Director’s Notes, Young King Arthur
Written & Directed by Richard Brown
Background
Many people will be familiar with the story of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table and the quest for the Holy Grail. This was first assembled in 1485 by Sir Thomas Mallory in “Mort d’Artur”. Mallory’s tale was based on earlier French and Welsh texts. Some of these stories from the 1100s are “Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart” by Chrétien de Troyes and “The Life of Gildas” by Caradoc of Llancarfan. In “Gildas”, Queen Guinevere is captured by King Melwas and taken to his castle at Glastonbury, which is then besieged by Arthur and his knights. Even older British legends talk about the contest between the King of Light (Arthur or Gwynn) and the King of Darkness (Melwas or Gwythyr) over the lady (Guinevere or Creiddylad). As winter approaches, the queen is taken by the king of darkness then to be released from his power every spring by the King of light, bringing new life to the earth, rather like in the Greek legend of Persephone and Hades. Another ancient British legend tells that Melwas resides in Glastonbury Tor and every Halloween, he rides out on the “Wild Hunt” to collect the souls of the dead and to take them to the Tor, a portal to The Otherworld. The very ancient story of Arthur’s rescue of Guinevere after she has been abducted by King Melwas and taken to Glastonbury was put into panto form and augmented with some classic comedy routines from panto and from Complicite’s “A minute too late”.
What went well?
There was a strong artistic concept behind the show that connected to everything, including the tag line of the show (The power of love will overcome) which was reflected in the finale song. The colour palette was established early on and the costumes developed in good time and for a very reasonable price given their wonderful appearance on stage. The emotional landscape of the script was supported by songs and music that reflected the mood of the characters at that time. The choice of songs was taken from a wide range of styles but reflected the tastes of a range of age-groups in the audience, including artists popular with contemporary teenagers and pre-teens. The choice of music was much appreciated by the audience. The performance of the songs was given much favourable comment by many professional musicians and music educators who attended. The comedy was well delivered by the cast and a number of speeches received much laughter and extended applause. The key dance numbers (Our House, Big Spender, Mean, The Power of Love ) were put together at an appropriate level for the cast but also had some edge to make them attractive.
The specific comedy routines with special effects were all delivered very well with good coordination with the stage crew. Having now established the glitter-drop over the last two pantos, this was easily incorporated, the gorilla attack, and custard pie worked well and I was pleased that the crew managed to get the rat and slinky to fly off stage on cue. The car chase based on Simon Burney’s “A minute too late” took a lot of work but eventually was an excellent closer for Act 1.
The rehearsal schedule was planned in detail in advance and detailed planning of tech week enabled the challenges to be dealt with smoothly. Having Scott as Green Room Boss calling people up to the stage worked very well and there were no obvious misses as a result. The stage crew were well drilled and completed all the changes in good time and with the minimum of fuss.
The sets looked extremely impressive and had a real “wow factor” when revealed. We were able to recycle some elements from previous shows in the sets and backdrops. The enhanced stage combat routines gave a more exciting edge to the climax of the show.
What was tricky?
Auditions had high numbers of preteens and teens, but not a low number of adults auditioned for the main roles. Attendance at rehearsals was not always ideal. It was a definite challenge getting actors to stick to the printed script and learn/retain their text.
What should be done differently?
A code of conduct for all participants should be developed, agreed and then signed by all of those involved in the production.