Ladies and gentlemen, the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe run has begun!
Today marked the first performance of 'Norman Shadowboxer' at C aquila - a milestone for our company. We have officially begun our first run of any show, and after hitting the ground running we're looking forward to the next seventeen shows!
As morning broke over our little flat, there was a mixture of excitement and nervousness within our ranks - understandable, but nothing a little breakfast couldn't help us deal with. As the performers engaged in a warm-up, Naomi and I did an early stint of flyering on the Royal Mile - and from the looks of things, it seems that most other companies enjoyed the hospitality of this city, judging by their absence! After introducing a few families to Norman via the distribution of flyers and some brief conversations, we arrived at C aquila to be greeted by a company ready for the day ahead.
Now, for a show whose set is almost entirely made of cardboard boxes, you may be surprised at just how difficult our get-in is. The placement of our boxes is an exact science, and much time has been spent planning just how we get everything set up in the space before our audience arrives; unfortunately for me, falling up the stairs whilst carrying boxes was not part of this plan. However, this was but a small inconvenience in an otherwise smooth get-in - and with the scene set, and everyone in their starting positions, we were ready to open the house to our first audience.
Welcoming a small but excited audience into the space, we waited with baited breath to be given clearance to begin - and once this was given, the performers took control and welcomed our new-found friends into the world of Norman Baxter. As I'm undertaking the role of technician for our show - not my natural calling, but just one string to my bow - I have a unique vantage point over both stage and audience, and from where I was stood all seemed well. The performers seemed to thrive with a captive audience to perform to - who reacted in the ways we hoped they would - and in what seemed like no time at all an enjoyable first run was over. Once our audience had cleared the space, we were back to moving boxes and getting out of the space - handing over to the next company to perform.
After a brief analysis of how we thought the show went (summary: pretty well), we split up to either have some lunch, or do some more flyering. Our second flyering shift of the day seemed much more successful - both due to the increased number of people around, and the draw of actually MEETING Norman. He's a very charismatic man, is our Norman.
Having performed the first show, we enjoyed the chance to relax a bit and to meet some of the folks around the city - bumping into old friends along the way, and making new ones as we invited them to see our show. It's remarkable just how much of a family the Fringe community feels, and everyone seems incredibly positive at this early stage in the festival - regardless of sales, or how long they may have been flyering for!
Eventually we all found our way back to the ranch, for notes from Naomi about the first show and some dinner; after the madness of the past few days, it's been great to just sit back and know the first show is done. An evening of film-watching saw us end the day, and as I write this blog entry everyone else is in bed - hopefully having a good night's sleep before we do it all again tomorrow...
Until our next entry - sweet dreams, everyone.
- Dan
Thursday, 5 August 2010
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Day 2 - Settling in...
So, we’re into Day 2 – and things are really beginning to take shape...
EmptyBox Theatre are just winding our evening down with some dinner in our flat, to end our first full day in Edinburgh. After the mad rush of arriving and going straight into our tech yesterday, it was quite nice to be able to wake up and head off full of breakfast and coffee for our Dress Rehearsal – but it’s been a long day!
We headed back to C aquila first thing to do our dress rehearsal, and add the finishing touches to Norman Shadowboxer ready for opening our run tomorrow morning. I had to pop into Homebase en route for supplies, and for what I imagine will be the only time I was in the queue behind a woman whose face was covered in tattoos and piercings; I think that’s the moment I truly realised just how unique being a part of the Fringe is!
The team at C aquila have been incredibly helpful over the past couple of days, and around the various jobs they’ve had to do they’ve made sure we feel welcome and supported. It helps put everyone at ease when your venue staff are so friendly, and we’re looking forward to spending a month with them! After finishing up our dress run, I headed to Fringe Central to pick up our performer passes and learn more about what they do – and to flick through the programme of events they organise. There are so many things we want to attend, but it’s proving difficult to schedule our time efficiently!
The afternoon saw the company putting some finishing touches to our set and design elements, which has left the floor of our living room cluttered with cardboard, scalpels, glue guns and – strangely – socks. It feels like a true artists community here, but whilst the other guys have been doing their arts and crafts I’ve been doing some producing – sorting out ticketing, flyering and press stuff. With all the madness of the past 48 hours, it’s actually been quite nice to just be able to sit at my laptop and play around with some spreadsheets!
With things winding down here, I’ll take the opportunity to say goodnight – the next time we post, we will have completed Show 1!
-Dan
EmptyBox Theatre are just winding our evening down with some dinner in our flat, to end our first full day in Edinburgh. After the mad rush of arriving and going straight into our tech yesterday, it was quite nice to be able to wake up and head off full of breakfast and coffee for our Dress Rehearsal – but it’s been a long day!
We headed back to C aquila first thing to do our dress rehearsal, and add the finishing touches to Norman Shadowboxer ready for opening our run tomorrow morning. I had to pop into Homebase en route for supplies, and for what I imagine will be the only time I was in the queue behind a woman whose face was covered in tattoos and piercings; I think that’s the moment I truly realised just how unique being a part of the Fringe is!
The team at C aquila have been incredibly helpful over the past couple of days, and around the various jobs they’ve had to do they’ve made sure we feel welcome and supported. It helps put everyone at ease when your venue staff are so friendly, and we’re looking forward to spending a month with them! After finishing up our dress run, I headed to Fringe Central to pick up our performer passes and learn more about what they do – and to flick through the programme of events they organise. There are so many things we want to attend, but it’s proving difficult to schedule our time efficiently!
The afternoon saw the company putting some finishing touches to our set and design elements, which has left the floor of our living room cluttered with cardboard, scalpels, glue guns and – strangely – socks. It feels like a true artists community here, but whilst the other guys have been doing their arts and crafts I’ve been doing some producing – sorting out ticketing, flyering and press stuff. With all the madness of the past 48 hours, it’s actually been quite nice to just be able to sit at my laptop and play around with some spreadsheets!
With things winding down here, I’ll take the opportunity to say goodnight – the next time we post, we will have completed Show 1!
-Dan
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Day 1 - Hello, world!
EmptyBox Theatre are excited to be heading to Edinburgh, to perform at this year's Edinburgh Fringe. We're taking our debut show, 'Norman Shadowboxer' - and to mark this historic occasion, we've decided to blog daily and let you know all about our adventures!
So, a brief introduction for those of you who don't know us. EmptyBox Theatre are a new company who use puppetry, shadows and storytelling to create work for audiences young and old. Since our formation, we've been working on developing 'Norman Shadowboxer' for performance - and the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe will be the first full run of the show we've had. This is both incredibly exciting, and slightly nerve-wracking...
I'm Dan, and I'm the Producer. Although this does mean my job entails lots of paperwork, spreadsheets and marketing, I'm also very much part of the process of making our work - the whole company have creative backgrounds and work together to devise and develop ideas. You're as likely to find me in the rehearsal room coming up with ideas and offering dramaturgical input as you are at my laptop.
I'll be the main blogger here, but other company members will also contribute. Don't worry - we'll sign off our entries, so you know who's writing each entry! Other company members include:
Ronan - Artistic Director, Writer of 'Norman Shadowboxer' and performer
Naomi - Director and (occasional performer)
Lisa - Performer/Narrator
Max - Designer and performer
Liz - Puppeteer/Performer
With such different roles within the company, we'll each have our own take on things - which should make entries much more interesting!
We're currently all relaxing in our flat after a long day of travelling and teching - and we'll be up early tomorrow for our Dress Rehearsal, where the fun shall begin again...
Hope you're already looking forward to our next entry - see you folks soon!
- Dan
So, a brief introduction for those of you who don't know us. EmptyBox Theatre are a new company who use puppetry, shadows and storytelling to create work for audiences young and old. Since our formation, we've been working on developing 'Norman Shadowboxer' for performance - and the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe will be the first full run of the show we've had. This is both incredibly exciting, and slightly nerve-wracking...
I'm Dan, and I'm the Producer. Although this does mean my job entails lots of paperwork, spreadsheets and marketing, I'm also very much part of the process of making our work - the whole company have creative backgrounds and work together to devise and develop ideas. You're as likely to find me in the rehearsal room coming up with ideas and offering dramaturgical input as you are at my laptop.
I'll be the main blogger here, but other company members will also contribute. Don't worry - we'll sign off our entries, so you know who's writing each entry! Other company members include:
Ronan - Artistic Director, Writer of 'Norman Shadowboxer' and performer
Naomi - Director and (occasional performer)
Lisa - Performer/Narrator
Max - Designer and performer
Liz - Puppeteer/Performer
With such different roles within the company, we'll each have our own take on things - which should make entries much more interesting!
We're currently all relaxing in our flat after a long day of travelling and teching - and we'll be up early tomorrow for our Dress Rehearsal, where the fun shall begin again...
Hope you're already looking forward to our next entry - see you folks soon!
- Dan
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