And so Kalopsia comes to an end. A production I’m incredibly proud to have written, directed and be part of. I was supported by an amazing Stage Manager, a fantastic Producer and a great cast that helped along the way. When we first began making Kalopsia we knew we wanted to step away from the conventions of contemporary theatre but we also knew we didn’t want to tell a naturalistic play either.

That put us in quite a tricky position and made it hard to get a show on it’s feet, we aimed to create contemporary episodic theatre through a structured naturalistic narrative. We didn’t know who we were as a company and it was difficult to pin down an exact idea. Once we realised our aim, the show quickly came together. The idea of Delusions gave us freedom to do anything we pleased, but always having a reason to back it up.

We continued to adjust our show until the very end, after our final dress run as a group we were a little disheartened. Our show didn’t perhaps seem as good as it had been, everyone seemed fatigued, worried and with the combination of having, tech, dress, props and set all in a new space all at once became too much for the cast, giving weak performances. Not that it was there fault, they were concentrating on so much at once.

We were given notes by Michael Pinchbeck and Karen Savage, and implanted them immediately. Their wasn’t many, but after seeing how these few notes helped fix so many scenes, everyone in the cast seemed in a much better mood and really took everything in their stride, giving them a boost of confidence for the performance itself.  They did themselves proud and put on amazing production that they should all be proud of.

On reflection, if I were to do it all again. I’d make sure we had a clear hierarchy from the start, with constructed, planned rehearsals. Find out who we are as a company and what we wanted to create as a performance from the get go, rather than attempting to make scenes without an idea of where they were going.

And finally, not to be afraid to ask for help. We are an ensemble and we can all help each other out without fear of judgement.