The Making of So It Goes: Part 1

SET DESIGN

As ‘So It Goes’ is now available online until 29^th May,  we thought we’d take a trip down memory lane and show you a little of what went on behind the scenes.

First stop: Set design! We chatted to design extraordinaire Emma Tompkins and found out how she created that stunning and iconic final scene, based on Holkham Bay.

Holkham Bay, 2014

“The thing that struck me most about the beach was the horizontal lines that seemed to extend forever at Holkham. A flatness that just wandered into the horizon. We also kept noticing the thin wide shallow pools of water that caused the sand to wriggle into these beautiful patterns.

The biggest challenge was taking the width of such a wide open beautiful place and translating it into a moment that could be made on a stage by Hannah and David in a way that kept the magic but didn't cause the action to lag (something Lecoq training seems to help with in transitions).

Emma's digital mock up of the Holkham Bay design

I knew the set needed to fit in any sized venue, work with festival storage, and be made with the kind of materials you can afford on a fringe budget. The beach scene is also the pinnacle of the story, one that shows a release of feeling. And the first time colour is released into Hannah's world to coincide.

The final beach design in action. Photo by Richard Davenport

I found most of our solutions in the usual place designers on the fringe end up, IKEA, B&Q and my local hardware shop. Garden bamboo poles and canvas held together with the classic combination of gaffa tape and cable ties became the back fan, combined with garden parasole bases and cheap wardrobe railings to keep everything upright, in addition to the trademark cardboard.


The whole thing was made in my front room and painted in the garden. I think the stones still have the paint marks! The design was complete with bags of Tesco value flour rapped with black gaffa to act as stage weights to keep the back piece from falling forward! Were nothing if not resourceful!"

An early mock up of the beach design

Well I think we can all agree that Emma did a fantastic job and that beach was an exceptional finish to the show. 

Watch the set in action (until 29th May)

See more of Emma’s design work here. 

It's coming home

We're thrilled to be bringing So It Goes back to London for performances at the Southbank Centre on March 4 & 5.  We're performing over a weekend of work exploring how we live with death, as part of Southbank Centre's Belief & Beyond Belief season.

After our international adventures, we're delighted to be bringing So It Goes back to home soil. Tickets are available here.

So It Goes in Georgia

We spent three weeks in Batumi, Georgia recreating So It Goes in a new Georgian-language production, with two Georgian actors.

The show opened to a full house and received a standing ovation.  It will continue to run for a further fifteen performances, as part of Batumi Drama Theatre's repertoire of work. 

A huge thank you to Batumi Drama Theatre, British Council and to the region of Adjara's Ministry For Culture, who made the project possible.

Even more tweets...

Final round up of our Edinburgh Fringe Twitter love... Don't forget, the show comes to Shoreditch Town Hall, London from Sept 20th to 1st Oct after a performance in Margate on 17th Sept!

Quietly riveted by David Ralfe's self-performed solo show Tell Me Anything @Summerhallery about the psycho-emo cost of caring...

— Donald Hutera (@DonaldHutera) August 27, 2016

#edfringe is a great platform for creative dialogue about mental health and illness. @ontheruntheatre's Tell Me Anything is a great example

— Abby King (@abbyrking) August 28, 2016

So glad my final #edfringe show of 2016 was a return visit to @ontheruntheatre's Tell Me Anything. Shocking, arresting, and truly special.

— Laura Jayne Bateman (@MissLJBateman) August 27, 2016

#TellMeAnything by @ontheruntheatre is uncomfortably brilliant. Go: it'll make you ask questions about yourself that you need to ask.

— Pint-Sized (@Pint_Sized_) August 24, 2016

Young man with dolphin. Insightful and moving performance. @ontheruntheatre #edfringe2016 @Summerhallery https://t.co/9yoPmUoJHC

— Therese LawlorWright (@Therese_LW) August 24, 2016

Also found 'tell me anything' by @ontheruntheatre refreshing- a modern male look at masculinity and young love

— Ruby Glaskin (@RubyGlaskin) August 23, 2016

'Tell Me Anything' by @ontheruntheatre was not only beautifully written and performed, but also hit uncomfortably close to home.

— Deng MaoHui (@dengmaohui) August 22, 2016

More tweets

One more week to go at the Edinburgh Fringe!  Catch us every day at 5.45pm at Summerhall.  Here are some more tweets from lovely audience members...

#TellMeAnything: a stunning and heartbreaking piece of theatre from the amazing @ontheruntheatre #gosee #edfringe

— Jodie Garnish (@JodieGarnish) August 21, 2016

@ontheruntheatre "I will destroy you with warmth, guidance, & gentle nudging" A brillant show, and masterfully performed. #edfringe2016

— Oliver-Patrick Henn (@OP_Twist) August 21, 2016

GO and see #TelllMeAnything @ontheruntheatre. BRILLIANT act @Summerhallery #FestivalFun

— Susanne Mueller (@RainChameleon) August 21, 2016

If you see one theatre show at @edfringe go and see @ontheruntheatre #TellMeAnything
Absolutely brilliant piece of work.

— Callum Taylor (@CallumTtweets) August 20, 2016

Just watched an incredibly thought provoking, emotive and intelligent piece of theatre. Thank you @ontheruntheatre #edfringe2016

— Zadie Ward (@ZadieWard1) August 20, 2016

Current #edfringe top 3: @ontheruntheatre's Tell Me Anything, @TREMers_theatre's Fabric & @toothandnailed's Hummingbird. Fringe at its best.

— Laura Jayne Bateman (@MissLJBateman) August 19, 2016

No Edinburgh 2016 for us, but LOVE the sound of work from @RashDashTheatre @FellswoopTheatr @ontheruntheatre @breach_theatre. GO SEE!

— curious directive (@c_directive) August 18, 2016

If you are in Edinburgh check out @ontheruntheatre #TellMeAnything sad, strange and brilliant (and stars a 🐬)

— TheatreState (@TheatreState) August 16, 2016

Sat chatting about @ontheruntheatre #tellmeanything with #ageofdistrACTION cast who took a lot away from the show pic.twitter.com/J1J6V59NTy

— Age of (Distr)action (@Group64) August 17, 2016

Had a great time tonight watching the stellar @ontheruntheatre's return to the fringe with #TellMeAnything. Gorgeous and emotive theatre.

— Fiercely Spun (@FiercelySpun) August 21, 2016

Tell Me Anything by @ontheruntheatre was arresting and very captivating. Very honest and moving, with a brilliant performance.

— Rory Horne (@rorhor) August 21, 2016

Further information about Eating Disorders - including help and resources for both sufferers and carers

Our new show Tell Me Anything deals with David's experience of caring for a girlfriend who had an eating disorder, when he was fifteen.  If you would like to know more about the issues raised in the show, or if you are affected by them yourself, we highly recommend the following websites and organisations.

The New Maudsley Approach

This was fundamental to our understanding of the experience of being a carer. If you're going through something similar and looking for help, this website is the best place to start.

F.E.A.S.T.

An international organisation of and for parents and caregivers to help loved ones recover from eating disorders by providing information and mutual support

Around The Dinner Table

An online community of parents of eating disorder patients around the world run by F.E.A.S.T. ATDT is a moderated forum that has connected and supported parents since 2004.

CandMed Productions

A series of short films and interviews, designed to help eating disorder sufferers, carers, family and friends, as well as healthcare and education professionals

Eating Disorders and Carers

An organisation run by Veronica Kamerling, whose daughters suffered from eating disorders.  Veronica now run the London Carers' Group, a self help group run by and for carers.

B-eat

Information and help on all aspects of eating disorders, including Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, binge eating disorder and related eating disorders.

Succeed Foundation

A charity that investigates supports academics and eating disorder practitioners in building, collecting and disseminating knowledge, research and evidence and which works to develop and establish tools to further the understanding of eating disorders.

June Alexander

Information and help on eating disorders for carers, sufferers and mental health workers. A website designed by June Alexander, an Australian writer, educator and public speaker on eating disorders and mental health issues.

Boys Get Anorexia Too & Men Get Eating Disorders Too
Information and resources for men or boys suffering from eating disorders and their carers.

Edinburgh Fringe recommendations

In case you don't have time to browse the full gimp owl catalogue, we’d like to recommend a few shows by friends of ours who make brilliant, brilliant work.

In the meantime, don't forget to book for our show Tell Me Anything which will play at Summerhall at 5.45pm from 3-28 August.  Tickets are on sale here.

Goggles by This Egg

Pleasance Courtyard, 2pm

We saw an extract of Goggles at Pulse Festival’s Suitcase Day a few months ago and adored it.  A quirky comedy about Josie and Gemma’s friendship, and their pet goldfish, Sunny and Boo. 

Letters To Windsor House by Sh!t Theatre

Summerhall, 1.35pm

Songs, politics, dodgy landlords and detective work from the riotously funny and always anarchic Sh!t Theatre.

Blush by Snuff Box Theatre

Underbelly Cowgate, 6pm

A new play about revenge porn from the award-winning team behind Bitch Boxer, including director Bryony Shanahan, who worked with us on So it Goes.

Don’t Panic! It’s Challenge Anneka by on the button

Summerhall, 2.50pm

Tackling the topic of anxiety, a rollercoaster one-woman show from our Lecoq buddies on the button.

Bricking It by Joanna Griffin

Underbelly Cowgate, 5.30pm

Joanna is joined onstage by her father Pat, a retired builder who’s never made theatre in his life.  Pat learns to be a comedian, whilst Joanna does some honest construction work.  (I saw a work in progress of this last year and it was bloody amazing.  The description above doesn’t really do it justice.) Directed by our old friend Julian Spooner, from Rhum and Clay Theatre Company.

Edinburgh Fringe fundraiser - can you help?

We're delighted to be taking our new show Tell Me Anything to the Edinburgh Fringe.  But we need your help to get there!

We've raised 90% of the money we need to make it to Edinburgh and we've launched a crowd funding campaign to help make up that last 10%.  

We're aiming to raise £1500 to invest directly into the show, as well as marketing which will help us reach as large an audience as possible.  Have a look at the video above to find out more about the show and where the money will go.

Click here to make a donation.  Big or small, it will make a big difference.

Thank you!

Tell Me Anything

We've been working on our new show Tell Me Anything for most of the summer, finishing up with work in progress performances at Shoreditch Town Hall.  Thanks to all our audiences, your support and feedback is invaluable!

The show is about David's experiences of caring for his teenage girlfriend, who was anorexic and bulimic, when he was fifteen.  We're indebted to Charlotte Rhind for her fantastic insights throughout our rehearsals, as well as the many other eating disorder experts we've spoken to over the past few months.

It's also been a pleasure to collaborate with musician Lilly Neubauer and our old friend Emma Tompkins.  Finally, a big thank you to Alex Brenner for these fantastic rehearsal photos.

We plan to open the show next year, so stay tuned for updates!

Development of Tell Me Anything has been kindly supported by Camden People's Theatre, The North Wall, Shoreditch Town Hall and Arts Council, England.

Rehearsal Room Video Diary 2 - Music

Rehearsal Room Video Diary 1

Over the summer, we'll be spending several weeks working on our new show.  We'll be announcing details of public work-in-progress performances soon. In the meantime, enjoy this sneaky peek behind the scenes.

More Brighton buzz

Still mopping up tweets from Brighton Fringe!  Thanks to all our audiences over the weekend, we had a fantastic time.  The show heads to The Lowry in Manchester next, on Friday 15 May.  Click here for all our tour dates.

#BrightonFringe fantastic ,beautiful and totally original loved so it goes @OtherplaceBTN .deserves every praise going,MUST SEE DONT MISS!

— simon schneider (@antiqueman) May 9, 2015

In Exeter, Salford, Sheffield or London? Highly recommend seeing So it Goes from @ontheruntheatre on its tour http://t.co/SVAJaOfPdr

— Samuel French UK (@SamuelFrenchLtd) May 11, 2015

#BrightonFringe So it Goes @OtherplaceBTN absolutely brilliant, everything theatre should be

— Heather James (@funnyhorse) May 9, 2015

How good was @ontheruntheatre's So It Goes at @OtherplaceBTN tonight? Very moving and powerfully performed with a neat set. #brightonfringe

— RosieBlackwellSutton (@rmmbs) May 10, 2015

Just watched 'So It Goes' @brightonfringe beautiful, moving, devastatingly wonderful. Fantastic play. Everyone must see this! Cried so hard!

— Sara Huxley (@Sara_Huxley) May 10, 2015

@ontheruntheatre beautiful performance at the fringe yesterday, so pleased I made the journey down

— Adam Laurence Hedley (@AdamLHedley) May 11, 2015

'So it Goes' at the Basement is the best show I've seen this Brighton festival. The audience was in tears at the end http://t.co/2jnAcuWzXX

— Peter Chrisp (@PeterChrisp) May 9, 2015

#BrightonFringe fans, caught As It Goes by @ontheruntheatre last night - poignant, moving and beautiful, beautiful theatre - GO SEE!

— Jess Plant (@PTTjess) May 9, 2015

Extra show announced for Shoreditch Town Hall

Possibly the best review we've ever had.  Certainly the most creative!

We're having a fantastic time performing So It Goes at Shoreditch Town Hall, in London. The final week has completely sold out and we've just announced an extra matinee performance at 4pm on Saturday 18th.  Tickets are going fast, so book ahead now!

The Times' Chief Theatre Critic, Dominic Maxwell, made us his Top Pick of the Week in Saturday's paper.  We were also a pick of the week in Metro and Time Out.

Since then, we've also had a 4 star review from Time Out and our second 5 star review from The Times!

Today, Metro put us in their Top 5 shows to see in London:

Here's a round-up of what our audiences have been saying on Twitter:

Can't recommend @ontheruntheatre more. Saw the show #ShoreditchTownHall last night& was captivated by the clever, hilarious & moving story
— Rachael Morrow (@RachHMorrow) April 16, 2015

Went to see the fantastic @ontheruntheatre this w/e.So it Goes: direct, slick, innovative.Dealing with the reality of grief.Cried buckets.
— Lizzy Clark (@Lizzydclark) April 15, 2015

Just saw @ontheruntheatre's #soitgoes for the second time tonight. Cried more than the 1st. Tickets still available: http://t.co/ckbHmpgRgm
— Daniel Saunders (@DJKSaunders) April 14, 2015

Wonderful show #SoItGoes by @ontheruntheatre runs at @ShoreditchTH til Sat 18th.Please see it if you can @showandtell http://t.co/VUyRO8WYDw
— Belisarius Mock (@sfeegrade) April 12, 2015

Loved @ontheruntheatre 's show this evening at @ShoreditchTH . A gentle and beautiful story!
— Toby Peach (@TobyPeach) April 11, 2015

@Show_And_Tell @ontheruntheatre @ShoreditchTH It's funny, very moving, brilliantly performed, and generally superb. Laughed,cried,loved it.
— Belisarius Mock (@sfeegrade) April 11, 2015

@ontheruntheatre funny, smart and moving. Really touched by the show this evening. Thank you for reminding me... she lived.
— Katie Edmondson (@Katie_Edmo) April 11, 2015

I went to see So It Goes last night at Shordeditch Town Hall. It was incredible. Please go see it and please take a tissue @ontheruntheatre
— Stacca (@Stacca) April 11, 2015

So It Goes come to London

Not long until So It Goes reaches London!  We're on at Shoreditch Town Hall for two weeks, from Wednesday 8 April to Saturday 18 April (not including Sunday 12 but yes including all the other days, including Monday 13).

We're very excited.  Home crowd!  In fact, we've been singing "So It Goes is coming home" to the tune of "Football's coming home" for over a week now.

Tickets available here.

David & Hannah x

Starting Blocks at Camden People's Theatre... it's over, sadface

On Sunday, we performed about 30 minutes of brand new material at Camden People’s Theatre.  We’ve been developing new ideas there since January, as part of CPT’s Starting Blocks scheme.  We’ve also been meeting with the other artists on the scheme every Monday, to share our experiences of making work and to find out more about each other’s creative processes.

It was fun to perform and we’re excited about how the show might develop from here.  There are some big creative questions to answer, in terms of how we tell this story.  But we’re confident that it’s a good story to be telling and we have a clearer idea of why we’re telling it and the shape of it.  

(I’m being deliberately non-specific here because I don’t like saying too much about a show before it’s finished!)

A heartfelt thanks to Camden People’s Theatre and our fellow Starting Blockers. 

Starting Blocks Class of 2015: Cape Theatre, Will Drew aka Venice As A Dolphin, Sh!t Theatre’s Rebecca Biscuit, Owl Young and Caretaker Ministry.