CLOUD-CAPPED TOURS
Rain stops play? Not when Britain's open-air theatres go on the road. Experienced Illyrian actor Martin Tomms gives the low-down on touring open-air theatre.
The time is on us again for the Open air tour season, and many veterans are already brushing off their tights and sorting out their waterproofs, ready for the coming Summer. For anything up to six months in a year, theatre companies will be giving outdoor performances in venues across the UK. For the actors, it's a little like being in Big Brother - only in a Transit van full of wet costumes. As with most small-scale touring, doing the show is the easy bit - the real work consists of finding the venue, building and dismantling the stage, and sorting out the costumes. And of course you get wet. Very wet. You explore aspects of wetness that can only be appreciated when all your costumes (you'll probably have at least three, because it's unlikely you'll enjoy the luxury of playing only one part) are so wet that getting into them in time for arriving for your cue is a frantic backstage wrestling match. You also explore mud and dirt in a big way, and find out the interesting range of bruising that can be inflicted by a piece of steel-deck staging.
Most companies keep their productions as simple as possible. After all, there's only so much space in a transit van. And it has to be remembered that many venues provide a ready-made backdrop that would upstage any travelling set.
On the other hand, Oliver Gray - who runs Illyria theatre company - has commissioned a Globe Theatre style stage, complete with trap-door, balcony, curtained area to the rear of the stage, and elaborate balustrades. As Oliver points out, the conditions are pretty much the same as those of Shakespeare's theatre.
"Using the same tools and environment means that you can quite literally see how the plays were built. The multiple acting areas of the Shakespearean stage meant he could break the Aristotelean unities and, in a way, anticipate the filmic style of our own times and jump-cut from scene to scene."
Of course, it's worth pointing out that Shakespeare's actors only had to cope with the noise from the local bear-baiting pit. Modern open-air shows often have to compete with an Easy-Jet Summer timetable full of noisy 747s. Not easy, but the actor with a cool head might just pull off a great spontaneous one-liner. A couple from last years Illyria tour range from "Couldn't you just buy a ticket, like anyone else?" to a simple and indignant, "Have you any idea how important this scene is?"
What's in it for the audience? It's a surprisingly refreshing experience, for those used to the compulsory immobility of your average auditorium. You find a nice spot, and you sit, kneel, squat or lie, as the fancy takes you. And if you want to move, you move. You can eat and drink during the performance, too, although it's worth remembering to scoff the best bits before the interval as some companies take a delight in swiping your pate de fois gras, taking a bite out of your celebration cake, and making fun of your picnic basket. And when it rains? Well, you get wet - but then, so do the actors, so there's a kind of Dunkirk mentality that will have audiences grimly sitting in muddy puddles until the last word of the last act. At its best, open air theatre feels like a strangely spiritual collaboration between actors and audience.
As Madeleine Kerr of Heartbreak Productions puts it:
"As the light in the sky dwindles, the performers and audience become a unified whole, and they share a moment of truth, passion … and fun."
© MARTIN TOMMS