The Lieutenant of Inishmore– Week Five

This was our last week in the rehearsal room – it always surprises me how quickly this comes about. You think you have all the time in the world and then, suddenly, rehearsals are over. But we’re ready. Ready to share this show with an audience, ready to see what their reaction does to it, particularly as it’s a comedy. In a way we’re waiting to be informed by them.

Before that we have runthroughs left in the rehearsal room. There are three planned for this week and after spending Monday working through each scene in fine detail it’s time to have our first proper runthrough on Tuesday morning. It goes well and Michael is happy. I find myself laughing at moments I have seen many times before as we keep finding something new in them, always a good sign.

We welcome new people into the room with each runthrough, each one something to do with the show – from costume to lighting to press and marketing. It’s so interesting to hear where they laugh, where they don’t, and how each audience differs. It’s going to be an incredible experience once we get this show in front of 900 people. 

Alongside the runthroughs, we also devote an afternoon to a ‘blood rehearsal’. We get to experience some of the squibs first hand, as well as literally covering some of the characters in blood. It’s an extraordinary sight and makes us even more excited about what this show is going to look like once we put it all together at the Noël Coward Theatre.

We end the week in a great place, and after some encouraging words from Michael we’re all buzzing to get into the theatre and add real audiences to our show… Bring on Tech Week!