Chairman's Review

Ashley Heath looks back on OFTR

It's always a strange set of emotions that accompany the end of a show. Above all, it's anticlimatic; the sole focus of most of your waking hours for the past week (outside of work and family, of course!) simply disappears. For actors, the intellectual burden of keeping lines fresh in your head can be put to one side, whilst for crew, the pressures of making sure set, props and effect cues are ready to go disappears too.

But you do miss the performances. Being on stage, backstage, or in the box; it's all the same. We're one big team, relying on each other to make our show as good as we can. For me, I think One For The Road (Forgive me, I'll lapse into the acronym, OFTR, from now on!) was another show that showed what strength in depth OTTC can call upon. I'll explain.

From the off, performing OFTR was the idea of OTTC's Paul Felix. He brought it to the committee, suggesting it as an ideal Christmas offering to our audiences. Its mix of bawdy humour, farce and physicality, combined with a fair old bit of thought provoking emotion ticked a lot of boxes for us.

Auditions were held, and casting made. Now, this is where that strength in depth comes in. Unfortunately, completely due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, Paul had to step away from the production entirely, and responsibly made that decision early enough to find another director.

Up steps Nancy Heath, who herself had originally been slated to be the show's Stage Manager (SM) and had then been cast in the role of Jane. Ok, so now we've got to find an actress and an SM.

For the actress half of the equation, we approached Jayne Ackrill, who's put in some great performances with us since she joined OTTC in 2007. We're delighted she took on the role of Jane (confusing, isn't it!) as she brought some great qualities to bear on the character.

For the role of SM, OTTC displayed the qualities that I really like. Good judgement and trust. Originally, OFTR's sound operator was going to be new member, Becky Gregory-Clarke. Becky had approached us through our site here at Swindonweb, expressing an interest in getting involved. With her background in electrical engineering, we thought that sound might suit her, and us. But now, having met Becky only a couple of times, we took the decision that, I think, few other companies would. We entrusted the role of SM to Becky, and we're so glad we did! From the off, she asked all the right questions, offered constructive opinions at the right times, and held court as 'deputy director' for one rehearsal when Nancy couldn't make it. Also, during performance, Becky's handling of the backstage area made the actors' jobs so much easier.

I think this proves one thing about OTTC; it's more often than not, talent and capability that sees roles handed out - not time served in the company. I think this helps to keep us vibrant and entertaining.

So, with all that sorted; all we had to do was to get on with it!

From the off, Nancy stepped into the role of director seamlessly, drawing upon her years of dramatic experience and instinct. Sometimes she held onto Paul's philosophy, sometimes not - that's to be expected. But for actors in such a situation, the sure handed approach adopted by Nancy made the transition so much easier. Another aspect to Nancy's direction that I'd seen her do before, but never really been exposed to myself as an OTTC actor, was her habit of finishing rehearsals with 'a chat'. Nancy likes to spend 10 or 15 minutes at the end of the evening, asking questions of us, individually or severally, about our characters and their relationships to each other. It's a simple tactic I know, but I really enjoyed it and found it useful too. I know my fellow cast members share that view. For me, it did help clear some fogginess I experienced in trying to understand my character, Dennis!

Jane Dale, who last appeared for OTTC in our winning play at HJ08 - see the HJ09 website (www.swindonweb.com/hj09/festival2008.htm) - returned for this show, as my stage wife, Pauline. It's a delight working with Jane. She's a positive, mature voice in any discussion, and she's got a wicked sense of humour too!

The remaining role of Roger, was filled by Mike Carpenter. What I like about Mike is that in the plays he's done with OTTC, he does nothing but improve. I like that; realising that I'm witnessing someone's enjoyment of their craft deepen and seeing their acting grow more sure at each step.

Similarly, backstage, Stuart Quinn was taking his first stab and being in the box. Before joining us for 2007's 'Best of British', Stuart had never acted, yet for his third play with OTTC, 'Breakfast with Jonny Wilkinson', he was playing the lead. Testament to our faith in him, and his enthusiasm for what we do. Stuart's role on sound was part of his constant desire to learn more about how we create a show and he did a great job of it too.

To Stuart's right in the box, was Adam Elvin. Adam's been a member of OTTC, on and off, since 2000 when he played three roles in 'Life of Brian', including Francis ("...proceed directly to the hypocaust. This has just been re-tiled, so terrorists, careful with those weapons." One of my favourite lines!). Again, Adam's an extremely safe pair of hands, not only at controlling the lighting, but also at the practicalities of set building. If Adam's involved in a get in, I'm always a little happier!

Talking of set building, I have to say thanks, and well done, to Paul Blonden. When Nancy took over as director, she looked to Paul and asked him to design and build what she needed to make it all believable. And he did it! Not only did Paul design a realistic living room but, and much more tricky this, he came up with a coffee table that would collapse on command and a bureau that would spew forth its contents at the second time of being clouted! Not easy but he did it! Also, Paul makes the set build go smoothly, with his cheerful and helpful attitude. Again, if Paul's involved in your set design, you count yourself lucky!

Backstage, alongside Becky, was OFTR's ASM, Steve Wheeler. Steve's a founder member of OTTC and I'm pretty sure that if you look up the word, 'Stalwart' in the dictionary, there's a picture of Steve there. Over the years, Steve's proved a valuable member of the company, playing both larger and smaller roles, and a myriad number of backstage roles too.

And a mention too of our Front of House (FoH) Manager for OFTR, Fenella Harrop. FoH is one of those roles that no-one really enjoys, perhaps because it's seen to be too far removed from the show itself. It's also a role that sees you calling a lot of people and asking for their help as it's all about making sure OTTC has enough volunteers to take tickets and be fire stewards at the Arts Centre for our shows. Without those people, our shows wouldn't take place at all! Fenella doesn't just make sure we've got enough bodies though; at every turn she's talking to audience members, helping to make sure that their experience of an OTTC show is a positive one, even before they've got into the auditorium.

And me? Well, OFTR is another example of how a seemingly superficial comedy can still have enough layers to give pause for thought - thereby making it all the more challenging to perform. I enjoyed myself and, from what I heard of audience comments, so did they. That's what it's all about, isn't it?

Ashley Heath, OTTC Chairman, 2008-09