Tuesday 1st June - Site opens and the actors arrive

by Chantelle Francois

Today is when it all starts. The beginning of the biggest project most of us have ever been part of. Making a train station into a stunning theatre experience in just over a month! That’s crazy I hear you cry...my thoughts exactly! But when the curtain goes up on opening night, it is all going to be worth it.

The project has been ongoing behind the scenes for months, but it is only now that we see it starting to take shape as construction begins and the actors arrive on site for the first time.

Before today the site was an eerie ghost town with only a handful of producers and assistants in this huge space. I’m not going to lie, at first it was pretty scary walking around alone. And with the toilets so far away from the offices, I for one didn’t like going alone. But that is all history. The place is now buzzing with activity.

Producer Matthew Gale conducts the site tour for what is probably the 1000^th time. And, although I have been on it before, I am still amazed at the sheer size of the place and the enormity of the task we have all taken on.

There is only one thought going through my head at this point - This is going to be amazing!

After all the introductions were done and the actors given their welcome packs, up steps executive producer Jenny King to give a rousing speech. Then the company got down to work. The Read Through. It was the first time we all got to see the actors play their roles and the script was heard in full. This was really exciting for me. I have never been involved in something like this before, so it is all new. But like the pros that they are, the actors got down to business as though they had been doing this particular play all of their lives.

After an hour and a half, we reach that infamous ending. A ripple of applause started and there is a real sense of excitement in the air. That was the first of many times we will hear the play in its entirety. And I for one can’t wait to hear it again!