The Wipers Times Rehearsal Diary – Week One

13 September 2016

‘The war is not funny Sir’, insists sourpuss Colonel Howfield in the face of his benevolent superior General Mitford.
‘I think the authors are aware of that. I’ve a feeling that may be the point.’

Both Wipers the paper and Wipers the play puncture the reverie surrounding the ‘big questions of the war’ – death, destruction and futility – with humour. As such there’s been plenty of laughs in the rehearsal room this week as we begin to navigate our way through the combination of scenes, sketches and songs comprising The Wipers Times.

We began the week with director Caroline Leslie and designer Dora Schweitzer presenting the model box. Inside was a veritable playground for the actors. One key question we’ve returned to this week is ‘how do we transition from one location and reality to another, in a matter of seconds?’. The options offered by Dora’s design have been one of many leads we have followed in the past few days.

Once we had completed the read-through and blown the summer cobwebs away with a sing through of some of composer Nick Green’s score, led by musical director Paul Herbert, we got stuck into the research. Much like slipping into a post work-out ice bath, immersing oneself in the world of a historical script is best done head first, brusquely and .. erm .. communally. Caroline shared her findings about the Sherwood Foresters’ experiences and battle engagements in WW1, and the experience of trench warfare for soldiers on the Western Front. We also mapped the timeline of the play, in relation to the battles the Foresters fought and the publication dates of the Wipers Times: assigning each scene a date, location and time.

Our immersion, however, was necessarily speedy. Much work had to be done to get the scenes on their feet. As well as blocking the action on stage we have been joined by Movement Director Emily Holt who has helped us crack open the fantastical sketch moments and occasional dance routines the script calls for.

Having rested and refuelled in our billets over the weekend, we are all looking forward to getting stuck into some front line action again in week two.

Chloe France
Assistant Director