Another Begin/End review

Begin/End has received another review from Lyn Gardner at the Guardian.

"David Lane's two-hander maps the girls' relationship with intensity, in ­writing that is flecked with everyday poetry" The Guardian

If you missed it in Saturday's Guardian then have a look here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/feb/12/begin-end-review

Meanwhile the Begin/End company are preparing to return to London with a busy schedule of performances coming up, across the country. Look out for them coming to a venue near you soon. http://www.halfmoon.org.uk/shows/BeginEnd.htm#schedule

If anyone is planning on using Begin/End in the classroom then as well as this blog there is a great learning resource pack online. It can be downloaded from the Begin/End page of Half Moon's website. http://www.halfmoon.org.uk/shows/BeginEnd.htm#Resources

Review by Micah Holmes, Broadway Barking Young Ambassador

Begin/End is a beautiful story about a friendship that grows and blossoms until it changes lives and touches people.

It is the tale of the trials and tribulations friendship can bring, and how to overcome them.

The story is taken from two girls' points of view, and carries a beautiful storyline with it. Lili and Yaz are two lonely girls, trapped in their unfortunate lives. They they find each other and slowly begin to escape their surreal surroundings.

Aimed at audiences 14+, Begin/End is well scripted, excellently portrayed and has a pure, wonderful story. Begin/End is a must see for young actors, older actors and anyone who wants an inspiring thought provoking pieces of theatre.

Begin/End will be shown at The Broadway Barking for one night only - Thursday 11 March.
Be there, or be square!

Review by Micah Holmes

Stage Manager Trevor, keeps a photo diary of the tour!

A postcard from Gateshead!

Begin/End on the road

The tour is on. The van headed off into the sunrise this morning taking Amy, Rachel and Trevor off on the Begin/End national tour: first stop Riverhead Theatre, Louth. They arrived safely and the show is on as I type!

Hopefully the show will be as well received across the rest of England as it has been at Half Moon. If you get a chance to see the show then do and then we are happy to post any reviews onto the blog just drop us an email at marketing@halfmoon.org.uk or alternatively leave your comments in response to the individual posts on this page.
Click here to see the full tour schedule and how to get your tickets.

We've also had our first review in, click here for the thoughts of Susan Elkin from The Stage.

I've just seen the dress rehearsal - look out for the textback

I have just watched the dress rehearsal.

The opening performance is almost here (tomorrow at 2pm!) and everything seems to be in place. The dress rehearsal went very smoothly and the two actors have really got into their characters and are bringing David's script to life. As part of the dress rehearsal we also had the chance to see the textback in action. The textback comes after the performance and is an opportunity for the audience to ask the cast and stage manager questions about Begin/End and any issues that arose while they were watching the play. We threw some pretty tough questions at the team today (including asking how old they all were!) and they certainly rose to the occassion. So if you come and see the show don't be afraid to pitch the team your questions either with a text message or an old fashioned hand in the air.

Other high points for me were Paul Hithersay's stunning visuals of Limehouse at the start and end of the show - so look out for them and a very moving scene towards the end from actor Amy Costello.

Patrick Baldwin our photographer is in the building now so hopefully there will be some great production shots to share very soon.

The view from the control box from Trevor Nichol, Stage Manager

So we're now in the final week of production, and this is where it really starts to hot up for the stage manager.

Up until now I have been looking after rehearsals taking notes on the action of the actors, called 'blocking' which creates a record in the master copy of the script, which we call 'the book'. Along with Anna the designer, we have been finding props for the show as they come up in rehearsal notes. The rehearsal experience at Half Moon, although intensive, has been great fun and Angela (the director) has been fantastic in allowing me to have input to decisions regarding the show; which with some directors is not always the case.

This week is perhaps the most challenging for the Stage Manager. On Monday we had the technical rehearsal or 'tech'. The tech is where all of the different technical elements (lighting, sound, video and props) are combined with the dialogue. It is my job to run the tech and ensure that everything happens in the right place at the right time in the play. Each change, such as a lighting change or sound effect is called a 'cue'. During the tech, I write all of these cues in the book as we stagger through the play, cue by cue. During the process, scenes are often repeated many times and elements altered, for example the volume of a sound or brightness of a light. We only move on once everything in that scene is just right and recorded into the lighting desk or VJ console. It took us 10 hours to tech Begin/End!

Today we had two dress rehearsals. This was pretty nerve-racking for me, as it was the first time I operated the show continuously from beginning to end (excuse the pun!). During the show I operate the lighting, sound and the video, so my hands have to be able to move quickly from computer to computer! The dress rehearsal went really well, apart from the odd little blip, and the energy in the theatre is high. I can't wait until the show tomorrow... it should be a good one!

Work experience student Lucy Long shares some thoughts.

Hi my name's Lucy and I'm at Half Moon on work experience. Every time I watched a play at Half Moon I wished I could watch one in the making and luckily this week I got to sit in and observe Begin/End in rehearsals. I enjoyed it so much; it is such a powerful play and some of the lines made me shiver. The actors are so good at getting in to character even when things get really tough. I also did not have an idea how much time and effort goes in to the simple things like the lights and how much effect they have on the play. I really can't wait to see when it's finished.

Rachel McKenzie who plays Yaz says a few words

The Last week!

So today's 'Tech day' where all the lighting and sound and VJing come together. It's quite exciting and nerve racking to see the show in its near finished state, but it is all good preperation for Wednesday [Begin/End opens this Wednesday 3 Feb].

The process for this show has been extrememly creative and it's interesting to see how far our characters have progressed from the first day. I'm still personally trying to tie down the choreography that JC taught me 2 weeks ago, but I know it'll all come together. The show will be fantastic, it's just believing in the work we've created and owning that process.