Theatre / Musical
Preparing for The Grinning Man at Bristol Old Vic
A vast, grotesque, cheek-splitting grin opens to reveal a stage with people hard at work. The Bristol Old Vic is getting ready for its next production, The Grinning Man.
In the dark auditorium, teeth are being painted, sounds are being programmed and lights are being tested. In studios upstairs, a band is playing, actors are rehearsing, and puppets are being checked.
is needed now More than ever
The new musical is based on Victor Hugo’s The Man Who Laughs. It has puppets from the original War Horse team, fighting, dance and music.
Here are some of the team hard at work before the curtain rises on Thursday, October 13 to a story centred around the Stokes Croft fair.
Ben Wolf
Associate director
“It’s very rare to do a new musical of this scale in Britain from scratch. It’s very exciting to be working at the Bristol Old Vic, it’s an amazing theatre with a fabulous history. The staff are some of the best in the country, it’s an honour to be here.”
Jay Costello-Roberts
Senior technician
“I’ve been doing a bit of everything on Grinning Man, a bit of rigging, focusing and lighting. This place is a bit of a drug, you do get hooked.”
Ian Penrose
Sound and AV technician
“Working on Grinning Man has been incredible. It’s my responsibility to make sure every actor and the five-piece band sound perfect every night. It’s going to be a lot of work, but it’ll be great.”
David Miller
Production manager
“I’m responsible for taking on board all the creative teams wishes and then, within a budget and timescale, achieving as much of that as we can. What’s great about The Grinning Man design is that it pushes into the auditorium. The audience are just going to go ‘wow’, even more so than usual.”
Cliff Thorne
Scenic artist
“There’s a team of three of us working on Grinning Man. We’re here to make the designer’s idea big. The set is sort of Victorian fairground, but quite a macabre freak show.”
Emma Cains
Wardrobe manager
“It’s my responsibility to look after the costumes, and keep everything looking as good on day thirty as it did on day one. The costumes are really beautiful. It’s a really eclectic, timeless scheme, tied together with a dark, macabre feel.”
The Grinning Man runs at Bristol Old Vic from October 13 to November 13. For tickets and more information, visit www.bristololdvic.org.uk/grinningman.html
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