As we gear up for the opening of Romeo & Juliet our Assistant Director George Want shares his experience of working on the show…
The Assistant Director is a person whose exact role in a production might not always seem obvious. In fact, even when you are one it’s not always obvious – from production to production the role is completely different, depending on the needs of the show and the Director. And it’s been no different with Romeo & Juliet. I’ve found myself taking on exciting new tasks that have never been thrown my way before.
For example, before rehearsals I was asked by Walter to compile some notes on the text – a kind of index explaining and translating the most complex parts of Shakespeare’s language, similar to the footnotes you might find in a published version of the play. Don’t forget Walter is working in a second language, but for those of us with English as our mother tongue it has also proved incredibly useful throughout the rehearsal period, enabling us to work on scenes with intricate wordplay without having to use a lot of time deciphering it.
As the Assistant Director a lot of your duties are technical things, like relaying artistic decisions to the rest of the team, and feeding technical or practical information the other way. This also means I work closely with the Deputy Stage Manager. On the artistic side, in rehearsal the Director might use you as a sounding board, testing decisions to see if they make sense or inviting you to chip in. I love watching actors work, and our cast is so generous with their energy in rehearsals, constantly trying things out.
My big job on this production, alongside Yusra, our 2nd Assistant Director, is to work with our ensemble, made up of actors and dancers who are mainly from around Manchester. There are two teams of them and they’ll alternate performance dates. A huge part of this task involves planning how they’ll work to guide the audience through Victoria Baths as we move from space to space during the show – but I’ll keep the details to myself for now.
Victoria Baths itself is incredible. We’re rehearsing down there a couple of times a week at the moment, which allows us to get a feel for the space before the run begins. When I first spoke to Walter about this production he talked about how he visited Victoria Baths for the first time and fell in love with it. It’s easy to see why. Apart from its beauty it feels like a space filled with memories. When the actors begin to perform, the building suddenly comes alive, as if it was telling it’s own story. It’s such a unique venue to be working in, one which is helping us to produce an absolutely distinctive Romeo & Juliet for Manchester.
Romeo & Juliet runs between Wed 10 Sep – Sat 4 Oct at Victoria Baths. Lots of shows have already sold out. Limited tickets are available online here or from Cornerhouse Box Office in person or over the phone on 0161 200 1500.