Friday 24 February 2012

Scotland

Artistic Director Lisa Parry writes:
After a sell-out couple of nights at Theatre503, the company headed north to Scotland for the mini-tour's final leg - two nights at The Arches in Glasgow.

The theatre space inside The Arches, Glasgow

Some of the company stayed in Glasgow and some in Edinburgh. Our Scottish actors were happy to be home and our Scottish writers housed the English and Welsh actors, wowing them with hospitality and  amazing home-cooked food. As the pieces had already been twice staged before, our time at The Arches was mainly spent with the actors becoming familiar with the space. The 503 stage was much smaller and was carpeted during our run so it was quite cosy. The Arches' space was much deeper and even a little bleak. Some of the company preferred the 503 stage, some preferred the imaginative possibilities that a space like The Arches could offer. All of the company were grateful to our technical manager Dave Wylie for his magical ways with sound and light.

On a personal note, I was really happy to be bringing this work to Glasgow. I've had work staged before at Chapter and at Theatre503 and loved being back in both venues. However it's creatively exciting to be in a new space, with a completely new audience. It's challenging and risky and I really believe theatre should be about pushing boundaries - including personal ones. I spent two days with a real spring in my step and found the audience reaction on both nights to be really warm and generous.

After the second show, we hosted our final question and answer session. The space being underground meant live tweeting was impossible, but there's more on this discussion to follow.

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