Private Resistance: Around The World In 30 Years...

Written this week by Phil Pritchard, the actor playing Frank/Alan in ‘Private Resistance':

I start this blog (on my lap top) at 2.15pm as we are heading to Maldon in Essex on the tour bus, with only just over a week to go till the final show!

It has been an amazing experience and one that I will always be grateful for. To see East Anglia like this is unique; travelling out every day to a different village or town playing in spaces as diverse as converted old Granaries & Barns, Theatres, Village/School/Town & Community Halls, Churches, and even (in Norwich) in a Shakespeare's Globe replica (The Maddermarket). We are variously greeted, helped, fed, entertained and generally welcomed by those at each venue who organise the visit; from the Experienced theatre managers to the charming City ‘expats', and village Hall committee members.

In the process we have become a seasoned road crew able to adapt our set and lights to any space big or small. We talk in the abbreviated code of the roadie too ( ‘chuck us that Gaffer will you', or ‘where did I put that  **expletive**) spanner..?')  and we drink lots of tea and discuss politics!!

I'll try not to repeat anything that has already been covered in previous blogs.

We are now well into the second half of the tour after a week and a bit stint at ‘base camp', i.e. the  Eastern Angles operational base the' Sir John Mills theatre' in Ipswich. It was nice to be back ‘home', so to speak, in the place where we all first met and rehearsed.

But having said that,  I found that I actually missed the daily touring too because although at the beginning the ‘Get Ins' and ‘Get Outs' were hard work physically, I realised that they are all part of the fun, and once your body has adjusted to the routine, there is something very nice indeed about setting up in a new place (often in the middle of beautiful country side) every day and doing the show, because it's always a ‘One-off' event ... a little bit like having a first night every day.

Especially a show that has so much to do with East Anglia, as nearly every place we visit has some connection with the play* (*a ‘What-If' scenario of a fictional Nazi invasion of Britain). Whether it's a close proximity to one of Churchill's secret underground bunkers, built to resist the invasion that thankfully never came (over 60 in E Anglia alone), or perhaps an audience member who had a relative in one of the special ‘auxiliary units' that manned the bunkers.

Indeed this was the case in Frettenham in Norfolk, where a lady approached us after the show to tell us that her father had been a member of the units, and as he was ex-army and a hairdresser he had been recruited because he was likely to know all the local gossip! She had also only recently found out about the existence of the Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team (Coleshill House in Swindon was the former main training base of the units) but was already eager to clarify something on their website which stated that they didn't know whether the underground bunker at Frettenham had a chimney or not (they were usually hidden inside a hollowed-out tree trunk and used for cooking). She said she knew it did, because he father had told her that a mouse had fallen down it one day while they were down there!

After our stint  the Sir John Mills stint and prior to today we set out on the road again on 25^th April (once one of our number had overcome the Noro Virus!) by heading to Assington - a lovely village hall where we were fed memorable homemade potato and leek soup - which we later used in the Show! Hindolvesten in Norfolk was next. A remote hall (by remote we usually mean there is no phone reception or 3G!) but lovely with a small reasonably priced bookshop which delayed our departure a bit. Then Wetheringsett, a very pretty village, and the discovery of two footballs in the store room meant that we could make use of the goal posts on the adjacent pitch during the break between the set-up and the show.  Next night was Stansfield where the show was to form part of a 1940's themed night. Indeed some audience members did actually dress up and formed an orderly queue at the interval for tea and coffee from the Kitchen or ‘Betty's Hatch' as the sign above the windows said!

Then on the next Monday (30^th April) we made our way to the village of Bressingham - famed for its model railway, though unfortunately we had no time to visit. The tiny village hall was perhaps the smallest space we had played in and was, we learned, over 500 years old, and had originally been a Threshing Barn. Perhaps even more interesting was the fact that the charming lady who organised the event (for the first time) had cooked a whole Roast Chicken, Lasagne and roast potatoes and desert for us to enjoy before the show, unforgettable! Next day and we were back in the Manningtree area (where the play is set). This time on the other side of the river Stour in Strutton - Ivan (Cutting) -  the Artistic Director of Eastern Angles  and the writer of ‘Private Resistance' -  informed us as we were about to leave that we better make it a good show as he was bringing his mother AND that it was her birthday! Strutton was indeed a lovely hall with a Community Shop next door near huge fields and open country side. The audience particularly enjoyed the local references in the play too .. ‘The Match against Bergholt is off, they're ploughing up the Pitch!'. Next day was Wrabness, just over the river from Strutton and on the Harwich line;  another community shop where, when  I arrived just after closing time, they still said that I could come in and get something to eat before the show!!Next day all the way up to Wells Next to the Sea, on the Norfolk coast, where we had a lovely lunch courtesy of Eastern Angles (Thanks General Manager Matt Linley!)  at the Wells Crab House, and in addition we all met Fran's relatives including her mum her Father who regaled us with tales of his National Service in Singapore in the 1950's.

We then rounded off the week at the East Anglian Railway Museum at Wakes Colne near Colchester - a great new venue in an amazing location as Wakes Colne also a working railway station (and now, temporarily,a theatre)! The engineers, some of whom were volunteers, gave us a tour of the workshop, where several steam trains from the turn of the last century were to be found and we got a free lecture on Steam Propulsion. Such great enthusiasts they were. Thank you all. We performed in a large building which looked like a set for the Railway Children (ironic since Fran had been in a recent production at the York Railway Museum).  The show worked great in the space and we even used a train car as one of our off stage spaces. At one moment in the play where a train is to pass an open window and the character of Alan refers to it, a real train (presumably on its way to Mark's Tey further down the line) made it's way through the station, it's noise seamlessly merging with our own sound effect.  In the interval the audience could enjoy their refreshments in a restored vintage train carriage, and after we were treated to a curry and drinks at the pub that Sarah Mennell (Eastern Angles very own) runs with her partner, The Thatcher's Arms and that rounded off a v. good week indeed, with Cheese (and Wine for some) in the bus on the way home (now a weekly, often daily, occurrence!) courtesy of Matt & Fran.

The following week (i.e. last week) found us in Westleton, a lovely village where apparently a certain William & Kate had stayed recently on their wedding anniversary. Indeed ‘The Crown' at Westleton has the best beer garden I have ever seen, which, landscaped, rises up on the side of a small hill and at the top is a gate leading out onto the fields.  The following day we were back in Norfolk in the village of Hockwold. We were spoilt with a lovely tea of Ham, Cheese, Carrots, Celery etc.. and a very tasty home-made Victoria Sponge Cake, which was so large we will finish it off in Maldon later today!  Penny the stage manager told us that some of the audience had even travelled from Frettenham (where we played earlier in the run) to see it again.

And so today to Maldon where we have now arrived: A classic municipal space with a sprung floor and a good stage; roomy with plenty backstage space (a situation which is always welcomed since in one venue we had the cleaning/store room for the 5 of us!).

Tomorrow we play Woodbridge Community Hall and my Grandfather is coming with my Mum and Step Dad.  A little nervous about my Grandfather seeing it as he fought in the Second World War. He has told me how to wear my army cap properly though, with the badge on the right but over the left eye! There's an irony here, and that is that the Auxiliary units were given weapons that even the regular army were not issued with till much later (e.g. Tommy Guns) a fact that was not lost on my grandfather, who remembers how long it took to re-load a rifle that can only fire a single bullet at a time.

Next week after visiting Harleston and Blackthorpe Barn at Rougham we finish our tour in a specially built, blacked out Marquee at Parham Airfield Museum. Very appropriate since it is the site of the Museum of the ‘British Resistance Organisation'. A place that we visited during rehearsals and what a fascinating place it is. Not only do they have one of the most extensive collections of auxiliary units artefacts anywhere assembled, but they have also built a full size replica underground bunker or ‘Operational Base' (OB) as they were known , complete with counter weighted hatch, explosives storage tunnel and emergency exit. The staff there are also very dedicated people (some of whom had relatives in the Aux units), in particular Richard Shipley a former armourer in the British Army who gave us a fascinating lecture on weaponry. He even made a key prop for us, which we use in the show. Thank you!

All in all what an experience this has been. We've travelled to every corner of East Anglia with Penny (our inimitable and indomitable stage manager) at the wheel. She is without doubt the engine of this tour. Counting the miles on the clock of the Eastern Angles bus early in the run yielded up the interesting fact that since it has been in touring service with the company it (mainly with Penny at the wheel!) has been the equivalent of 5.7 times around the World.

I'm proud to have been in it as it approaches the 6 mark. There are more memories in store next week I'm sure.

I'd do it all again (...after a good rest!!).  

Got to go now and get on with the Get In!

Thank you Eastern Angles.

..................

Below are some other selected Highlights from the first half of the tour - (that I wrote up later!):

Syleham & Wingfield: Matt, Fran, Bish & Fred took the train out to the country side, walked the last 8 miles to the venue and saw March Hares in the fields on the way.

Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh where we opened and where Benjamin Britten had his own box that he could use to sneak into the theatre to watch anything he pleased. We also had a member of the audience who had lived as a child under Nazi occupation in Jersey. A v. sobering thought. She mentioned in her review of the show that talk in the script of secrecy/crystal radio sets etc..had rung a lot of ‘truth bells' for her. A tribute to Ivan's work I thought.

Beccles - Hungate Methodist Church. A Beautiful working church with an atmospheric white canopy over our head (but below the roof) which echoed above!

Haverhill - a very beautiful town hall, where we were visited by the granddaughter of ColonelColin Gubbins the man who was charged with setting up the auxiliary units for Winston Churchill in 1940.

Walsham Le willows -Very pretty, old village.. but the grass at the side of the hall was so wet the Van got stuck in the mud and we had to use (and break) two large pieces of wood outside the hall to get us out!! Hope they didn't need them.

Hartest& Boxted Institute - a beautiful hall, with a high v-shaped roof.

Sherringham, Little Theatre right on the coast, apparently where Einstein had visited. There's a mural of him having a cup of tea on the sea front!

Diss Cornhall. Lovely big old venue.

Witham Public Hall - played for the first time and again a really lovely old hall, with a balcony and bar recess.

Sibton Church (St. Peter's) - A medieval church dating from 15^th Century where we changed in the vestry and played just in front of the congregation with the pulpit to the left! Wonderful atmosphere and huge flag stones on the ground with Medieval inscriptions. Reaching the outside toilet through the graveyard in the interval (in the dark!) was eerie though!

Brentwood Theatre - great little theatre and very friendly staff. A happy place, and a free drink in the bar afterwards! They also have a great youth theatre where young actors can get involved and go on to a career in Theatre.