Additional Extras

Well, you may as well get your money's worth - not that you are paying for this. At least I hope not.

In true DVD style - here is the equivalent of a 'bonus disc', featuring some of the video material that I created for the backdrop of The Thrill Of Love.

They are - Jack Gale's (played by Stephen Lurvey - The Shadowmaster) silhouetted walk towards the screen which formed part of the opening act, backdrops for the Court Club and two of The Little Club. The Gale sequence was filmed one rainy night in Pen-Y-Lan and the others were cobbled together from Google image searches. The Court and Little Club signage designs are my own.

Note - the strange aspect ratio is intentional; as I mentioned before, the screen was presented in the rather unorthodox a/r of 1:3.

That's it from me. Thank you for taking the journey!

Lx.

The Final Analysis

And here we are, exactly a month after the opening of The Thrill Of Love - time for some final thoughts.

My involvement with the Cardiff Players production of Amanda Whittington's play, while sometimes exhausting and exasperating, proved ultimately rewarding. From the very start my interest was sparked in all things relating to Ruth Ellis and her world; even the creation of this blog was part of that. It led to one of my favourite parts of the process - research - where I could immerse myself in the culture and styles of the time, while giving me an excuse to watch old movies. All in the name of research, of course.

Those enquiries aided my creation of the video images which would form part of the set for the backdrop of the play. This would mean delving deeper into the creative possibilities of Final Cut Pro, where I would compose not only the slides for projection but also the four trailers, each of which were very well received. The versatility of the program allowed me to put together some great imagery, far exceeding that which I had made for Robin Hood, the Player's previous production.

Then of course, I needed a cueing program which would allow me to seamlessly present the images onto the long vertical screen on the Thrill set. QLab proved perfect for this, although it challenged me with a nigh on vertical learning curve, right up to dress rehearsal. Even during the run there were a couple of glitches during the third and fourth nights, where the application inexplicable froze; luckily, stage manager Alison was on hand to blank the projector, enabling me to reset the presentation and carry on. It went unnoticed by the audience who were enraptured by the acting, luckily!

Most importantly, the production gave me the opportunity to become familiar with a story that I was only aware of through Dance With A Stranger. Carol Ann Lee's excellent book A Fine Day For A Hanging proved an essential read during this time, providing a detailed background to Ellis's life, the events that led her to shoot David Blakely and the aftermath which fired up the public debate, culminating in the abolition of the Death Penalty in the UK, albeit ten years later.

All told, while it was an occasionally gruelling experience, it was a quality production that I feel privileged and proud to have been part of.

As for this blog - well it's not quite all done with yet… ;-)

9 - 12 October 2013 - The Thrill Of Love

And finally - the performances. A four night run of Amanda Whittington's powerful play staged at the YMCA Theatre in Cardiff by the Cardiff Players, attracting a record audience attendance. The two weeks plus of intense rehearsals, techie runs and set build finally paid off - the result was a show that was powerfully played and looked stunning.

Speaking of the look, I can now reveal (as hitherto it has been wisely kept a secret) that almost the entire production was presented in greyscale. That included set, props, costumes and actors and the majority of the projected backdrops. The concessions to these were the video inserts (see previous blog entry) and other flashes of colour on the screen, and also when Vickie makes a stunning appearance in full colour toward the end of the play. It was a huge gamble by director Jules to make this work, especially the make-up; the poor actors had to endure hours of experimentation before the right look was achieved. But it all came together beautifully. 

But of course all this would be for nothing without the performances from the five actors giving life to Whittington's dynamic dialogue. While all were uniformly excellent, I must give special mention to Helen Power as Sylvia and Louise McLaughlin as Ruth, for their powerfully emotive performances. More than once there were moist eyes in the lighting box (mine I might add).

As indicated previously, the playwright herself came to Cardiff to see the performance for herself - a rare privilege for an AmDram group! After the show, the Players put on a buffet for her at the Maldron Hotel which gave us all an opportunity to talk about the play and her future productions. Of particular interest to me is her next play - an adaptation of Susie Boyt's My Judy Garland Life - which is to be presented in Nottingham early next year. Amanda said she thoroughly enjoyed the Players production of The Thrill Of Love, especially the ideas (such as the greyscaling) that were not present in the West End run.

And now... it's all done with. Final bow taken, make up removed and set struck - no evidence left that this ever happened. It's a strangely saddening sensation; after weeks of exhausting intensity it is suddenly all gone without trace. But I guess that is the nature of theatre.

And at least we all know that, in the end, we put on a bloody good show.

9 October 2013 - Happy Birthday

... to Ruth Ellis. It's no coincidence that the Cardiff Players chose the opening night of The Thrill of Love to be on this particular date.

Yes, tonight is the opening night of Amanda Whittington's play, receiving its Welsh premiere. It's been an intense fortnight of building, painting, rehearsing, videoing, editing, more rehearsing - culminating in the full dress rehearsal last Tuesday which proved beneficial as members of the Players were in attendance to give their views. In light of this, certain modifications needed to be made (especially with regard to video cues) which I have corrected accordingly.

From my point of view this has been a steep and not exactly easy learning curve; having to become familiar with a new cueing program which isn't exactly intuitive takes some doing, especially given the complexity of some of the video cues. Many a time in rehearsal I nearly gave the director a nervous breakdown, but have consequently learned from those errors (and better to have them exposed then, rather than in front of a paying audience... or the author!).

So, I'm hastily typing this while shovelling a budget curry down my gullet, before heading off to assist with last minute preparations. Ah theatre!

So raise your glasses to Ruth Ellis - not only did her actions affect an important change in the law but also inspired a great play of which I am proud to be involved with.

Happy Birthday Ruth.

3 October 2013 - Blood, alleyways and a visit from the scribe

Things have been very quiet on this blog for a while - which means the preparations for The Thrill Of Love have reached fever pitch. No wonder though; only 6 days to go before opening night.

In the last couple of weeks some of us having been pretty much living at the theatre, building, painting, undergoing makeup and costume tests and even a bit of acting. (Ah, that's not fair really - a lot of acting, and it's fantastic). And literally blood, sweat and tears have gone into this production - blood particularly and specifically that of our technical director/main set builder who didn't even let having her thumb sawn in half stop her.

As for my part, the video sequence are pretty much all completed with the exception of a couple which require Ruth in costume. Last night I was filming Steve in a dark alley for a scene (and yes, it was a genuine sequence for the show, not just a ploy to get him down a dark alley). For this production I am using QLab for the first time to cue the sequences for projection; a steep learning curve but a decision which will yield better results on the night, the capabilities of Keynote being limited with the kind of presentation I have in mind.

A heck of a lot of work still needs to be done, but as they demonstrated with Glorious! last year, the Players have a knack of pulling things together in time for curtain up. And as an extra incentive for hitting the mark is the fact that the playwright, Amanda Whittington, will be attending one of the performances. A privilege indeed, given that this is the first amateur production of her play, but also an added level of pressure! But that's what it's all about and when things do go right - like they did at the first full run through last night - the sense of achievement is just amazing.

Anyway, back to it... those flats won't paint themselves...

27 September 2013 - The Final Trailer

And here it is - the final full trailer for The Thrill of Love.

Fred sourced a brilliant font named 'Hitchcock' (reference to the masterful Saul Bass whose stunning title sequences graced many a Hitch movie) which I was lucky enough to find and apply to the lettering here. Really makes a heck of a difference.

19 September 2013 - Lurking in the shadows

And that's exactly what I was doing onstage this evening - requested by director Jules I hasten to add.

To explain: Mr Stephen Lurvey who is playing Jack Gale, the sole male character in The Thrill of Love was not able to make this evening's rehearsal. So a stand in was needed for the night, not only to read the lines but be in the onstage positions when said lines were being projected. And I felt privileged when Jules asked me to perform that role for the rehearsal. Mind you, she didn't have a lot of choice as the other two guys there that night were stagehands/extras and already had their roles to perform...

But I gave it a go and didn't do bad. What was great about standing in for Steve was to see the four actresses in the play performing their lines up close and to see how the play is shaping up. And from what I witnessed, it's gonna be pretty amazing, powerful theatre. Three weeks today all this will be going out to the first live audience...

As for this post's title, it refers to the role of Jack Gale, who spends a lot of time in the shadows, overlooking the action before delivering his lines. Steve has become adapt at lurking in the shadows.

He has now dubbed himself 'The Shadow Master'.