Category: Leicester

Sitting atop a riser at the side of the stage is the 14/48 band. 6 individuals surrounded by instruments, notebooks and cables. Stuart Reid walks in and asks about the tunes. The band nod and notes are sung. Chords are struck. It’s haphazard while they find the notes then it drops into place. Did this band really come together last night? They seem completely at ease with each other and tight as the skin on Dave’s drum.

It’s not just music. There are also sound effects. They discuss ideas as Will Horspool tats on a electronic gizmo. Dials are twisted and sound effects appear. In Will’s hands the box moves from being a telephone, to an alarm and to a button in a lift. Like the tightness of this thrown together group, the only explanation is witchcraft.

And then, sound effects decided, they burst into song. The vocal harmonies bounce around the room.

They sound beautiful.

East 17 never sounded so good. So good in fact, I don’t feel the need to leave immediately and vomit in a bucket.

It takes a special kind of talent to stop such a natural reaction to an East 17 song.

Dave Pitt.
5th May 2017. 13:15
@davethepitt

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Through another maze of corridors in the Y is The Percy Barratt room. Inside, chairs are assembled to represent a life raft. Georgia Penney, Perdita Lawton and Samantha Hobson sit inside this makeshift dinghy. Alex Turner (Not that one) stands to the side. They run through the script. It’s apparent they are lines from the script but also improvised ideas. All done with the blessing of writer, Michael Southan.

Already the actors are able to knock through sections without looking at the lines. There is an occasional glance at lines and the odd fumble. But this is 8 hours from show time. They’ll be fine.

After the run through they talk about ideas for opening and closing songs. It’s amazing to watch as these ideas pop up and get added to. The room fills with laughter.

It is wonderful to see creatives set free. It might be a tight schedule but it seems to open people up as opposed to close them down.

Director Stuart Reid, issues some final instructions about what to work on and then disappears to talk to the band.

I follow. The band… Of course… Let’s see the Band.

Dave Pitt.
5th May 2017. 12:20
@davethepitt

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Through another maze of corridors in the Y is The Percy Barratt room. Inside, chairs are assembled to represent a life raft. Georgia Penney, Perdita Lawton and Samantha Hobson sit inside this makeshift dinghy. Alex Turner (Not that one) stands to the side. They run through the script. It’s apparent they are lines from the script but also improvised ideas. All done with the blessing of writer, Michael Southan.

Already the actors are able to knock through sections without looking at the lines. There is an occasional glance at lines and the odd fumble. But this is 8 hours from show time. They’ll be fine.

After the run through they talk about ideas for opening and closing songs. It’s amazing to watch as these ideas pop up and get added to. The room fills with laughter.

It is wonderful to see creatives set free. It might be a tight schedule but it seems to open people up as opposed to close them down.

Director Stuart Reid, issues some final instructions about what to work on and then disappears to talk to the band.

I follow. The band… Of course… Let’s see the Band.

Dave Pitt.
5th May 2017. 12:20
@davethepitt

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Through another maze of corridors in the Y is The Percy Barratt room. Inside, chairs are assembled to represent a life raft. Georgia Penney, Perdita Lawton and Samantha Hobson sit inside this makeshift dinghy. Alex Turner (Not that one) stands to the side. They run through the script. It’s apparent they are lines from the script but also improvised ideas. All done with the blessing of writer, Michael Southan.

Already the actors are able to knock through sections without looking at the lines. There is an occasional glance at lines and the odd fumble. But this is 8 hours from show time. They’ll be fine.

After the run through they talk about ideas for opening and closing songs. It’s amazing to watch as these ideas pop up and get added to. The room fills with laughter.

It is wonderful to see creatives set free. It might be a tight schedule but it seems to open people up as opposed to close them down.

Director Stuart Reid, issues some final instructions about what to work on and then disappears to talk to the band.

I follow. The band… Of course… Let’s see the Band.

Dave Pitt.
5th May 2017. 12:20
@davethepitt

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Through another maze of corridors in the Y is The Percy Barratt room. Inside, chairs are assembled to represent a life raft. Georgia Penney, Perdita Lawton and Samantha Hobson sit inside this makeshift dinghy. Alex Turner (Not that one) stands to the side. They run through the script. It’s apparent they are lines from the script but also improvised ideas. All done with the blessing of writer, Michael Southan.

Already the actors are able to knock through sections without looking at the lines. There is an occasional glance at lines and the odd fumble. But this is 8 hours from show time. They’ll be fine.

After the run through they talk about ideas for opening and closing songs. It’s amazing to watch as these ideas pop up and get added to. The room fills with laughter.

It is wonderful to see creatives set free. It might be a tight schedule but it seems to open people up as opposed to close them down.

Director Stuart Reid, issues some final instructions about what to work on and then disappears to talk to the band.

I follow. The band… Of course… Let’s see the Band.

Dave Pitt.
5th May 2017. 12:20
@davethepitt

from Blog – 14/48 Leicester http://ift.tt/2qAhs3i
via IFTTT

Through another maze of corridors in the Y is The Percy Barratt room. Inside, chairs are assembled to represent a life raft. Georgia Penney, Perdita Lawton and Samantha Hobson sit inside this makeshift dinghy. Alex Turner (Not that one) stands to the side. They run through the script. It’s apparent they are lines from the script but also improvised ideas. All done with the blessing of writer, Michael Southan.

Already the actors are able to knock through sections without looking at the lines. There is an occasional glance at lines and the odd fumble. But this is 8 hours from show time. They’ll be fine.

After the run through they talk about ideas for opening and closing songs. It’s amazing to watch as these ideas pop up and get added to. The room fills with laughter.

It is wonderful to see creatives set free. It might be a tight schedule but it seems to open people up as opposed to close them down.

Director Stuart Reid, issues some final instructions about what to work on and then disappears to talk to the band.

I follow. The band… Of course… Let’s see the Band.

Dave Pitt.
5th May 2017. 12:20
@davethepitt

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Design Team (Designius Tu Povet) is a lifeform made of many species living co-operatively. They exist to create sets and props for 14/48.

The natural enemy of Designius Tu Povet is Davud Pittus. A writer who deliberately sets plays in strange locations in the hope of forcing Designius Tu Povet into crying salt water tears of despair.

Sadly, Davus Pittus hasn’t written scripts this year and instead is writing these words which are in your face now. This is the only explanation for why the design team are sitting on wing back chairs looking relaxed.

“The directors have asked for a lot of simple and achieveable stuff,” said Pove while giving herself a back rub. “We’ve got a lot of offices and chairs.”

When “A Righteous Quest” was drawn as a theme it must have sent a shiver down their spine. “We’re going to need shields… swords…”

Dora pipes up, “So many people went for office. How did they go from quest to office?”

Daisy offers a theory. The writers have all gone, “anti-cliche”. This makes sense. Writing classes will often say, “Your first idea is what everyone will do. Your second idea is what the smart kids will do. The third idea is what you’ll do.”

So it appears the writers have all gone, “no woodlands, swords or shields” but mostly ended up in “offices”. Maybe the writers are a Gestalt Entity, communicating on some ethereal plain even they are unaware of.

Whatever happened, we have a relaxed design team. Designius Tu Povet sit around, relaxed. Davus Pittus skulks away. The lumbering mass passes writer Michael Southan. “We need a writers’ meeting tonight. That (pointing to a relaxed design team) cannot happen again.”

Dave Pitt (Angry)
5th May 2017. 11:58
@davethepitt

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The rehearsals for day one have started. Two groups (Play 5 and Play 7) have been assigned the sports hall. This is a journey into the bowels of the Y through a maze of corridors. You can’t help screaming, “HELLO CLEVELAND.”

The two groups sit in circles in the sports hall, their worlds separated by a net. They essentially do table reads of the script. Shaun Hartman, somehow still awake, sits in on his script. He is asked questions and find energy from somewhere to answer them.

Suddenly one side of the sports hall bursts into life. Hannah Torrance has got her actors on their feet. As she collects chairs her actors start doing can can kicks. Part of me hopes the kicks are in the script. Another part hopes they’re just doing it for shits and giggles.

In the other half the actors burst into a rendition of Love Shack and I can’t help but smile.

Then as quickly as the energy rose, it drops again. Highlighters draw across scripts. Small discussions break out. Then people rise. Drop again. A constant ebb and flow of high energy and concentration. As each second ticks over, you feel the performances come together. Like a child has dumped Lego bricks in a huge pile in front of the television. But now is assembling them into a model of a DNA Sequence.

In Torrance’s group two actors burst into an East 17 song. It is time to leave them.

Goodbye Cleveland.

Dave Pitt
5th May 2017. 11:18

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It is just before 9am on Friday morning and Shaun Hartman doesn’t look like a writer who hasn’t slept in over 26 hours. This is the first time Shaun has written for 14/48. His script was submitted just over an hour before the deadline.

The debut word pile is about a band given an opportunity to sell out or stick to their principals.

“I’d written it as a comedy but with a somewhat cynic and nihilistic rant at the end. But then I was very conscious of the fact mine was play number 7 and I wanted to end it on an upbeat note.”

This is a fine balancing act writers have to tread. Not just considering what they want to say in a piece but also where their piece lies in the running order of the night. The first play is like a MC in a comedy club. They come out to set the scene and warm the audience up. A first play which hits the marks can help the others fly higher. The beats in the last play ring out as the audience head home.

Shaun’s play requires a song to play at the end. He says he hasn’t specified what this song would be. “But if it was up to me it would be Love Shack but that’s because it’s my answer to everything.”

We agree Love Shack is easily one of the top three songs ever written.

Last night, after the drawing of the theme, many of the company hit the pub. Sitting in the group were Shaun and fellow writer Matt Beames. Other writers had disappeared but these two hung out in a drinking establishment, notepad in hand. With such a tight deadline why would a writer go to the pub to hang out?

“I had some ideas in the Y when the theme first came out when I was around people. I got a lot of ideas from mingling with people.” He explained further, “If I’ve got absolutely nothing and I go into a hotel room by myself then I don’t trust myself to come up with anything.”

So the pub was an oasis of inspiration. Or was it?

“I was in this weird position where I ccouldn’t quite enjoy myself but I couldn’t sit down and write. I probably should have left a little earlier.”

To anyone who has written, particularly for 14/48, this is a common thread. If you find inspiration you cling to it for dear life. It takes you a while to realise if the inspiration has morphed into a weight on your shoulders and is holding you back.

It is to be expected Shaun will collapse from lack of sleep at any moment but he remains chatty and upbeat. This energy probably comes from the nervousness of what will follow.

“The adrenalin is still going because I don’t know who my director or cast are.” Come 10am he will probably crumple into a heap where he is standing.

So is Shaun happy with the script?

“I’m definitely not unhappy with it because whatever happens it’s my first script for 14/48, I handed it in on time and it’s done so fuck it.” Director Hannah Torrence is nearby and she spins around. “That is genuinely the only criteria for the script. Come 9 o’clock it’s one of our problems.”

There is a chorus of approval. Shaun’s script was chosen by fellow Wolfpacker Fran Richards. They have discussed the script and we await the actors draw. Shaun sits back in his chair, his arm propping up his head. He might not make 10am.

Dave Pitt
5th May 2017. 09:45
@davethepitt

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It is just before 9am on Friday morning and Shaun Hartman doesn’t look like a writer who hasn’t slept in over 26 hours. This is the first time Shaun has written for 14/48. His script was submitted just over an hour before the deadline.

The debut word pile is about a band given an opportunity to sell out or stick to their principals.

“I’d written it as a comedy but with a somewhat cynic and nihilistic rant at the end. But then I was very conscious of the fact mine was play number 7 and I wanted to end it on an upbeat note.”

This is a fine balancing act writers have to tread. Not just considering what they want to say in a piece but also where their piece lies in the running order of the night. The first play is like a MC in a comedy club. They come out to set the scene and warm the audience up. A first play which hits the marks can help the others fly higher. The beats in the last play ring out as the audience head home.

Shaun’s play requires a song to play at the end. He says he hasn’t specified what this song would be. “But if it was up to me it would be Love Shack but that’s because it’s my answer to everything.”

We agree Love Shack is easily one of the top three songs ever written.

Last night, after the drawing of the theme, many of the company hit the pub. Sitting in the group were Shaun and fellow writer Matt Beames. Other writers had disappeared but these two hung out in a drinking establishment, notepad in hand. With such a tight deadline why would a writer go to the pub to hang out?

“I had some ideas in the Y when the theme first came out when I was around people. I got a lot of ideas from mingling with people.” He explained further, “If I’ve got absolutely nothing and I go into a hotel room by myself then I don’t trust myself to come up with anything.”

So the pub was an oasis of inspiration. Or was it?

“I was in this weird position where I ccouldn’t quite enjoy myself but I couldn’t sit down and write. I probably should have left a little earlier.”

To anyone who has written, particularly for 14/48, this is a common thread. If you find inspiration you cling to it for dear life. It takes you a while to realise if the inspiration has morphed into a weight on your shoulders and is holding you back.

It is to be expected Shaun will collapse from lack of sleep at any moment but he remains chatty and upbeat. This energy probably comes from the nervousness of what will follow.

“The adrenalin is still going because I don’t know who my director or cast are.” Come 10am he will probably crumple into a heap where he is standing.

So is Shaun happy with the script?

“I’m definitely not unhappy with it because whatever happens it’s my first script for 14/48, I handed it in on time and it’s done so fuck it.” Director Hannah Torrence is nearby and she spins around. “That is genuinely the only criteria for the script. Come 9 o’clock it’s one of our problems.”

There is a chorus of approval. Shaun’s script was chosen by fellow Wolfpacker Fran Richards. They have discussed the script and we await the actors draw. Shaun sits back in his chair, his arm propping up his head. He might not make 10am.

Dave Pitt
5th May 2017. 09:45
@davethepitt

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