DAZZA VAN GOUGH

Week two of twenty-eight: DONE. Like Blind Date, Addidas poppers and Tony Blair’s time in office, it is OVER. And what a couple of weeks it has been; I have joined a company of players (Thesps not Pimps), I have scaled a mountain, I have acquired a Dutch accent and last but most certainly not least I have set foot in the only nightclub in Keswick- ‘The Loft’.

Many good men and women have been lost in ‘The Loft’ and those who have survived have never been the same again. I, for one, am a shell of my former self… I think it was the third playing of ‘Let’s Get Ready to Rumble’ that did it. But, hey, who’s complaining?! Not I, said the Little Red Hen. Not I, said Laura Darrall.

So, the end of week two has dawned and I have embarked on a Dutch adventure into the life and loves of one of the most revered yet puzzled painters of all time- Vincent van Gough. Or Vincent in Brixton rather, to give the play its title. Nicholas Wright can thank me later.

Vincent in Brixton tells the story of when the young van Gough came to live in London, with a family called the Loyers. He consequently fell in love with the daughter only to be rejected and transfer his affections onto the mother… or so the story goes.  

I play the character of Anna van Gough, Vincent’s eighteen year old sister (hence the Dutch accent), sent over by their parents to find a job as a governess and to inadvertently and SUBTLY sort her brother out. Her methods for doing so involve a lot of nosey cleaning (second term of drama school was comedy mop work so I’ve got this one down) and downright interrogation (third term was scene studies from The Bill- perfect).

This is me...

Uncanny isn't it.

The set of Vincent in Brixton is INCREDIBLE. We are performing in Theatre by the Lake’s 90 seat studio and it is being transformed into a fully functioning Victorian kitchen complete with running taps and a working hob. Throughout the play sprouts are peeled, a fishcake assembled and tea is brewed; the audience will have a complete 4D experience. Smellovision, eat your heart out!

These past two weeks have been a whirlwind of research, discussion, playing and rehearsing and has finally culminated in our first run of the play. If I say so myself, it wasn’t half bad! A few slip ups with the old mop and bucket but other than that a blooming good run. 

In the words of D: Ream... ‘Things can only get bettterrrrrrrrrr!’

This is not mine.

Next week brings a new play and the beginning of proper repertory rehearsing- alternate plays on alternate days. Headless chicken, at the ready Sir! 

An Inspector is calling and we shall answer him…