Mystery Play success

I don’t have many photos of the play because my sister only took a few. There are lots of images online though.

It went well considering the wind was very breezy and because we don’t use microphones, you really have to project your voice. The children, who had been quiet during the rehearsals really upped their game and could be heard. In one small scene I had to push a “boulder” (hula hoop and black cloth) in front of a creepy cave to trap the children. I pushed the boulder, said my line, walked off and the dratted thing blew over, flat! Luckily the audience laughed in amusement.

I hope we do another one next year.

Can’t do as much…

In the past I used to do 8 ft square boards of scenery for the Mystery plays, and I could paint rapidly. Now it’s taken me all my time just to do this and a few bits and bobs. I don’t have the strength in my arms so this was mainly painted with a small brush and instead of using a full sized board I have one that has an extra couple of bits stuck on. It has a hole because the back of it was already painted as a cave. It’s due to be a witches cottage I still try to be me.

Impish

Imp or Ogre

What would an Imp or ogre look like? Are they related species?

I decided to doodle an idea of what one would look like. They are both characters in the Mystery Play at Penkhull Play. They will be puppets I think, and we already have them made but they might need to change how they look.

I quite enjoy drawing characters and it’s a challenge to see what comes out. I’ve also drawn the two witches and a witches assistant to help me think how they should look.

Hand made trees

These are props we have previously made and used. These are bamboo and papier mache trees. We are going to repair them as they have been in storage for a few years. Part of the Penkhull Mystery Play this year is about two woodsmen who have been turned into trees by an evil witch. They want to be turned back after 20 years and need to get help from another witch to stop the first witch casting another spell on them. More to come….

Mystery Play update

A previous play

At today’s rehearsal we didn’t go to the end of the play because we ran out of time. We were blocking scenes to get some idea of how to stage it. We think it will take about an hour of running time. We need to agree about staging it and what props and scenery we need. The makers who help design the sets looked at how to create the tree costumes, sorting out a wig for the witch, and have got a broom and papier mache stars, we need a cave with a canvas flap to show a boulder being rolled in front of it. Also whether people will come on and off the stage area or more sensibly to share half of the acting area as the witches cottage and the other half as the wood and cave. We definitely need people. One of the people was good as the witch and another did a good Greta (the witches assistant, I’m  not sure if those people will be final characters we still need to look at who is available and happy to do it. I helped by playing a woodsman that was turned into a tree  because of trespassing in the witches wood and also a girl who is helping to look for names of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent. I’ve got my fingers crossed that we can literally get our act together!

Storyboard

I went to our read through of the Mystery Play today, we had tried to edit it down and it now is about an hour long including stage directions. The author, Andy Perry, has created a story about the creation of the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the naming of the six towns. Now we will be organising rehearsals. I hope it is going to be good. X

Props

A whale that was made for the Penkhull Mysteries plays. It was used in the story of Jonah  and the Whale and the story of the river Trent which rises on Biddulph Moor and travels through England in a North East direction to eventually flow through Nottingham and on to the Humber Estuary at Hull. This was made of willow withies held together with masking tape then covered with water based glue and newspapers (papier mache). It was painted white to block out the printing and then painted in grey black and white. The makers added serrated teeth and the jaw was articulated so it could open wide. I think the throat and tounge were painted pink and white. We made lots of props for the plays including a set of horses, butterflies, flowers, plants, and all sorts of other objects. I used to help paint some of them and also large flat boards that were joined together as scenery. I hope we get to do more this year.

Raffle!

Just back from a quiz to raise money for the Penkhull Mysteries day. Some very hard questions, when was Port Vale football club formed, where does the Boat race start on the River Thames. What age was Joan of Ark when she died? Our team didn’t do badly, but we were 6 points behind the winners.

I did win a raffle prize, I usually do for some reason. I guess I get some luck occasionally. I enjoyed the evening, enhanced at the break by chip butties. People had fun and I think we raised a reasonable amount of money from the evening. X