Today we had a full day off of our normal timetable so that we could rehearse on the stage.
The first two periods were spent setting up the stage and sorting set. Lewis, Charlie and I put up the artificial Christmas tree. This proved surprisingly difficult as we didn't have a stand for the tree! Therefore, we had to lean the tree up against the wall. Afterwards, I helped secure the "brick walls" flats. I supported the stepladder that Miss Cordell was standing on so there was less chance of an accident occurring (e.g. the ladder toppling over). Whilst I was supporting the ladder, the top of the flats was having wire attached to the top of it, connecting to the bar of the lighting, as to give the flat extra strength, making it more stable and less likely to fall over. I also noticed that there was a screw poking through the flat, and that this screw was not needed, so I ensured it got removed. If it wasn't removed someone could either snag their costume on it or, even worse, could scratch themselves on it. Afterwards, I drew stars on the "Who's been good?" chart and attached it to the wall. For each character, I put them number of stars I thought they would be likely to get (so Jenny having the whole chart filled and some extra, whilst Ashley only had two). I also cut out the letters spelling "OUR SPACE PROJECT" and stuck them to one of the flats along with drawings and "class work" related to space.
The second two periods were spent finishing the set, going through songs and working with the lighting. The set that was put up was additional staging and the "Home Corner". The additional staging was positioned at the back of the stage to add depth and levels to our play. The only people that stand on the additional staging are Lewis and James, as this level represents "Miss Horrocks' special cupboard". However, it will also be used to sit on by Cel and Hope (when Cel's character is crying) and by Rhiannon (when she looks through Miss Horrocks' bag. The "Home Corner" is a child's fabric playhouse. We positioned it on the far stage right of the additional staging, so it was visible and also so it didn't have to be moved throughout the show. With the songs, we decided not to use backing tracks as we couldn't find appropriate ones regarding length, timing and key. Therefore, we decided to do all of the songs a Capella. This also allowed us to end the songs whenever we wanted to do. We set up the lights in the correct place and worked out what parts of the stage the lighting would illuminate.
The final two periods were spent running certain parts of the play. We decided to run from the slow motion section to the adult section so we could all try our costume changes. This was important so we knew how long exactly we had to get changed and if we could all be ready in time. We also worked out where we would get changed (what wing was most convenient for each person) and how we could make the change quicker (if we could wear certain parts of our adult costume under our children's costume and vice versa). We also ran the play up until the slow motion section. We had a lot of trouble with the lighting as we couldn't find the spot lights when we were on stage, we didn't stand in the light. Therefore we decided to play a little game called "find the light"! This was where we had to run to the light and stop once we thought we were in it. We managed to stand in the circle of light on the floor but we didn't manage to illuminate our faces! We hoped that this wasn't going to be a problem in the actual performance.
