Well, that went well

Date:30/7/11
Author: Josh

Annoyingly, I should be watching the Horrible Histories prom right now, I tried to get tickets but failed miserably by logging onto the website one minute after tickets went onsale. I was saddened by this, I really wanted to see it and it was free. Sorry to start on a negative note but I feel the blog post needs some balance...

Because the cast absolutely brought it yesterday in the preview. We played to an unexpectedly large crowd (52 by my count) and the play went down really well. Crucially, it was an audience who hadn't paid (and so had no obligation to stay), had the choice of three other simultaneous shows, and hadn't come especially for us. Basically, it was a mini Edinburgh. If we get 50 people in just once in Edinburgh it would be an incredible achievement.

It was a perfect jumping off point. The guys adapted to a tiny stage relative to the one we've been rehearsing on (and will be performing on in Edinburgh), and really worked the crowd - "Prospectus of lies" being my personal favourite moment - increasing the tempo and volume when it needed a lift and sustaining laughs well beyond the script. A lot of jokes absolutely killed yesterday, a few naturally fell slightly short of what we would have liked, but the thing that I was most pleased with was the audience: they were engaged for the entire play. I saw people leaning forward, reacting with laughter, sqeamishness (always a good sign they are actually listening) and horror at various points.

The audience were VERY close for a certain, uncomfortable scene yesterday, and I can only apologise because Peter took that opportunity to pull an astounding move of Sophie-based acrobatics a foot away from them. It was incredible. It was lucky her shoes were on properly.

Lloyd thinks you can tell everything about that night's audience based on if they laugh at one specific joke, very close to the beginning, and I'll be eager to see how true that piece of Morgan Wisdom turns out to be when we get to Scotland. I'll keep you posted. It certainly rang true last night.


So, we're perfectly poised to head up to Edinburgh. In the next few days on here we'll have the rest of the profiles up. Still to come are; Chris, Sam, Lloyd, Douglas and The I.T guy. Hopefully naming and shaming them will make them feel guilty enough to write the posts.

And finally, if you haven't seen the show, I don't suppose you'd have thought we'd have a dance number in there, but by God we managed to shoehorn one in anyway. Sam's face pretty much sums up how we're feeling this morning.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to listen to the Charles II rap from Horrible Histories and pretend I'm there.