“EXTRA, EXTRA”

8 March 2012

For our current production of Lettice and Lovage we have enlisted the help of eight wonderful people from the local area to play a group of visitors to Fustian House, a stately home in Wiltshire. Below is the first of three accounts of their time with our company for the five week run.

Extras… they sit around for hours on film sets doing nothing, and aren’t allowed to look at the stars, let alone talk to them. But it wouldn’t be like that in the theatre, would it? The answer is a resounding No. All the ‘proper’ actors – Selina, Jessica, Michael and Helen – as well as all the backstage crew were so friendly and welcoming that we really felt part of the team.

There are eight of us, two groups of four. We were the chicks, learning the ropes, and Clive, the assistant director, was our mother hen. There were ten hours of rehearsals, just for the extras (how many different ways can there be of taking off a coat?)!

We’re only on for 20 minutes at the start and don’t have much to say (“Thank you. Very interesting.”), but we love it. Would I do it again? You bet! Although I’ve done am-dram for 25 years, it’s thrilling being on the professional stage, and you get a different insight into how to do things. I’m not giving up the day job yet, though.

Paul Shave