HOW WILL IT LOOK?

The stage will be bare, because it has to represent a lot of locations across the Discworld.

There will be the minimum of furniture needed to establish each scene.

Above the stage will be a central screen onto which will be projected slides showing, for example, Nanny’s postcards home, shots of the witches flying over the country on broomsticks, magically-appearing-pumpkins, etc.

The balcony side windows will occasionally be employed to add a ‘level’.

THE PLAYERS

Some of the cast will form a team of black-clad Players. Their functions will be:

To be various characters along the journey – dwarf miners, Uberwaldian villagers, guest at the ball in Genua, etc. For this, they will add costume items to their basic black;

To be the invisible holders of some stage items needed for the action – mystical signposts, magical mirrors, etc.(painted as ’picture book’ props)

THE SINGERS

There will be some short songs (using G&S tunes). The Singers might be a separate little team, or they may also be actors in the story.

THE TECH

Tech will be particularly key to this show. Not just the key roles of Stage Manager and FoH Manager, but also:
Lights – Lighting will be vital to differentiate between the locations – inside caves, in fetid pondlike rooms, spooky woods.
Sound – As well as the usual mountain of musical cues and background effects (wind, dank caves, birdsong, burning castles), there will also be some dialogue lines that will have been pre-recorded to slot immaculately into the action!

Slides – As mentioned, Nanny’s postcards, Chapter headings and some animated imagery will also add to the audience’s fun.

On Stage Effects – I’ll also need people to help me to achieve onstage effects (such as people walking through mirrors.

Fun stuff, eh?