Gorgeous Avatar by Jules Horne: And In The Beginning...

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

And In The Beginning...

(Posted by Andy Catlin, Marketing Manager, Traverse Theatre)

Today was the first formal day of rehearsal for 'Gorgeous Avatar'. Gulp? Double Gulp!

Unusually for a Traverse production, it took place in Glasgow at the Citizens Theatre. Make no mistake, we are fearless and global. OK, there is a very practical reason for this westward fun and that reason is Ms Una McLean who is now leading a double life. By day, she will be in rehearsal for the role of Rose in 'Gorgeous Avatar'. By night, she is onstage at the Tron playing the role of Olive in the Traverse's production of 'Melody' by Douglas Maxwell (until Sat 15 April 2006). The hardest working woman in Scottish theatre? We suspect so.

In fact, it turns out that this isn't so unusual at all as John Kazek who is playing Rafi in 'Gorgeous Avatar' is also currently on stage every night. Well, I say 'on stage' in the broadest terms as he's working with the ever-remarkable site-specific theatre company Grid Iron who are presenting their latest work 'Roam' at Edinburgh International Airport. The hardest working man in Scottish theatre? Uh huh.

After introductions, the cast presented the first full read though of the script. This was attended by the creative team (Director, Designer, Composer, Choreographer), the production team and various members of the Traverse's Literary and Marketing Departments. Hence, the huge amount of folk in some of the photos below.

The play sounds great - funny, tender, touching. I'm intrigued to see how the most visual elements of it will come to life on the stage; Mark (the designer) and his models of the set look even more intriguing.

Let the adventure begin...