(no subject)
I found this about the company I work for. It's from last years Cambridge Chronicle;I think it articulates wonderfully everything i feel right now....
Panto no fun for Paul after his 16-hour day
DEEP in the wilds of Chingford, Essex, within the walls of a disused Scout headquarters, hundreds of actors are in training.
This month, 17 identical productions of Cinderella and 11 productions of Goldilocks & the Three Bears will visit schools and village halls across the land.
Every year, theatre producers Chaplins Entertainment recruit eager performers for their panto season and put them through an intensive training regime, which has become known to all involved as Pantocamp.
When I arrive at Pantocamp towards the end of the morning, the actors are on their third run of the show that day. I catch up with Paul Drommie, from Stansted, in the 20 minutes he has for lunch.
"We get up at 6.30am and eat breakfast at 7am," says Paul. "We then warm up by doing stretching and breathing exercises and perform the dances we've already learnt.
After that we go straight into our first rehearsal. I'm in Goldilocks, playing Billy Whoops. There are three directors for the eight troupes learning this show, so we'll either work with one of the directors doing blocking or polish what we've already learnt.
"We go over and over every line and movement until it's perfect. We've only got seven days to get it right. All the shows have to be exactly the same. That way, if someone drops out, a standby can come straight in."
He added: "We rehearse in dormitories, the kitchen, wherever there's a space. We never finish before 10 o'clock each night because, after dinner, one of your group will always say, 'Shall we just work on that bit?' You literally can't walk down the corridor without someone pulling you in to do a line run or asking you to watch their dance and check if it's right. You come into breakfast and you've got people talking through the Billy Whoops dance as they're making toast."
Paul, 26, says there are some people who find the camp too claustrophobic. "They walk around saying that the place is like the Big Brother house and they need to get out," he says. "You've got to try and get on with everyone, and if you don't like someone you have to pretend to, because that's the only way to survive. There are rumours that some of the Cinderellalot have left. I wouldn't be surprised if the intensity got too much for them. Apparently one troupe has just had a new Prince Charming and they've got about three days of rehearsal with him before they go on tour.
"To be honest, if people can't hack it here they'll never make it on tour. We're on the road for eight weeks. Me and the other cast members, Natalie and Maxine, will drive to the venues, set up the stage, sort out the lights, props, costumes and sound, then do the show, take it all down again and go into the next venue. And we will do that twice a day until the end of the season."
Damion Nickerson is one of the directors of Goldilocksand has been training pantocampers for nine years.
"People do get shattered and want to drop out but at the end of the day, it's their job to perform," he says. "Sometimes I think what we're asking them to do is superhuman. You have to say things like, 'Look guys, I know its 11 at night but we've just got to get this done."
According to Paul, pantocamp can be as frustrating as it is exhausting. "It's maddening because, as a performer, you naturally want to try and add your own quirks but you can't deviate from the set routines or they'll come down on you like a ton of bricks," he says.
"Until last Monday our troupe's portrayal of the bears in Goldilocks was full of innuendo. We've now been told to cut it. The directors are very, shall we say, down to earth. If you're not doing it right they'll say, 'That's ****, that's wrong, do it again."
As I watch the third run of the day, I notice that the directors are always looking for ways to pile on the pressure. According to Damion, during this performance the teams are being made to compete against one other.
"We're seeing which Goldilocks troupe can do their show the fastest," he says. "If an actor makes a mistake we'll give them a 30 second penalty and the losing team serves dinner to everyone else tonight."
Talking to Paul later, I realise this is just the tip of the iceberg. He says: "They sent us on a run earlier. Half way through, the director stopped us and we had to start our show from there, a mile away from the centre. And he made us run all the way back as Billy Whoops, windmilling our arms."
While I watch the third run, Paul is given a penalty for paraphrasing his lines. He complains loudly and his co-actor says in a whisper, "Just do what he says, you know you can't win."
Paul gives in and the actors struggle to get through the rest of the show. The directors continually try to put them off by singing, invading the stage and trying to make the actors laugh. It's a strangely torturous process to watch actors pretending to be utterly happy and full of festive joy while they are fighting not to lose their tempers. When one of them finally snaps, Damion grins evilly and says: "Did you think this was supposed to be fun?"
Haverhill Arts Centre hosts a Chaplins' production of Cinderella between November 08 and January 21st.
Panto no fun for Paul after his 16-hour day
DEEP in the wilds of Chingford, Essex, within the walls of a disused Scout headquarters, hundreds of actors are in training.
This month, 17 identical productions of Cinderella and 11 productions of Goldilocks & the Three Bears will visit schools and village halls across the land.
Every year, theatre producers Chaplins Entertainment recruit eager performers for their panto season and put them through an intensive training regime, which has become known to all involved as Pantocamp.
When I arrive at Pantocamp towards the end of the morning, the actors are on their third run of the show that day. I catch up with Paul Drommie, from Stansted, in the 20 minutes he has for lunch.
"We get up at 6.30am and eat breakfast at 7am," says Paul. "We then warm up by doing stretching and breathing exercises and perform the dances we've already learnt.
After that we go straight into our first rehearsal. I'm in Goldilocks, playing Billy Whoops. There are three directors for the eight troupes learning this show, so we'll either work with one of the directors doing blocking or polish what we've already learnt.
"We go over and over every line and movement until it's perfect. We've only got seven days to get it right. All the shows have to be exactly the same. That way, if someone drops out, a standby can come straight in."
He added: "We rehearse in dormitories, the kitchen, wherever there's a space. We never finish before 10 o'clock each night because, after dinner, one of your group will always say, 'Shall we just work on that bit?' You literally can't walk down the corridor without someone pulling you in to do a line run or asking you to watch their dance and check if it's right. You come into breakfast and you've got people talking through the Billy Whoops dance as they're making toast."
Paul, 26, says there are some people who find the camp too claustrophobic. "They walk around saying that the place is like the Big Brother house and they need to get out," he says. "You've got to try and get on with everyone, and if you don't like someone you have to pretend to, because that's the only way to survive. There are rumours that some of the Cinderellalot have left. I wouldn't be surprised if the intensity got too much for them. Apparently one troupe has just had a new Prince Charming and they've got about three days of rehearsal with him before they go on tour.
"To be honest, if people can't hack it here they'll never make it on tour. We're on the road for eight weeks. Me and the other cast members, Natalie and Maxine, will drive to the venues, set up the stage, sort out the lights, props, costumes and sound, then do the show, take it all down again and go into the next venue. And we will do that twice a day until the end of the season."
Damion Nickerson is one of the directors of Goldilocksand has been training pantocampers for nine years.
"People do get shattered and want to drop out but at the end of the day, it's their job to perform," he says. "Sometimes I think what we're asking them to do is superhuman. You have to say things like, 'Look guys, I know its 11 at night but we've just got to get this done."
According to Paul, pantocamp can be as frustrating as it is exhausting. "It's maddening because, as a performer, you naturally want to try and add your own quirks but you can't deviate from the set routines or they'll come down on you like a ton of bricks," he says.
"Until last Monday our troupe's portrayal of the bears in Goldilocks was full of innuendo. We've now been told to cut it. The directors are very, shall we say, down to earth. If you're not doing it right they'll say, 'That's ****, that's wrong, do it again."
As I watch the third run of the day, I notice that the directors are always looking for ways to pile on the pressure. According to Damion, during this performance the teams are being made to compete against one other.
"We're seeing which Goldilocks troupe can do their show the fastest," he says. "If an actor makes a mistake we'll give them a 30 second penalty and the losing team serves dinner to everyone else tonight."
Talking to Paul later, I realise this is just the tip of the iceberg. He says: "They sent us on a run earlier. Half way through, the director stopped us and we had to start our show from there, a mile away from the centre. And he made us run all the way back as Billy Whoops, windmilling our arms."
While I watch the third run, Paul is given a penalty for paraphrasing his lines. He complains loudly and his co-actor says in a whisper, "Just do what he says, you know you can't win."
Paul gives in and the actors struggle to get through the rest of the show. The directors continually try to put them off by singing, invading the stage and trying to make the actors laugh. It's a strangely torturous process to watch actors pretending to be utterly happy and full of festive joy while they are fighting not to lose their tempers. When one of them finally snaps, Damion grins evilly and says: "Did you think this was supposed to be fun?"
Haverhill Arts Centre hosts a Chaplins' production of Cinderella between November 08 and January 21st.