News from Mr Grady
25th January 2024
Hello Everyone,
This week, we are really excited to see our school production, Much Ado About Nothing finally hitting the RHS stage.
I always feel nostalgic for the absolute joy of working as part of an ensemble, and the fun and thrill everyone involved with the play will get from taking part in the production. (Although, having directed school productions before I don’t miss the nail-biting worry of getting everything ready in time: Will the cast learn their lines? Will all the “tech” work? Will the audiences enjoy it? Will we make our money back?) However, despite the stresses of getting the show on, which Miss Brady, Mrs Hogan and Mr Tarry have managed superbly, the sheer joy of being involved in a production always outweighs those worries of getting it to the stage in the first place.
Over the last few months I have been dropping into rehearsals, and seen cast members’ confidence growing, seen the growing authority with which they have taken to the stage, and on Monday this week, when we welcomed an enormous audience of primary school children to see the dress rehearsal saw the light in the eyes of cast and crew that excitedly said “we’ve got a show!”
Being part of an ensemble really is something very special indeed – the mutual support, the fact that you’re all in it together, and that whatever part you have whether it is front of stage, back stage or on stage, you are all as essential to the running of the piece as everyone else. You all, hold each other up throughout the run of the show.
I remember my very first whole school production, where at the age of 16 I played guitar in the band for my schools’ production of Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. I thought I was just turning up to play a bit of guitar, but through rehearsals, and then those all-important technical and dress rehearsals something really clicked for me, and that sense of “all being in it together” the flurry of nerves as the build up to each performance began – tuning up, warming up, and the whack of adrenalin as the lights hit the stage and the band struck up, that buzz is still as exciting to me now as it was then.
I hope the cast and crew, and all the staff involved with the show get the same thrill I did all the way back in 1993, and I hope they enjoy every minute of the next few days. It is incredibly well deserved.
Stay well and safe everyone,
With all best wishes,
Mr Grady
