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Its been a while since I blogged about the play, mainly because I have been busy directing it and preparing the improv course which kicked off last week. Things have been busy in our virtual hospital!

As you can see from above, we now have a poster. The poster was designed once again by Grainne O’Sullivan, whose unique style is embedded in all of her work. Once you have your poster, in many ways things start to feel real. You have in print, the date you are aiming toward. There’s no going back!

I was delighted when esteemed No Drama member Patrick O’Callaghan offered his services with the set. Aside from being a fantastic actor (having starred in many of our productions), Patrick is a talented graphic designer and artist. It is very reassuring having him on board. He only really had 2 questions for me. “What is your vision?” and “whats the split with reality and arty?” With my answers in tow, he went off to his design lair and came back with I would consider a ‘better-than-I-could-have-possibly-imagined’ set design.

The actors have being embracing their characters nicely. I like to impose an earlier than expected script ban, which much to the rhubarb rhubarb of the actors, allows me to get stuck into the finer detail of directing sooner. Not to mention gently encourage them to learn their lines sooner! Each actor brings a uniqueness to their character that no other actor obviously can and its my job to ensure that the chemistry between the actor and character is correct so that the chemistry between character and character is perfect.

I’m also quite fortunate to have people from the medical profession involved in the production both in the cast and crew. It has allowed for a more accurate portrayal of the characters and the environment they are in. From Brian becoming to dab hand at adminstering injections, to Saskia and Ellen becoming experts at muscle manipulation, I’m sure we’d get a few exemptions from medical school!

With every project comes challenges and obstacles. I start a production with a list in my head of obstacles to be removed, boxes to be ticked. Fortunately for me, the commitment of the cast and crew has eliminated many of those challenges in recent weeks. As a result my blood pressure has reduced and the colour returned to my face. That being said, there is one ongoing enormous challenge in PR and publicity. This will be the largest capacity venue to date that No Drama Theatre have utilized. (If we exclude of course Electric Picnic and Body & Soul Festival; we did have a helping hand there!) We will be pulling many PR exercises and publicity stunts out of the hat for this one! (More on this to follow over the coming weeks!)

We have 6 weeks to go before curtains. Its an exciting time for us. We’re not far off having blocked and locked! From then, it will be run through after run through until it becomes a natural rhythm!

So today was our first rehearsal for Whose Life Is It Anyways? It has been an exciting yet challenging few weeks for me as I had some strong auditions to mull over and casting decisions to make. It’s fair to say that assistant director Brendan, along with Vonnie and Christine who sat in on all the auditions shared the challenge as we had lengthy discussions about casting.

But decisions were made and the cast was confirmed!

Ken Harrison – Kevin O’Flynn
Dr. Emerson – Brian Quinn
Dr. Scott – Sophie Van Het Erve
Sister Anderson – Saskia Carroll
Nurse Sadler – Ellen Hallinan
John – Shane Robinson
Gillian Boyle – Pearl O’Rourke
Andrew Eden – Harry Walsh
Dr. Travers – Cathal O’Donovan
Dr. Barr – Albin Lahore
Phillip Hill – Alan Rogers
Ms. Kershaw – Sinead Dunphy
Justice Millhouse – Ken Ryan

The ensemble brings a mix of hardened No Drama veterans and more recent members who will be making their No Drama debut but the talent amongst all is strong.

Today’s rehearsal consisted of some warm up exercises and a full read through of the script. One of the warm up exercises is taken from my briefcase of improv games, which tests people’s memory, concentration and teamwork skills! There was much giggling and laughing as the cast struggled with the game, however as the rehearsal process goes on, I’m sure they will be dab hands come show time!

The read through went well and it was great to start to see things moving along. I’m looking forward now to getting the blocking done. (or to use a less technical term, directing!)

One faux pas of mine today, I brought my camera to the rehearsal with the purpose of taking cast shots. But I forgot to take pics. I hope my cast will better at remembering lines than I am at remembering to take photos!

So No Drama Theatre is in pre-rehearsal’s with our current production of Whose Life Is It Anyway? by Brian Clare. (Subject to performance license) The privilege of directing has fallen to me, and its something I’m excited to be doing once again. The production will hit the stage in May. Inspired by the blog of esteemed No Drama Theatre colleague, Dave McGowan, I have decided to follow in his footsteps and blog the journey from script to stage. You can read Dave’s original blog here.

Whose Life Is It Anyway? was written in the 70′s and focuses on the plight of Ken Harrison. A talented man who has been left a paraplegic following a horrific car accident. He has become physically helpless with no movement below his neck. Ken decides his life is already over, and embarks on a legal battle to take control of his life and thus, the choice to end it. The play was made into a film in 1981 which starred Richard Dreyfuss in the role of Harrison.

Today we kicked of the first day of auditions in our usual No Drama haunt, and as with all our productions, there were a mix of new and old faces showcasing their talents. Joining me in the crew is Brendan Dalton as Assistant Director and Christine Leonard as Production Manager. Brendan is no stranger to the stage, having performed in a number of No Drama Theatre productions as well as directing in our bi-annual Shindig. Christine was Production Manager on our previous production, Arthur Miller’s Resurrection Blues, and made it look easy! I’m looking forward to working with the team as the production goes on.

We have 13 roles to fill. All bringing challenges with each one. But its going to be exciting production as not only do we take on a topic that is regularly featured in the news and media, but we take on a play that is a hardcore drama. The play brings many challenges to the performers, in particular the role of Harrison where nearly all of his person will remain lifeless throughout the play! Lets hope he doesn’t get an itchy nose during the show!

I have a vision in my head for what I want to achieve with the production and while the play has not been cast, it would be unfair on those involved in the auditions if I was reveal that at this point. But I will reveal more in a future post.

So this is page 1. We have another day of auditions on Tuesday and from there we will go through call backs. I’ll update the blog regularly with the hashtag #whoselife?