Friday 13th August - Showtime

The fact thursday audience was bigger is irrelevant . During the fringe there are 200000000000000 shows on to compete with , so getting 40ish was still awesome . A different group tonight . More focussed , less nervous , less critical and more interested in the people performing . The show was better than last night , if that's possible . I nearly shed a tear and considering I've seen the thing till I'm blue in the face , this is a pretty good compliment . Coming to the end of yet another project fills me with mixed emotions , but like I said yesterday , no one can take this away this away from us now . It's there . It's been done . It's been fucking conquered . Give a dog will always have a special place in my heart and guess what , for thise of you reading this journal , never fear , I can't let it slip that quickly . This bad boy will be performed again . One day . Hopefully with the same cast . Thank you guys . You made my dream come true

Thursday 12th August - Showtime

There is something sentimental about this piece of writing . Whether it's because it was my first ever play or whether it's just because it's so close to home I'm not sure , but something about it touches me in ways no other piece of writing I've constructed does . I cannot faulter the performance tonight in any way shape or form . Everyone was awesome from start to finish . I wanted to prove a point to people with this piece . Monologues can be written and performed to enhance the play . No one would know there were 14 or 15 monologues because they were so well implimented into the piece . It has a feeling of completeness this play . A feeling of really feeling for the character and wanted to run on stage and hug him . Everyone does this piece justice tonight and for that I commend them . One last push tommorow guys and I'll be the proudest director alive

Wednesday 11th August - Tech rehearsal

As far as Techs go , this was by a mile the smoothest I've ever encountered . One can throw anything at the ever reliable Ali and he always delivers . There was some complicated scene changes and some pretty tough lighting , but it went very smoothly and only took a couple of hours . The invention of bucket ball was definately the highlight of the day . All in all this is a short journal because quite frankly there is nothing to report from today . Nothing apart from a delicate smile

Monday 9th August - Full run - Time - 1:47

A spellbinding , cintilating , emotional , couragous , ambitious , remarkable , powerful , provocative , energetic , educational , moving , thought provoking , charasmatic and all the other fucking words in the dictionary with a similar type of meaning . These are words I use to describe what I witnessed in tonights run . It's been a long , quick process ( oh , juxtopsition of contradictory terms ) which has brought about the converging of four highly talented and ambitious actors . What I witnessed made me proud . It gave me a rush , a feeling of joy because I am amazed what can be achieved when someone puts hard work in . There is not a lot more I can say about tonight . Apart from a few niggles , the run went swimmingly and time flew bye . So easy to get emotionally engaged in the storyline . I said at the start , this would only work if everyone believed and I felt tonight everyone believed . Well done guys . Great job

Thursday 5th August

Although I have said it before ( probably on numerous occasions ) I definately mean it this time . Every time I have put on a show , there is always a defining moment . A small feeling where I believe it is capable of blowing people away . That moment came today . I witnessed focus , concentration , belief in characters , flawless portrayal of characters ( well , apart from someones shoes ) . Everything I wanted to see from the run I got and for this everyone should be commended . I feel Lorne and ross may have been harsh on themselves about the final scene . People forgetting lines seems to emotionally control their overall feeling of the performance . The last scene was marvelous at times . It really was . I have no doubt that both will look over their lines again and justify to themselves where these mistakes came from . I feel that Monday will be an interesting day . This show really deserves a great audience and I hope it gets one . No one can say this isn't a great piece of theatre . People may not like it , but noone can say it's not great because what I watch it awesome . Well done guys

Monday 2nd August

Well , the very word August is enough to send shivers down the spine . Not neccesarily bad shivers , but just shivers . It has been a very hard and seemingly quick process . I feel we have achieved a great amount in such a short space of time and the progression of the characters has been sublime . Everyone has pulled together to create this piece of theatre and I'm very proud . I feel this cast as a whole has a great stage presence . Putting on theatre has as much to do with the mixture of the company as it does the performance itself . Tonights run was left me with mixed emotions . On the one hand I witnessed some incredible moments and on the other hand I witness some things that have to be worked on . This is why it's called rehearsals after all . Overall everyone should be proud of tonights run and what they achieved.

 Thursday 29th July 

 A very productive four hour session . topping and tailing , going over certain physical pieces , working on the end and we even managed to throiw a small run of 5-7 in there , which I have to say looked sublime . The standard has really picked up . Everyone is feeling alooking more confident in their own ability and characteristics . Credit to Ross for how well he has done with learning all those lines . Monday should be an exciting rehearsal . An almost full run is on the cards 

Monday 26th July

Hooray! the play is finally blocked . The last couple of scenes are very intense and definately needed in terms of the overall complexity of the piece . The second half is just action after action . It's that time I guess when One must be fully focused on the task at hand

 Monday 19th July

A solid day of rehearsing vigorously with just Kate and John . I feel a huge amount was achieved .It's always helpful having an audience , because both Sara and Ross up their game slightly . It's very comforting knowing I'm working with actors who grasp the moment when put in front of an eager set of theatre goers . Currentlt , I'm still seeing too much of a freindship instead of two characters relationships , but this was definately a progression and with three weeks to go until the show , this should just continue to blossom . On the cusp of finishing blocking and then bobs your uncle fannys your aunt , it will be show time . Again

Thursday 15th July

Running 1-6 today clocked at 1:05 . The time flew , which is never a bad sign . The first four scenes I witnessed a progression , a forward thinking of realism , character building  , confidenced and ability to hold the audience when bellowing out such emotional , invigorating monologues and controversial sentences . The last two scenes faultered a bit due to lines and what not , but this is ok . 1-4 is definately ready for production . This is one of the first times I have really felt the play is evolving the way I want . Blocking 7 and 8 today was fascinating and with some touching and dangerous blocking I feel these two parts can grip the audience and pull them through to the tragic finally . Another excellent day.

Monday 12th July

The blocking of scene six seems some what due . It has been a while since the audience have enjoyed the boistrous attitude of Calum . This part presents a different challenge and a far more enhanced mindset for the audience . John is looking for a way out and in achieveing this he has to decieve his friend . Blocking is difficult and believability will be vital from both involved . The significance of John not turning up armed is engaging and convincing and also his attitude towards a blood relative proves he is well on his way to change . Improvisations are a blessing when producing any show and this is something I will carry with me every time I direct . Humour and a mixture of finess are always present . Over and above this , ross was presented with the hot seat challenge . He handled this very well and with a collaboration of abusive and controversial questions from the panel , managed to convey the real John and brought his vulnerabilities to life . 8 minutes in total he sat there and never faultered for a second . Good man

Thursday 8th July

Ross very kindly reminded me last night of the serious lack of time we had until the show . So far I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of working had on one part every rehearsal and enjoying excercises etc . This excitement may have to be trimmed slightly in order to power on with the blocking . In terms of yesterday , all went really well . Kate and Brian have be re - introduced to the play and both has completely different points to get across . Was hugely impressed with part five considering it was blocked today and although running the first half of the play was rather scarely looking at my watch and seeing 55 mins , it was also very exciting to know time can fly so quickly when enjoying and feeling gripped to a storyline . Keep up the hard work guys , it's certainly falling into place.

Monday 5th July

Running the first 30 minutes of the play , mostly off book ( for this I have to congratulate everyone ) was very intriguing . What I witnessed was a huge progression of belief and confidence in all of the characters and they each individually bring to the production . The cycological factor that I have to get over , is coming to terms with how different a show this is to apathy . More serious and more poignent . This is in my eyes more difficult to act . People might disagree with me in saying this , but I believe comedy is easier than serious . It takes a good actor and a good script to make someone laugh , but it takes a great actor to make someone cry . As ever , a very productive day . Didn't have the time to really get emotionally involved with scene four , but nonetheless blocked it as best as could be and like what I've seen . Half of the play should be blocked after thursday and then I can sit back and honestly assess where I feel we're at . So far so good

Thursday 1st July

I really wanted to have a group discussion about mondays controversial excercise , but a mixture of Mark being left out and feardom of the effect i was aware it had on Lorne , made me decide against this . I'm happy scene three has been blocked . It now means all the characters in the play have been introduced and everyone in the cast has a rough idea of what others are about . The thing with producing a show is that some parts automatically come to life and others struggle to find there feet . The first scene felt a tad static today , however , on a positive note , the lines were good and the characters had certainly progressed . Because there is no immediate physical destination , this scene will have to be conquered through John and Calums on stage relationship and Ross and Lornes ability to hold the audience throughout the nine or so minutes . Once the batons are in place , the lines are spot on and both of them are confident about the journey and psyche of the character , I am confident that all will come to life and everything will come together smoothly . To contradict previous statements , all are doing a great job and I'm very happy with the dynamics in the cast . There is a great feel about the company as a whole and hopefully this can shine through in the eventual performance

Monday 28th June

The thing about theatre is , people can only achieve realism through risk taking . Sometimes this risk taking can border on dangerous and emotional . An excercise with Lorne today ended up on the periphery of this level of emotional realism . Confussion from the outset , led to continous awkwardness and somewhat malevolent feeling surrounding the rehearsal room . The contents of the excercise are irrelevant , but the outcome was also neither succesful or unsuccesful , only weird and distasteful . Maybe not for me,sara and ross , but for Lorne , who found himself the subject of a untested set of circumstances , was left with a lingering , confussion plastered on his face . I feel that this may linger in him beyond today , and also he will question the importance of this and how it can help with the progression of his character . Although the primary objective was not fully achieved , something other came out on top . A test of Lornes personality and how far his emotional boundaries can be stretched...as well as this , we blocked scene two , which is actually my favourite in the whole play . Things are progressing slowly but surely . Good

Thursday 24th June - First Give a dog rehearsal

Strange , beggining a new piece so soon after apathy, but those involved in both seemed to have adapted with relevant ease . Today we packed in a huge amount of anger excercises and text work , eventually putting the first scene on it's feet . The earlier times feel more natural and leave plenty of time for those working . I enjoy the chalenge that lorne and ross will prevail . Playing characters out of their comfort zone , but as before I am fully confident they can adapt . I would'nt have cast them otherwise . This experience will be more frantic and less chilled out , due to a lack of rehearsal time . Doing a more serious piece seems to rub off on everyone and make us all act more seriously . In the back of everyones mind , we are all aware of the lack of time , but after todays rehearsal , I'm nearly 100% confident the 1/10 scenes would be suitable for live performance . Lots of work , but relishing the up and coming highs and lows . Keep up the good work folks . Poor sara . The only female in the cast . Again

Monday 21st June - Give a dog read-through

It's only two days ago that apathy finished and suddenly I find myself sitting in a rehearsal room , with a give a dog script minus gary and harry and plus ross . How strange the theatre world is . People come and people go .You make freindships . Some of them last , some of them are purely professional , but nine times out of ten , the project and experience entailed will last with you forever . The read through went relatively well . Just how I imagined . Lot's of work to do in very little time . We will rise to the challenge though . We always do . Looking forward to a new journey , with a new script , a new set of people , a new vibe around the rehearsal room , but definately not a lack of gags and teabags