Things are starting to wind down a little at Stagedoor HQ. After last week’s performance for the Everyman Theatre Association, and epic packing of 300 bags of Tiger goodies for the Panto, we’ve spent most of this week at HQ focusing on one or other of the three BTEC units we’re currently working on. We’ve done loads of rehearsal for our National Theatre Connections play, The Changing Room, and it’s starting to take shape. The play is by award winning playwright Chris Bush, and explores the perils of adolescence via the metaphor of a swimming pool changing room. It might sound a bit odd, but it’s really not – it’s a beautifully written play, which the Stagedoor gang have pronounce to be “totally relatable”. It’s both funny and poignant, and will resonate with audiences of all ages. We’re looking forward to performing it in the Everyman Studio in February and again at Bath Theatre Royal in March.

We also had our final session of the term with Ria Keen, the singing coach we’ve been lucky enough to work with over the last few weeks. Every Stagedoor student presented to the rest of the group during the session, explaining their progress so far, and demonstrating the improvements in their singing skills and techniques. Ria was really impressed with the detailed explanations, as well as the ability of the students to reflect on their own progress. She’s now signed the whole group up for The Voice College online Learn About the Larynx course, which will be invaluable in developing our understanding of the science and mechanics of vocal work, and will be useful to both singers and non-singers alike – yet another benefit of studying with Stagedoor! We look forward to continuing to work with Ria in the New Year.

One of the highlights of the week was watching the final dress rehearsal for Hammerpuzzle’s production “A Gloucestershire Midwinter” in the Everyman Studio on Wednesday afternoon. Directly before the show, we had a great workshop with Bryn Holding, Associate Director of Hammerpuzzle (most enjoyable, though who knew that counting and reciting the alphabet could be so complicated?) Bryn has directed “The Tales of Hans Christian Andersen”, which Hammerpuzzle are also performing in the Everyman Studio this Christmas. We watched some rehearsals, including the technical rehearsal, for “The Tales of Hans Christian Andersen” so it was really interesting seeing the same company performing a totally different play but using the same set. “A Gloucestershire Midwinter” is an absolute delight of a show – it’s full of stories, music and poetry, and is sweet and charming. We all loved it – it was fascinating to watch the small cast play multiple roles and to see how they drew their audience in so effectively. I, for one, will be going back to see it again before Christmas. “A Gloucestershire Midwinter” takes our total of professional productions seen this term to 7 – all part of the package with Stagedoor!

Next week is the final week before we break for Christmas. What a fantastic first term we’ve had!