Sorry, I Love You... (2010)

Rehearses 11-20 March. Plays 22-27 March
Cast; Richard Dipple, Jayne Ashley, Michael Wardle
Director/Producer; Claire Butler
Production Assistant; Fiona Organ 

Sunday 28th March

So tired...need more SLEEP! Woke up like a bear with a sore head, so grumpy, sorry Mick! Mick and I unloaded the van and car in to the garage, the house, (have used Mick's clothes and belongings in this one!), and back in to the car again. After mugs of tea, Mick drove Jayne to Leeds station (thanks Mick x) and I drove back to Hull with Fee and collected pets and put Fee back on her train home. My sis did comment; "what will you do when Fiona goes? will you have to start doing things for yourself now?"...the answer is, regrettably, "yes" !!! On a cheery note; mum went to a jumble yesterday and came back with 2 old suitcases full of theatrical treasure! The suitcases alone are fab, but goodies galore inside. Fee and I had a good rummage and tried on hats, etc, before she went back up to Whitby! So, the last 2 and a half weeks have been a real pleasure. I have met Richard for the first time, a great actor and generally nice bloke. Met up with Jayne again, after about 8 years, I think! And spent another PR play with both Michael and Fee. And between us we managed to take a lovely script and produce, what I consider, a great production and perform it in new and old venues to PR, and to new and old audiences. Thank you to all who came to see this last play, it truly was a total and utter joy to do and we're so pleased you chose to come out and see it. Thank you, also, to all who make it possible at the venues and, in general, everyone who does anything to get these shows off the ground. The seal of approval from the writer, John Goodrum, was the cherry on the cake for us. Such lovely writing. So, mission accomplished...almost...we are desperately looking for more bums on seats! So, we were thinking, is there any chance you could all maybe invite a couple of friends to the next one - pleeeeease?!! We wouldn't ask if we didn't want to keep doing it so much, and we're sure they'll like it when they get there! In the meantime we are currently working on many more marketing ideas to reach a larger audience for next time round, so we'll see you in June for the hilarious 'Elsie & Norm's Macbeth'...not to be missed and suitable for all! Thanks for dropping by the blog, we hope you keep popping by and, as for us, we'll just keep on keeping on. See you soon. CLAIRE

 

Saturday 27th March

Well, that's the show done. Bridlington Spotlight Theatre is a great venue, a beautiful theatre and Bob & Judith Downing and friends should be very proud of their hidden gem of theatre. We had a warm welcome from staff and audience alike and it was a great venue to finish our run. Michael's family joined the audience for this last show. Naturally we ensured we had fish and chips and ice cream inside us before the show...it's turned in to a bit of a holiday this job...cleverly orchestrated by me to include seaside visits! lol! I had recorded a radio interview with Tony Barker last night for East Riding station Vixen 101.8 fm which was broadcast today at 12.45pm. This was a first for me and was, at first, painful to hear my voice back, however, it was a great opportunity to talk about the theatre company and my reasons for setting it up and my ambitions for the company. After a couple of minutes it became easier to listen to and I actually thought it sounded ok in the end...I said all I needed to I think! Thanks to Tony for supporting the company, seeing the shows and giving us a plug. I remained backstage for this last show to page entrances and exits for the cast as they can be sometimes hard to find. As each venue is so different it can often be like a Carry On film backstage, although it keeps us all on our toes and keeps the show fresh. It can be quite challenging as well and each scene needs blocking out on the new stage each day. In that respect the cast and Fee worked very hard to make it work. We said goodbye to Michael in Bridlington who headed home, so lovely to work with him again, a true gent with some great stories - never a dull moment with Michael. The remaining 4 of us headed back to Planet Rabbit HQ with all the stuff. It was a 2 hour drive so myself and Fee went through Simon & Garfunkel, The Beatles and The Kinks...loudly...and a lot of chocolate until we got back. Mick had the kettle on when we got back, so we had a brew and a teacake before Rich headed off at (as we'd changed the clocks) 2am. The 'play' can now sit in the van until tomorrow....bed CLAIRE  

 

Friday 26th March

Well, it's day five on our tour and we were at Brough Methodist Church tonight. It's a long drive from Whitby, but the sun was shining and we had some great tunes on in the van to get us going. The church itself is lovely, with a nice stage to work on, and the audience were really friendly. After coming off stage from the curtain call we had an informal interview with Tony Barker for his radio show; he is officially the tallest man I have ever met and, like myself, hails from the Merseyside area, so we were able to share a few scouse moments! We're starting to feel a bit sad that the tour is coming to an end; I think having a large helping of fish and chips tomorrow at Bridlington will help to get us through! JAYNE x  

 

Thursday 25th March

After wandering around Whitby all day, Jayne and I took the van loaded with all the set and props to the Pavilion Theatre, followed by Michael on foot. The drive took longer than expected as we couldn't find second gear due to the fish and chips and fudge we'd eaten during the day! I'd heard that the theatre was in a beautiful location and I wasn't disappointed, it sits majestically on the cliff top. It's the first time I've had a dressing room with sea view! My family travelled over tonight to see the show, it was great to see them and great that the show went really well, they thought it was fab. The day ended with a few well deserved aftershow bevvies in the Granby. RICH :)

 
Wednesday 24th March

Hey all you PR lovers! We were performing in Saltburn today so travelled through from Whitby at 3-ish to get sorted. It's good having a "base" in Whitby for a few days - obviously it's cool for me 'cos I live there & get to see everyone, but I think it's good for everyone else too. It gives them a chance to settle into their B&B a bit - and also have fish, chips & ice cream - obviously...it goes without saying! Ha. The theatre in Saltburn was lovely. It had a great atmosphere and the show went down really well. I must have seen the play at least twenty times now, (including rehearsals), and I'm still finding the same things funny and moving. It's a great piece of theatre and a good night out for anyone who likes laughing or seeing people in love...that must be everyone!! Looking forward to the final three performances. See you there! Love FIONA xxx

 

Tuesday 23rd March

The weather wasn't so bad during the day today, but boy did we get some rain in Pickering tonight. So, another show is washed out. I had to be prised from the car myself so I could hardly expect people to turn out in this weather to be fair. However, we still got an audience, including Fee's mum Alison, and this was by far the best performance the cast has given. It was tight, the comedy timing was spot on and the emotion filled the air - perfect. The memorial hall in Pickering isn't a theatre by any means and you do have to pretty much build it yourself, however, it is a great space, it's very intimate and therefore you are performing right to your audience. This, I feel, gives it that extra energy that can make a show. At these smaller venues we always sell a few sweets and drinks as there's no refreshment facilities as in a theatre , so I get to chat to the audience a bit and get some feedback. Fee has gone from actor to soundman to usherette to navigator...and did all of these tonight! She's also helped find B&B's, done the ironing and painted the set! It really is becoming a theatre 'troupe' when everyone rallies round like this. Richard had a radio interview on BBC Tees this afternoon which we hope may assist in reaching the audience in Saltburn for tomorrow, (thanks to Radio Tees for including us in to today's programming). As well as familiarising ourselves with the finer tearooms and charity shops of Pickering today (bliss!), we also went in hunt of a 'cyber pet' as the one used in the play tragically met with a sticky end down a crack in the stage last night! Never to be retrieved again...seen, but out of reach! Anyway, found one...sort of! After tonight's show we all headed over to Whitby as the Wentworth Guest House is to become our home for the next 3 nights. Vin, Fee's boyfriend, met us in Whitby and carried our bags to the B&B for us after we arrived a bit late due to fog on the moor! Thanks Vin! Tea and biscuits in bed now I think. CLAIRE        

Monday 22nd March

After a leisurely morning ironing a few costumes, packing the car and nattering over a coffee we thought we had the day mapped out for a 12.30pm departure to Tadcaster for a 3pm dress and 7.30pm opening show...however, the rain came and with the rain came the sinking of our tour van in to my fiances driveway, and the more we tried to get it out the bigger the hole in the drive got! (fiance is still in Germany and not party to this information at present!) So, picture myself, Fee and Jayne pushing the van in sheeting rain up a very long, steep driveway that is predominately made up of a chalky, mud based gravel. Richard, the strongest company member, is sat behind the wheel keeping nice and dry at this point!? After lots of van wobbling, smoke, the smell of burning rubber and many attempts to get it on to a 'harder bit', avoiding the other cars parked in the drive, we eventually got it to the top...20 minutes later. It was at this point we see Fee covered from head to toe in mud, (oops, she was at the hole side of the van!). So after Fee strips, in the rain at the top of the drive, and finds clean clothes from her case & re-dresses, we set off to Tadcaster, with most of Mick's drive way spitting down the M62 from the wheel arches of the van in the process. We rehearse in Tadcaster, while Fee's clothes dry on a theatre radiator, which goes well and then we open at 7.30pm. It was great to see some familiar faces at the venue, as well as a few friends turning up to cheer us on. Notably the lovely Jackie Grimwood and her husband - Jackie starred in our September tour and, as usual, came armed with gifts for myself and Fee! It was great to see her and I made time to persuade her to appear in another PR show later in the year! I also had friends visiting from the Rochdale area who loved the show and enquired afterwards about the writer, John Goodrum, and what his history is. I explained that all I know of John is that he has a theatre company called Rumpus in, I believe, the Chesterfield area and he writes some of their plays. As my friends left I turned to go back to the packing up, who would make himself known to me but the writer John Goodrum! He'd watched the whole show! I was completely blown away and thrilled he'd come along. Although, my first enquiry was as to whether he liked my choice of music, which I'd altered from his original script...he approved and he'd enjoyed the whole show...result! It was such a huge consideration during rehearsals that we present it the way the writer had intended and his approval was a great compliment. I then dragged a reluctant John Goodrum in to meet the cast where we all made a fuss of him before he left! So for the remainder of the night we were left on a real high and we could talk of nothing else. Having discussed these characters at great length for 2 weeks, meeting their creator completed the picture. Both Richard and Michael had family in this evening and it was nice to meet Richard's girlfriend and lovely to see Michael's wife, Sonia, again. Sonia was excited to see a scene in which Michael laid a table with tablecloth and cruet set, and clear it away again, as this has never happened at home...until next week it would appear! Michael travelled home tonight as he isn't too far away, but the other 4 of us stayed at the lovely Oakleigh B&B (we stayed here with 'Groping for Words'). Fee and I had a twin room and promptly tore in to our gifts from Jackie; teddies, maltesers, daffodils and cards (thanks Jackie! xxxx). My teddy (a rabbit actually) is now named 'Goodrum' and will be our mascot for the week. Jayne and Rich brought their mugs in to our room for tea and chat and maltesers until late then Fee and I natter til the wee hours. 1 down, 5 to go! CLAIRE       

 

Sunday 21st March

What a busy day; throwing costumes from the dress rehearsals in the wash - then drier, taking excess props and costumes back to where I found them, depositing beloved pets with family for the week - thus nattering with sis and folks for a bit and, finally, ensuring we had absolutely everything for our week ahead. So it was gone 10pm before I returned to Planet Rabbit HQ. Mick left for a 2 day trip to Germany today, with the ONLY keys for the van...the locked van containing all our props/set/costume that is...oops! Luckily he realised before he got to the airport and returned them before missing his flight! So the days end was a Skype to Mick in Germany, followed by my crown falling out at 11.45pm!!! aarrgghh!! Marvellous, the night before we go on tour I'm left toothless. I wouldn't care but that very crown has cost so much time and money over the last year, I could cry. I could actually write a farce about the last 18 months of dental work I've had, but none of you would ever believe it. So it'll be at least 10 days before I can get it fixed. Soup for me then. That aside, 6 performances of this great play are about to begin...CLAIRE

 

Saturday 20th March

We have now said goodbye to our rehearsal room. I can't believe what the team have achieved in just 9 days of rehearsals - I'm so proud of everyone. Especially as there's lots of eating REAL food, (never easy to time), lots of kissing, lots of costume changes, lots of props & lots of re-setting the stage! We had another dress this afternoon to an invited audience of 7. It was great to finally get some feedback - you often can't see the wood for the trees when you see the same thing day in, day out. The dress was very well received & we got lots of laughs - always a good sign - as well as a good response to the emotional moments. Most of today's guests are familiar with our work & comments included; "the best one yet", "excellent", "perfect music" and "a must-see", so it's fair to say I'm quite chuffed. And these guests would say if they didn't enjoy it! One of today's guests, Gayle Dennis, (who has done a few shows with the company), was reunited today with Michael - who she worked with on Planet Rabbit's first show 'Groping for Words' in Sept 2008, so that was nice. A big thanks to John for the use of lights in today's dress, much appreciated. Jayne did a live radio interview to Vixen 101 at lunchtime which broadcasts in East Yorkshire and should reach the Brough audience. So, tomorrow off. LOTS of driving for me to run various errands. The boys have gone home, the house is very quiet without them. Our next call is on Monday at 2pm in Tadcaster for a final dress at 3pm & first show at 7.30pm. Rich will be driving the van & I'll be driving the car on this one, so I guess driving tunes are the main thing on our minds right now! How many miles before Fee gets cheesed off with Barry Manilow I wonder?! CLAIRE  

 

Friday 19th March

Well, the clock is ticking well and truly now as opening night draws ever closer. We've been running and running the play, trying to get to grips with all our various props and costumes; this is no mean feat for our Michael, who has about thirteen different characters, each with different costumes and props! But it's getting better each time. It'll be great to perform in front of a small audience tomorrow; we're all a bit nervous, but that's okay, cos it keeps us on our toes! JAYNE x

 

 

Thursday 18th March

We started playing with the PA yesterday and finding good cue points for the music, so today was great. We all knew when everything was happening and it all seems to be settling really nicely. Each element of the the piece is complimenting the others and it's looking fabulous. The whole rehearsal period (so far) has just flown. It's been really enjoyable, everyone involved in the production is lovely and get on well and the play itself is so lovely so it's not surprising, but just nice that you can have such a good time at "work". All we need now is an audience! Hint hint. Ha. Love FIONA xxx  

 

Wednesday 17th March

Today we were joined on stage by Dionne Warwick, Frank Sinatra, The Darkness and the Beach Boys, amongst others. I'm talking about the music that Claire and Fiona have put together which compliments the play perfectly. Everything is really beginning to take shape, it's going to be a great show. Well, must get back to looking over my lines now and the occasional glance at the small glass of red by my bed. RICH  

Tuesday 16th March

Jayne & Richard both left for their respective homes last night so there was just myself, Fee, Michael & Mick at the house today. Michael plays about a dozen characters in this so he & Fee ran his lines for a bit. Michael then had lunch at his newly adopted favourite chippy in the village and myself & Fee drifted around Tesco for an hour not really knowing what we wanted. After procrastinating all morning, and changing beds and towels etc, we eventually made a start on painting the 'set', which consists of 6 wooden boxes. These, rather cleverly, build each location of each scene. After giving up on the rubbish brushes we shared a roller! Fortunately it was quite a nice day, weather wise, so we were able to paint them in the driveway and they dried quite quickly. (Got paint on my jeans...arrgghh. when will I ever learn to put old clothes on to paint?! still have varnish on my combats from doing the doors on 'Groping for Words' in Sept 2008!) We then sat ourselves in front of 'Noises Off' on DVD, (great film, especially for 'theatricals'!), while I took to a needle & thread and Fee ironed the costumes, (all were freshly laundered yesterday, as they originated from charity shops). I posted some pics of rehearsals on to our Facebook page today, (I will find a way of getting pics on the website soon, I promise). We also held a 'Teddy Bear audition' for the part of 'Helen's Teddy' today. We had 6 auditionees, one had a slight advantage over the others as he has worked in rehearsals with us from day one. A photo line up of all auditioning teddy bears is now on our Facebook page. It sure is a tough call...so many lovely teddy bears. Anyway, Rich and Jayne arrived back at around 11.30pm, all ready for another 4 days of rehearsals before show time! And we now have all the sound fully preped - thanks to Mick and Rory at Wigwam for sorting that - we start with full sound tomorrow. Ooooh, exciting stuff! CLAIRE

 

 

 

Monday 15th March

Well, that concludes our 5th day of rehearsals. Tomorrow off. Well, I say "off"...lots of behind the scenes jobs need doing by myself and Fee & I imagine the cast will do script work, but we're not actually rehearsing together. It's been a great 5 days & I'm thrilled with how the show is taking shape. Now, brace yourselves ladies, as we have a real Mark Darcy in the cast!! 'Jools' is the romantic lead and the actor taking the role, Richard, delivers it with such tenderness and he has the most gentle smile and charming twinkle in his eye, the scenes are totally heart-melting. Watching this romance unfold between Helen & Jools throughout the play is simply delightful. I did have an actual dream that Colin Firth was working for Planet Rabbit, (I think I must've dozed off when the Oscars were on and it subsequently slipped in to my mind), well Colin Firth eat your heart out...ladies, pray silence please for Richard Dipple. Myself, Jayne & Fee were actually giggling in the toilets one day like a bunch of 13 year old girls after one of the scenes - so infantile! Poor chap! As well as the romance the play is also packed with comedy, mostly delivered by wonderful Michael Wardle, so there's something for everyone. And the end of my Monday had myself and Mick do a 160 mile round trip to collect some props, tea at a Little Chef, and double Corrie recorded by Fee, (who, naturally, gets 'employee of the week' as a direct result!) A most remarkable event today was, however, the invasion of a rogue balloon drifting among us and remaining static in the air above our heads for ages. Well, we've never seen the like. I never thought I'd utter the sentence, "OK everyone, let's just carry on and if the balloon approaches you just ignore it". Eventually Richard bravely confronted it but the balloon was having none of it and it continued to intimidate us for the remainder of the day, that is until it became a bit too clever for its own good and became trapped under a small table, and there it stayed. Yep, a long day. CLAIRE

 

Sunday 14th March

I can't believe how fast the time is going - it's the end of day four! I'm loving every minute, even the early mornings are enjoyable. We're really getting our teeth into rehearsals and I think everything's starting to sink in at last. After rehearsal we had a costume-trying-on-session and in between we kept on rehearsing various scenes in the living room. As a little reward for our hard work, and to celebrate the fact that I'm officially off the antibiotics, Richard & I treated ourselves to a bottle of chardonnay to enjoy in front of Desperate Housewives - well, it's the ONLY way to spend a Sunday evening! JAYNE xx 

 

Saturday 13th March

Well it's Saturday, (not that anyone knows it - we keep having to remind each other! I reckon that's what starting rehearsals mid-week does to you). We've all had another productive day today and after blocking over the last couple of days, Jayne, Michael & Richard have had props to contend with as well as everything else today. It seems to be going really well. It's a lovely play to watch - the audience members will just melt with the romance - Claire & I certainly do when watching it. It makes you so smiley. This is my first time being involved in a production and not being on stage but I'm really enjoying it. We got the music sorted out today and I'm sure everyone will be looking forward to hearing the choices that have been made and seeing it all come together! Oh, and we had pork pies today, (I'm sure Jayne will appreciate me telling you that!) Love FIONA x  

 

 

Friday 12th March

I can't believe it! Friday already, mind you we did only start rehearsing yesterday. Today has been really positive, blocked most of the play now and it's showing signs of really coming to life which is very exciting. Claire even had me dancing, I now know why there is a huge glitterball in the rehearsal room. We've packed in a lot today, been to Cork, Tokyo, Moscow and the zoo! And Michael went for his hair cut and came back shorter (I'm referring to his hair, not his stature). Who knows what tomorrow holds... RICHARD

 

Thursday 11th March

Well, as I'm the first cast blogger for 'Sorry, I Love You...' I'm happy to say that we've had a really productive first day of rehearsals. It's brilliant to be working with Claire again, after an eight-year hiatus - we've had so much to catch up on and so many hilarious memories to re-live. I'm definitely sure we won't be losing touch again. As I'm on the tail-end of a chest infection, and halfway through antibiotics, I boarded the 19:33 train from London Kings Cross last night feeling like I'd been clubbed, and today coughed my way through the first read-through like a chain smoking navvy. My voice sounds like I smoke 35-a day, but hopefully I'll be light and melodious again before long. After a hard days rehearsing it was back to the house for pizza and, most importantly, Corrie at 8.30 for us girls; then we all put the world to rights after catching the second half of Question Time. I'm already feeling better! Looking forward to tomorrow. JAYNE xx  

 

Wednesday 10th March

Well, as usual, tonight is that feeling of; where did the time go...rehearsals start tomorrow! One minute it's weeks away, the next it's happening! As always I feel we've assembled a great team; Michael Wardle, (who appeared in our first production, Groping for Words); Jayne Ashley & Richard Dipple make the cast. Along with Fiona Organ, (a Planet Rabbit regular), who's working as a production assistant. Everyone has now arrived at the digs, (producer thanks fiance yet again for opening up home to complete strangers for 2 weeks xxx). After a day of racing about check listing props and costumes, plus doing all the necessary preparations in place to put my life on hold until the end of the month, it was nice to sit down and have a natter with the company tonight. It was lovely to see Michael again and I'm so thrilled he's agreed to be part of this production. Jayne I worked with many years ago and I'm so excited to be spending a few weeks with my old mate. Fiona is a wonderful company member and I know she will do a great job of looking after us. Fiona has acted in 3 Planet Rabbit shows and I'm delighted she readily accepted the offer to join the team in an off-stage capacity for this show, (fear not, Fee will be acting with us again later in the year). Richard is the only one I haven't worked with before, but as is the way with a play company it can feel like we've all known each other a life time with in hours of nattering over cups of tea. So watch this space for backstage tittle-tattle and pop on to Facebook to see rehearsal pics if you get the chance. As always, thanks for reading the blog and the website and for supporting our little company. x CLAIRE

 

Tuesday 9th March

Feels like I've spent weeks getting this show together, although it's a much simpler show (technically) than some shows we've done. I blame the weather/dark nights which stops my motivation, I need daylight to function and we don't get much around now do we, so the whole process seems to have taken twice as long! Arrgg! Can't wait for springtime. Anyway, I've attempted to get myself together in order to allow myself time for a little treat tonight. Fiona came down from Whitby and we had a night out at Hull Truck Theatre. They're currently showing John Godber's 'April in Paris', starring John Godber himself and his wife Jane. If you are near to Hull it is truly well worth a visit, it is a SUPERB production. John is a master at what he does; writing & directing & as a performer his timing is simply perfect, you can't take your eyes off him on stage. It is also a lovely factor that the role of his on-stage wife is taken by his own wife, Jane. Naturally the banter between the on-stage couple appears to flow effortlessly. The script is packed with hilarious lines, delivered right on the button, and if all this was not enough the amazing set that took us all be surprise at the top of act 2 got it's own applause! Even the scene-changes are choreographed with a touch of humour. So all in all, a really brilliant show and a great night out with Fee. It runs in Hull until 27th March. So anyway, tomorrow we double check the props, etc, and Fee & I assemble with the cast tomorrow night at the company digs ready for the start of rehearsals on Thursday. Here we are again, Planet Rabbit show no.7... CLAIRE

 

Monday 8th March

Our latest play, our latest blog. Since our last blog I've read dozens of scripts in order to find the right plays for Planet Rabbit this year. We have a few more projects lined up this year so I've read a lot more scripts! (To the point of virtual blindness!) So many great plays out there, however, we have a lot of factors to consider when choosing our productions, all of which stem to money! Notably we need as few company members as possible and a set that is easy & inexpensive to build & transport. With that in mind we also need a script that will appeal to a wide cross section audience in the locations we tour to, and one we feel passionate enough about to commit to and enjoy bringing to life. I couldn't produce a play I didn't love myself. The first this year, SORRY, I LOVE YOU..., is a great play and full of romance and comedy - written by John Goodrum. It has a cast of 3, although one actor takes on various roles within the show. We are presenting this production with a different type of set for us; numerous 'boxes' which are moved around to form various locations. My lovely brother, Nick, stepped forward to build the 3ft boxes for us, (huge thanks Nick x), all we have to do now is create a long list of settings with them! We're visiting just 6 venues with this show; Tadcaster, Pickering, Saltburn, Whitby, Brough & Bridlington. Saltburn being the only new venue on our list this time round. As usual the venues have shown great support for the company and I express my thanks to them for any additional publicity they have done and for the distribution of our posters & fliers. Also big thanks to other poster distributors; Fiona, Angie, Rachael, Helen, Mum, etc, who have been armed with posters and blu tac/drawing pins! The poster artwork is by Selina 'Slinky' Hallam who has done the artwork for all the posters, (except 'Groping for Words'). Selina does a brilliant job of, what is, an awkward & time consuming task and as I don't have the ability to do it myself I truly couldn't do it without her (enormous thanks Slinky x). So the props & costumes are all sourced, (I think), and stacked in the hallway. The publicity is out. The tickets are on sale. The cast are learning their lines. Just got to finalise the scene change music & get the sound effects on CD, (step forward my sound man-fiance, Mick!), and we're ready to rock & roll. CLAIRE