birmingham to Cardiff, from Cardiff to Frome in Somerset, those who watch the show seem to be so generous in their enthusiasm! It really is such a great piece to be a part of, and I know all three of us onstage feel very proud and lucky to be out here showing it to people who perhaps often don’t make it out to the theatre too often. We met a lady who had never been to the theatre in her life before WASTED. That makes us feel very privileged.

Smashing and dashing Frome, Exeter was next in our sights. The Bike Shed Theatre was a wicked space, with a great front bar with a ukulele playing barmaid, and a dedicated audience. Two nights to a packed out crowd, with the overhead lights inches from our faces, the atmosphere was incredible. Walking about the town in the day too, it seemed even the shops were spitting Tempest sentiment. If you’ve seen the show, you’ll know how significant the words “This is it!” are. And if you haven’t seen the show yet, well why not? Lol.

Bristol, we were gunning for you. The first night was immense. Kate, after a week away, was in the audience and it was really special to be able to show her how the play took its shape in another space. Afterwards, we did a QnA and much of the audience stayed. The feedback we got and the questions that came up were really interesting and it was excellent to be able to hear Kate’s thoughts and the way she had approached the writing of Wasted. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the rock n roll lifestyle was leading to us all going a bit bananas. Kwake came up to see the show the following night, and had a gig of his own in a nearby club afterwards where we all went to support him and have a little dance and meet the locals. They say sometimes it takes something like travelling to search one’s soul: Cary certainly found himself on this tour.

Three cities down, it was time to head back home to London for the first time since the tour began for a nice Sunday off. You can’t get more manly than a beer and a Black ‘n’ Decker, so while we struck the set, that’s exactly what the men of this tour did (under the strict supervision of Harriet, of course.) We’ve also got the dimensions of this Tour Van down to a tee, so packing up and loading is swift…

…Course, what none of us saw coming was a necessary change of Tour Van. The Tour Van (which shall herein be remembered as Tour Van Number One RIP)  broke. It was only a lucky stop in a Service Station that saw two mechanics overhear a very loud rattle of our gearbox suggesting an imminent explosion of metal beneath our feet. We pulled over, and with Hanna still in the deathtrap of a van, one of the guys took Tour Van Number One RIP on a heady round trip of the car park. Yep, it was the gearbox: something that Cary had already diagnosed. Aware of the seriousness of such an ailment, he took precautions to find his own way home.

Stay tuned for next week’s installment, to see what boardgame Hanna will throw down, and whether Cary’s choice of Blue choo’choo train does finally get him to the Watford Palace.

So it’s week one of the WASTED tour. And what an amazing tour it has been so far. On Tuesday 28th, we took the tour bus up to Birmingham: laughter, digital pool and a brief dip into To The Actor before arriving at the unmistakable Travelodge. It was a great opportunity to meet up with Kate and James, to share in the delights of the city that, the next day, would see the landing of WASTED .

Up bright and early on Weds, we ventured into town to find the rehearsal space and student union for Birmingham City. With James safely at the helm, we got lost quite a few times but the collective array of WASTED posters, some rather intelligently graffitied, assured us we were heading in the right direction. The buzz about the show was massive, and as soon as we had mic-checked, we were asked if we could do an interview with Kate and ourselves with a bit from the play for the local radio station, Scratch. Course we would! That night and the following night at the Matthew Boulton Campus, we showed WASTED for the first time to two amazing audiences. Standing ovations, whoops and cheers of excitement and agreement… We were so excited and thrilled to see that our hard work and the play that we all have so much belief in was being met with such an unprecedented kind of response. As one audience member said, “This is what theatre should always be like!” Afterwards. it was really special to meet up with more of the Paines Plough crew for celebrations…and back to the unmistakeable Travelodge!

Opening night at the MAC couldn’t have gone better. During the day, while the PP crew worked tirelessly as ever, to set the space up, Lizzy, Cary and I chilled out in the sun, ran our lines, sorted out some last minute accommodation! and made sure we were all set for the tour ahead. The show went up without a hitch and once again, we were honoured to receive another standing ovation! We were being spoilt now!

You can’t spend every night in the Travelodge, or at least all night, so in some of our down time, we headed on over to Wagamama. It’s amazing to see great minds working together so keenly, as you can witness here. Some might scoff, but the Wagamama puzzle place mats are darn tricky. But with James and the team on it, we cracked it. The next day.

With Birmingham firmly under our belts, exceptionally early on the Saturday morning, we jumped in the tour bus and headed to the Sherman theatre in Cardiff. The show was an interesting one, our first one without the full team, but again, the audience was brilliant and it seems the words of Kate Tempest strike chords with people from any town or city. We came off, tired but massively inspired. The next day, George was in town directing for the Royal Welsh so we had a beautiful day in Bute Park, overlooking the castle, and a sumptuous Sunday lunch.

That evening, we were straight back on the road again,from Cardiff to head to Frome in Somerset, to spit some lyrics to a different town, a different country even. Exhausted from a fully loaded week but hyped and energised by the awesome audiences we were meeting, we snuggled into the back of the tour bus. The next week will bring three more cities, and we can only hope that this tour, and all its moments, will keep on going from strength to strength. Whatever happens, we are sure we won’t allow a moment to be WASTED.

Next Thursday, check out what will have happened in Frome, Exeter, and Bristol.