1. The Dragons Den

2. Fame – Royal Concert Hall Fame was a choice of ours, as we wished to visit as diverse a range of productions as possible. In contrast to the other pieces of Performance we witnessed, Fame was obviously a very different form of Theatre, certainly as a Musical, more mainstream and clearly going to attract a different sort of audience to smaller productions. The Royal Concert Hall of course, a commercially funded enterprise, is host to a wide variety of Performance. As one of the most popular concert venues on the touring circuit it attracts leading orchestras, comedians and dance acts plus rock bands and solo artists. As it is such a large venue and seats so many (over 2000) we were aware that it would be a far less intimate venue. At such a place, we considered that the sort of production we would want to pitch to a production team would need to be on a large scale, and, as this is of course a concert hall, something musically involved.

3. As we suspected, the crowds flowing into the Concert Hall featured many different types of people; Students, children, men and women, who, stereotypically, you wouldn’t categorize as regular Theatre goers. The box office area and bars at different levels were packed with people, and it was clear that most of the seats would be filled. This was a one off production of the Musical, and also many of the cast were amateur dancers and actors from the local area (some members of the cast were actually from the Trent Dance group) who had auditioned successfully, both clearly contributing factors to the night’s popularity. As the crowds filtered into the production hall, the conditions were uncomfortable and claustrophobic, and waiting for the production to begin, the air was filled with noisy chatting, sweet bags rustling and groups shouting across at each other - not the sort of conditions more Art based contemporary Theatres see. The production began, and from the offset, it was clear this was going to be a poor production. Even in embracing the camp, American style of musical, it was difficult to enjoy this particular version. True, many of the actors and dancers were amateurs, but with the hype surrounding this production, it was a little disappointing. Frequently the microphone mouth pieces failed and cut out halfway through a song, for various people all the way through, lines were forgotten, and dance moves botched. In defence of the performers, they soldiered through and made the best of what they could, but it was still clear that most people in the audience were unimpressed.

4. The costume was to be expected - hot pants, leg warmers and denim jackets - bright and garish; items that were probably a mixture of handmade, and charity shop bought. Nothing out of the ordinary for a Fame production - and no criticism can be used over the outfits, as this type of production hardly leaves costume designers with much choice in so far as costume style. The set was a free standing arch type construction, giving the impression of a dance studio perhaps, with other elements included - various means to interact with it - doors, steps and platforms. The design was fairly simple but effective and the rendering and scenic work was attractive and convincing. Unfortunately, as the Concert Hall is such a large venue, if ever performers had to stand to the side of it, supposedly concealed; it was possible to see them from the furthest sides. The royal concert hall is a massive place and even though the stage design allowed for some audience interaction, in a space like this one, it is much more overwhelming to such a huge audience than it is intimate. The main issue with this production was probably simply that the venue was so ambitious. People attending the Concert Hall are used to seeing big names there, and for a production hosting so many amateurs, it wasn’t going to rate highly. In a smaller location perhaps, the audience could be more forgiving, but perhaps size = quality in many peoples opinions. As a group we disagreed, however and decided together that really good Theatre can be enjoyed in the most humble locations, and turn out all the better for being set in a smaller venue.

6. As Glacier was a travelling dance production, and run by a small company, we were interested to see how the set and the staging were designed and arranged, in a way that would be suitable for travel. One concern we had was that as this was a dance production, whatever set there may be, would be minimal, and not have a very close relationship with the actual production. We were wrong, however. The simplicity of the set design, which was actually used by the dancers as a prop and device to help them manoeuvre, was a delight. The flooring, understated yet beautiful - black lacquered, with a sharp reflection and perfect for slipping and sliding on, was used to give the impression of water. Upon the flooring were 3 simple towers of polystyrene sheets, cut into different shapes - These represented ice. The simple set was used to fantastic advantage by the dancers, and watching them balancing upon the ‘ice’ and staring into the ‘water‘, the suspension of disbelief was such that you honestly believed you were at the North Pole. The piece had quite a light hearted feeling running through it, although it had a serious message of global warming. The ‘ice’ eventually melted away and the finale was of the dancers covered in ‘oil’ and squirming like damaged sea birds. Overall, the piece was thoroughly enjoyable - the uncluttered, minimalist approach, to both the dance and set complimented the Lakeside Theatre, which itself, has an understated air about it.

12. The pitch…

22. Developing The Moth we toyed with the idea of putting a performer in a costume with huge wings to play the part of the moth…