Rehearsal - Monday 17 March 2014

The group worked on the concert party scene during this evening’s rehearsal.  There are lots of talented boys in the performance (pianists, dancers, magicians and comperes) and a lot of fun was had trying to organise individual performances into a coherent scene.  We think we’ve got it now – there’s just some practice needed!  

 

As was the norm in ‘behind the lines’ parties, ours will close with toasts to the army, and a unison singing of ‘God Save the King’. 

Rehearsal - Monday 10 March 2014

Yet another thought-provoking session as we came together at the Hippodrome rehearsal space. The group of young men drew their attention to the 'drill' scene to be performed in the car park opposite the theatre on Throp Street. In previous years this building was the old Drill Hall where army ranks used to train and information about this historic building will be included in the scene.  In order for this to be performed 'on site', the audience as well as the actors will need to get to the car park.  The boys were faced with the question of 'how?'  To find out how they resolved the issue, come along to the performance!

W&T Artistic Director Janice Connolly also asked the boys to think about the trenches, focusing on how the soldiers slept and the conditions that all soldiers involved in WWI had to endure - whichever country they were from.  With a wealth of different languages between the group (Greek to French, Russian to Japanese), the boys decided to integrate these within a 'dream scene' to capture the similarity between soldiers of all nationalities.

First rehearsal - Monday 3 March

On Monday 3 March the group met at the Hippodrome to begin the devising process of The Chocolate Soldiers. There were lots of creative ideas flowing as the boys worked on the opening scene in the foyer area at the Hippodrome, showing the recruitment of the young boys from Birmingham.  We’ve also been choosing music for the performance - volunteer Frankie found the perfect note singing the song ‘Your King and Country’ with some of the lads joining in as well. The recruiting officer’s speech sounded great and we’re working on adding a layer of audience participation with the distribution of both anti and pro war flyers.  There was much fun and laughter in the session along with a sense of ‘getting the show on the road.’ A great start to rehearsals.