A Monster Calls | Rehearsal Diary Weeks 4-5

As the company make their way to Bristol from London rehearsals, A Monster Calls Associate Director Miranda Cromwell shares all the goings on from weeks 4 & 5 ahead of the show's world-premiere this May!

We’ve just finished our final two weeks in the rehearsal room in London and the mood in camp is very exciting. I am currently sat on a train heading to Bristol, as is the rest of the company, the set, props and paperwork.

In these past two weeks we've welcomed a couple of new members to our company; Tessa Wood has joined us as an understudy for Grandma, and Tomi Hargreaves will be operating the sound. We also launched straight into Act II and, having now established a shared language for devising, we've made really good progress. Everyone has been throwing in ideas and discussing various plot points as Sally listens, tests and selects the ideas that work best.

When we arrived at a particularly tricky scene in No Tale, however, we hit a bit of a stumbling block. Here, the monster visits Conor again, without a story for him this time. We tried and tested several ideas; we discussed what was important to see in this scene. How it affects Conor and propels the next bit of action. This is where all of Sally’s devising experience really shows. She stays patient and brave as we wrestle the ideas down and find in each of them something useful. The end result is a real combination of ideas, using lots of elements to maximise effect. The process takes time, patience and a critical eye; the end result is really satisfying.

It feels like we've really got into the guts of the play, as the emotional and psychological elements of the story get really detailed and require deconstruction. The rehearsal room was quite literally heating up; we were experiencing a bit of a heat wave and with many days drifting into evening work everyone was struggling to keep the focus.  

At this point, it is essential that the Deputy Stage Manager Adam Cox and myself are keeping track of the changes. Scenes are being created and changed very quickly and it may be days before we repeat what we did. All the blocking, acting notes, journey of props and technical requirements need to be carefully documented ahead of us moving into the theatre.

We are so tantalisingly close to finishing now but, with the play fully devised, what it needs now is rehearsing. We can see that the structure works and the devised material is on the right track, but it must be refined to bring the performance quality up. We've already spent a lot of time on Act I, getting it to a place where it feels confident and dynamic. As we head to Bristol, this leaves us with a lot of work still to do on Act II.

The final days of these past two weeks were spent running through what we have and sharing it with the wider company. In the sharing was Tom Morris and Matthew Warchus, Artistic Directors of Bristol Old Vic and The Old Vic respectively, as well as Kate Varah, Executive Director of The Old Vic and Patrick Ness, the writer. This was both an exposing and exhilarating feeling, but it was clear that tensions were high. To calm the nerves ahead of the run, Sally suggested that we sing together. We stood in a circle and sang rounds of a song we've been using in a vocal warm up. In that moment I could feel the tension dissipating as the company shared eye contact, smiles and raised voices. This togetherness is a great way to start the story.

By the end of the run on Saturday there was not a dry eye in the house. This story is one that affects so many of us, myself included. Working through the material has been painful at times, but also incredibly healing. Having space within the working environment to be open and honest has been a rare gift. As we left London, we all felt very proud to have got this far, ready to face the next hurdle.

In Bristol we'll be needing to add the final elements, sound design, lights and projection. We'll also need to finish the play as we still aren't sure exactly how it should end! But we have trust in the process and can't wait to put the final piece of the puzzle together, with you, our audience.

See you there!

Miranda Cromwell (Associate Director)