Backstage-O-Gram, 17 Oct 2000

I just finished working backstage for a production of Romeo and Juliet here in the Netherlands, and I'm so glad that I did.

Here's how it went down: I cast about for things to do in Den Haag and searched and searched and searched, and via an information service, eventually found a theatre group. As many of you know, I have enjoyed doing theatre and singing projects as a hobby for many years, and so I figured it would be a good way to meet like-minded folks. I called them up and discovered they were putting on Romeo and Juliet to perform 12, 13 and 14 October. I asked if I could help out in some way, and ended up managing props. So I started going to rehearsals a few nights a week, helping to catalogue needed props, painting a few things, noting prop issues in a copy of the script, etc.

The cast and crew were very very welcoming, giving me a round of applause when I was first introduced, and introducing themselves to me in a friendly manner. Most of them are Brits living here as expats, but there are some Dutch people also. Watching rehearsals, I came to the conclusion that actors are pretty much the same everywhere. However I do think they appreciate the crew very much in this group; they were very gracious to me. This may be due to the fact that it is a smallish group in a small community of expats, and many people have worked back stage as well as on stage.

I had a lot of extra job stress and caught a cold as we moved into the week of the performances, so I skipped two rehearsals but came in and packed up the props for removal to the performance space. I was almost dreading the performances because I was tired and figured I'd be bored waiting backstage during the whole play. So then last Wednesday we had a final rehearsal in the performance space, the Warenar Cultural Center in Wassenar, which is the wealthiest community in the Netherlands. The theatre holds about 200 and doesn't have a lot of room at the wings and not the deepest stage, but it does have nice dressing rooms and you can cross underneath the stage to get to other side. Also there is a bar in the Cultural Center - other theatre groups I visited in the UK had a bar adjacent to the theatre space like that. It is a nice place for the cast to visit, and it makes more money for the theatre space. Personally I think more small American theatres could make use of this idea. Of course perhaps our liquor laws have some disincentives to such an idea.

And on Thursday night we opened. The cast was excited and jittery; Romeo and Juliet were both 15 year-old actors who both attend the British School in Den Haag, and the audience was full of fellow students that night. Before we opened the house I was amazed to hear some cast members singing "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" by Tom Lehrer - I didn't know that Europeans knew him! So I ran over and joined in before going back to final prop issues.

Another cultural note: I've always found that gift-giving among the cast on opening night is traditional - this holds as well in Europe. Several people thought of me and I had some cards, photos, a rose, and some chocolate given to me, much to my delight. The Friday night show had the typical second-night setbacks and a smaller crowd who laughed in the wrong places. That night we stayed in the bar yakking until they kicked us out, and I stayed out until 4 am with newfound friends in their central Den Haag loft. They have an oven and I have none, so I'm invited to come and bake things with them anytime.

Saturday night was sold out, and we placed extra chairs in the audience even! The cast was incredibly prankish - a dirty magazine was placed in Friar Lawrence's basket of flowers, the poison vials filled with vodka (later the cast got nervous about that and changed them back to plain water), and nasty limericks written on the various paper props. After the show the cast and crew cheered and hugged and smooched and said thank-yous. The simple set was taken down with lightning speed and placed on a waiting truck, I recrated the props and helped move set bits, and we all retired to the bar. The cast had bought gifts for the crew, and I was surprised to be presented with a bottle of red wine from Verona (the setting of the play) and given applause and good wishes.

I sat around until after 1 am again, talking with actors and others, until the bar was closed and we all walked out into a foggy night. I collected a stack of email addresses and gave some pals a ride back home - many people in this town don't keep cars at all. Public transport is very good and bicycles common, while parking is lousy and cars/gas expensive. I was encouraged to audition for the next show, a traditional holiday pantomime in the best ridiculous British style...but it performs in January and I probably won't be here, so I can't commit to doing it at all. *sniff* I really hope I can come and see it though, and I plan to attend a few set-building Sunday afternoons while I'm still here. So, I put some work in and it paid of massively in spades - newfound friends, a whole community of people, a fun weekend...what a wonderful experience! I have put some snaps up: http://geocities.datacellar.net/minsq/ and click on the link.

Cheers,
C a r o l y n

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