WITH only days before the dress rehearsal and opening night for the Merchant of Venice, the finishing touches are being put to performances and the set.

The intricate lighting rigging is up and eager to shine, technical headaches are being solved, and the auditorium and seating are fully dressed - ready and awaiting their audiences.

During the three-week run of the show nearly 5,000 people will experience the magic of Shakespeare and Brownsea Island. And every seat is now sold out.

Backstage, the farming ‘shed’ has been transformed into the open-plan dressing rooms, wardrobe, make-up studio and traditional BOAT sweetie and cake emporium for cast and crew.

And their newly-adopted family of cute chicks, belonging to the farmhouse next door, threaten to upstage the most dramatic moment onstage if they find their way out front.

(Last year a rabbit took up residence under the stage, developing astute thespian timing by hopping into the audience’s view mid-soliloquy for most of the major characters.)

Such is open-air live theatre.

So roll up, roll up, and let the show begin….

REHEARSALS have now moved outside to BOAT’s regular venue in the Walled Garden at Upton House. Despite the first outdoor rehearsal being a very damp, cold and insect-infested affair for the actors and crew, fine summer evenings have been the norm ever since. Fingers are crossed for the coming weeks!

Moving outdoors from comfortable community centres and hotel function suites is an important step in any BOAT production. 

“The cast can now work to the full sized set which has been marked out to the exact dimensions,” said Merchant director, Denise Mallender.

“We’ve also had a re-allocation of two parts, made necessary by the illness of one of the cast. These two actors have already learnt the moves and most of the lines of their new parts, and other cast members have been working with them at the bottom of the Walled Garden to give them plenty of practice.”

Over on the island set building has been going great guns, and the magnificence of Venice and Belmont are now taking shape in the auditorium.

The cast has also been practising ‘wearing’ their Merchant characters, when they donned their fine costumes for the first time at the official photocall at the Italian Garden at Compton Acres.

Glorious baking sunshine may have made the experience hard work for the cast in their thick and heavy costumes, but their madcap humour was infectious and the shoot was great fun. It also provided some stunning publicity photographs for Merchant thanks to the grand surroundings of the Italian Garden.

SO keen are the public to see BOAT’s production of ‘Merchant’ this summer, an eager audience member ‘gate-crashed’ rehearsals this week, and even took to the stage.

To be honest – the unfortunate lady accidentally wandered across the room, not realising she was entering downstage right - the ‘stage’ at this stage of rehearsals is a function suite at a Bournemouth hotel.

It was much-needed fun and frolics to relieve the tension of ‘books down.’ The actors now know vast chunks of their lines, and are realising their characters and movements without the restrictions of holding scripts. It leads to a few tense moments though when they ‘dry’, but the professionalism and talent of this cast wins through.

But this is the last week ‘under cover’ in the comfort of indoor rehearsal space. From now on, the three times a week rehearsals take place in the beautiful and spacious Walled Garden at Upton House.

“There we grapple with the open air and the weather, as well as noisy peacocks, planes, helicopters and Poole Speedway,” said ‘Merchant’ director Denise Mallender.

“But the actors finally get a feel of the space they’ll be performing in. And the elements and noisy distractions are great training for the island!

“The costumes and props are looking good. Everyone is working really hard for this production and pulling out all the stops,” Denise added.

Rehearsals are due to move to Brownsea on June 30 - but over on the island, set building has been busy for some time and progressing well, thanks entirely to the dedicated and creative team of weekend volunteers.

Joining them, as usual, are some of the animal residents of Brownsea. Chickens and their chicks are part of BOAT backstage. Every year they, peacocks and rabbits mingle freely with the cast and crew, and on more than one occasion easily upstage the action onstage.

Set building is going well, with the run of the main set now in place and given a preliminary coat of paint.

“We have also tested out the stone effect on the ground floor of Shylock’s house and it looks very authentic,” said director, Denise Mallender.

“The perimeter fence this year is chestnut palings, not the usual vibrant orange plastic netting. That’s up and looking good as well as creating a more attractive, natural barrier to prevent visitors from wandering onto the site.

“And our interpretation boards are in place around the outside fence and will help  people  understand what’s happening.”

THE job of transforming BOAT’s little corner of Brownsea Island into the iconic world of the Merchant of Venice has begun.

The seating is already up and ready for the summer audiences, but a dedicated team of BOAT volunteers will now be found on the island at weekends armed creatively with hammers, saws, and paint to create the set.

The costume and prop making departments are also gathering momentum. Cast members are busy learning and honing their lines/moves at rehearsals.

“But we desperately need a scimitar, or ornate dagger, for the Prince of Morocco,” said Merchant director, Denise Mallender.

“If anyone has such a thing I wonder would be prepared to lend it to us?”

For more details contact 07890 938 458.

‘In the beginning there was the word…..’This and other stage craft tips were being imparted to BOAT 2008’s first captive audience this season – the cast themselves.

The cast of The Merchant of Venice were sat entranced as RSC professional Andrew Jarvis shared some of his fascinating Shakespearean know-how, gleaned from his own career as actor, director and teacher spanning 40 years.

More than 20 members of the cast were enjoying a special workshop with the esteemed actor, who is Elrond and occasional Gandalf understudy in the current musical version of Lord of the Rings, at London’s Theatre Royal in Drury Lane.

Characterisation, pace, dialogue and stage presence were just some of the many areas stuffed into Andrew’s fun workshop at Pelham’s Community Centre in Kinson, all mixed effortlessly with humorous anecdotes about acting greats including Sir John Gielgud, Sir Lawrence Olivier, Robert Lindsay and Patrick Stewart.

Working individually with some cast members, the rest were able to see Andrew transform to another level their already polished performances of a portion of the Merchant script.

“We try and hold workshops like this every year as it helps to focus and fire up the cast before rehearsals start,” said Merchant director, Denise Mallender.

“We are extremely grateful to Andrew for coming down from London for the day, giving up his only day off this week to spend time with us.”

An evening of white envelopes, red wine and colourful tasty niblets awaited the cast and crew of BOAT’s 2008 production, when they met together for the first time at Upton House.

The annual inaugural is always a social event giving everyone the chance to catch up, and for newcomers to say hello, as well as get an introduction to the fun, frolics and hard work to come during the next five months.

On arrival, every member of the 24 strong cast and crew of 84 were given white envelopes containing rehearsal dates, production information, and their all important scripts, before hearing from director Denise Mallender and department heads about this year’s presentation of The Merchant of Venice.

“This is a real team effort in the truest sense,” said Denise.
“Every member of the cast and crew, however small their role or input is a valued and integral part of BOAT.
“They are all part of one big family supporting each other.
“And what a talented and creative team we have this year! I am really excited.”

Following the formal speeches, everyone enjoyed an informal buffet and sampled selected wines and juices.

Some cast members have already started learning their lines and working on their scripts, and the initial read through and official rehearsals are due to start within weeks.

Set build on Brownsea Island is due to start on May 4.
So watch this space!

Hello, and welcome to the Brownsea Open Air Theatre Blog, new for the 2008 season and production of The Merchant Of Venice, directed by Denise Mallender.

Our weblog will bring all you all the latest news from the heart of the company, and offer an insight into how the annual production comes together right up to opening night and beyond! We hope you enjoy this online journal and look forward to welcoming you to Brownsea Island this summer.

For more information about tickets visit the tickets page on the main website. This season the production runs from Wednesday 23rd July until Friday 8th August.