An adventure on the High Seas with Somerton Dramatic Society
Wheelbarrow Ubers, a genuine broken leg, and more cross-dressing than an episode of RuPauls drag race. This February half-term, Somerton-On-Sea was the place to be!
Our tale begins on a light summer’s eve in the garden of first-time Director Amanda Worsdale. (Well in truth our 'tail' is the beginning - with Amanda painstakingly cutting out hundreds of individual scales for a mermaid straight after the curtain closed on Sleeping Beauty, before boxing them up for a house move and labelling as 'important - do not bury!')
We return to the garden scene. Part social, part read through; a collection of unlikely friends gather to bring first life to an original script, accompanied by a never ending flow of snacks, a generous splash of wine, and the four-legged children of the Worsdale house....4 needy dachshunds.
Confident in our script and Director’s vision, it was full sail ahead to information night. An opportunity to recruit new shipmates for the society, be that on or off stage, and what a success it was for the adults (oh yes it was!). New faces a plenty, with almost all returning to audition. Hurrah! But with more people than parts and so much talent, casting was tricky. Keen to offer more opportunities and include everyone, more parts were added, though for the first time ever we had struggled to recruit juniors, resulting in a junior duo rather than a junior chorus. But all the best things come in small packages!
With the wind in our sails, September to December is gone in a flash, yet rehearsals are far from smooth. Progress is sometimes slow, and we find ourselves 'bobbing along' in some stormy seas due to a number of roles needing to be recast, and very few rehearsals with a full cast due to availability and commitments to other shows. Boooo! Hiss! Luckily for us, newbie and chorus member Alex is present at every rehearsal and ready to read in - so much so that he knew everyone else's lines long before they did!
Slowly we cast off fore and navigate our way through rehearsals, heading for Portalou and beyond. With 5 tots of rum, 4 sailors’ lamps, 3 seaman’s whistles, 2 rubber rings and an anchor to throw in to the sea all secured…our 12 days aboard ship parody is beginning to take shape, and it’s as chaos filled as you’d expect from such a scene (the 8 mops for mopping was ridiculous fun). Add to that a slapstick baking scene, a part-puppet part-costume part-prop monkey in a tree to create, and more cakes in a list than a red-headed Glaswegian whose been stuck on an island can remember during show week 😂 …and we were well on the way to our destination.
Tea is made, biscuits are consumed, and babies are born! Our MD Beky and cast member Ish welcome their first child, a beautiful baby boy by the name of Teddy. Pirate baby vest and much love passed on, we focus on the musical numbers we’ve ticked off and continue to practise using the bespoke backing tracks Beky had prepared in advance, with just Robinson & Winkle’s song to learn in the New Year (though it ended up being just 3 weeks before the show in the end!). Kayleigh’s choreography is looking good, and 4 year old Assistant Choreographer, Henry, is up on stage alongside the cast, teaching us all how it's done for the chorus numbers. Photo: Henry in a pirate hat, practising ‘Shiver My Timbers’ with cast
Christmas out the way and it’s all hands-on deck for 5 weekends of set building as we lead up to our maiden voyage on opening night. Handmade seaweed and vines crafted from mountains of newspaper and crepe paper rolls, UV starfish to paint, an 8ft palm tree to build, measure traps I mean treasure maps to make, mermaid tails, coconuts, cupcakes…and an expanding foam covered chair made into a rock (let’s hope that slightly discoloured patch on the hall floor is a side effect we can either scrub away, or hope the caretaker doesn’t spot hey?)
Rehearsals gradually become run throughs of acts, and we realise time is a problem. Forced to become the ruthless captain of the ship, Amanda begrudgingly cuts the 12 days aboard ship sketch and slapstick baking scene for the greater good. We can't possibly have a show that runs past 10pm - we'll never make it to the pub for after show drinks!
Publicity weekend is here and Somerton is filled with colour, chaos and confusion as goodies and baddies spill out the Parish Rooms onto the street, accompanied by well behaved pooch Joey (belonging to Henry aka Freddie the Scottish castaway), which only adds to the ridiculousness of it all.
A garish Dame pouring pints behind the bar of the Etsome Arms, a pirate Captain at the hands of the law is bundled into a police car, and an iconic album cover is recreated on the zebra crossing…for the likes and shares on the socials to help promote our show. Meanwhile Barbara having a blue rinse makes a note to book an urgent appointment with Specsavers after questioning the salon mirror reflection. A ginger unkept man with unruly eyebrows running past, in a grass skirt, in February? Oh yes he did Barb!
Dress rehearsals and tech. Improvised choreography for a UV scene that produces bumps and bruises a plenty, as bodies balanced on tiny metal frames are wheeled across the stage in the dark by people who can’t see, and don’t know where they are going even if they could see. A suitcase floats across in the air. A loud crash. Laughter. Shoo asks to see the risk assessment (quick, someone write one...but maybe leave out the fact we all have limited vision and splinters)
Opening night and the adjudicator is in. The energy is high, and we’ve worked our stripy pirate socks and mermaid tails off to get here. We’re ready to take our audience up the gangplank and deliver the very best show we can, not just tonight in hopes of a trophy, but every night. Photos: Backstage shenanigans on route to the stage
Our oldest cast member is safely nestled in her mermaid tail and speedily wheeled through the centre of the audience in a wheelbarrow to open the show, taking up her position on a rock…..for the entire act. ‘Patricia!’ we all whisper a little too loudly but in unison at the end of Act 1 & Act 2…..EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. Why? Because in the dress rehearsals we forgot to collect the mermaid, and she’s stuck there without a chauffeur!
We sail through the first 3 performances of a 9-show run, There are rope swing entrances, dancing monkeys, and parrots from Venezuela (bless you!). We sing into palm tree mic stands, find long lost family, and multiple cupcake related injuries are obtained.
With cast & crew on a high only found during show week, we spill into the pub to celebrate and reflect…. Dame still in full make up enjoying a well-earned pint. Saturday night after show party with partners’ welcome. Pizza, photos, and a distinct lack of rum considering the number of pirates in attendance.
More shows and the high continues. We’ve all broken our legs and all is well, until we reach a disastrous plot twist! An actual broken leg just a few short hours before the curtains open on performance 7 of the run! Pumped full of morphine and on route to Yeovil Hospital, our much-loved Rachel, aka Filthy Lil, has taken the saying too far and broken her tibia and fibula. (No it really is far sadder than that!) With time short, director Amanda picks up the script and familiarises herself with the lines and boy does she deliver! Finale song, end of show bows and applause for lights, sound, music and backstage. We end the night with special recognition and applause from cast, crew, and audience for our stand in pirate, gesturing to Amanda on stage as Filthy Lil - the real hero who genuinely saved our show. Hurrah!!!
And so, our story ends. The curtain closes for the final time on Robinson Crusoe & The Pirate Treasure, and what an adventure it was, on and off stage! Will our crew head home from the Cinderellas with a bountiful booty of treasure…or will they be left high and dry with just a lifeboat and soggy cake to show? Only the tides will tell….
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