23/10/23 - 25/10/23 Halloween Show Week @ Globe!

 Ghost Light Tours at Stockton Globe

Monday - Rehearsals

Our Ghost Light Tours at the Globe mark our first show as second years which is very important as we've been preparing and rehearsing for it for 6 weeks. Because we had done it last year, we understood how it all goes and what to expect, and I was really glad I was able to share that with the first years I was sharing a scene with. All of our preparation came from planning the rooms and what groups would go in which one, as well as who are the groups. We structured it around the primary school curriculum so that we could teach them facts more than scare them, and with the adults we can just flip those around to suit them more. In our rehearsal time Monday, we spent time on the stage going through our own scenes and making sure they were full of emotion and as eerie as we could get them. Whilst that was happening, all the tour guides were going round with Kelly to see the route that they would take the audience on. Afterwards, the entire group went onto that same route so that our groups could see where we would appear and exit from. I found this helpful as I was slightly confused on how we would block it all, but I believe now we knew, we were okay. Once the walkthrough had finished, Kane from Film and Tv had asked me to be a part of the promotional video for the Halloween walk, and since I had brought my costume with me I said yes and got ready to help out with that. However, I did miss my scene during the run-through that was going on, but I received feedback from my group, and it was all a lot of figuring out blocking, so I was glad that was our only note. That was the end of our rehearsal day, and we were just reminded to Kelly to give everything and don't hold anything back.

Tuesday - First Show Day

Our first show on Tuesday was at 17:15 so we had lots of time coming in at 11:00 to rehearse and hopefully have a full dress-run. We came in at 11:00 and Tom went through a vocal and exercise warm-up to get our voices and body warmed up for the day ahead, whilst the Guy Fawkes group were with Kelly. We firstly did a dress-run where two tour guide pairings went through the Globe with either Kelly or Tom. It was Aiden and Harvey, and then Will and Keiran as they are doing the adult versions of the tour. Once one pair went through our group, about 5 minutes later the next group came round. It all came together at the end and we joined both tour guides together for the big execution scene. After our first dress rehearsal, lunch came around and afterwards we had make-up calls. Whilst makeup calls were going on, we went through the final end scene lots of times to make sure it was impactful and loud. I took from the staggered dress-runs and the going through of the end scene, that I need to react more with the people around me as I react with them not a lot and react more to myself. I felt like that was a characterization thing, that I was keeping an eye on Sienna as she's the kid I want to recruit, but there were people talking to me when things were said so I decided that I should be more reactive to those around me, not just a small word there and then. Before we even knew it, the first show was on its way and I got to see the Page2Stage kids that would be 'Team Milly' at the top with me to add more creepiness to the scene. I got a bit of makeup done beforehand however by Lola, and she painted my face pale and added bits of blood and dirt onto my face to show I've been through a lot. When we got into our spots, I talked to the Page2Stage kids about the scene and what they should do to add some fright into the adults, so we came up with them sitting behind the chairs and looking up at the audience, pointing at me and Hannah now and then, and even moving around. This isn't distracting but gets people to look and not know where to be cautious of as they now have people behind and in front of them. The red lights went on and the sound effects went too, so we got into position ready for the audience and tour guides to come in.

What I did find was that the Titanic scene went on for a long while, and because we knew this, it meant we could discuss very quietly any problems and confusion we had regarding the scene. The first time we did our scene I felt it went very well. My scene partner Hannah from Year 1 was slightly slow on lines so that worried me slightly as it was quiet for a while, and I felt I could have been creepier with the audience and slightly louder for those in the back. We did have a slight problem when getting down to the Mary Ann Cotton bar as we were crawling along the floor so that we weren't seen but because there was a lot of us doing so, it was unnecessarily loud to me. Due to this, we talked to Kelly afterwards and she said to go and be a part of the plague downstairs so that there would be an easier route and we were a part of the show more. Our first execution bit went really well, and we just had to remember to stay silent and as still as possible. I was honestly really proud of our first show, and it allowed me to improve my performance for the second show and our little scene group worked out how to be more together. We all had bits of feedback to improve on like for example, Sienna got told to come in with her scene once everyone had come in, so that was something she worked on for next time. Our second show of the night was at 18:15, and that went similar to the following show but all we did was tweak certain parts that we had issues with last time, and we were all a part of the plague scene in which I would grab 'children's' arms and talk to them to do something and leave them. I would also try to avoid Keira as she would be shining her light looking for me, so that at the end she would find me and grab me into the bar where we would wait for the final scene which is the execution scene. 

Wednesday - Final Show Day

Wednesday was our final show day where we had 4 shows, 2 morning shows that were performed to primary schools, and the final two to be performed to an adult group. The difference between the morning and evening shows, is that we chose not to wear the scary makeup so that we could teach the school kids about the history of the globe, more than scare them and leave them upset. I totally agreed with this choice, however I felt whilst doing them, I had to lean more into my body language and facial expressions to make my character intimidating and creepy, as I didn't have bloody marks and dirt all over my face. I did enjoy that element though of teaching them on the history of child catchers and the news boys that were mainly involved with them. I have enjoyed working with Hannah, Keira and Sienna in this process as we made sure to give our opinions on our scene and where we felt we could improve, and any positives we made sure to share which I loved. When it came to the evening performances, we had our makeup back and could turn up the scare factor as we knew that that was our main objective with these shows. The layout of the day was the same as the following days, however makeup came in later as they weren't needed for the morning shows, and we had to be at the Globe a lot earlier so that we could have a run through and go through any moments we struggled with. Like yesterday, I helped the same Page2Stage group that were with me, and we went down into the plague as well, where I could be more interactive with them since in our scene, they were behind chairs trying to get away from me. In the plague scene, I went up to some kids and separated them from their group, talked to them and bossed them around before snapping my fingers at them and walking away. I also walked away from Keira like I did the day before to highlight how much I dislike her and what she as a police officer stands for. The only thing that went wrong, was that our final primary school show turned up 25 minutes late, which hindered our performance as we had to hurry up due to them having to leave in time for school finishing. It only taught us that things happen, and you have to learn to work around them and still deliver a great performance. 

I thoroughly enjoyed doing the final scene when the execution takes place as I could react as my character in different ways each time, experimenting with those around me and what I say. With the primary schools, we had to be slightly quiet to not startle or make anyone really scared - which didn't work as two kids started crying and had to leave - whereas in the evening shows, we were able to shout and be over the top. It' s a sinister scene showing the power that religion and the Queen at the time had, which teaches the primary kids on once again, history. With the evening shows, we as a group were loud, in the audiences faces and staring at them on approach, whilst constantly reacting to everything which I felt we all achieved very well. Once again, our Ghost Light Tour was perfect, and I am upset inside that it was mine and the Year 2's last chance at it. I'm so glad we had the chance to work with Josh again and working with the Year 1's allowed us to bond even more.