Final week of rehearsals for The Secret Adversary

10 February 2015

Hello!

The Watermill has many strings to its bow, and time travel is absolutely one of them. This week it’s the 1920s. The Young Adventurers are moving in as glamour and wit trickle through every door.

Usually, that would only happen in tech week, but as we’re the first show of the season, we’ve been lucky enough to get the set up a little early and have some time to play on stage. With such a complex show, it’s been really useful for everyone to get this sneak preview.

The first thing we looked at on set were the magic cues, with Mr Magic John Bulleid. Without giving away any official Magic Circle secrets (who knows what the consequences might be), a lot of the tricks are about what the audience can and can’t see. The success of the magic tricks is reliant on the audience’s sight lines and, fortunately, they all work and the tricks are creating many ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from observers.

We have also been moving the chase sequence onto the stage. This scene uses every entrance and exit on the stage.  The cast pop up through traps, dash up ladders and in and out of doors – all at great pace.

Wednesday night, after a mostly physical rehearsal, our choreographer Lucy Cullingford joined us to finish the day with a dance call. Lucy brought a warm up that everyone needed. There were neck, back and leg massages. As Lucy’s partner for this exercise I got two goes, so that she could demonstrate to the others. So. Much. Zen.

The dances are brilliant fun and will look even more amazing with the costumes and set in place. The opening dance is particularly cheery, warm and funny. It’s a combination of a hug from your Gran mixed with a healthy splash of comedy. It welcomes us into Tommy and Tuppence’s world right away.

To me, this sets the tone for the whole story. No matter what is thrown at The Young Adventurers, and the cast of actors, they maintain a smile throughout. And we love them for it!

Holly Mazur
Assistant Director