There is a reason why there have been three very tired Filskit ladies wandering around this week: this last weekend we finally reached the light at the end of the devising tunnel. That’s right, after a year’s hard slog, numerous rehearsals, late nights and countless cups of tea we have now officially finished creating our version of Snow White. On Sunday we were fortunate enough to have access to the New Diorama Theatre for the day, where we were at last able to put the show up in an actual theatre space – and see if it can stand on its own two feet in front of a small audience (and my goodness were we nervous!). Thankfully the response from our invited audience was very positive, and in a month’s time, on Sunday 19 June, we will be formally presenting Snow White at The New Diorama. A moment for celebration – most definitely – however, this is when the next step begins.

Over the next four weeks we will base our blogs on the excitement, stresses and nerves that will take us right up to show time, but first let’s reflect on a whole year of devising fun and our ever-growing ‘To Do’ list…

For people unfamiliar with the process of devising, a year can seem like a very long time to supposedly be rehearsing a show. Well actually, when we say rehearsing we mean creating, sculpting, developing and invariably changing multiple aspects of the show. These can be anything from the narrative (that’s right – even the story of Snow White is subject to change), characters, images to the text. On a good day, when we’re ‘in the zone’, we have more ideas than we can shake a stick at. But for every great rehearsal there is a rehearsal where the creative juices aren’t quite flowing and we all end up sitting with cardboard boxes on our heads and doing dodgy accents (needless to say that didn’t make the final piece).

We now find ourselves in something of a new territory, which we like to call “nit picking”. We are examining each aspect in finer detail, readdressing the characters’ motivations for each section of the text, and sharpening actions and reactions within the performance. This does feel like a luxury compared to the rough finish that is often enforced due to imminent deadlines and nervous last minute change. This is what we have realised will help the work rise above being a great idea to being a night’s entertainment. We also believe that this will be the true test of our work, and enable it to stand up to the rigours of longer runs and tours that may follow – or at least we hope so!

As a result of having a complete show (with only minor refinement necessary) it is really exciting to be able to focus on the design aspects of the performance – an element in which the power of collaboration is of vital importance. Elements such as lighting are so important, but we as a company can only just about manage lights on, lights off – thank goodness a lovely lighting designer has boarded the Filskit band wagon.

Costume and props are of equal importance and can really up the production values. A few weeks ago we saw Trestle Theatre’s Birthday of the Infanta at the New Diorama. It was great to see every prop and piece of set and costume used and manipulated. There was clearly a lot of thought behind each item (and hats off to the leading lady Georgina Roberts for juggling all those props/accents/costumes). Of course there is also a major cost implication in the organisation of this. Only last week as a result of a bargain find online, Katy had to carry a dozen parasols on the train to London to avoid the high delivery costs. So, managing the pennies can result in a few strange looks, but if it means we can have an extra couple of parasols to adorn our stage, it is definitely worth it.  We will update you on Sarah and Siva’s trip to Oxford Street in search of the perfect Snow White dress next time. Somehow, we are unsure ‘Primarni’ is going to cut it!

The design aspects will all contribute to the success or failure of the show, and we now have very limited time in which to tie up all these loose ends. As a result, we are hoping to share the final weeks leading up to our big showing with you, through this blog. We expect to be covering our means of sourcing props and costume; working on promoting the show to encourage a large audience; as well as all the other miscellaneous odd jobs that need to be done.

P.S. If there is anything we’ve missed – please let us know.