Rehearsing in a broom cupboard! An extra’s experience…

13 March 2012

Early retirement at 58 years old!   This is something I hadn’t anticipated, – so now, – what am I going to do with all this extra time on my hands and just as much energy as ever?  That was the challenge I faced as January 2012 dawned.  And then, talk about co-incidence or excellent timing, an e mail popped into my inbox from the Outreach Department at the Watermill Theatre.   ‘We are seeking a number of ‘extras’ or supernumeraries to help us with the forthcoming production of LETTICE AND LOVAGE’, the e mail announced.  ‘If you have ever fancied appearing on The Watermill stage this is your chance!’ 

Oh yes, this was exactly the kind of challenge I needed.  I had never done anything like this before but I knew it was just the venture to get my retirement off on exactly the right note.  You see, in my work as a counsellor, and a trainer of counsellors at the University of Reading, my working life has been serious and quite heavy as I listen to peoples’ difficulties and distress.  I feel that I want now to redress the balance and give free reign to the fun side of my character.

 I was so excited about the e mail that I replied straight away and was thrilled to be invited to a workshop to meet the Director, Matthew, and the Assistant Director, Clive.  It was an amazing evening as, together with a group of other applicants, we were facilitated through a range of exercises in communication and encouraged to express responses and emotion through movement, facial expression and gesture.  I went home full of it and conveyed to family and friends what I had experienced.  You can imagine how even more excited I was when, two days later, Clive telephoned to say that I was being offered a place as an extra in the production.

Then followed two weeks of rehearsals, firstly just with the group of extras but then with the professional cast.  It was truly brilliant the Saturday morning when I saw the play performed in its entirety for the very first time.  I laughed till I cried at the funny parts and felt incredibly moved by the poignant and intense moments portrayed by these gifted professional actors.  Other fantastic moments were for example, when we were taken to wardrobe and fitted out with our costumes, and when we went backstage and upstairs to the dressing rooms for the first time.  It has been like entering another world, unknown to me before, and so very, very, interesting.  It has turned out to be everything I hoped for and so much more.

Everyone at The Watermill has been incredibly welcoming and friendly; making me feel a part of the team and really valued for the contribution I am making.  I feel really privileged to be learning from great Directors, very experienced and skilled professional actors and stage managers, who have all been really generous in explaining things, giving pointers and advice and never making me feel silly for asking the most basic of questions.

Each of the ‘extras’ is involved in four shows a week throughout the run of the play.  At the beginning of each performance, as we wait behind the curtain for the first act to begin, listening to the notes of the opening music, I feel such a thrill.  Once we go on we have four changes of costume in the first 20 minutes and I confess I did have a fight with a rain coat on the second night.  The coat won on that occasion but I have tamed it since then!!  I practiced in our broom cupboard at home to make sure I could put it on in a tight space and in the dark!!

I am really looking forward to the remainder of my time in Lettice and Lovage, I feel as if I ‘belong’ now.  I shall certainly be sad when it comes to an end and I will definitely be looking out for any further opportunities that may come up to be involved at the Watermill.  It’s a great place to be and the staff members there are a great bunch of people to ‘play’ with. 

Thanks everyone!      Barbara Richards