Following swiftly after Little Angels, the next production I am involved in is Scrooge and Marley – a clever and raucous two-man adaptation of A Christmas Carol. It is to be performed in Cambridge by James Swanton and George Potts. James is a fellow Yorkie and has asked me to be one of the associate directors for the piece. This basically means that I help out with a third of the rehearsals and come up with ideas for some of the staging including lighting. I had a good meeting with him in which he talked about the story and his thoughts behind the piece. He has already performed a one-man Dickens show in Cambridge, which was very good but more pared down – this demands a few more visual tricks and set pieces.
This ‘associate’ post is similar in some ways to being an assistant director: James already has developed in his mind how he wants the play to be staged, requiring me to watch rehearsals and suggest improvements and alterations. But it is also a bit more creative than the usual assisting post, and carries more responsibility.
And I also have a small acting part in another Cambridge show the week before Scrooge and Marley. It has been about two and a half years since I last acted so I was keen to see how naturally it would come back to me. I haven’t especially missed acting but I like to keep challenging myself – so I’m looking forward to taking the part on.
