A Bunch of Amateurs Community Ensemble – Assistant Director Neil Bull’s Blog

20 May 2014

One of the themes at the heart of the play A Bunch of Amateurs is the important role that the Amateur Dramatic groups play within the lives of people in our communities. As the character Mary says, ‘this is our chance to step outside our ordinary lives, to create something bigger than ourselves and share in the power of theatre.’

It seemed a natural and important aspect of the play to find a way to include members of the community, so in March an advertisement was placed offering the opportunity to appear in the production. The week before we began rehearsals I joined Beth Flintoff and Heidi Bird from the Watermill’s Outreach and Participation department and met with auditionees drawn from local amateur groups.

And as we entered week two of rehearsals our cast size swelled to 23 as we welcomed the 16 successful participants of the Community Ensemble.

After working with the cast during the day, I met with the ensemble Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Our first job was to develop and build the character profiles for the roles they would be playing. We needed to create back-stories for four stage management, a soundman and three auditionees within the play. We drew upon the information mined from the play text and developed back-stories form a list of questions. When the groups shared their characters it really was wonderful how each naturally link to each other, we found the interconnected relationships and all felt we had created the community of characters who worked alongside the main characters. I explained that I felt it was important we created these lives, experiences and gained an understanding of the characters they would inhabit. We ourselves have pasts, pictures in our minds, affinities, events and relationships, so the ensemble needed to root their characters in these facts just as the main cast had been developing their roles in rehearsals.

As the Stage Management characters of the Stratford Players Dramatic Group our ensemble would also need to learn the transitional scene changes of the play. Brilliantly assisted by the Watermill’s Deputy Stage Manager, Amy Wildgoose, we choreographed the transitions. (Director Ramin Gray once told me, ‘Neil! Always make sure you have a brilliant DSM!’ and over this rehearsal period I have seen that Amy is certainly that.) Director Caroline Leslie will have created a pace within the structure of the production, so it is vital that the scene transitions seamlessly maintain that ebb and flow.

The ensemble have fully embraced all their responsibilities; from the characters, the stage management transitions and learning a song for the finale. I truly have been impressed by their commitment, attention to detail and know they will be a valuable and integral part of this wonderful production.

Speak soon,

Neil Bull
Assistant Director