************************* Keep up with the Charlotte Bennett's (Assistant Director) latest blog - Click Here! WEEK 1 Charlotte Bennett (Assistant Director) shares her thoughts after the first week of rehearsals My first observation from the Up The Duff rehearsal process is that having a baby is terrifying. Just a few glimpses of conversation that have led me to believe this: ‘No matter how many people say it, you never forget the pain’, ‘I console myself with the fact that women have been doing it for years but you do risk your life’, ‘Ripping and stitches’ (Enough said), (A continuation.) ‘And after, when you go to the toilet…’, ‘You are making the choice to share your life, you will never be just yourself again’. On the second day of rehearsal we had a midwife come in to talk to the cast about preparing for and giving birth. I happened to be away for the day and so the next day asked the cast how it went. I wish I could describe the looks on their faces. A mixture of shock, horror and utter disbelief could be the only way to explain it. The midwife visit had given a real insight into the physical and emotional process of having a baby and over the week, the cast clearly began to take this on board through the development of their characters. The play involves four pregnant women who meet at an antenatal class led by a menopausal midwife with a doting (in a drive you mad kind of way) husband. It is a play with the ability to make you both laugh and cry, dealing with serious issues with a phenomenal sense of humour and wit. Initially it is their bumps that tie these women together, but as the play unfolds, we soon realise that the bond between the group runs much deeper than their pregnancies. The director, Damian Cruden, started rehearsals by getting the cast up on their feet and working through the text. Damian’s take on the play is ‘It is a piece that addresses the modern desire for somebody else to be responsible for everything. Modern science and medicine sets the expectation that somebody else will sort all our problems for us when sometimes it is a case of accepting responsibility ourselves’. The women all have an impending responsibility which they must learn to accept and embrace, and uphold above any other aspect of their lives which happen to be going particularly right – or spectacularly wrong. The first week has been a rewarding one, full of discoveries and even more laughter. Lisa Evans plays on the natural humour that incurs in times of our lives when the hormone begins to take over…So, what does Colin Tarrant, as the only man in a cast of five women feel about being involved (besides lucky)? In a simple answer he responds ‘I am loving every minute of it’. He modestly adds ‘I have always been in touch with my feminine side and feel privileged to be working on a play by a female writer about such a feminine issue’. Colin’s character Graham, certainly creates plenty of humour in the play, a man with a DIY addiction which often leads to catastrophe! The first week has also been used to fit the women with pregnancy bumps. Too high? Too low? Too soft? Too hard? One thing is for sure, I have never been more aware of looking at pregnant women in the street, analysing their bumps for size and shape, questioning how many weeks they are and looking at how they hold themselves. It has been interesting to watch how the cast have naturally started to dress in more maternity style wear as the week has gone on too! The day can often start with a conversation of ‘Ooh that’s a great top for the bump, where is that one from then?’ Giving a real sense of a mothers-to-be sharing group from the off. The play has a fantastic cast including Kali Peacock, who played Mrs Perks in this year’s The Railway Children. Kali claims that ‘this play could not be more different from The Railway Children but is so much fun to work on. It is either going to make me really want children or be sworn off them for the rest of my life! The midwife visit was a little too much information but I will admit that I have been tempted to take my bump home with me for a weekend!’ It is a feeling shared amongst the cast and after just a week I am confident in saying that they will be sad to hang those bumps up at the end of this… As a new play, Damian has been impressed with the few script changes that have had to be made in the first week of rehearsal. It is a solid script which hits the right balance between the emotional trauma and humour of pregnancy. It is a play that guarantees tears and laughter, but you will have to come and watch it to discover whether it ends with happy ever after. Antenatal Anecdotes or DIY Disasters Any curious cravings? Maternity moments? Pregnant pressures? We want to hear them! We have decided we want to hear from people with either ‘Antenatal Anecdotes’ or ‘DIY Disasters’; two things which feature throughout this play! Please email your stories to Rebecca.Storey@yorktheatreroyal.co.uk to start sharing your stories with us. **************************