May 24th - First Show After The 'Weekend'

so we had two days off which was rather weird but it was great to reconvene, those of the principle cast that don't live within the e.midlands all went home to recharge batteries, see family, mow the lawn that sort of thing, but thankfully all returned on time and refocused for the show. i had a friend in to watch tonight, i went through the show hoping they'd enjoy it and that my role as an extra and the other extras was convincing.

Victoria Yeates who plays Ragna Monson and Selma Bratsberg said of tonights show "i really enjoyed tonight, i feel the show is growing, as it should, in a relaxed manner"

May 21st - The World Hasnt Ended Just Yet So Time For Another Show!

Tonight we had a bigger audience, maybe the prophecy of impending doom and rapture encouraged people to see some first class theatre before the end, also tonight we had 13 extras which made us all a lot happier and the show went very well, we all had a deserved drink after before our 2 day break.

fellow extra Robert Goll said of his experience "it was very enjoyable, the 10 time through! everything went well, personally im marveling at how the glasses left at the first scene change, seem to be breeding, the show is good i really like it, tonight it was good to be back to full numbers extra wise"

May 21st - The Day The World Ends...Apparently But First The Matinee!

well todays matinee audience weren't bad, for a matinee, i'm starting to figure out how many people we'll get on certain days, extras wise we had 8 the lowest we can and would have, hopefully like last time we'd keep the energy up!

Debra Stewart who plays Madam Rundholm said of this afternoon's show "My family were here this afternoon and they were really impressed with the clarity of our voices and how incredibly strong the cast was as an ensemble, i was nervous because of the family but also relieved that all the messages we were trying to convey came across"

May 20th - The Show I Wasnt There

unfortunately i had to miss this show as i had to go to my boring job of stacking shelves and sitting on the till, i missed being on the stage but i no the show was in good hands.

Fellow extra Natasha Stewart said of her experience "i felt that the audience were receptive, and this enhanced the actors performances which as always were brilliant, i'm thoroughly enjoying the experience of this play and looking forward to the rest of the shows "

May 19th - The Thursday Evening Show

tonight we had our smallest audience, this could be because of the same idea i had for wednesdays low audience, i dunno, this my first professional show, as i have said, and so the trends of audiences through the week is something to think about, again my role in the play didn't change tonight and to be honest it didn't feel to me like wed done already that day though, physically it did as i came over tired during the interval, a note to rest/relax more during the break on matinee days maybe!

Chris Nayak who plays Bastian Monson and Erik Bratsburg said of tonight's show "today was the first day with 2 shows, and its a bit weird, feels like groundhog day, the shows starting to settle now, we have a confidence in what we are doing, its relaxed but also energized at the same time, i thought they we had a really nice audience, small but perfectly formed"

May 19th - The First Matinee of The Rest of Our Lives

today was the first matinee of the shows run and ill be honest there were more people there then i expected about 150 again, but what made this show have a special twist is that my old tutor was in the audience with his current 1st years so i wanted to impress him ill be truthful and lucky i was sat in front of him so tried my best to include his row as much as i could, the run went without hitches and was enjoyable as always

Russell Bentley who plays Dr Fjeldbo said of this afternoon's show "i felt the show was quite good, everyone in the audience was listening, the cues were good, the overall attention was good! i felt pretty happy with how it went, its starting to get a nice rhythm, a nice momentum and pace going"

May 18th - The First Night of The Rest of Our Lives

it was always gonna be apparent that during the run that my part of the blog post would start to get progressively smaller and smaller as, talking about the same thing over and over wouldn't make for good blog etiquette, so i guess ill be keeping this to a minimum, tonight's audience was its lowest yet about 150, from what Philip Bretherton said about a monday audience the same kind of thinking could be applied to a wednesday's audience, its middle of the week, you could say people are indecisive but who knows, the show went well, and the smaller but still appreciative audience still enjoyed it a lot!

Robin Kingsland who plays Monson said of last nights show "I enjoyed it! One of the hardest things for me personally, in this show is that I have a couple of big chunks then a few breaks and there's a tendency to over think things during these breaks but tuesday night I just relaxed and enjoyed being the character and more so tonight and in turn there's less stress. I like getting to that point that I'm not thinking anymore.

May 17th - Press Night

If i wasn't nervous before i sure should be tonight, my first ever professional press night, i've been reviewed in edinburgh before for the festival, so for the principles i could only imagine they must be feeling something ten fold. Tonight's audience was a good size id say around the same as saturday night, before the show there was a nice surprise, a broadcast to the audience that was new, now i don't no if this was just for press night, but i would hope it features for the rest of the run because it was fun and helped get people in the mood. I had a few friends watching tonight so was conscious of them whilst on stage and hoped that they were enjoying the play as much as we all were enjoying doing it!

fellow extras Liam Butlin said of his experience "As far as birthdays go, I couldn't have asked for anything better than being on stage with everyone for press night. There was quite a buzz in the audience, as there always seems to be, and they were laughing in all the right places. I think everyone was feeling the pressure of the night, principals and supers' alike, but all in all, I think it made for our best performance yet."

Sam Callis who plays Stensgard said of last nights show "It went very well, i felt that it was really tight and the audience response was good, i think it was the best its been. The audience understood it and related to my character how i wanted them to and how Giles wanted them to, the relevance of the play, for today, came across. Now we sit and see what the reviews say.

May 16th - 3rd and Final Preview Show

A new week begins, a long week actually and a hope of more of the same please, the shows run had a days break in the schedule which was weird, first time for me personally that i've been in a show where this has happened, i just wanted to be on stage on my 'day off' but the next day came around quickly, today the extras would be back up to strength 12 tonight instead of 8 and subconsciously i relaxed knowing that with more of us the work load would be shared. I was doing the same things i had done in the first 2 shows and so didn't have to worry so much, although there is always a chance of complacency when doing the same role every night, and a part of me wonders if ill get to do something a lil different one night just to keep the adrenalin pumping, the audience in number were somewhere between 1st and 2nd preview, who seemed to enjoy it and were in fine voice.

fellow extra Alexandra Bradley said of her experience "I was really glad to be back last night, with the lovely cast & crew. There was a real buzz in the audience, especially for the first scene when we all went up on stage. It seemed to go down really well. The principals were, as always superb and overall, it was another brilliant night!" alex can be found on twitter @swanga.

Philip Bretherton who plays Chamberlain Bratsberg said of last nights show "Coming back after the weekend always adds a frisson of fear, you have this nervous energy, which could be thing or bad thing depending on if you remember where to stand etc. Monday night audiences are also different, a Saturday night audience are having a night out at the end of the week but Monday is the start of the working week so there is always chance of a different reaction, but tonight they reacted well. All in all I am happy with how it turned out"

May 14th - 2nd Preview Show

And so a new day a new show the 2nd preview with one already under our belts to a paying and respectably sized audience today us extras would go from a good high number of 13 to a low of 8 people so what was needed from us was more energy, for that energy to be sustained, for voices to be heard, to be louder, to compensate and for most part i think we did it but one scene we could of been more vocal, and in another there were some missed cues which didn't effect the actors, it didn't mess up anything they were doing but for part of the scene i was on, on my own and maybe to the audience it might of looked a bit bare, as it should of been busy to help the context of the scene, but these things cant be helped they happen and we move on, we take note and improve the next show. the audience we had tonight was nearly double the size of the first preview and were much more vocal, there were many more laughs which is always a good thing.

Fellow extra Sally Nix said of her experience "Tonight, everyone seemed to have second night jitters, which meant that the tough tracks scene was even worse, but that show business! It was still an enjoyable night and the audience laughed in all the right places, they were called an 'intelligent' audience by Jon Rumney who plays Daniel Heire" sally can be found on twitter @sallydramarcher

May 13th - 1st Preview Show

First night, a buzz of excitement amongst us extras, time to put all our hard work into practice, how would the audience react would they get it, would they like the play? would they find it funny, laugh in all of the right places, i hoped for all this and more, we had an audience of 250 or so spread around evenly in the stalls, and they gave off a good vibe, created a good atmosphere to act in, no one got any thing wrong and all cues were on time, i thoroughly enjoyed it, even if i was sat dead centre at the back in full view for most of a scene [no leg jigging this time!] it felt special to me to be part of a premier play, commemorated by some fantastic programme's/scripts which will forever hold this night in its memory.

fellow extra Nick Newman said of his experience "The league of youth, a fantastic opportunity that the joys of doing are pay in themselves. To work with such a welcoming and friendly cast (professional and non) is a privilege that I shall never take for granted. The show resembles much of the current political state in our own country and pokes fun at that and itself. We extras are a good solid team and although we have no real speaking lines we make up for that with presence. This chance to appear on such a stage for this Ibsen's first real premiere in England is a once in a lifetime moment. One which I will always be proud of, one which I will never forget. To Stensguard!" nick can be find on twitter @Nicotine_Nick

May 13th - 2nd Dress Rehearsal‏

today thankfully after thursdays long session we had a slightly later call, 11:15 in fact, which gave us all time to rest and recuperate. To start the session we had notes, this is something that is always essential and very helpful. Now something that would come apparent in the 2nd dress notes was that during one scene of the run through i was sat on stage dead middle and unbeknown to me i was jigging my leg all the way through. now knowing this during the next performance i could do something about it! so after notes and after going over a few spots with the pro company we got ready for the 2nd dress which went well, no leg jigging and also done well with a small extras company of 8 the lowest number we would have! This is it then no more rehearsing, time for the show, here we go!

Promo Time!

May 12th - Last Tech and then Dress Rehearsal!‏

today would be the longest day in my life, the call this morning was 9:45 and knowing that the actual dress wasn't till 7 o'clock that evening i saw a very long day ahead of me but i would persevere i would get through it and if there was another chance of a spread like the last two days then boy was i gonna make it, so with two tech sessions the first from 10am - 12:50am and the 2:15pm - 5:15pm finishing looking at the final scenes of the play going over any issues there were and break for an hour for lunch and supper to relax, eat, refocus, the half call for the dress finally came around no going back now, okay i wont lie the dress run did go a bit jittery its to be expected, those last bits to be fleshed out and niggles to get out of the system but it was good to finally get a whole run in costume with set, scene changes, lighting etc as a whole company under our belts, we left at 10pm and i went for a pint cus well i think i deserved one

May 11th - Teching in the Afternoon

2nd tech session of production week for the extras. yesterdays session and todays were both done in costume, something i have never done, yes obviously dress rehearsals in the past i have been in costume, so this was something new and interesting today there was less sitting about but more standing but hey i'm not complaining when you get an opportunity like this details like that don't bother you, they're all necessary and help make the show a success, now some thing i didn't expect is that when we broke for a tea break there was a magnificent spread lead on for the company and for us extras which i thought was really nice and it help make us feel one team as we all sat around the table talking passing each other this and that, calling across the table for something, i don't no if they do this for every show, but they should!

May 10th - First Tech Rehearsal

Tuesday the day when my production week started with a call for 6 to get into my costume, my suit! I love my suit looks so good we started from the top of the show and well as any actor knows there was a lot of sitting while things were plotted and cues etc but it was interesting to see this on a professional show and the lighting board is amazing!

May 9th - Stage Time

Unfortunately I had work - damn you!

May 7th - 4th and last rehearsal ON A SATURDAY!

yep and early to boot! 10 am call and unfortunately i could only stay for 2 hours as i had work 1-10 and to be honest id rather of got up and worked the early morning shift and rehearsed all day long but alas the world doesnt work this way but back to the rehearsal, it was good, the day before the professional company had done a complete run through start to finish and today they did exactly the same but with us slotting in where we were suppose to and the vibe was good, when the time came i had to leave but the rest of the rehearsal must of gone well as director giles croft tweeted "Terrific run of #tloy. It's exciting to be premiering an Ibsen; there's not many can say that! The supers are excellent too. Open next week"

May 5th - 3rd Rehearsal

so final rehearsal on a thursday for the extras and cast, and last rehearsal on a thursday before production week, and woah hasnt it come round quick today we looked at act two scenes 2 and 3, scene 2 being one with careful 'choreography' in it if you will, a long list of stage directions for us extras to follow, so that the scene looks and feels busy but without taking away from the pro company's action too much, but with direction to react and help the scene move along, again we were reminded not to watch the actors, and trust me if u lose focus on what you're doing then slipping into that bad habit is easy in this scene! the extras involvement in scene 3 is minimal till the end but it was good to go through and make sure we didnt walk into the furniture!

May 5th - Rally!

Election day! vote for change! yes to av! no to av! no better day to rally the audience to come see the show then this with local elections and the huge referendum on the nations voting system every one i hoped would have election fever, so with handfuls of placards, flyers, rosettes and booming voice we descended on Market square to whip up a storm and I hope we got a lot of interest in the show! photos of which can be found on the playhouse website - the league of youth

May 3rd - Sitting at the Back

On Tuesday the 3rd I went and sat in on the professional company's rehearsal to make up for missing most of Thursday get together and it was a fascinating and fun experience for someone starting in the business watching the director at work, giving his direction, asking questions of the actors and facilitating them to find their characters motivations. The company worked on Act 2 scenes 2 and 3, and it was interesting to watch and note down on script where i maybe fitting in, and interacting with the pro actors. During the afternoon director giles reminded the cast of the rehearsal supper that evening enquired who had participated in one before and what they entailed, which sounded fun, and I was delighted to be allowed to sit in. Members of the backstage pass scheme at the playhouse arrived and were treated to two of Stensgard's speeches and then played the extras parts in the first speech which they all really enjoyed.

April 28th - 2nd rehearsal

Tonight we met the professional company for the first time and this would be the first time we rehearsed with them, we one by one introduced ourselves and as you do in this situations [and trust me you always do] played a quick game as an ice breaker, and then went straight into scene 1 and our (the extras) participation in it and first time round we were a bit flat if I'm honest nerves in front of the pros perhaps I new we'd do it better 2nd time round unfortunately I had to leave to see Avenue Q (which was awesome) but I heard we went through the 2nd scene so I hope to pick up what I missed before the next rehearsal.

21st April - 1st Extras Rehearsal

this was the 1st rehearsal, a time to meet the rest of the extras properly to get to know each other and 'break the ice' as they say so we spent half the rehearsal focusing on our selfs the ensemble, and the rest on the first scene, reading it through a few times, to get a feel for it, and then we worked on what our roles would be within the scene itself which i shall not reveal wouldnt wanna spoil the surprise :P we also had a look at being supernumeraries what our purposes were so that we blend in with the pro company, to make sure we dont actor watch and that our 'characters' have wants and needs for being on stage