The Story So Far

Hi everyone
If you're reading this, there's a chance that you may know me, and there's also a chance that you don't know anything about me; who I am, where I'm from and where I'm trying to get to. Hopefully this post will fill in all the gaps and take you on the rollercoaster ride that has been The Collector so far!
My name is Rachael, I'm 23 and I was born and raised in Great Grimsby. I started acting in school plays (St Joseph's RC primary and St Mary's Catholic high) and I joined Louth Playgoers theatre when I was about 10. I loved theatre from the very first moment I visited one and I have to say I simply cannot imagine my life without being involved in theatre. When I was 17 I got into the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (after my A levels at Franklin College) and it was while at Bristol that I was able to develop and expand my passion and ambition for working in theatre. Since leaving Bristol I've done many exciting theatre and telelvision jobs, starting off with the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. The Proms is an extraordinary festival of the most exteaordinary music incorporating world-class composers, orchestras, conductors, soloists and all the incredible television people along the way. After the Proms I did OTHELLO with the Birmingham Stage Company, which also transferred to London. After which I went straight into panto-land; ALADDIN to be precise at the Cochrane Theatre in London. Such fun but extremely hard work! Then came another BBC TV spell on the live show LIVERPOOL NATIVITY with Geoffrey Hughes, Jennifer Ellison and Gerry Marsden (more about him later...) After Christmas I found myself in Andrew Lloyd Webber's music library at the Really Useful Group where again I was reunited with my great love of music. I even got in on JOSEPH at the Adelphi with the lovely Mr Lee Mead. From there I went on to THE VIEWING ROOM at the Arts Theatre which is a new play and starred Leonard Roberts from HEROES. Having just finished that job, it's now time to concentrate on THE COLLECTOR which I am sure is my biggest challenge yet.
My little theatre company was set up over a year ago by myself and my brother John. He's a writer and an actor and we wanted to produce our productions on a more professional level after having worked on our own shows for years and years without a company name! Hambledon is the name of out family home and we thought the name would work well for our company.
The idea of doing THE COLLECTOR came after I saw a wonderful production whilst at theatre school. Jessica Ellerby played Miranda and Adam Ewan played Clegg. Those performances have stuck in my mind so stubbornly that I have thought about that show constantly as a piece of rivetting theatre ever since. After graduating, I wanted to do something that would get me back into acting with my own company and so the idea was born. I'm not sure I realised what I was getting myself in to...
One of the biggest hurdles was finding an actor to play Clegg. All two-handers require spot-on casting and this was no exception. I contacted all the actors I knew and read through with many of them but I wasn't convinced I'd found my man. Hambledon Productions is all about showcasing local actors so ideally I was looking for a local lad to play the role. Cue my old drama teacher Rick Dring and his extensive knowledge of local actors! I got in touch with Laurence Brown and he came round for a read through. We auditioned him with the director and the rest is history! Laurence was on board, we're ready to go!
Our director is Jonathan Rigby. I just cannot say how extremely lucky we are to have him as a director. Jonathan is also an actor and originated the role of Kenneth Horne in ROUND THE HORNE...REVISITED in the west end. It ran for 18months and some of you may have seen Jonathan in the BBC4 adaptation of the play. Magnificent stuff. Jonathan is best know for directing Shakespeare, but I managed to convince him that our production of THE COLLECTOR would be well worth his expertise and eye for detail. Eventually he agreed and now rehearsals are well on the way with him at the helm.
Since we run the company ourselves (John and I) everything is down to us when producing a play, and I mean everything. Putting on a play costs an astonishing amount of money and I knew I had a lot to raise before we could go any further. I wrote hundreds and hundreds of letters to local businesses and the like and applied for 5 different grants and funds. Nothing came back. This was absolutely devastating to us. I just couldn't get anyone to support us and the frustration was beginning to build up. I was very dismayed and disheartened and I began to lose sight of my dream. But I wasn't going to let this stop me. We got a small donation from Cosalt, but the rest we have done ourselves. I am eternally grateful to my family who have run around for us and been there every step of the way.
The next hurdle was finding somewhere to rehearse. We started of in our living rooms and soon realised that we really needed a space of our own. Once again my notepad and stamps came out and I wrote to almost every school and church hall in London. Because Laurence, Jonathan and I live and work in London we had to find somewhere convenient for us to rehearse around our jobs. Soon enough we got a space in a lovely little church hall and a proper drama studio at the Islington Arts and Media School, what a result!
I'd been trying to get the performing rights for THE COLLECTOR for a very long time. The novel was written by John Fowles and I had to contact his estate who work in conjunction with Samuel French (the publishers) in giving rights. I then had to contact the dramatist Mark Healy's agent to get the joint rights for the venues and the performers. This turned out to be a very long drawn out process (and expensive!) but we got there in the end. In fact, Mark Healy himself called me to wish me luck with the production. Once again I had a smile on my face.
I have to say, I think John Fowles is a magnificent author. The Collector is incredible. The story it tells and the characterisation within the story blew my mind. No wonder it was swiftly made into a film with Terence Stamp and Samantha Eggar. Very interesting film.
We had a full rehearsal yesterday which was great. I find rehearsing this play very exhausting and a bit of a struggle at times. We are both on stage all of the time and there are so many lines. The dialogue between the two characters is very intense and it is essential that the audience follows the two characters on their very different quests. Miranda's is to escape, Clegg's is to simply be understood by Miranda and given a little compassion. It's important that the audience sympathises with both characters and that takes a lot of work.
I tell you what, it's been horses work getting this play publicised!!! Those folks at the local newspapers and radio stations are so busy! Hopefully we will have mentions in the Grimsby Telegraph and the Louth Leader. I've already been on Compass fm and BBC Radio Humberside (which was a hoot! thank you to Lara King!) and I hope there are more to follow. I just want as many people as possible to see this play. It's a first-rate production which is going to London and it's right on your doorstep. I am so devoted to getting people in our area to the theatre, it's all I want right now and I just want you all to venture out and see the show. It's only a fiver. My grandparents talk about going to the theatre 3 or 4 times a week when they were my age. Now there isn't a single professional playhouse in the town and you have to travel to Lincoln or Hull to see a company. Come and see us! You won't be disappointed.
I really hope that I can get some local people to see this production who maybe haven't been to the theatre in a long time, or even never been at all. That's what I'd love. Please come.
Tickets are £5 each, available from the Louth Riverhead Theatre box office on 01507 600350.
Thank you!