May 2018 – Page 2 – Sherbet Lemon Theatre

May 26, 2018Emma Louise Round No Comments

Reflecting on our debut performance

So that’s it, the shows over and Sherbet Lemon Theatre have retired, for now. The Truth About Bedtime… was a success and we as a company are overwhelmed with the response we have received. We have received feedback from our friends, family and even members of the pubic as to how entertaining they found our performance and how much they enjoyed it, giving us confidence to perhaps pursue our show further in the future. I am so proud of everything we have achieved over the past four months and wouldn’t change this experience with these girls for the world.

Now we have reached the end of the process it seems appropriate to evaluate the success of our debut performance and consider how I may have improved in my role as performer and fundraiser to further our success.

In relation to my role as a performer, I felt happy with the performance I had given on the night of our debut show. However, there is always room for improvement and I feel for myself this is in the form of projection. When performing in a large space, such as the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre auditorium, it is essential that actors project to be heard by all audience members. The nature of our seating meant that if I hadn’t projected it would have more than likely been difficult for those who were not sat on the first row to hear me when I spoke. I received feedback from an audience member regarding a difficulty in hearing all that was said throughout our performance. Whether this was on my part or on the part of my fellow cast members it is certainly something to note for the future.

(Sired, 2018)

In regards to my role as fundraiser this was mainly a role I took on throughout the creation process rather than on the day of the show. However, it was my fundraising events that raised the money required to put on our performance, providing the funds to buy the set, props and costumes. We were fortunate enough to have raised enough funds to buy everything we felt we needed in order to perform our debut show, therefore, I would say my role as fundraiser was a success. For the future, taking our performance further, I would perhaps aim to raise more funds dedicated to dressing the seating area. We decided to place blankets and pillows on the seating in order to create the comfy and cosy environment we desired. For our debut performance this was successful, however, in the future if we took our performance to larger spaces we would require more to dress a bigger seating area.

(Sired, 2018)

Our debut performance of The Truth About Bedtime… was on the whole successful and hopefully you haven’t seen the last of the Sherby Lems yet.

E.R.

Sired, K. (2018) Projection 1 [image].

Sired, K. (2018) Projection 2 [image].

Sired, K. (2018) Projection 3 [image].

Sired, K. (2018) Dressing the set 1 [image].

Sired, K. (2018) Dressing the set 2 [image].

Sired, K. (2018) Dressing the set 3 [image].

May 25, 2018Lauren Jade Randles No Comments

A reflection on show day

With the knowledge that we had been rehearsing in spaces considerably smaller than the Auditorium at Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, my main priority for show day was to sort out the staging for The Truth About Bedtime…, in particular the movement scenes. i knew it was important to make sure that the movement I had created really filled the space, and that every little detail had been thought about on my end. To ensure that this process ran as smoothly as possible, I staged the scenes in chronological order, getting the company to mark through the scenes after assigning them their new staging positions. The purpose of marking the scenes through was to ensure that each movement was clearly visible for the audience to see, and so the company members knew exactly where to go.

The lead up to the final performance was well organised by stage manager, Chloe McKay, allocating time for a dress run where director Emelia Hutchinson, who did not perform, was able to write notes about the staging on my behalf. There was also time afterwards where I could correct any errors that occurred. Before the show began, I made sure that the entire company participated in a physical warm up, including breathing exercises and stretching the body.

After finishing our final performance of The Truth About Bedtime…, we were overjoyed with the response and feedback we received from our audience. The Exercise Scene received a round of applause from the audience which, as choreographer, filled me with happiness that I had created choreography that was enjoyable for an audience. The decision to hold back on energy in the opening numbers in rehearsals turned out to be the right decision, as the energy from the company on show day was thriving.

Arts Council England are interested in offering “new experiences” (2018) for audiences, something I believed we created during our pre-set. Where usually audiences enter a theatre space greeted by an empty stage, our decision to interact with the audience members during our pre-set meant that we could really take control on ensuring that our audience were fully catered for. Audience were immediately greeted as they entered the space and three company members were allocated a seating side each.

Of course, there were things that I would have changed. ‘Lucid Dreaming’, for example. lost the synchronisation we had created in rehearsals in such a big space. This was an unfortunate occurrence which we could not have foreseen, as we felt that we had prepared enough to be able to adapt to a new, bigger space.

Overall, I was extremely proud of the professionalism of the company and how they dealt with such a high intensity physical performance that I had created. Seeing my choreography come to life was heart-warming and rewarding, and I am eternally grateful to Sherbet Lemon Theatre for helping my crazy ideas come alive. Here are a few of my favourite choreographed moments from The Truth About Bedtime…

(Sired, 2018)

L.R.

Works Cited

Arts Council England. (2018) Supporting arts, museums and libraries. England: Arts Council England. Available from https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/supporting-arts-museums-and-libraries [Accessed 19 May 2018].

Sired, K. (2018) Exercise machine show day [image].

Sired, K. (2018) Lucid dreaming [image].

Sired, K. (2018) Mr Sandman 1 [image].

Sired, K. (2018) Mr Sandman 2 [image].

Sired, K. (2018) Night terrors [image].

Sired, K. (2018) Sleep paralysis [image].

Sired, K. (2018) The exercise scene [image].

May 24, 2018Emelia Hutchinson No Comments

Show day!

It’s over! Show day ran smoothly, well guided by our stage manager Chloe. Despite a couple of fumbles and mistakes this was definitely the best the Sherby Lems have ever performed. The audience laughed in all of the right, and some rather unexpected, places! During the day the cast took feedback well and worked quickly and efficiently to correct mistakes and were incredibly patient when the stage manager and I were checking sound levels. Due to selling out we invited some people to come and watch our dress rehearsal. This allowed the cast to get a feel for an audience without the pressure of being assessed and certainly gave them the confidence to pull of the performance in the way that they did!

It’s been a pleasure and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Sherbet Lemon Theatre. Hopefully, it’ll be sweet!

E.H.

May 24, 2018Hayley Mcconnell No Comments

Producing and Fundraising

As our show was beginning to develop nicely, it became apparent that Sherbet Lemon Theatre would require more than our £200 budget from the University of Lincoln to fund The Truth About Bedtime... Because we already knew that we needed more funding, myself and Emma worked together in order to put fundraising plans in place. If you would like to hear more about Emma’s role as Sherbet Lemon Theatre’s Fundraising Manager, click on the ‘Fundraiser’ tab.

Having somebody in charge of fundraising was extremely helpful to me in my job as producer as two heads are always better than one, especially when it comes to money. During the process I kept track of what money was spent and what money was needed, which made organising fundraising as simple as possible as we knew how much money we wanted to raise. If you’d like more information on how I managed the budget, see my blog post on the ‘Producer’ tab, alternatively, see the official budget sheet on the ‘Technical Documents’ tab.

Having this insight into the amount of money needed for the show was very helpful, because, if in future I wish to apply for Arts Council Funding I know how much I would practically need to put on the show. As Arts Council England state on their website, “we won’t be able to award funding to everybody that applies, so make sure you’re definitely ready to apply when you do submit an application” (Arts Council England, 2018). So, this knowledge and preparation on budgets and funding will mean that I will be prepared for the application process, and therefore have a head start, so to speak . As the process can take up to six weeks to be processed, “it is important that you factor in enough time to allow us to do this when you plan to make an application” (Arts Council England, 2016).

H.M.
Arts Council England (2018) Developing Your Creative Practise. England: Arts Council England. Available from https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/DYCP [accessed 24 May 2018].

Arts Council England (2016) Grants for the Arts How to Apply: £15,000 and Under. England: Arts Council England. Available from https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-file/Grants_for_the_Arts_How_to_apply15k_and_under_Nov2017.pdf [accessed 24 May 2018].

May 24, 2018Lucy Alice Farrell No Comments

Performance Reflection

Hello!

We did it! Our performance ‘The Truth About Bedtime…’ premiered on 21^st May at Lincoln Performing Arts . I am completely overwhelmed with the response we received from our audience during and after our show. Our piece being described as “imaginative, thoughtful and assured piece of work” (Jordan, 2018). Since the show, we have received numerous of compliments from audience members, who especially enjoyed the sweetness of our performance. Which was important to us as a company as we believe laughter is an important part of life.

Preparation on show day consisted of checking all the props and costumes were in good condition and had not been worn down during any recent rehearsals. Luckily, I only had to go over the ‘EYE’ ball again in order to make sure this was clear to the audience members.

During the performance, everything ran smoothly, except one of the balls used in our REM scene fell out of our props bucket earlier on in the performance and therefore was not in the correct place when it came to REM. Luckily, it had just rolled one foot away and was still easily accessible by the cast member that required it. All we can do to ensure it does not happen again is be careful when removing other props from the bucket, but unfortunately, these things do and will happen. However, this did not effect the show and the cast members remained calm and did not draw any unncessary attention.

If I had more time, I would ensure that costume was properly fitted for each cast members, in order to make sure they were safe and allowed us to move and feel comfortable. As some pyjamas were slightly to long on some legs, which may have looked untidy to certain audience members.

Overall, I am extremely proud of every member of our company and feel privilege to be a part of Sherbet Lemon Theatre and able to work with such amazing and creative women.

I hope this will not be the end of Sherbet Lemon Theatre and The Truth About Bedtime…

A big thank you to everyone who has supported our company so far.

L.F.

33046835_1817099898311225_8799725104251535360_o — Opening Scene

33312925_1817094661645082_8255829494066053120_o — Sandman Sheet

33061324_1817095068311708_740856531137855488_o — Exercise Scene

33112966_1817100228311192_6263760783860039680_o — Sherby Lems

Works Cited

Jordan, A. (2018) The Truth….[Email]. Sent to A. Mason, C. Denby, C. Mckay, E. Hutchinson, E. Liddle, E. Round, L. Farrell, 22 May.

Figures

Opening Number: Sired, K. (2018) Sherbet Lemon Theatre: The Truth About Bedtime. Available from https://www.facebook.com/pg/KSIREDPHOTOGRAPHY/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1817093908311824 [accessed 24 May 2018].

Sandman Sheet: Sired, K. (2018) Sherbet Lemon Theatre: The Truth About Bedtime. Available from https://www.facebook.com/pg/KSIREDPHOTOGRAPHY/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1817093908311824 [accessed 24 May 2018].

Exercise Scene: Sired, K. (2018) Sherbet Lemon Theatre: The Truth About Bedtime. Available from https://www.facebook.com/pg/KSIREDPHOTOGRAPHY/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1817093908311824 [accessed 24 May 2018].

Sherby Lems: Sired, K. (2018) Sherbet Lemon Theatre: The Truth About Bedtime. Available from https://www.facebook.com/pg/KSIREDPHOTOGRAPHY/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1817093908311824 [accessed 24 May 2018].