Thank Hazell for the Music...

Date: 30/07/2011
Author: Sophie 

Only after a rather comical, and thankfully abrupt technical hitch at the end of the show last night, did I really come to see just how important and fully incorporated music and sound has become to Killing Bill Gates.

Our wonderful composer, Scott Hazell has blogged about his music and his part in the play so do read about it here.

The show felt spectacular last night. Of course it is always difficult in the heat of the moment, as a performer, to look in any way objectively at the events that transpired but, as Peter mentioned before, there were people, they were laughing, and we felt good.

What's more important to me is never so much the laughing as the general engagement of our crowd. Now that may sound all very new media and thigh-snappingly douchey but with a play, even if it is a comedy play, an audience handles it in a manner that is completely alien to the way a crowd may handle a sketch-show or a stand-up comedian. It may be as funny as anything, or it may not be funny at all, but the strength of your story should nevertheless carry a crowd through. So, like a film, you can come out saying 'wow that was interesting/funny/intense/strange/disgusting/crap' etc and everybody's reaction is different because the nature of a 'narrative' means that anybody can take what they like from it. It does not live or die by reaction to what can effectively be boiled down to as 'gags'.

That's what I love about performing Killing Bill Gates, to me (and I can say this, I didn't write it), it is very funny. It is knowing, biting, at times completely, brilliantly disgusting and at others incredibly subtle and politicised. But the comedy is part of the overall story, which at times becomes incredibly intense and at one point, violent. The test is the audience's reaction to this transition. We all know an unnatural or jarring leap from comedic to violent (especially onstage violence) can often be painful to watch or cringe worthy because something about it doesn't feel right. But I believe....and really, truly hope...that we have that balance right. I say this...we might get a review saying our 'tone was all over the place' but, hey ho...I wouldn't want to be in something I didn't believe in and boy oh boy I believe in this play. Regardless of what anyone else may think or write.

But yeah, I didn't mean to go on and on like an English teacher. Brevity isn't my strong suit. But essentially it went very well. So incredibly thrilling to perform and an inexplicable amount of joy felt at realising that a group of 50+ people, only ten of whom we actually knew, were thoroughly enjoying what we were giving them. This is a London crowd too. Discerning culture vultures compared to most 'locales'.

Bring on Edinburgh. Don't think that can be said enough.