After Anmut

Last week was very busy and successful due to my show at Arches Live. We began to install our technical on the Sunday, Monday was our company get-in and technical rehearsal and then we performed Anmut on the Tuesday and Wednesday.
The show was a huge success! I was quite worried during the first performance as the audience were as still and focused as Katy and I were on the stage. There was therefore no way of being able to judge how well the piece was being received. Interestingly on both nights we received a round of applause - at the end of the show the performers go back to pacing the room (as they did at the beginning of the show), the house lights come up and the door is opened for the audience to exit. In other words, there is no clear end to the show and no bow for the performers. However, I'm secretly quite happy we got applause each night as it showed that the audience really wanted to acknowledge their feelings.
I've also had great comments from colleagues, friends and family. LJ and Jackie from the arches were both really pleased with the piece and we got some great reviews from Mary Brennan in The Herald and Joyce McMillan in The Scotsman. See below:

http://news.scotsman.com/entertainment/Theatre-reviews-Coma--Anmut.6548145.jp
http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts-ents/stage-visual-arts/colourful-food-for-thought-1.1057152

It's now on to full concentration mode for Ditto for me. However, as I had such a positive response to Anmut, I'm hopeful that it won't be the end of the road for this piece. If you missed it - hopefully it will be on again very soon!

Trips, shows and workshops

Lots going on just now but I thought it would be useful to remember to fill in the blog.

I have two very different trips coming up soon. First up is South Africa! Still can't really believe I'm going somewhere I've always dreamed of going, but indeed I am in mid-October. It's with a children's show The Farmer's Cheese which I have been playing cello in for the last year. So far we have taken the show to Glasgow, Edinburgh, London and Southampton. South Africa therefore feels like a whole other kettle of fish! The show has been written for children with hearing impairments who wear cochlear implants, and it tells the story of a poor farmer who has his cheese stolen by a hungry wee mouse. The music was written by Oliver Searle and the other musicians are from the contemporary music ensemble, Symposia. The actors are Clare McGarry and Martin O' Connor. It's great fun and I can't wait!
The other trip I have coming up is to the Takeoff children's theatre festival in Darlington. I'll be heading there with Tony from Imaginate and I think it's going to be a good opportunity for me to market my upcoming show Ditto, and also myself. As my residency is approaching the latter stages (shhhhhhh!) I am beginning to think about what comes next. So this festival should give me an insight into the world of children's theatre outside Scotland.

All of next week I'm working in Bathgate as part of a local music festival. I have been contracted to provide several nursery/early primary music sessions throughout many schools in the area. I'm really looking forward to it and I always enjoy the challenge of working with such young children. They're such a brutally honest audience and you have to keep changing tempo and direction to keep them entertained. Having said that, it should be great fun. I plan to take my cello and melodica and to do some performances of songs whilst also using stories to enable group music-making.

Anmut is approaching very quickly. This is my show for Arches Live. I have been working really hard on it as there are so many elements to the piece. Although it is relatively short - 30 mins - and will have quite a stark aesthetic it is an extremely complex, technical piece. Myself and Katy (the two performers) will be singing live with pre-recorded singing. There is also live and pre-recorded spoken text, projection, lighting, up to 8 different microphones (standing, carried and hung) plus lots of design elements. However it is all coming together. I have recorded all the singing and text, we have found our costumes (after much searching!), and are rehearsing in our space, the playroom, at the weekend. I hope you can all make it.
http://www.thearches.co.uk/Greg-Sinclair-Anmut.htm