There is nothing quite like the unpredictability of the Great British weather. The summer of 2019 saw everything from heatwaves to thunderstorms, now pair this with performing 9 shows a week of open-air theatre as part of the Storyhouse, Chester summer season!

In May 2019 I auditioned to become part of the Community Chorus that would work alongside the REP company throughout the summer season, I was lucky enough to be cast in both of the Shakespeare shows that were to run that season: Twelfth Night and Henry V. As rehearsals began, I soon came to realise the difference between the local community run theatre groups that I had been used to and the world of the professional company, with expansive tech, costume and backstage teams that made everything run like clockwork.

Working with two world renowned directors, Loveday Ingram ad Julia Thomas, allowed me both to see the way that they worked and to engage in conversations about their own career journeys. Their advice and knowledge have developed my skills as a performer but has influenced the way that I create performances as a practitioner. Both directors used a large amount of workshopping to create material, even though they were working with scripts they workshopped several ways to create a scene before deciding on a final version. Conversations were had with all cast members about how they viewed their own characters and their backstories, this enabled us to put aspects of ourselves into the show, this influenced the way that I have also created characters in my own practice.

Ingram adapted both the time frame and context of Henry V, the show which is traditionally set during the French and English Hundred Years War, was adapted to being set in the modern day with the context centring around Brexit. This saw the famous sword fighting battle scenes become gun wars, the hordes of English soldiers become patriotic rioters in high visibility jackets singing Jerusalem at the top of their voices. The intricate detail that had to be thought of to ensure this adaptation was completed to its entirety, this inspired the thinking behind my dissertation which was entitled “Can applying a contemporary context to Shakespeare’s play Othello make it more relevant for a modern-day audience?”.

The season which ran from 5^th July to 25^th August, taught me resilience as an actor. I found that once the initial excitement of a new production had run out and the bad weather had set in, it was the company of my fellow cast members that kept me going. During a long run the company bonds in a way that is indescribable, from napping together between shows to press night celebrations these events can make a long run fly by.

It was a pleasure to be a part of the Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre Season, it is something that I would love to be a part of again either as a cast member or as a creative. The season brings a festival feeling to the city of Chester and draws in a diverse audience, this fun and family feel has helped the Storyhouse, Chester enable more people to watch and enjoy theatrical performances.