Paradise of The Assassins- Rehearsal Blog- Week 2

"They believed they'd stumbled on Paradise"- Zamurrud

Don't believe it, know you've stumbled on our end of week 2, and we're going at a lick. The whole play has now been roughly plotted. If this was the making of a trifle, then we've now completed the sponge layer. (One for all the GBBO fans out there)- and now its time to move on the the fruit layer. (Maybe the lady fingers and mince layer-#Friends)

In addition to this, we've been singing/warbling away; been papped by a rehearsal photographer & filmed a short trailer. 

Both pics and video coming your way very soon. All this, on top of battling a rather exhausting heat. Phew!

I mentioned in last week's blog about the piece being resonant today, and as we've delved further into the play, its clear to see where the parallels lie.

Our man, Hussain, in order to be reunited with his love, is converted to an extreme sect of a religion that controls his actions, and makes him commit some horrendous crimes. All with the promise of seeing Zamurrud again. He in effect, becomes an Assassin. Controlled by a trio of masters.

In my opinion, this element of the story smacks of how people might get lured into extremism. Controversial I know, but seeing as the book this is based on was written in the 1800s- this idealism/extremism has never been a new thing. 
Certainly, it will make you think.

But fear not- the piece is not all so serious. One of our characters, Mustafa (played by Ralph Birtwell) gets to sing a solo number. In rehearsal this week, it was decided that 3 of us would act as backing to his song. Backing dancers, quite possibly, in the vein of The Supremes.

Now in my defence, all we did was copy Ralph's actions as he sang the song. Very aware that the rest of the room were pretty much in tears with laughter. 

It comes as no surprise then, that the director's immediate response was "Lets cut The Supremes" #RIPHouriSupremes (Thank god no one took a photo of it....)

Guess this is one of the joys, in the rehearsal we'll do things that will never make it into the actual show. An experiment, that sometimes just goes wrong.

Anyway- onwards to the next week. The bank holiday gap may be 3 days, but we've all to have our lines learnt by the time we come back. Bye bye rest. 

We open from 15th Sept, run til 8th Oct - You can find all details and ticket booking here:
https://www.tara-arts.com/whats-on/paradise-of-the-assassins/about

Tweet us using #AssassinsParadise @Tara_Arts

Until next week!

Mitesh Soni
www.twitter.com/MiteshSoni_1

Paradise of The Assassins- Rehearsal Blog- Week 1

"Are you scared? What are you scared of?" - Hussain

Hopefully not the fact I'm writing a weekly rehearsal blog! But here I shall be your window into the rehearsal room of Paradise of The Assassins. So no wasting time, lets get stuck in...

We began, Monday 15th, with meeting the assembled team to take on & present this new piece. No matter how many times you do a show, the first day is always like the first day at a new school. Trepidation, excitement, tea, coffee & crying that mum's left you there. (OK, maybe not that last bit. Maybe.)  

Charged with caffeine, and a tour of Tara's newly developed theatre, we settled straight into a reading of the piece. Or as I call it- "THE TRIAL OF THE ACTORS". 

It's the first time the story is heard with our cast voices, & also the first time the theatre building hear it. Without giving too much away, its certainly an intense piece and will definitely get the audience thinking about all manner of things.

What strikes me most about it, is that even though it was written a few centuries ago, it is incredibly resonant in today's society. Religion- how it can be used to manipulate, & at the heart of the story, what people do for love. But don't worry, its not all heavy as it sounds. There are (hopefully) some laughs.

Swiftly we then get to see the costume and set designs for the piece straight after the reading, and I've sneaked a pic in below- (shhh for your eyes only): 

The next few days are spent looking into the script in more detail together. and breaking it all down into subjects & heading. (When you watch the piece, see if you can spot where we named a particular section of the script "like a virgin") 

And there's also a discussion on how we can possibly show "Paradise" as described in the original book. Abdul Halim Sharar (the writer of the book) mentions "Paradise" being full of lights, jewels, gold sofas, and kebabs.... yep, kebabs. 

Sadly, after much laughter, the kebabs have been fired from the show. #savethekebabs

But then we're up. No resting on our laurels with this one. Moving, plotting, & making character discoveries as we start to work our way through the play, under Anthony Clark's (director) watchful eye. 

Its a chance to play, and see how we as an ensemble can tell the story in the most vivid & entertaining way for the audience. At this stage we're just starting to put the foundation down for us to be able to build on, over the coming weeks.

But of course its not just about learning all the script, making character discoveries, and walking AND talking at the same time while moving from one part of the stage to the next (It can be hard). 

Nope- there are also songs (all composed by Danyal Dhondy)- to listen to, and learn. Easy...peezy?

We're only at day 5,the brains are all fried, but there's a strong team assembled to do this.

The piece itself runs from 15th Sept- 8th Oct and you can find all details below- which guides to booking tickets ;)

https://www.tara-arts.com/whats-on/paradise-of-the-assassins/cast-creatives

Tweet us using #AssassinsParadise @Tara_Arts

Until next week!

www.twitter.com/miteshsoni_1