On Wednesday 17th April, we were lucky enough to perform at the beautiful Grand Theatre in Blackpool. This opportunity was given to us through our involvement in the National Theatre Connections programme. After the success of our performance of The Periodicals at school back in February, we were now able to take part in our partner theatre Festival and perform to a much bigger audience. We started the day by completing our tech rehearsal on the Grand stage, we worked with the theatre’s tech crew to figure out the lights and sound that brought the show to life. We were then given a guided tour around the theatre, complete with facts about the history of how the Grand was built, tales of ghosts who supposedly roam the facility and stories of the excitement and joy the theatre has brought people over the years. We did a workshop with the lovely staff at the Grand Theatre focusing on projecting our voices and speaking with confidence in a big space. We then did relaxation exercise to calm our nerves, we enjoyed it very much and afterwards we felt positive and relaxed going onto the stage. The Grand Theatre then treated us with a pizza party where we got the chance to mix with the staff and members of the other group. We took lots of pictures and even did the macarena. It was a lot of fun and a welcome distraction from our nerves before the performance.
A little bit later we were escorted to our studio to do a warm up with our mentor director from the NT connections. It was then time for the show. With butterflies in our stomach, we made our way back stage and watched as the audience settled down and introductions were made. We knew the show like the back of our hands, it flew by, smoothly moving from scene to scene. Before we knew it we were taking our bows. As the lights blinded our eyes, we soaked up the audience’s applause. It was the most incredible feeling. During the interval we were taken up to the circle where we watched as the other group perform their piece. It was exciting to watch, they were perfectly in sync, seamlessly moving through their lines. The audience applauded again and the show was over. It was a night full of excitement that we are very grateful to have been part of.
