Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

The moment has come for a run through. Having now worked through Part 1 twice we have a stagger through, where we put all the bits together and see if it sticks.Μύ It is at this moment that you find out if the show is going to fly or not.Μύ Despite the obvious roughness and hesitancy, it will.Μύ

The storytelling is mostly clear - the plot is fiendishly complex and we have spent a lot of energy on trying to tell it as clearly as possible, and the actors are starting to get a feel of the arc of the thing, and are able to pace their performances accordingly.

The main issue at the moment is that our first part ends at an artificial point, halfway through Shakespeare's Henry VI Part 2.Μύ This is one of the perils of squeezing three plays into two performances, but it means that the evening builds towards a climax two thirds of the way through, then the pace slows down again as we move away from the battlefield into a series of scenes of court intrigue.Μύ

The trick will be to maintain a high level of tension and momentum here.Μύ This part of the play is the set up for the start of the Wars of the Roses - the actions here are going to have bloody and far-reaching consequences which will pay off in the second half of our story.Μύ The trick is to make this clear, as the audience has to come back to get that payoff on a different performance, and we don't want to send them out into the night with an anticlimactic ending.Μύ

We are aiming for a cliff-hanger feel - freezing at a moment in time when the Duke of Gloucester has been murdered but his body hasn't been found yet.Μύ It will work, I am sure, but we haven't quite found the right pace or energy yet.

Everyone relaxes a little after this though, the end is in sight and we know we have at least half a show.Μύ We can't allow for complacency though and must start working through the second half.Μύ Our work rate is increasing all the time and I am really trying to push everyone to give their best at every rehearsal, difficult if you are coming from a hard day's work in the day job, but I know how crucial these last few rehearsals will be.Μύ

I remind them that we open in less than three weeks, and I can see the fear in people's eyes.

Mark