Day 1: “detectives”

We had some time to chat with the full cast and creative team. So fun to see people that you auditioned with, and were rooting for, get the job with you! After lunch we did an active read through - instead of your typical “sitting round a table” first read, it was up on its feet. Characters in the scenes were in the middle of the room while everyone else was round the outside acting as “detectives”. There was pieces of paper all around the room with different themes e.g. love/lust, death, body parts etc - every time we heard a line that related to we would write on the paper. Great way to hear the full play out loud as well as getting a crash course in the different themes.

Kiera Murray (Ensemble)

Day 2 : Really trippy

The morning movement session was really trippy. The semi-supine whilst breathing put me in a really hypnotic state. I had these memories come to my mind from such a long time ago from things I hadn’t thought about in years. It was an unfamiliar strange sensation at first, probably because my body was also filled with more oxygen, but I noticed that after it the room felt brighter and the colours more vivid and I felt in a deeper relaxed state and less stressed within my body. Given the intensity of this play, I think exercises like that are going to be so useful to help resource and sustain us throughout this process.

Olsen Elezi (Tomazo)

Day 1: The song ‘I know she hates me’ is a banger!!

It was really lovely getting to finally meet the other cast members and crew and finding out about their life stories. The read through on its feet whilst entering and exiting the space was really exciting and useful, as it gave a certain physical energy to the play. Also, noting down the themes whilst reading it through was very informative, as I noticed that my character had certain themes mentioned more than others, which was an interesting insight. And the singing was just pure joy, I love singing with an ensemble, always so much fun!! The song ‘I know she hates me’ is a banger!!

Olsen Elezi (Tomazo)