Playing With Snails

A World Premiere

by Peter Kesterton| A Bike Shed Theatre Production

Daniel visits a disused coastal fort every day to light a candle. But today there’s something unexpected in fort. Some children’s toys have been carefully placed there. A teenage girl, Caitlin is hanging around too? What’s she doing there and did she bring the toys?

As they are cut off and marooned by the tide, the appalling truth of what once occurred there is revealed.

Like two trapped animals Caitlin and Daniel manoeuvre around each other. But as they do so, they come to understand the terrible bond between them. As the tide recedes Daniel must decide what to do about Caitlin, give her up, or offer her protection.

This shocking contemporary play, which was a winner of the International Playwriting Competition 2011, explores issues of guilt, forgiveness and redemption with great finesse. It also poses questions about the nature of evil.

Rehearsal diary

During the run, the cast and creative team will be recording their experiences on this page.

WEEK FOUR

Wednesday 8th February

Chloe Whipple: So it's gone cold again today. Snow? Tonight is the opening night and, well, I'm feeling very excited and I have to say understandably nervous. Yesterday was a good day, we did a lot of hard work to bring all aspects of the show together. The set is looking amazing, the lights have taken the show to the next level and myself and Charlie are still finding new things in the script. It's been a good three weeks lots of challenges and triumphs and now all we need is an audience to tell the story to! So looking forward to seeing you there.

Tuesday 7th February

Charlie Coldfield: Chloe and I engaged our brains this moring with a 'whisper run'. Seated back to back we whispered our way through the play as quickly as we could. This exercise really helps with lines and energy and we went from that to a purposefully over the top run of Act One. Doing things that you don't normally do in a run - saying things differently, moving around the space, experiementing with when you face the other actor or turn your back on them and so on really helps find little moments that can be integrated into the performance. I found that sitting down at one point gave me a totally different energy at that point. I didn't bring the sitting to the subsequent dress run but I tried to bring the feeling. As an individual moment, it's all a bit blink-and-you-miss-it but if the performance is full of these kind of things it will hopefully bring it to life. The thing with theatre is you choose where you look at any particular moment. We can't force you to look at Chloe when she delivers a particular line, as you can on screen, so I have to be just as active and engaged in that moment in case you happen to be looking at me (which I'm sure you won't but, you know, just in case).

Monday 6th February

Charlie Coldfield: Like waking up on Christmas morning or when the snow has settled silently over night, we arrived to the theatre today to find Bee's wonderful set in place. Congrats to all the team who worked so hard to create it, it suits the play and the space to a T. I don't want to spoil the suprise for those of you who haven't yet seen it, but I think you'll find it pleasing to the eye.

Today was tech day so we went through the show cue to cue allowing us to experience for the first time Rachel's evocative lighting design. Coupled with the sound effects the first half especially will engage the senses of the audience conjuring up the surroundings of a coastal fort.

WEEK THREE

Friday 3rd February

Charlie Coldfield: Started the day with a run of Act One, followed by notes and a chance for Peter Kesterton and David to discuss some minor changes. Then the same for Act Two before lunch. The action has been tightened up in the first half by the loss of a couple of pages. Always difficult for a writer to make cuts and perhaps in a different production those pages will make their way back in.

Was thinking today about when a piece of new writing becomes an established play - what's the criteria? Is it a long spell in the West End followed by a tour and trip to Broadway a la 'Jerusalem' or 'One Man Two Guvnors'. Or is when a play gets published? Perhaps the true mark of a play establishing itself is when it becomes available to amateur groups to perform. Not sure I can picture the Upper Bottomly Players knocking out 'Playing with Snails' but I'd sure as anything go and see it!

It's been a long and testing road this last three weeks and I'm looking forward to opening night and getting on with putting this play in front of the public. I'm sure Peter will feel the same. As much as we value the opinions of the critics and our peers in the business it's the paying public who really count. I very much hope this is a play that find a willing audience.

Thursday 2nd February

Charlie Coldfield: Thursday gave us the chance to discuss some of the issues and challenges that playing with snails brings up. It is tempting tostopthinking at this stage and to just go go go with the lines and everything. Doing so could result in a less careful reading of the play which we'd like to avoid naturally! We continued on then with Act Two.

Wednesday 1st February

David Lockwood: Back in the theatre and bringing new elements to the show, notably the music arranged and sung by Kat Brooks. She has an incredible jazz voice and the hope is that this will really lift the show at certain moments. If it doesn't, it's my fault, not hers. The recordings are beautiful and fragile, and we must be careful to place them in the right moments, at the right levels, and not make the mistake of attempting to control the audiences emotions.

Again, my notes remind me of the day. 'Ask questions' has a tick next to it. The first act especially is full of questions. These are surprisingly difficult to act. To ask a question, you have to not know what the answer is. So the bit after is important too. It's the great challenge for an actor in the theatre - listening. You have to hear everything afresh, respond in the moment. I've scribbled something at the side of my notebook: 'Listen, Surprise, Play'. I've tried to make this into an acronym - looking for an 'I' to make 'LISP', but can't find anything that satisfies. So I leave it at that.

Monday 30th January

David Lockwood: I'm writing this in retrospect and checking the notes I made at the time. One sticks out, in capitals: 'What is the underlying tension of the whole act?' I can't remember whether we found this on that day, but recently I've been pushing the actors to consider the space, the sanctity of the fort, its secludedness, its peace. It has the holiness of a church, mixed with epic peacefulness of an exposed rock on Dartmoor. Creating this feeling in our damp, cold rehearsal room is near impossible, but once the actors are in the theatre, they start to bring this out.

WEEK TWO

Thursday 26th January

Charlie Coldfield: Quite a difficult rehearsal today, we attempted to run through the first act and it sort of crumbled in our hands! It's that horrible feeling as you start to lose a grip on your lines, then your intentions and then finally your confidence. When we went back over a small chunk of the act it came back to life of course and we found some nice little moments. In the afternoon we worked through the second act - less pressure as we have worked on it less. By the time we came to run it though it all went for a burton. Being an actor I do of course have a million excuses for not getting it right but I must say that doing a very dialogue heavy and serious two-hander is quite a challenge and there isn't much let up during a rehearsal day. No chance to run over those lines while some other actors come under the scrutiny of the director, or to make a sneaky cup of tea while the lead sweats over her 3 page monologue.

But we persevere, here's to a weekend of learning lines again!

Wednesday 25th January

David Lockwood: A very good day today. The script is really starting to come alive and the actors are finding some exciting moments. We've been delighted to discover how easily the script comes off the page. Often you'll have a script which reads well, but is a challenge to act (and sometimes you have scripts which are the other way round, though this is rare). Charlie and Chloe are able to trust that the script builds in the right ways and they can use it to their advantage, rather than smoothing out any lumps with their performances.

We've reached the end of the first half with some fairly loose blocking. I've divided the play into six sections, three in the first half, three in the second. Each section has a natural build, with a climax point towards the end. To make sense of the emotion behind the scenes, the actors have to be firing at 90% or higher. Sketching around what they'll do when an audience is in works very well for most parts of the rehearsal process, but these scenes require a larger degree of energy and focus.

In short, the play is coming together and I'm starting to thoroughly enjoy myself. And after lunch, we blocked a fight.

Tuesday 24th January

Charlie Coldfield: Now that we've finished our fascinating journey through the text with Peter, it's time to cast aside the burden of holding a book and get on with trying to stand the play up on it's feet. David and Rachel were away this morning leading a workshop in Tiverton (more of that from David at some point I'm sure) so under Justine's supervision (yes actors do need supervising, they're only one step up from dossers in the chain of life) we spent some time learning lines so that when David returned we could wow him with our jaguar acting skills. Sort of. This gave us the afternoon to start with the first 15 or so pages of the the play, the all important setting of the scene. It's always suprising how quickly the chunks of text go - you've spent ages trying learn them, then you block 'em through a bit with stops to work out what you're doing and why and then you run it and it seems to be over too soon. You also feel like you haven't even begun to unpack all that stuff you've discussed in detail, but it will, over time, find it's way back to the surface. Encouraging though and I really think this is going to be an entertaining watch despite its serious subject matter. At it's heart, it's just two people trying to communicate with each other.

Monday 23rd January

Chloe Whipple: Well, it was a bit rainy today so no complaints being inside! It was our last day having Peter in the room so it was important that we finished reading through the script. We started the day off by doing a voluntary physical warm up which myself and David took part in, the others had their teas and coffees which is an equally good warm up! We went straight in where we had left off on Friday, a section of the script where things come to a head and there is an emotional exchange between Caitlin and Daniel; which I have to admit was slightly challenging to get into, it being Monday morning! But with David's encouragement for us to have a small fight we soon got into the spirit of the the scene. It is starting to dawn on me just how much there is to learn and I need to keep telling myself not to panic and to just get learning. We are having a morning of line learning tomorrow morning, while David is at Tiverton High School running a workshop, which sadly myself and Charlie won't be involved in.

It's been great having Pete (the writer) in the room with us to answer any questions we may have plus he's given us small clues into the worlds of these two very isolated characters. I was a little bit worried about how having the writer in the room might affect our honesty around the script, but it's been great to have been (from the first day) open and honest in conversations about the script and all the issues around it. I really respect Pete's patience and willingness to listen to our opinions and to take on board the suggested changes/cuts. It'll be strange not to have him in the space with us, but I'm looking forward to him coming back at a later stage and seeing the piece in a more developed stage where the characters are more established and the pace, tempo and intentions of the script are not being skimmed over because of the nature of an inital rehearsal process.

WEEK ONE

Friday 20th January

David Lockwood: Cycled in to rehearsals for the first time, down through Exeter and along the quay. Wonderful start to the day, feeling fresh and alive. The morning's warm-up became a brief exercise for the two actors, sharing movements and working around the space together. Essentially, just playing. We're spending so much time with our noses buried in the scripts that it is important to reconnect with the physical impulses for the characters as well.

But back into the script. Great to have Peter back in the room, offering advice and clarifying a few queries from yesterday. As with most talented writers, he's also a good listener, which certainly helps in a rehearsal room, where everyone is trying to get a grip on the mountainside and we sometimes have to explore avenues that he knows are dead-ends.

We worked on the second section today - where the play comes alive. This presents a few difficulties, namely that the danger of repetition. There is a lot of conflict in the play, and it is expressed most clearly in this section, so the danger is that it can sound like two people arguing on stage for ninety minutes, which isn't much fun for an audience or for the actors. Fortunately, there is a lot of variation within the play, and the actors really get their teeth into the range of emotions, constantly seeking to get deeper into the characters.

The day ends with a production meeting. Various challenges, kicking off with how to bring a beach onstage. Suggestions on a postcard please.

Thursday 19th January

Charlie Coldfield (Daniel): Up and off to Branscombe beach today to shoot a promo for the show. There's a little pil box there that fits the play's location so we did a bit of wondering about there and on the beach under the able direction of David Williams and Rob Darch. The sound of the crashing waves and the pebbles being drawn back by the force of the tide was great (although it meant i couldn't really hear any of David and Rob's directions - MOVE LEFT A BIT!!!!!) and we've got to try and take the sounds and smells and epic sweep of the location back to the rehearsal room. Promo should be up online pretty soon so look out for it.

Very slowly finding our way into these characters and we spent some very useful time talking about them today. Daniel is a man who's life is shaped by one moment, unwittingly spending his life building up to it and now existing in the aftermath of it. It's an odd thought really, to think that the thing that might define you is in the future and unchangable in that sense. It could be good, it could be bad - reminds you to be thankful for the here and now and to enjoy it while it lasts.

Tuesday 17th January

Chloe Whipple (Caitlin): Well lets get the juicy bit out of the way... the weather this morning was cold, like nearly snow cold, although beautiful it was still cold. And as we embarked on looking into the script, unpicking every sentence the heater was definitely the focus for us all! Yesterday was great and we had some really interesting conversations about the issues of the play on a broard sense, but today we started to explore those themes through the worlds of the characters, which felt more intimate. We are faced with some hard questions and dilemmas, which is always a great start for a show, because then we know that there's work to be done and mining into our own experiences will be vital if we are to bring these characters to life with integrity.

Caitlin is a hard one; first impressions I get are that she is closed off, cold and confrontational with an inner rhythm. She never really stops a nervous chewing in her stomach that lends her incapable of forming any real connection with another person. I think I'm right in saying that both myself and Charlie [playing Daniel] have characters that are far from ourselves, in that as people, we are open and light in our day to day, and both Caitlin and Daniel have a huge amount of locked away emotions that add an empty weight to their existence that means only the other can have some idea of how they feel. There is a lot of exciting potential to get lost and immersed into these characters as an actor as they have so many layers. The difficult bit will be to show those layers without demonstration because that's not exciting to watch.

I'm really looking forward to going to the beach on Thursday to do some filming for the trailer! I'm going to have to try really hard to resist the temptation of running into the sea!

Monday 16th January

David Lockwood (director): Wonderful to go into a rehearsal room on a bitingly cold day and be surrounded by warm faces, some familiar, some not. We've downscaled from Christmas Carol and are back in the smaller space on a converted garage in St. Thomas. It's cozy, but suits this play; two characters, two scenes, both trapped in one way or another.

The play itself presents some wonderful challenges. For example, Act One is set in a disused coastal fort, Act Two is set in a living room of a terraced house. And with our limited budget, we have to find more creative ways to overcome these challenges. Fortunately, with the skill of the creative team (led by Bee Watson [designer] and Rachel Duthie [stage manager]), the production feels in safe hands.

As ever with a new play, the relationship with the writer is key to the process. Peter Kesterton writes with a great degree of focus, asking questions of an audience rather than telling them his answers. On the one hand this is fantastically refreshing. On the other hand, it creates a slight challenge - there are no easy answers, we all have to make the discoveries together. Fortunately, our two actors [Charlie Coldfield and Chloe Whipple] are both intelligent and instinctive, as well as being open and giving personalities. Moreover, they both strive hard to find the truth in their characters, making them compelling to work with in a rehearsal room, and even more so to watch in performance.

Day One involved little more than discussions and a read-through, with one small exercise involving eye contact. Careful progress on a challenging play where we don't want to make any false steps early on that restrict us later. Great to have made the first step on the journey, and really looking forward to seeing how the rest of the weeks progress.

If you would like to ask the creative team of this production any specific questions, please e-mail info@bikeshedtheatre.co.uk.

Illustration by Patrick Cullum