From The Director’s Chair… #whoselife?

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?