Jim Bywater

Read through, relaxed; casting sounded right. Tech teams seem happy; Rodney Ford, the designer has come up trumps. He knows what I like and he makes it his.
We rehearsed the 'improvised' bits - horseplay scenes which need coreographing. They could have proved to be sticky moments but, it's a young cast who are keen to exercise the acting muscles and discover the acting 'rules'. I think it's going to be OK.
We are doing it in the round - my favourite form in schools, allowing the audience close proximity to the action and, therefore, I believe, a better chance for involvement.
The play, by Mark Wheeller, is about a lad called Dan Nolan who went missing on a night-fishing trip in the Southampton area on Jan 1st 2002. It struck me that we would have to decide in which year we would set the play - are we telling the story now or are we telling the story when the play was written? The nature of the narative would be amended by time. This is yet to be discovered.
There is an appendix which keeps the sense of loss alive whilst, poignantly, allowing the audience and the characters to laugh - to have hope for the future. Well done Mr. Wheeller.