The stage crew maintains the pool.

The set is now in the theatre, following a heroic week of hard work from the stage crew. The huge quantity of water that we are using needed enormous care and attention to get it into the space, and we have been collectively discovering from a technical standpoint how to look after what is effectively a large, heavily used swimming pool.

Once we were all set up on stage, we were fortunate enough to have several days of rehearsal on stage in water, and this was hugely enjoyable and valuable time with the company. The progression from rehearsal room to theatre was not without challenges, but we were able to unearth lots of rich material from playing with the text in the water. Lots of splashing, falling in and very wet actors! We feel like the water is starting to unlock moments in the play, and it was great to have time for the actors to make individual discoveries and decisions about their relationship to the water.

Our next step is technical rehearsals, where we will start to work with costume, lighting and sound to complete our world.