After our Northampton show, our assessor Paul came to say hi
with another person – Dan. Now I hadn’t got a clue who Dan was but I had the
sort of feeling he might be important to us. This was confirmed when our host
Erica mentioned a VIP in the audience and wished us luck. Dan had seemed very
positive about our show although I confess in the immediate afterglow of the
stunning performance (it genuinely thrilled and surprised me) my mind was
really elsewhere. But on reflection I had the glimmer of a spark of a glow of
hope that we might have put ourselves into contention for an invitation to the
National.
And so it happened – on Tuesday last week my mobile rang
with an unfamiliar number – it was Rob from the National Theatre Connections
team. He asked how we’d found the partner theatre day and I told him how much
we’d enjoyed it. He then asked if our show had gone OK – and would we like to
perform it again?
It only took a couple of seconds for the dots to join and I
kind of turned to mush. We are going to the National! I don’t really remember anything else about
the call except hearing the plea for me to keep this to myself for a few days
until the schedule was fully confirmed and the other participants in the
Connections programme could be briefed.
Of course I told my wife, Annette, immediately (and my sons,
dad and siblings) but after that there was a kind of anti-climax – we couldn’t
tell the world!
So between then and our release of the news we’ve been
getting things ready – press releases, rehearsal plans, letters to schools etc.
etc. so in a way the embargo was a blessing in disguise.
But I hated not being able to tell our wonderful cast. I knew
there was no way I could get them all together to hear the news due to exams, D
of E expeditions and so on, but most of them did manage to make it – here’s what
happened…
They have been such a fabulous group throughout and you
could not wish to meet a nicer group of young people.
Between now and the first week in July there will be lots to
do to get ready for the transfer and the various stages will appear on this
blog. But for the time being I am absolutely elated /proud /excited / nervous /
bewildered. And I think back to an early rehearsal back in November when I sat
down with the cast and I said to them then that I thought we had the concept of
something very special and that if we worked hard as a team we could do
something extraordinary. They did work hard, always as a team, and they have
indeed been rewarded with something extraordinary.
So now it’s official and I can say it:-
Emily W, Luke F, Alex, Harriet, Alice, Megan, Christabel,
Maddie, Emily B., Dominic, Niles Luke D, Harry, Sophie, Lucy, Gina, Betty,
Nancy, Ruby, Sienna, Louis, Jack, and Lisa – our Best bunch of superstars - you
are going to the National Theatre!
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