Monday (October 22) saw what was meant to be a full technical run through of the whole play... well, that's what had been planned at least.
Due to the amount of time needed to set the lighting cues for Act One, along with several other problems, all we had time for was a partial run of Act One instead. This will now put the pressure on us for Tuesday, which will be a full dress and technical run and the last chance we have to get it all right before we open on Wednesday.
A couple of things that certainly didn't help were the cloud of smoke that is used for the entrance of the Daleks and a visibility issue.
First off the smoke. All the Daleks sit backstage ready to come on and before the main door is opened to allow this a load of smoke is generated to help mask the fact that a door has opened - it's an impressive entrance to say the least. However, stuck in a confined waiting and sitting inside a Dalek, all that smoke has no where to go... except up inside the casing! So as we entered we were filled with smoke, which brings me onto the second problem.
To make it harder for people to look though the neck section and see the person inside, there is an outer layer of mesh and an inner layer of gauze, all black. In rehearsals, with no smoke and more lighting, it wasn't a problem to see where you were going. Suddenly we have to get onto the stage and hit our marks and we can hardly see a thing. The solution is to remove some of the inside gauze, although this does mean that it may now be possible for people to see us. Ashley Nealfuller, who has built these particular Daleks, is on the case and is working out a way to keep the gauze but have it as strips so it's harder to see in but easy to see out. Last thing we want is a Dalek falling off the stage! This is just one of the many jobs that Ashley has to do to get everything with the Daleks up to scratch before we open and I don't envy him one little bit.
Dalek Spy was able to sneak into the dressing room and snap a few of the props.
- Something that's green and glows... can't be good
- The front of a futuristic communications device
- The inside display screen of the same device
