We’ve been rehearsing for a week now, and it’s about time we let you know what we’ve been spending our time doing. We’re going to be starting with some behind the scenes news…

< WEEK 1 | WEEK 3 >

Mnemosyne and Super Ego

Hopefully, you’ll have seen the poster by now. It’s got a sofa on it. Stage Manager, Lucy Adams, has been trailing around various websites, such as gumtree and freegle, trying to find the cheapest and best looking sofa in Norwich. She did us proud when she managed to find a completely free one sitting by the side of the road. A team of cast members set off this morning to fetch it, and it’s now happily sitting in the Studio, ready to be rehearsed with. It means we’ll have more money to spend on the other aspects of the show!

There have been many other discussions about what the set should look like. Should we have cupboards and worktops along the back of the stage? What do we want it to feel like? We’re happy to announce we’ve come to an agreement, and the stage will be surrounded by empty picture frames, which are slanted and distorted to reflect the missing memories in Dan’s head. Lucy and Ed spent all day Monday in the workshop sawing and nailing the wood together to form crooked and uneven frames. Throughout the next week the cast will be lending a hand to paint and personalise the frames however they want. We really want everyone to be involved in every part of the process, and what better way is there than seeing something you’ve made on stage?

Speaking of things on stage – let’s take a moment to think about props. There will be a lot of them. Luckily, you, our sponsors have been able to give us suggestions of various props that we should include. So far we’ve had leprechauns, whisks and PU hats! If you have’t suggested your prop yet, please do so soon so we can work them into the performance!

After several days improvising and trying to get a sense of the characters and the strange world of Dan’s head, we’ve finally moved on to script work! Director Martha Geelan spent one-on-one time with every member of the cast to find out who their character was: what was their name? Are they educated? How do they walk? It’s stuff like this that will really make the play feel more rounded and wholesome when it’s performed, even if the audience never find out what their favourite animal is! We’re taking Sam Masters’ script and mixing it together with what we’ve improvised to make the best of both worlds.

Our final fundraiser is fast approaching, and we’re going to try and make it the best one yet. We’re joining forces with the UEA Events office to take part in the last LCR of the year. We’ll be setting up our Fortune Telling booths in the Hive ready to give you predictions of your future. Whether it’s reading palms or tealeaves, divining from crystals or sticks, you’ll know everything we say is 100%* fact!

That’s all for this week, we’ll see you next time when we’ll have a deeper look into the set and the first sections of the script… maybe with a video or two…?

The Cast and Crew of The Psychosocial Gathering

*Accuracy may vary

#edfringe2014 #psychosocialgathering