Everyone loves the inside scoop. So, that’s what we’re going to do. We’ve asked a few of the cast and crew to keep a journal of sorts, discussing their experiences throughout the rehearsal process, reflections, and the like. Here’s the first of many, by actress Nadia Nadif.

Monday 7th May

First day of rehearsals can often feel like the very first day of school – that mixture of nervousness and excitement.  So much so that I woke up a full hour earlier than I needed to at 6.30am.

I got into our rehearsal room at Rich Mix at 9.30am and immediately felt comforted by two things – Mukul the director putting up a poster of the play on the wall and two actors already drinking the coffee that had been provided.  By 10.30am I had met the rest of the cast, Tara our music / movement consultant and Gurpreet the writer, seen the beautiful costume designs done by designer Ni and we’d all done a tai chi warm up led by Mukul (it is harder than it looks tai chi!).  Production Manager Ashleigh gave us a bundle of flyers and by lunchtime I had already invited two people to see the show! The cast and Ni all ate lunch together in the Rich Mix cafe and found out various important things about each other, such as our ages and how we got involved in the production.

The day went very quickly considering we got so much done:  Two full read throughs of the play (the pressure was taken off by Mukul instructing us to ‘not act at all.  No emotion.  Like you’re reading the news.  It’s just facts’), the invaluable chance to ask Gurpreet some character questions, some script edits and our last exercise – naming each scene of the play with a title and deciding on the colour, energy and emotion of that title.    I have read the play several times and instantly liked the script, laughing to myself alone in my flat on certain lines, but it really came alive in the read through and I felt genuinely moved in parts of it.  The whole day felt very organic and it was great that everyone was encouraged to bring ideas to the table – whether on the production team, creative team or one of the actors.

The day ended with homework – to write down for each scene we are in what we think of each of the other characters and what they think of us.  Tomorrow we will share our findings, I can’t wait!