Thoughts from the rehearsal room...Actor Peter Corboy shares his experience of rehearsing our new show 'Far Away From Me'
What’s the toe hang? That’s where Emily and Elaine climb up the poles of the massive four poster bed currently dominating the auditorium of The Ark and hang from the top by their toes. No hands. Just toes. The first time they did it I had to sit down, just for a second, and take a little breath. Of course, opening night is this Thursday and I’m so used to this kind of thing by now that if the girls suggested hanging from their noses I wouldn’t bat an eyelid – none of us would. It’s the new normal.
“Ok guys, let’s take it from the toe hang again and run all the way through to the end of the chase!”
For the past two days we’ve been ‘teching’ the show – after three or so weeks of working with the text, we get to see it all with lights, sound and costume thrown into the mix. It’s a long and hard process - one which sees everyone in the room seesaw from quietly calm one moment to borderline insane the next as we stop and start, stop and start, trying to figure out what cue goes where and what light turns on when. It was during one of our calmer moments today that I got the chance to reflect on everything that’s happened over the past month.
Niamh, who plays my Mam amongst a host of other characters in the show, was upstairs in the kitchen making industrial strength tea in an industrial sized teapot – enough for everyone to have a cup – and stealing us all some biscuits from The Ark’s ever dwindling supply. Elaine and Emily, the two aerialists, were dangling from the rafters somewhere overhead, just lounging there like cats. I was sitting on the side of the stage staring at my hands and thinking how funny it is that when I think of all that’s changed over the past month, the first thing that springs to mind are them. I have calluses on my hands now. Cool. I take a bizarre pride in that- as if these calluses are finally proof that theatre makers are a tough crowd, like lumberjacks or sailors. As if now, after all these years, theatre can take its rightful place beside shark fishing and bear wrestling. I joke, but it’s only really in looking at those calluses, and feeling the rough skin on my palms and fingers do I realise – gosh, this has been really tough work. It’s very easy to think that doing a play for young people is somehow going to be easier than a show ‘for adults’, but in reality the complete opposite is true. Far Away from Me is the first play I’ve done that has left each of its cast members with an assortment of bumps, bruises and scrapes to show for it, that leaves us sweating buckets at the end of each run. That’s left me with calluses on my hands. Happy calluses. Rewarding calluses. Calluses to be proud of. It’s a testament to Amy, our director, that she’s able to keep a handle on all of us. As we run, jump, and climb around the stage, Amy’s able to make sense of it all, and has mashed everything together- the lights, sound, aerial performers and actors- into what I think we can all believe is a pretty stellar show.
As tiring as tech is, it’s a hugely exciting process. It’s the last thing that needs to be done before we get to open the doors of The Ark to the public and schools, and invite everyone in to this world we’ve created, to this story we’re going to tell. Ok, maybe we didn’t catch any sharks or wrestle any bears to make it, but some of us do hang from the ceiling from our toes, so that’s close enough.
Peter Corboy can be seen in Far Away From Me at The Ark from 12 Feb-15 March 2015