Tiny Treasures Rehearsal: Week 1

The Tiny Treasures team have had a busy first week in rehearsals... but they've managed to let us in on what they have been up to...

Stuart Mullins, Director
It's Wednesday evening and the process of making Tiny Treasures has been intense. We've made loads of discoveries; James' overall objective in the play is to hold his family together. That this will be his life forever, looking after his Mum. What an incredible realisation to have at the age of 13! Today Kevin the writer joined us and was very open to changes to the script; it's great to have him there to respond to our questions. Adam Farrell, who is playing James has been working really hard. He has over 20 pages of script to learn. Its not so much learning the words as knowing what James is doing when telling us his story. I think we've made an excellent start!

Leanne Rowley, playing "Mum"
A blog! Eeek, new to this. Bare with me readers. (I feel there should be some sort of disclosure - 'Any chaotic or rambling passages displayed within are in no way a reflection of the rehearsal period being as such'). For one thing is certain - there is a whole lot of focus going on down at ARC. But that's skipping ahead. (NB that disclosure...) Rewind a few weeks back to our development day in York where I met for the first time a group of young people who are nothing less than inspiring - they are the Young Carers Revolution. And beware, this revolution is in very good hands and is coming right for ya. Strong, witty, honest, intelligent... a few of the words that describe this group of children and young adults that not only have to deal with the struggles and challenges growing up throws at you - they do it whilst also being full time carers. A great day of playing for the first time around the text and movement and getting their initial feedback left me striding on home with one thing very  clear in my mind - this play has to be done right, the characters have to be truthful, for them.

Skip ahead to Monday, first day of rehearsals and after the meet and greet we stretched and played our way into the day with a bit of yoga and some games and got down to work. By mid afternoon Adam (who's playing James, and is forbidden to talk in his native southern tongue), Stuart (our director - an advocate of ale and actioning... I'm in) and I are staring down at a floor strewn with pieces of paper outlining and picking apart Kevin Dyer's beautiful script; we'd found the facts, defined the timeline, discussed structure and began our exploration of character and family. A short break occurred when Bek popped round to show a model of the set - *Spoiler alert* - er - hello! Is that a sink you can crawl through?? And a wardrobe to climb out of?? And a whole heap of other stuff we can scramble over?? (Yeah. We got a bit excited). Wednesday we'd get to see it in full - but right then, playtime was over... we took  up pencil, pulled up a pew, unleashed the script and began 'Actioning'.

So here we are - end of the third day and Section 1 has seen more action then the Avengers could ever dream of! Next up - getting it on it's feet...

Adam Ferrell, playing "James"
It’s only a few days into the rehearsal process for Tiny Treasures, and yet its feels like we’ve already covered a lot of ground! The first week has mainly seen director Stuart, fellow performer Leanne and I investigate the script and delve deep into James’ family – how they operate day-to-day, and for me especially, what drives James. That being said there’s a long way to go and I can’t wait for the challenges ahead and the chance to play about on the impressively cluttered set designed by Bek.

It’s also worth mentioning how much I enjoyed the chance to meet the guys at YCR three weeks ago. Reading the play in front of them was a nerve-wracking experience for me, especially considering they are responsible for creating the character of James! Luckily everyone was very friendly despite a fun but disastrous attempt at trying to teach the group one of my favorite drama games, ‘Schlack’.

Bring on the rest of the rehearsals!

Leanne with Bek's Set Design. Photo taken by Adam.

Tiny Treasures Design

Designer Bek Palmer has let us in on her designs for the upcoming Tiny Treasures. Here we see Mum and James' costumes. The designs will be brought to life when the tour starts around schools in the North East in June.

 And here's the model box set... looks like there are lots of clever climbing and hiding routes to be had!

Sharing the Story of Tiny Treasures

On Saturday, the Tiny Treasures creative team (complete with newly cast actors Adam, playing James, and Leanne, playing Mother) reconvened in York for another development day and, importantly, to share the script for the first time with the Young Carers Revolution. Since we met with them in February to devise ideas for what the story might be, there has been a huge amount of activity behind the scenes.

Kevin, the Playwright, has crafted the stories we developed into a fantastic play in three sections which tells the story of James, a young carer who is 13, and what his life is like at home looking after his Mum, his sister Katy and his two fish, Goldie and Silver. Bek, the Designer, workshopped some design ideas with the Young Carers Revolution and, inspired by their mood boards, has created a model of the set design which is now being built in preparation for rehearsals.

Stuart (Director), Kitty (Movement Director) and I spent time auditioning a very talented group of actors in order to find the pair who would play our Mum and son. Stephen, Stage Manager, has been busy researching the kindest way to transport live goldfish and Diann, Tour Coordinator, has been busy organising the show into schools, sorting our van insurance and booking rehearsal digs.

Meanwhile, the young carers have been writing a book about their process and so there was lots to tell each other when we got together again. We showed them pictures of Bek’s set model, which they really liked and then Adam and Leanne did a script-in-hand reading of the whole play, stopping a key points to talk about the action of the play and whether the Writer had made the right choice or not! Apart from a few games and a sausage roll break, we worked solidly to get through the whole play (which is running far too long at the moment so poor Kevin has the challenge of cutting it without losing anyone’s favourite bits!) We all covered loads of big bits of paper with post it note thoughts which will feed into the final rehearsal draft and by the end of the day – and the end of the play – we were all feeling pretty emotional. Once again, the dance duet section in the middle of the piece, even though the actors were just improvising, was the most affecting bit for us all underscored by Simon (Sound Designer) playing beautiful cello and looping it with the voices of the young people.

It’s been a big responsibility to create this play for and with the Young Carers Revolution because it’s so important to us all that it does what they hoped it would, bringing great theatre to younger children and a better understanding of the issues that face young carers. The feedback was all reassuringly positive and particularly Beth’s comment, “It will be really good for other kids, but it’s very moving for us because you’re telling our stories”

I think they liked it.

- Miranda Thain (Creative Producer of Theatre Hullabaloo)

Read more about Tiny Treasures.

TakeOff Monthly Newsletter (May 14)

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If you want to sign up or know anyone else who would be interested in receiving monthly updates about what is happening the area, all they need to do is send there email address to info@theatrehullabaloo.org.uk

There is so much to do in the region in May, so have a read of the newsletter and see what takes you and your family's fancy!

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