Out with the old, in with the older...

With 'A Christmas Carol' we were posed with a problem, people were outgrowing the company and heading their separate ways. With 'Keep It All In', we said goodbye to our actors Harriet, Ciaran (but not for long) and Peter, and brought in a host of new faces from auditions. Joe Black, Lamorna Rowe, Georgia Gendall and Hannah Stephens took four roles in the six character piece, with Dan and Lewis making up the other two. We were preparing for our first "two nighter" at Falmouth Arts Centre, a huge step for us as a company, and a massive challenge. We still had the talents of the wonderful Sophie Canale at our disposal, and after a short rehearsal period with our brand new cast, we had a show ready to be performed.

With just three months, Dan took the rehearsal period and used it as effectively as he could. It wasn't easy to have such a short amount of time with a cast who we had never worked with before, but after the initial "getting to know each other" phase, the hard work began. Scenes were blocked, rehearsed, re-blocked, re-rehearsed and, occasionally, beaten into the cast.

The two nights were a success, giving the traditional tale a modern slant and presented in a different, but visually fantastic way. But, never ones to dwell on the past, we already had plans for another show. After a night of discussion with Dan in 'The Jacob's Ladder', Ciaran suggested a show based on the Ancient Greek legend of the Horse of Troy. 'Trojan' (as it was originally called) would be our own interpretation of the story, playing to our strengths and representing a return to songs in our shows. The first draft was scrapped, and then Ciaran hit upon the idea of presenting the piece as a court case, starring a cast of women and effiminate men who were unfairly cut from the legend. The idea was there, but the name wasn't quite right, until Maeve Clarke (later to be in 'The Stythians Ghost') hit upon the name 'Troy Story'. And so we were ready!

Though we lost Sophie's input, we gained the acting abilities of Rebecca Rowe and, desperate for his part back, Ciaran. After a long rehearsal period from February to July, the "real story" of the Trojan War was ready for its audience. The show was well-received by its audience and was another step-up for the company. Attracting people to 'A Christmas Carol' at Christmas time hadn't been so challenging, but filling two nights for an original piece seemed impossible. Falmouth Arts Centre took a risk on us and we, through hard work (have you ever walked around Falmouth town centre in a toga?), managed to get decent houses for both nights. Our historically accurate setting, character names, Greek columns and story, from many months of pain-staking research, contributed to the rarely-failing realism of the piece. Think you knew Ancient Greece? Think again...