Abbey Theatre - Amharclann na Mainistreach

First day back after the Bank Holiday and the Abbey staff and The Plough and the Stars cast and creative team have gathered in the Abbey Rehearsal room. The Artistic Director Fiach Mac Conghail welcomes us all and gives a special mention to any cast new comers to the Abbey as is the tradition, and then we begin to read the play. I always feel really privileged having the play read by the actors on day one as the play begins to come to life through the voices in the room.

The cast get to see the model of the set for the first time today and get to chat with the designer about the design concept. Each play is different and each Plough is different. The costume department found a shawl used in the 1976 production, worn by Siobhan Mc Kenna who played Bessie Burgess, which is almost 100 years old so exactly from the period. Will it make to the stage for this production?
We are keeping the archive department busy also with questions about 1916 and other productions through the years. But the excitement about doing this play within the building is tangible.
As the stage is raised 250mm we will erect a floor in the rehearsal room of steel deck risers to replicate this and add doors, steel girders and washing lines over the next few weeks. The props department and stage management have gathered rehearsal props for the rehearsal room. The songs in the play are being recorded for the cast this week too. Everyone made a stab at these in the read through but there’s still work to do. Having a voice coach in the Abbey means the cast can have some one on one time to work on breathing, accent and colour in the voice. This work has also begun this week with scheduled warm ups and group voice sessions.

More next week.

Aisling Mooney – Production Manager