The Arts Council England states that ‘for arts organisations to produce the best work that they can and have the greatest possible impact, they need to be clear and confident about their mission, engage effectively with the world around them and be objective about their development needs’ (ACE 2013, online). WAKEUP is this art organisation. Stated clearly in their manifesto, 130, 000 provides audience members with information about the fatalities of knife crime in South East London.

As mentioned in a previous post, John Hester notes that ‘one of the most important truths about acting is that an actor is only ever as good.. as the other actors on stage’ (2004, p.33). WAKEUP’s final performance of 130,000 went extremely well, and this is because every member of the company united as a collective group.

On Monday 20th May (show day), WAKEUP arrived outside the LPAC theatre at 9am that morning, ready to help with any of the technical requirements and prepare for a dress run. The extra rehearsal time that we spent working on the café scenes that very morning paid off, resulting in a very successful comical sketch between Clinton and Perry. When first using the space, each member of WAKEUP had to get used to the vast distance between the box on stage right and the café stage left. Once this was overcome, transitions needed to be rehearsed to ensure they ran smoothly for the final performance. Once cue to cue’s and a dress run were completed with a few final notes added WAKEUP were ready to perform their production to a strong 112 person audience.

The final performance of 130,000 was one that I feel both the company I can be proud of. The lights, sound and script united together so perfectly and I believe this was only further reflected in myself and other actor’s performances. I couldn’t be happier to have been part of WAKEUP theatre company!

 

Work Cited

Hester, John (2004) Stage Acting Techniques: A Practical Guide, The Crowood Press Ltd.