Week 1: April 18 - April 22 2005 Peter Reynolds, the Creative Director of Stagework, sits in on the rehearsals to write these diaries. Getting started At 10.30 on Monday 18th April 2005, 22 actors, a director, designer, and a stage management team met together for the first time to begin rehearsals of a new version by David Farr of Gogol's classic early 19th-century play, The Government Inspector . Their work, ultimately destined for the huge expanse of the Olivier stage began in rehearsal room 3 at the National Theatre, the smallest of the three main rehearsal rooms, located literally under the Olivier stage. It has no natural light, a low ceiling, a highly polished black floor, and dingy off-white walls. As the room gradually began to fill for the traditional rite of passage that is the 'meet and greet' signalling the start of every new production at the National, actors, technicians, and other members of the NT's staff stood around chatting, awaiting the arrival of the National's director, Nicholas Hytner, to launch the project. His brief, warm welcome over, the company finally and thankfully settled down to their work: a read through of the play, now updated to the late twentieth century, located in an un-named small country somewhere in the former Soviet Union, and re-named The UN Inspector . | | |
