Half Moon's fantastic play Begin/End has now come to an end.

So it's finally over.
Begin/End - does just what it says on the tin. It began and now has come to an end. As a small theatre company Half Moon don't have a repertory company of actors who can be relied on to put on ad hoc performances, so the fantastic Begin/End company will now go their separate ways.

Begin/End finished up at Oval House Theatre in London and all the team went down to give it a farewell send off. The performers Rachel McKenzie and Amy Costello once again were fantastic, good luck with whatever comes next! Stage Manager Trevor Nichol has also been a star, coaxing Half Moon's old orange van - Jessie, around the country and hosting the after show 'textbacks' with the aplomb of Oprah.

So thanks to everyone who has supported Begin/End around the country, we think it has been a fantastic production, we hope that you have too. Don't forget there are educational resources for the show and lots more information about Half Moon on our website - check it out. www.halfmoon.org.uk

BEGIN/END LIFE ON TOUR

So, it’s been four weeks since we left the home of The Half Moon Theatre in Limehouse and Begin/End started its national tour. We’ve been to Lough, Gateshead, Bethnal Green, Cambridge, Barking, Lancaster, Deptford and are currently playing at the Salisbury Playhouse. Our first priority was to get to know (and love) our amazingly fabulous bright orange tour van...Jessie! After loading and re-loading the set into the van three times over, way back in Gateshead, we’ve learnt our lesson and have perfected the art of packing. Service stations have also become a second home; de ja vu has set in as we head up and down the M1 weekly.

A great thing about touring is seeing so many different venues and constantly meeting new people. Every theatre has been so welcoming and has really helped Begin/End’s small (but perfectly formed) crew get the show up on time with the sound, lighting and video as the production team originally designed. Often this is difficult due to different theatres having different equipment, but that is all part of the fun of touring.

As we travel from place to place, something which has kept the play fresh for us is how the audience reaction changes. This can be anything from what people laugh at, whether we hear chatter or gasps, and what questions are asked during the text chat back which happens after the show. We’ve definitely been kept on our toes with questions and comments about the play which we hadn’t even considered. When audience members come up and chat to us after, especially young adults, the feedback has been really positive; we even had our picture taken with one youth theatre group!

Today we’re going to gatecrash the resident youth theatre’s workshop to say hello and see what they’re up to. Next stop on the tour is The Birmingham Rep so we still have lots to look forward to, and Jessie is still going strong!

VJ Paul Hithersay reflects on how Begin/End has developed

First time I've been to Cambridge and the Junction in years. The venue looks absolutely great from outside and the work done on the inside has utterly transformed it.

My eyes just went straight to Anna's set on stage where it looked so perfect from the height and distance of our seats, it made me say 'wow' out loud! This was the first time I'd seen it since the tech rehearsal, it was like being greeted by an old friend!

Then the first words and I'm impressed again at just how strong and natural Amy's characterisation of Lili has become. I was always impressed with what I saw of Amy's work in development at Half Moon, with the whole process of Angela's direction and the ideas that emerged. The performance I was seeing here was perfect. This IS Lili. Then from the moment Yaz appears I'm transfixed again. The timing and poise that Rachel has and maintains throughout, is, actually awesome. The way she conveys Yaz's character growing and changing is so well conceived. Her movement, body language, gestures, voice, and facial expressions are riveting and they absolutely fit the moment.

What really works for me is the amazing dynamic that has developed between these characters. I was hugely impressed by the way in which Amy and Rachel have worked together in making the relationship between Lilli and Yaz so believable through how (as actors) they move and interact physically on stage. The way Rachel has understood Yaz as someone who changes while her friend Lili stays stuck, is played out physically, as well as in dialogue and narrative, with great insight, finesse and empathy. They have both made this work on so many levels. The way Amy lives Lili's turmoils, frustrations and rejection is just brilliant. She makes you able to feel exasperatingly contradictory emotions about the way Lili thinks and behaves. You feel her almost going mad with both the joy and the pain. The story is of a roller-coaster emotional journey, Amy and Rachel took us on it with impressive skill and power.

The stage management was seamless magic, the music filled and fitted the world of Lili and Yaz's journey with real integrity and purpose. I thought the visuals worked well, not too intrusive but still appropriately meaningful. There was never a moment when my attention was away from the action. Time belonged to the world within the stage and the story. Lili and Yaz (Amy and Rachel) absolutely owned it!

A superlatively impressive show in a very impressive venue.

Judging from the audience response and the perceptive, enthusiastic questions afterwards, they were very impressed, too!

If you've been wondering where the Begin/End team are... here they are in Lancaster, Cambridge today!

Rachel, Amy and Trevor reunited again and in Lancaster - good to see the Begin/End posters up and about the town too! Thanks to all who came to see the show and for your questions after the performance.

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.

Designer Anna Harding talks costumes and paper

Really pleased with the way the set for Begin/End is looking, and the costumes are all sorted now.

This week I've been adjusting the 'paper coat', a very important item in the play. During the rehearsal process they have developed a whole sequence around this coat and now it has to come apart in 3 sections, but I don't want to give too much away...

Also, I have covered all the props in newspaper so they go with the 'paper coat'. The props come out of filing cabinets, they belong to Lili's memory so that is why I have chosen to cover them in paper, they are not quite real.

I'm looking forward to it all coming together for the dress on Tuesday!

You asked for more, so Begin/End writer David Lane is back with thoughts from his last few visits to the rehearsal room.

It's been amazing to see Begin/End change week by week at each of my rehearsal visits, and watch the layers of the production build little by little. Two weeks ago the scenes were being scrutinised in some detail; there were long conversation about single pages of script, thinking associatively alongside the actors, director and stage manager to draw up images, stories, and experiences that might parallel the journeys of the characters and help the performers access what Yaz and Lili are going through. Loose improvations of each section of the play were also being developed, which you can really see in the way the two performers now relate to one another physically and emothionally on stage; it's underpinned with that playful, spirited and imaginative impro work that's helped them (from my perspective at least) to take ownership of the text.

Then a week ago, the work in rehearsal was obviously getting more specific: longer sections were being built upon with movement and sound, emphasis on lines and exchanges being pinned down, and as the writer I began to take a back seat and just watch them focus on their own craft, rather than worry so much about mine. This is a lovely experinece for a writer, as you start to believe in the foundations that the script is providing and allow yourself to be surprised with where they take it. However I was soon collared by Angela to run through some of the teenage language in the piece; the actors had been on a reseach trip on a local school and spoken to the youth theatre at Half Moon, and there's been some essential updating of the vocabulary! This ear-to-the-ground stuff is great as you know you'll be giving a young audience something they recognise with a high level of detail.

And then this morning, just over three weeks in, I've been to a 'stagger-through' and the whole piece has lifted again: it flows around the space and the music, movement and performances have reached a new level - even though the actors told me there'd been several slips and director Angela had lots of notes, it was beginning to look like a complete production. The digital / video work has yet to be included, so the dress rehearsal will be the first time I see all the elements of the project combine. Seeing the play as a whole three-dimensional thing also means that little snippets of text start to stand out as not quite right; lines start to get trimmed as the silences between the actors, the space and the audience begin to speak louder than the text. This fine-tuning requires a different way of watching and listening - with earlier drafts, the overall structure and shape is what you're grappling with, wheras now you want everthing to be as precise as possible. You learn more about writing too, so this is all development time for my own practice as well.

Next time I see Begin/End will be the day before the play opens, and from what I've seen so far I think it's going to be an incredibly exciting production.

VJ artist Paul Hithersay on his experience of creating visuals for the play

This has been a very unusual challenge for me.

Creating video which has to be noticed almost subliminally/subconsciously to support the emotional feel of parts of the drama, without being a distraction from the main focus on the characters on stage is something completely new to me. Usually I make very "in yer face" VJ cuts, to go with dance and electronic music! Usually I make images to be projected on a flat screen. This is projected on to a 3D set!

The process of getting started and developing images that really support and entwine themselves with the unfolding story has been pretty tough. The starting point is always your own personal, subjective interpretation and I found the text of the play really gripping, all by itself. I struggled for a while to imagine how video would work and what techniques, especially the development of a style, to bring to it in a subtle way, that could actually add something to an already powerful drama. I found that my usual way of doing things was not going to hit the spot. I had to re-think the way I was working it.

In solving these questions and coming up with pieces of work that would answer the challenge, I have to say that Angela's [Angela Michael's, Begin/End's Director] vision, direction and support of the artistic process has been tremendous. Each stage in the development of the whole production, the set, the music, the acting, the action, the use to the stage space and of the video, has been coaxed into being by Angela's skill, experience and ability to get the very best out of people and ideas.

This is the first time I have worked with Half Moon and I am seriously humbled and impressed by the friendliness, professionalism, enthusiasm and creativity of everyone involved. Not only that, I'm really chuffed to have contributed something that people, including the playwright are pleased with. We are nearly at the end of the process now and I am surprised and delighted with what has evolved from it.

As I write, I'm looking forward to running through the next rehearsal, with all the video in almost it's final form and order.

There are a couple more days left to make final tweaks, ready to go on show and on the road which this truly excellent, truly live, truly multi-media production of a very powerful drama.

Work experience student Eva shares her thoughts from the rehearsal room

I'm Eva and I'm here at Half Moon on work experience, I have been sitting in on quite a lot of the rehearsals for Begin/End.

For as long as I can remember I have been coming to Half Moon and always enjoy seeing the plays but I never realised just how much work goes into them. I was lucky enough to sit in on the read through and see everyone's ideas for the making of the play.

The actors have to really get to know their characters family's and home lives etc. They also had to talk about what the play was really about and they did this in an exercise in which everyone had to write down as many words as they could that they thought were related to the play. These words were then spread across the floor and then put into an order of what words were important, the most important being love. I never realised that so much thought went into the planning of the play and I am really enjoying watching the play changing and improving, though it will be really weird to watch when it is finally finished.

The play's on its feet!

Welcome to the first Begin/End blog. We'll be keeping you updated with all the latest happenings from the rehearsal room and the development of this brand new play. So subscribe to our blog for this behind-the-scenes peek.

A brand new play for 14+ audiences, Begin/End is an exciting piece of drama offering a snapshot into a moment of the lives of two teenage girls, which will be touring nationally in February and March 2010, starting at Half Moon's East London venue on 3 February.

Being/End was written by David Lane over three years, but even after that the play still continues to get 'rewritten' in the rehearsal room. Lines are cut and rewritten slightly to allow for the flow of the play.

After two days of discussion about the world of the play, exploration of characters, physical exercises (I heard Bewitched's C'est La Vie ringing out of the rehearsal room this morning!) the play is 'up on it's feet', which means that a script in hand read through of the play is being done. Chris, Half Moon's director, has just popped his head around the door and reports that things are looking good. Next update will provide more in depth info about one of the componants of the production.

David Lane, Begin/End's writer on the first day of rehearsal and read through.

First rehearsal today, and the fist time I'd heard Begin/End read through since a one-day workshop as part of its development last year. The actors are great and the play seemed to read very fluidly, which was a relief! It was fascinating to hear the early contributions from Ed (music) and Paul (video) and see how far they related to my ideas about the play despite never having met either of them; there's obviously been some very hard work going on before we even got to this first day. The set looks really interesting - I won't give too much away but it's an inspired metaphor for the play's style and content and I can't wait to see how it works in performance.

There was much talk of 'layers' in the play and it was heartening to see so many people challenged by what they see as its complexity; it's always so different when you hear a play read out loud and responded to by others, and all the creative team seem excited by getting it up on its feet. The use of video and music at the level of detail Ed and Paul are working at just isn't something you really consider when writing text and I admit I was apprehensive about how it would all gel. Fortunately, it lools and sounds brilliant and will really punch up and support the play.

There have been a few little changes to the text already, tweaks and clarification but I'll be in on rehearsals once a week to see how things progress and find out what questions or discoveries the actors have got up their sleeves.