We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea David Ashwood

Week 1

And so, on Monday 2nd June 2008, it began. A journey that would change the lives of all involved. A rollercoaster ride of emotion, line-learning, actioning and jib sheet hauling... The 'We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea' rehearsals.

We started the week with company introductions, which is always slightly overwhelming (so many names to remember!), followed by a read-through of the play. After auditioning months before and having the script resting in my flat for weeks, it was great to finally hear the play aloud. The writer, Nick, was also there on the first day and we spent the afternoon asking him questions about the script, mainly questions about the technical, sailing references in the piece. He patiently gave us a crash course on wind, tide and various sailing terms which, to someone who has never even been on a boat before, was quite headache inducing!

We spent much of the first week sitting round the table with the director, Ivan, reading and discussing the characters. Who are these characters? What do they think of each other? Where are the tensions between them in the play? Ivan wanted us to get a good feeling for the characters and certain moments in the play before we actually started putting it up on its feet.

Towards the end of the week we were exploring the play on the actual set, which we were lucky to have available in the theatre on day 1. The set for the show is wonderful - a distorted version of Goblin, with three separate but joined sections: the cockpit, cabin and bows of the boat.

Week 2

This week we were kicked out of the Sir John Mills Theatre - the nerve! The theatre was hosting a show for the Pulse Festival, so we took the set to Eastern Angles' storehouse for the week.

We spent this week working through the piece, discovering the various moments and how best to stage them on our set. One thing that's quite challenging about the play, and also quite exciting as a performer, is that all four actors are on stage throughout the show. We have to be very spatially aware of each other, as well as controlling the pace and focus of the piece - there are four actors in character on the stage, but we want the audience to be watching certain moments at certain times.

Our production manager, Steve, took us on a mid-week sailing trip which was lots of fun. It really helped us understand and bring to life lots of the physical sailing moments in the play: the movement of the boat, how you move around it, hauling in the various ropes, using the tiller. It was great to get back on the set after this experience and try to make our boat come 'alive' in the play.

We spent some of this week "actioning" the first section of the play, when the characters are introduced to us and introduced to the boat. Actioning is an exercise that Ivan often uses to bring out the subtext of dialogue and to discover the relationships between the characters. For every line or phrase you must find a transitive verb - a verb that implies you are doing something to somebody else. It's a very interesting exercise, as you realise which moments you're clear about and others that you'd previously felt unsure of.

All of the actors in the cast play another character as well as the children. I spent a lot of this week trying to get comfortable with the character of Jim. In the book Jim is described as a strong, confident young man, whereas in our production Ivan sees him as a lonely, socially awkward character. He's doom-laden and although he's a confident sailor, he makes lots of mistakes. I've also decided he probably smells. One of my scribbled rehearsal notes just says 'Jim - smelly idiot'.

Week 3

We were back in the theatre this week and Nick Wood, the writer was with us again for a day. We staggered and stumbled our way through the play while Nick, armed with a notebook and pen watched from the back of the seating bank. The characters are starting to develop quite well I think, but we're clearly not as confident or convincing with the ropes/props/sailing as we should be.

So this week we focused on tightening everything up, making sure we were doing the technical things properly and confidently. We now have all the ropes on the set that we need, which has really helped. We also have a mainsail now that we can bring up and down, which looks great.

Our stage manager Penny, Sarah, who plays Titty, and I made our way up to BBC Radio Suffolk on Tuesday afternoon. We were interviewed by Luke 'The Big' Deal about the show and about Penny's recent stage management award. She is indeed wonderful and now all of Suffolk will know it!

Pat Whymark also paid us a visit this week in an attempt to get us singing beautifully. The song 'Spanish Ladies' appears in the book and our play. I also have to play the tin whistle in the production which I'm valiantly learning. It's always great picking up new skills when preparing for a show. Not only will I be able to sail to Holland, but I'll be a penny whistle maestro by the end of rehearsals.

Week 4

Our final week of rehearsals. I can't believe those first three weeks flew by so quickly!

We continued to work through various moments of the play, focusing largely on Act II, but I was worried that our pace hadn't really picked up this week. We still hadn't run the play, which I was looking forward to and expecting this week.

Wednesday and Thursday morning we had Stewart, our Sound Designer with us. It was really exciting putting various scenes to music, and the sound of the waves and the wind really brings the boat to life.

At the end of the week we started running the play in its entirety. It was great to get a real sense of the character's journey in the show. On Saturday, we did one last run of it before Production Week. We kitted ourselves out with costumes, props, sound and lighting effects, which really elevated our performances and renewed our excitement for next week. It also meant that our Technical Rehearsal on Monday shouldn't take too long. Have I just jinxed us by writing that....?