BUILDING BLOCKS by Bob Larbey

Margaret Tomlinson (Director)

discusses her production for Doncaster Little Theatre with

Nancy Waite (Publicity)

BACKGROUND

The Doncaster Little Theatre

opened its doors to the public in

March 1995 After 30 years of

successfully producing three plays a year in the town centres ivic

Thea tre the Doncaster Literary Society decided to break away and with the support of patrons and members start their own theatre

It was a momentous decision and displayed teamwork at its v ery

best Committees were formed and priority jDb lists compiled Almost

everyone contributed and bit by painful bit the dilapidated

warehouse developed into the busy 104-seater theltre it is today The

premises are now used not only by The Lit - an averagp of twelve

shows produced each yeiH - but by many other theatrical groups as well and the theatre is rarely dark

All this activity has required even further recruitment of members an skills being gratefully welcDmed bu t we feel we ltHe getting there and have learned much through Dur mistakes All in all we are very

well accepted in the community and look forward to continued success particularly in

encouraging the young peDple Df the tDwn to become involved in theatre At present well over 100

young people (aged 10 to 18 years) participate in workshops on Saturdays in addition to performing their own productiDns

Because Df the number of plays

produced each year new producers are always being sought and in 1996 I was asked tD direct a Play Reading before attempting a full production in the spring of this

year The plays I read in preparation for this included Bob Larbeys BUILDING BLOCKS I was immediately captivated by his wonderful sense Df humour and his characterisation Df the sort of

people we all encounter in

everyday life

PLOT

BUILDING BLOCKS is the story Df

Jim and Mary Baxter WhD

desperately want a baby but

because nothing is happening

decide to have an extension built

on to their house Sadly they employ the builders from hell along with the elusive David their

contractor David is a master at

inventing spectacular stories tD

carpen ter whose w ife ha~ I - adds a further 0 m humorous and sometimtshydimension to the plot Alter hilarious rows Mary an finally see the comple tion extension and their dream true when they realis middot fa pregnant The buildcrs lea t shy

the happy couple r( lise Lhe~ actually miss them

So a funny story with coil characters and a very h1 ending The audiences s igh J t middot

recall familiar experien ce smile as they enjoy the gDod f of a well-written pla ooz gloriDus gentle humour

CASTING shy

My choice of play created probl in that I needed five men 1 od

woman Our society like nu others suffers from a lack of ou men however my son a but himself suggested one f brickies could be cast as i gir took up this idea and the par Piper a name of no gender bull played by a WDman A experienced member read and securer the part while B was given to a young man suited the character perfectl had kicked off Then the ben was cast as Mark changed his after ten days of rehearsals and ( person playing Jim wa s gh promDtion and had to give up ~

part

I now had a real problem Th t p already in rehearsal had three our very experienced male actor- it so I had no alternative but to rre _ round and recruit some nl members who incidentally j

never even heard read let ala seen act I soon realised tha t th hurdles were only a few of many encDuntered when puttir _ on an amateur productiDn Tr yDUng man finally cast as t-la was plucked from our Young L group and husband Jinl became new recruit who developed intC

SEPTEMB 6

wonderful wimp - just what I wanted This only left David to cast - again a new recruit but one with acting experience Finally I had my cas t

REHEARSALS

Rehearsals were at first scheduled for three times a week The initial rehearsa ls were used for discussing individual characters which needed establishing from the start in a play of this nature We gradually added more and more business particularly for the two brickies and carpenter Mary Jim and David soon developed into very definite people - a bossy moody woman a wimpish husband and an ineffectual businessman The new recruits gave me the greatest concern but they grew into their parts beyond my expectations We finally got into the theatre for the last rehearsals ten days before opening but the completion of the set took longer than anticipated so the cast had to adjust and rehearse in less than ideal conditions

I have to say at this point that I think rehearsa l time is a time of grea t development We all learn if we are humble enough and benefit greatly from each others experience and support Our rehearsa l period was hard work but also great fun I feel I got my rehearsal period right - its no good rehearsing your cast into the ground they need time to polish lines and ponder their characters In all amilteur groups people also have demanding jobs and none of us can give our bes t if exhausted

SET BUILDING AND DESIGN

Six weeks to dress rehearsal and I have to turn 800ft of 3x2 and 15 sheets of hardboard into a jigsaw of 8ft pieces with windows and a door When Ive done that it shou ld look like a house with an extension One week before curtain up and 800ft of timber is on its way from the construction bay along with flooring timber for the top deck hardboard tools nails screws paint door windows - windows Where are the windows What do you mea n we only howe two We re supposed to have five Send one of the props people to scour the country for three free windows

It was particularly import1Ilt that the last scene change the one that turns the appearance of a builders yard into a house with an extension went really smoo thly Only two niggles how long would that scene change take and how difficult would it be to build the se t up into the theatre roof I had to bear in mind that the set would be at leas t 16ft high and it would reach the 30Q

pitch of the roof thats after we had built around the Lighting bars speaker sys tem steel framework and everything else that would be in the way

Time moves on and as we head towards lunchtime the bottom floor is basically up and the upper floor is being fixed in order that we can work on the upstairs section I have made the decision that the extension end of the building will be fastened in such a manner that it can be lifted like a drawbridge each night and slide-bolted to hold it in place The extension end wiB also be covered in builders plastic where possible to cover up an already finished building until the last scene change

As the afternoon wears on I continue to put together the rest of the upstairs section By 630 pm the place is once again alive with bodies and the set begins to look like the picture thats been in my head for weeks Midnight - call it a day 630 pm the following day - fix that glue this tack that move that tape that nail this

SEPTEMBER

Check the set from all angles - OK Margaret you ca n have it

LIGHTING amp SOUND

Lighting a set which was 16ft in height was quite a challenge We had to achieve the same level of lighting for the lower half of the outside of the house as we did for the upper half and it took 36 lanterns to make it work 16 were used for a sunny day setting and 16 for a cool summers day setting Sound was mqch more simple shythe usual effects dictated by the sound plot were played back throUgl1 CD and the noise of the workmen inside the extension was captured by secretly recording our own members building the set on the Sunday of production week One clever idea we used was to house a loud-speaker inside the set to make sure that it sounded as though the builders were actually in there when in reality the set was empty

The music chosen to open the production was that of Shakin Stevens This Old House For the scene change in Act I and the first two scene changes in Act II a piece by Flanders and Swan was used entitled The Gas Man Cometh Like the scenes in the production the so ng deals with problems that can be encountered when building work takes place For the final scene the more lyrical song The Folks That Live on the Hill by Peggy Lee was used

PROPERTIES

After an initial discussion with the stage manager it seemed there could be one rea l problem - 1 brace of pheasa nts needed for one scene There is a very good fish market only about 100 yards from the thea tre where pheasants are plentiful However it was quite the wrong season so we contemplated making model ones but as they figured quite prominently in the play it was felt that real ones would be more effective A friendly gamekeeper WilS

finally located who offered to supply thE pheasants with many assurances that they would last for ten days without becoming too smelly By the sixth day however they were humming and we had to beg for more - these did see us through to the end of the run

CONCLUSION

We played to 70 audiences over four nights and a full house to my great deLight for three nights I feel we had a lot going for us for my first production - a weLlshyliked and recognised writer and a funny inoffensive play withe everyone happy and comfortable with the content I also gave new members a chance which in turn brought in a new audience On a personal level J was very happy with the end result and delighted to have made new friends - theres nothing Like the bonding developed when a producer says Much better do it again By the end of the run as always happens the clever cast were putting in bits of their own so maybe I shouldnt be too smug Jt was a golden moment for me nevertheless

ALL SCRIPTS SCORES AND LIBRETTI FEATURED IN

THE PLAY PRODUCED AND THE MUSICAL PRODUCED

CAN BE OBTAIN~D FROM

TEL 0171-837-5655 FAX 0171-833-0609

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