Lincoln's Inn

These comments are the assistant director’s thoughts and ideas about the process of touring 'Romeo and Juliet'; they may change as this process progresses.

Notes from Canterbury ...

The character of Lincoln's Inn owes much to the fact that the buildings - the medieval Hall and Gateway abutting onto Chancery Lane, the late seventeenth century New Square, and the magnificent Victorian gothic Great Hall and Library - survived the devastation of the Blitz. As striking and secluded as this little section of London is, these buildings are not merely architectural and historical attractions but provide the professional home for the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales have been called to the Bar since 1422.

This was one of our oddest and most unique performances so far. This was not a public performance, but entertainment for a special barristers function, which lead some members of the company to quip that we were 'hired monkeys' for the event. A Bar-B-Q, which I can only describe as a silver-service dinner with nearly as many staff as guests, was served prior to our performance, meaning our audience were all seated at tables. It had threatened to rain all day and, though there was talk of using the Great Hall, the organizer decided the weather would be fine and we should go ahead as planned. He was wrong. It poured. The guests at the posh dinner either crammed themselves under the bar tent or sat at tables trying to eat with one hand while they held umbrellas with the other.

Initially they wanted to house the actors in the garden shed but I thought there might be a mutiny and urged the organizer to find us a warm, dry, comfortable location to use as the green room (that wasn't a green house).

An added source of stress was the noticeable lack of a camper van. Apparently the towing company didn't have a postcode for Lincoln's Inn, and when they couldn't find it, took the van back to the depot - in Salisbury! The van eventually made it through London rush hour traffic only to become pre-show entertainment as it was pushed past dinner guests into place.

However, the Head Chef sent the company trays of food back stage and the arrival of director Elizabeth Freestone lifted the company's spirits.

The buildings surrounding the stage were beautiful but nothing that could be used as site-specific for our performance. The only thing I pointed out to Juliet was the large sundial directly behind us, which she could reference with "the clock struck nine when I did send the nurse." What we could try to make use of was the fact that everyone in our audience was of the same profession. I was certain that Mercutio would get a good laugh with "lawyers fingers who straight dream on fees." I was wrong. No response.

Given the wet conditions, I asked during the fight warm up that all fights be done at half-speed. I knew performance energy would speed them up regardless but I wanted everyone to have an awareness of pulling back. I had good reason for concern. There were slips, falls, near misses and not so near misses. I watched the fight, with the stunned eye of an audience member who knows they're fake, but still thinks they're dangerous. They were dangerous.

Umbrellas stayed up through the performance, which meant it was difficult for some people to see. Granted it was a small audience so most people could at least find a spot to peek through. The small audience got even smaller after the interval, approximately two thirds left, and we performed the second half to about fifty people. This was a shame because it was one of the clearest, most moving and connected second halves I'd seen in some time. As much as any actor isn't keen to perform in the rain it can bring out some wonderful qualities. The pace is always faster, and I don't believe that they are just speeding up to get out of the rain, I think being wet and feeling the rain hit their faces brings out a visceral quality that connects them to the environment and their bodies. Those that stayed got a special show and I think they recognized that.

Striking the set was a little surreal. It was dark and what little light we had shone through the cast's plastic macs, and made them glow like ghosts, aliens or some kind of Hasmat team. (And I'd never seen a director on her back loosening bolts in the pouring rain.) I know the actors will tackle any situation head on but these rainy shows are taking their toll and everyone hopes we'll have a reprieve for a while.

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