18 Jul 2015
One of the things I love about theatre is that no matter what experience you bring to a production, there comes that moment when you bring it in front of an audience and you have absolutely no idea how they are going to react. Particularly a new comedy.
We have always been mad enough to open our new productions of BARMY BRITAIN straight into the West End without any tryout or preview. It’s been a hair-raising experience to give our first performance to a West End audience who expect us to know exactly what we’re doing. Thankfully, BARMY ONE and BARMY TWO survived the baptism of fire, but when Trowbridge Council asked if we would open BARMY THREE in their town to celebrate Magna Carta, we jumped at the chance.
And boy, it’s been amazing. One of the differences is that BARMY plays over the summer in London so we don’t get school groups. This time our first six shows played to school audiences and it’s been a riot! It gave us the confidence to know that when we started playing our first family audiences today, we knew the children were enjoying it, even if they are quieter sitting next to Mum and Dad!
As you start saying lines that no-one has ever heard before, you constantly weigh up the reaction to