Just Kidding...

Posted by Sara Green (Marketing and Admin Assistant, Hoipolloi)

Of course we were joking about coincidentally bumping into the Doubtful Guest at the Barbican last Friday but we did have an extremely interesting afternoon taking photos of the creature in an around the estate.

I’ll give you one guess to work out the mug that was inside the massive furry costume for two hours? Of course it was me - I happen to be the right size to fit in it and so was a prime target to be roped in by Simon, Hoipolloi’s Marketing & Touring Manager.

It was actually a very enjoyable afternoon and, despite getting some funny looks from several Barbican residents and being questioned by a curious policeman, it all ran rather smoothly. We took photos everywhere - on the bridges, lying on benches, peeping round columns and even managed to get invited up to a resident’s balcony, whose name, remarkably, was Hugh. (Maybe it was Hugh Hughes in disguise…)

The costume looks pretty impressive and very striking; however it is extremely suffocating not to mention completely restricting. I found it hard to walk, to talk and even to see, making me sort of understand why the creature refuses to listen to the family’s pleas for it to move. Maybe it literally can’t. There’s an interesting thought!

But even though I moan about the uncomfortable costume etc, it was actually quite exciting. To be photographed on location by a talented photographer and be the centre of attention for several hours isn’t all that bad! It was also nice to experience life from the doubtful guest’s perspective. The way it stands, nose pointed outwards, arms by its side is really specific and standing still, staring for minutes at a time made me feel like I was the real creature and I did often drift off into a day dream. Easily done I can assure you.

I think that this was a great opportunity for an aspiring actor and I have some fantastic photos of my debut - although I definitely won’t be using them as headshots in the near future…

SPOTTED! The Doubtful Guest

Posted by Sara Green (Marketing and Admin Assistant, Hoipolloi)

When we were in the Barbican for rehearsals on Friday we were astonished to bump into someone curiously familiar as we walked around the estate.

The Doubtful Guest seemed to pop its head out everywhere - round the columns, on the benches, in the bushes, at the church door and sometimes in even stranger places. I even caught it peering despondently into the library.
And by some strange coincidence we happened to be with photographer Geraint Lewis who managed to take a few shots…

EXCLUSIVE - first glimpse of the set

Posted by Simon Bedford (Marketing & Touring Manager, Hoipolloi)

After bringing you an exclusive look at the costumes, we're delighted that the show's set and props are also progressing towards completion. Like the costumes, everything is being created at the Theatre Royal Plymouth and we're grateful to them for providing us with these photos.

First, here's a doll's house that will be used on stage (note also the grand staircase on the desk in the background):


A freshly painted fireplace surround and speaking trumpet:

These wooden beams will form a truss above the stage:

And finally, here's a portrait of the Doubtful Guest itself:

Two days of madness...

Posted by Sara Green, (Marketing and Admin Assistant, Hoipolloi.)
With the focus being very much on The Doubtful Guest at the moment, it is sometimes easy to forget that the Story of a Rabbit spring tour is also almost upon us. The last couple of days were a real reminder of this. Being the only time that was relatively free in the Hoipolloi schedule, we headed over to the Junction in Cambridge for two days of Rabbit rehearsals, the first since Edinburgh and the last until Bogota.

As soon as I arrived at the rehearsal room on Monday morning, there were jobs to be done. Unloading all of the set took a long time then we had to set it up, including all of the thoroughly complicated wires and technical equipment, as well as organising cups of tea for all involved. Before we knew it lunch was upon us and we had only just erected the set.

This was a fascinating process in itself. Never having actually been backstage on this show or investigated the set I found it really interesting unpacking all of the intricate little details that make it up. It made me remember items such as the rubber gloves, the action man and even the potato, which I had completely forgotten existed! It was really different to the experience I had at the Doubtful Guest rehearsals. There the props and set were really random, thrown together for experimental purposes and then used to try out new ideas. But for Story of a Rabbit every tiny object was accounted for, down to the box of tea bags and the newspaper and train tickets that are one hundred percent genuine. Everything has its own place and the whole show is really organised. Perhaps this is down to Hugh’s meticulous planning or Aled’s careful preparation, or maybe it is because in Edinburgh you have to be organised, especially when you have a quick turn around!

After indulging Hugh in an absurd conversation about aliens which left me intrigued and, if I’m honest, a little confused, we set about preparing for a run of the show. This involved me and Ricahrd (Couldrey, the production manager) desperately putting cables into sockets and switching things on and off, me trying really hard to open up the flipchart which was being extremely stubborn and one last check to make sure everything was in place. Meanwhile Hugh was sat in the corner, peering at the video recording of himself, trying to remember exactly what he says and at what point.

I left Hugh and Aled to run the show and returned the following morning to weigh and measure the entire set and all the props and record it all onto a spreadsheet. My technical skills have never been admired and so this job took longer than expected, and several times Richard had to explain that pressing “paste” is not the same as inserting cells, the main difference being you don’t delete half of what you spent all morning doing.

However, after many cups of tea and several panics we finished and even managed to pack everything back into the van before five o’clock. I never really appreciated just how much work goes into taking a show to an international venue, and that also not all of what you would call “rehearsal” is actually running the show. Most of these two days were spent familiarising ourselves with this production and doing tasks that needed to be done. It was a great experience and even though now it is back to The Doubtful Guest, it is good to think that we also have another, equally exciting tour ahead of us…

EXCLUSIVE - first glimpse of the costumes

Posted by Simon Bedford (Marketing & Touring Manager, Hoipolloi)

Stefanie Mueller who is the designer for The Doubtful Guest (and also Hoipolloi's Associate Director - in addition to performing in the show!) has been working hard over the last few months deciding what the performers will wear in the production.

Using the original Gorey illustrations as inspiration, she is now working with the Wardrobe Dept of the Theatre Royal Plymouth to actually make the costumes.

Last week, Steffi along with Jill Norman and Ben Frimston (two of the actors in the show) and Richard, Hoipolloi's Production Manager headed down to Plymouth to see how things are going and to take part in the first costume fitting.

I'm pleased to give you, our blog readers, the very first look at how the costumes are developing.

Here is Ben trying on one of his costumes:

And here he is again in his coat.

Jill in her undergarments!

And slowly gets more dressed...

Finally here she is in her coat.

The creation of the Guest itself is also well underway but we're keeping that top-secret and underwraps until the very first performance!