Not Yours, Mine @ Oldham Coliseum Blog 2

Hi there,

This is Jake - playing the role of 'Adam' in Not Yours, Mine at Oldham Coliseum Theatre. As a company we are 5 days into the rehearsal process and I think we are all most pleasantly surprised at just how much of the play we have already been able to cover! For someone who hasn't done any stage work for almost a whole year since my final year at drama school, I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to welcome me back into the theatre environment. The company for this production have shown the perfect balance between dedicated professionalism, and the ability to just have fun and make everyone feel comfortable, and at ease. It's brilliant how one moment we can all be seriously discussing the themes of the play, and 30 seconds later all be rolling on the floor in fits of laughter about something else entirely. Every moment of this process has been a joy to be a part of.

Following the previous blog by Cat, Day 4 we really focused on scene work, getting through as many scenes as possible to find the stories and character arcs within the play's narrative. I've really enjoyed exploring the different character relationships Adam has throughout the story, and solidifying the dynamics he has with his mother, best friend and ex-girlfriend. Rachel's directing style is a joy to be around, as she manages to really guide the actor through the creative process, whilst still leaving space for personal choices to be made. Allowing the scenes to feel fresh, raw and really in the moment.

Day 5 was an intensive, productive and rewarding day - leaving the whole company feeling in a good place to mark the halfway point of the rehearsal process. After revisiting some scenes, we were able to really find the light and shade in certain moments, giving the narrative of the play much more depth and making the action onstage very interesting to watch. Finding the lighter moments with Kate who is playing my mother 'Joyce' actually raised the stakes of their relationship and gave so much more weight to their past together. Working the scenes with Ned who is playing 'Lewis' has possibly been the toughest job because he always seems to find a way to make me break character, crack up and start laughing, due to his wonderfully comic energy he has on stage. We also revisited a lot of the physical theatre from the previous days and this part of the play has been so beautiful. The majority of my physical work has been with Cat when she is playing my ex-girlfriend 'Kate'. I feel as though we have both really dived into the work with no hesitations and really trusted each other with what we are creating. Having Rachel there for this part of the process has been so helpful as she is really able to step back and visually see the full picture we are creating on stage.

If the rest of the rehearsal process is anything like what we've had so far, then I truly believe we are going to be creating a beautiful, thought-provoking show.