On the Homefront- Week Eight

LESS THAN TWO WEEKS UNTIL THE PERFORMANCE!

It was week eight of 'On the Homefront' yesterday and with (then) two weeks until performance day the cast were hard at work rehearsing the show. Just because there isn't much time left doesn't mean we don't have room to continue experimenting and adding new material to what the cast already have in order to make the show even bigger and better. That's what this week was about; playing around with the scenes, having some fun trying them new ways and then adding new elements to the performance.

Before we jumped back into the thick of it though, we took a much needed break from the war and the cast's characters and had some fun with a few acting games. When planning this week's rehearsal it had occurred to us that the group hadn't had a chance to just do any acting not linked to the final performance for a long time, so this week featured some of our favourites. One of these was 'party favours' a game where one member of the group hosts a party and the others are given characters/quirks that they need to embody within that party. The suggestions can range from more common attributes, like 'someone who is always tired,' to the incredibly bizarre: 'someone who is being sucked into a black hole.' The game is always a good laugh and gives everyone the chance to be a little bit silly and a lot crazy.

Another activity we did involved splitting the group into pairs and giving them a stimulus to work with. One group was given the stimulus 'a celebration' while the other had 'a surprise.' The cast got creative with their use of space and random equipment around the room to create interesting stage pictures and some surreal and amusing scenes. One scene featured a trip into space while the other featured a previously unaired 'Dr Who' sketch involving the Doctor, a concerned Turtle Owner and some suspicious soup.

Finally we used the rest of the rehearsal to do a complete run of the play! Due to absences, both myself and Ben had to get involved and fill in for our missing cast members, however the rest of the group carried on regardless and we had a very positive run of the show. It was clear looking at the group in yesterday's rehearsal how far everyone has come since we started back in October.

So that's the roundup for the week! Next week will be our final rehearsal in Exeter Community Centre before the performance at the University of Exeter's Roborough Studios on December 17th. It's strange to think that this project is almost over and we're looking forward to putting it up on the stage for everyone to see.