Peter Pan: Week 9- Pan Vs. Hook!

It's week nine! The show at the Cygnet is just around the corner and things are looking fantastic! We had another wonderful session with the chameleons today as work on the show continued. With more and more costume and props appearing it's looking like the group is almost ready to get on the stage and perform. We still have a few things left to do, however, and this morning it was time to work on some of the unfinished sections of the show.

We started off by making some shapes and stretching. "Why do the shapes all have to move today?" someone asked. The group have been engaging with this physical theatre exercise for nine weeks now and have become very good at it. This week all of the shapes they made had to be done as a group and had to function. They made a crab, a shark, a beaver and the Loch Ness monster. All of which could move and interact with things around them.

Then it was time to dive straight into some scene work! We split the group into two teams. One team worked on the first scene, where the Darling children are introduced and Wendy has the falling out with her father. Plenty of physical theatre in this scene as well in the form of an opening sequence and some slapstick comedy from Mr Darling.

Meanwhile, Peter and Tink worked on their own physical sequence with the shadow. During the sequence the shadow is discovered and is chased all around the bedroom. Today we focused on how we could bring out the comedy in the scene and the results were brilliant. The shadow is hysterical, as are the reactions of the cast and the scene was lovely to watch!

We also did some photographs to use for a poster. It was a little chilly outside but otherwise good fun! Once we had done that the two groups joined back together and watched the scenes that we had been working on.

After that we had the break and the mermaids got the first look at their costumes. The girls have been excited for weeks to see and (I hope) were very impressed! The mermaids look brilliant and we cannot wait to see what the scale sequins look light when the lights are on!

The final scene we worked on was the Skull Rock scene, which we have been building to for a while. This was done in stages. The first stage involved choreographing Peter and Hook's fight. Once the boys had practiced it enough we staged the rest of the scene around it. One of the best parts was undoubtedly Tiger-Lily, who was not impressed at all by Hook's kidnapping efforts and made the scene fantastically funny.

So that's that. A shorter post but we had a real focus on these scenes today! Everyone is looking brilliant in their costumes and the show keeps getting better and better. Not long now until these guys make their debut at the Cygnet theatre. Tickets are available now btw, you can book via our website (www.anthosarts.com). In the meantime; please enjoy more random snaps from this morning and we will see you next week!

Peter Pan-Week 8: Shape Games and Scene Work

It dawned on us this week that we're over halfway through the term. How did that happen? People say "time flies when you're having fun," so I guess they are right. Anyway, here we are at week eight of Peter Pan. This week there was some physical stuff and we worked on some more scenes. More costume had arrived so there was some more of that too; such as our amazing crocodile costume.

We started the group off with some physical exercises to get them ready to rehearse the physical theatre sequences we have in the play. The group have taken a liking to the running game, so we played that first and followed up with some good old fashioned shape games.

Some abstract shapes this week; including creating a ticking clock and a blinking pair of eyes. The group had to get creative but at this point are quite experienced at finding creative ways to tackle what we ask them to do. The eyes were a particular highlight as they functioned well and could wink, blink and look around in different directions.

We then split up. One team went away and worked on another of Captain Hook and Mr Smee's scenes while one team practiced the mermaid dance sequence. The girls put in a lot of effort when we practice this sequence and every week it looks better and better! We keep having new ideas about what the mermaids might do with Wendy and build them into the scene.

We then practiced the Lost Boy's jungle adventure. Like the mermaid sequence, the adventure sequence has developed more and more each time we practice it. The chameleons are never short of ideas and always come up with something new in each rehearsal. The ensemble are all putting in a huge amount of effort to make these scenes as brilliant as they can be and it is wonderful to watch them grow and change.

Next we moved onto a scene that we have been anticipating for a while. The Lost Boys meeting the village Chief. As our heroes go through the jungle they get lost and suddenly are captured by the villagers, who are searching for the lost Tiger Lily. Some fantastic improvised dialogue featured in this scene; the group has some very funny characters in it, which makes scenes like this so much fun!

Meanwhile, Captain Hook, reeling from an earlier defeat, comes across Tinkerbell, who has wandered off alone. He tricks her into believing that he is a friend, only to then betray her moments later. It's been fantastic watching the characters develop over the weeks and Captain Hook has become such a fantastically entertaining villain. Together with Mr Smee they are a brilliant double act; which is sad news for poor Tinkerbell. As a character who cannot speak, she is difficult to play, but our Tink has such a rich character; she is both funny and can make you feel sympathetic. So much wonderful characters. We are so lucky to have such a talented cast!

So that's another week wrapped up. We're moving into the final stages of the show now. Next week we will see Peter and Hook come face to face as the heroes work to rescue Tiger Lily. Plus we will be attempting our first run-through of the scenes so far! Exciting times ahead! As always here are some snaps from rehearsals.