Rural Touring Theatre – Life on the road

One of the virtues of rural touring is that no two venues are the same. Michelle Whittick describes touring life with Hijinx Theatre.
After four weeks rehearsing Spinning the Round Table by Lewis Davies last September, it seemed the opening night was upon us in the blink of an eye. After the first performance in our home city of Cardiff, the 11-week tour then began in earnest. Its a surreal way of life  a different venue everyday for 11 weeks, effectively living in a long-wheel-based van. The pressure of living away from home, of spending a lot of time in a small van, and doing the same show up to 45 times in three months, can be very difficult. This is especially true when its in so many diverse venues, with varied audience sizes and different acoustics. Added to this can be your touring team companions, a group of people that you have only just met, with their own varied personalities. This can make or break a tour; fortunately things went very smoothly this autumn!

On arrival at a venue, the stalwart of the community can often be found with a kettle in one hand, a pack of biscuits in the other, and welcoming words of theres a hot meal for you whenever you want! Other venues on the road are dark and cold with the heating only coming on for the audience at half past seven! There can be many nights away from home, a different B&B each day, an early start to ensure breakfast, a bag packed and unpacked many times. Its hard to relax in a space that is only yours for one night, and the hoteliers can be warm and welcoming or, occasionally, crazy!

Audiences vary over the 11 weeks. It can be hard to perform to a small audience, perhaps in a town or in a deprived community in the middle of nowhere, but for those few in the audience the experience of live theatre is one that will stay with them for a long time. Of course, as well as small audiences, venues can be packed to the rafters with people eager to experience the thrill of live theatre. Once the lights dim, the community is captivated and at the end the clapping goes on and on. Often audiences stay to chat and give all sorts of feedback to the touring team.

After the show there are debriefs and lessons to be learnt for next time, success stories, funny stories. Were working with theatres, colleges, village halls and more, to take one show to over 40 venues in 11 weeks. The key is flexibility and adaptability. Rural touring is very challenging, very worthwhile, and not for the faint hearted, but at its best, rural touring makes it possible to take theatre from an urban to a rural area, right to someones doorstep and the heart of a community.

Michelle Whittick is Tour Booking and Publicity Officer for Hijinx Theatre.
t: 029 2063 5624; w: http://www.hijinx.org.uk