Hello again, and welcome to the fourth Psychosocial Newsletter. As promised last week, we’ll be looking into the rehearsal process, Director Martha Geelen shares her thoughts on the project and we’ll explore few other exciting developments that have happened this week.

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Devil - “Do you remember the time she promised us nibbles?”

The Norwich Preview is only a few days away, and we’re pulling together and editing the script ready for our debut public performance. The script has changed quite a lot since our first read through. It’s thanks to the tireless work of the cast and crew that have meant that we have a full, rounded script, ready to go on Thursday! If you’re planning to come to the Preview, please check out more details on our Facebook event.

With a completed script, comes a completed props list. Stage Manager Lucy Adams, has been scouring market stalls and discount bins looking for suitable props at knockdown prices! She’s done really well at keeping to our tight budget and, with the help of Sam Masters, has bought all the specific party paraphernalia that the performance requires – including the full list of sponsor suggested props. We’ll be able to tell you all about them next week, so you can keep an eye out for them during the performance in Edinburgh!

On another note, the sofa has been re-covered in new fabric to make look more presentable, and match the colour of the sofa on our poster. It took a lot of fence staples, hammers and bruised fingers of the Stage and Production Mangers to get it looking show-ready!

We caught up with the director, Martha Geelan, who quickly told us about how she found the process of directing The Psychosocial Gathering:

“Most prominently I have enjoyed the past month of rehearsals because every day has presented a new and exciting challenge. Every moment of the intense time and work gone into this project has been rewarding and hilarious in equal measure.

“Directing 55-minutes of tightly choreographed, stylized, devised and ensemble comedy is not something that I have ever attempted to by myself before, but it is certainly something that I would happily do again.

“Every penny that has been generously contributed towards our play has not only given us a wider scope for creating a richer, more colourful piece, but it has also given us an always appreciated network of support and confidence in a project that we are all very proud of.”

As hinted at last week, we have composed our own song to accompany our performance. It was a collaboration between nearly everyone working on the project, and it’s turned out incredibly. It’s something we can definitely use on the mile to attract an audience as well as give our performance another exciting element. After all, there is only one more question that needs answering: is this a party, or a gathering?

You might have noticed that some character images have started appeared on our social media accounts. These give you a sneaky peak into our world, and give you an idea about what characters we’ve created. If you haven’t already seen them, you can browse through our Meet the Cast and Crew album on Facebook.

The biggest development this week, in terms of publicity, is the arrival of the posters and the fliers. They were delivered in seven, very heavy boxes. Before we leave for Edinburgh we’ll arrange all 10,000 fliers into the piles (one for each day) and set aside several of the posters to send to our sponsors! If you know you’ve had an email from us, asking for your address and you haven’t replied yet, please do so within the next few days!

Having a clear branding works wonders for your publicity, people are able to link together different things they’ve seen and they’ll always end up back at The Psychosocial Gathering. Think about what you’ve seen by us… chances are it’s probably the circles in the background, the sofa, or even Dan’s face. Well, here comes some more suitably themed publicity: Psychosocial Gathering t-shirts! Our crew will be wearing these on the mile while the cast mill around as their characters. It should unify us as a company, and a professional one at that.

We’re almost ready for the Preview now, so please wish us a great first performance! We can’t wait to let you know how it was received and show you some official production photos. It’s all coming together now!

Until next week!

The Cast and Crew of The Psychosocial Gathering