Category: Sharon ‘n’ Barry Do ‘Romeo & Juliet’

Jack and Jess, from our QYouth programme, are alternating as Sharon ‘n’ Barry’s rather helpful nibling in our up-coming comedy drama Sharon ‘n’ Barry Do ‘Romeo & Juliet’. James Watson, Head of Learning & Participation, took sometime out from assisting them with rehearsals to gain their thoughts on being in a Zoom production, Shakespeare and passing the time in Lockdown. 

Jack Scannell-Wood

My favourite part of being in the show has been meeting new people and working with David again – he’s really funny.

I’ve always been interested in Shakespeare, everyone talks about him. I’ve enjoyed it a lot more performing the words and learning to understand what they mean and how they feel. I can dive straight into his words now.

Doing this on Zoom is very different to being in Macbeth last year. It’s been fun to play around with the virtual backgrounds, but I would rather be on the real stage. I miss what happens off stage, being with other performers, and playing games with the chaperones in the dressing room. I am more nervous on Zoom than being in the theatre as there is no-one to help if something goes wrong – but at least I can’t accidentally fall off the front of the stage!

I’ve been a member of QYouth for about a year. It’s lots of fun.

I also love reading fiction books, especially books set around the war.

I’ve done lots of things to make Lockdown fun, like Zoom baking with friends. We all made an Oreo mug cake – it was really tasty. After Lockdown, I’m looking forward to starting my catalogue modelling which I was just starting to do before Coronavirus came.

Jessica Rothon 

My favourite part of being in the show is getting to do something so different – you don’t normally act over Zoom, and as you can’t go anywhere in Lockdown, it’s nice to still be doing something I enjoy.

In year 5 we learnt about Shakespeare and got to see a production in school. Some of the words nobody understood, but it was good. I thought he was strange to begin with, with lots of made-up words but it has been really interesting to learn what they mean and performing them.

Acting on Zoom is different to what I was used to doing. You can’t do as much but also it’s exciting because you can do different things. It was a really short rehearsal time and we had to learn a lot quickly which was good. It will be great to be back on stage and share it with other people. I get more nervous on Zoom because there is more to go wrong – like technology! Even a small problem can be bigger or harder to put right. And, you must  remember your own props and (virtual) backgrounds.

I’ve been a member of QYouth for over 3 years, since I was about 8, and have been in shows such as The T.I.P. and Icarus.

When I’m not acting, I like swimming and watching Heartland with my Mum. During the first Lockdown we did family quizzes every week and it was really fun. When Lockdown ends, I am looking forward to going swimming and seeing my swim friends again.

It’s the last week of rehearsals for Sharon ‘n’ Barry Do ‘Romeo & Juliet’, our up-coming new everyday comedy which previews this Thursday. We had a chat with Joanne Seymour who plays Sharon. She gives us an insight into rehearsals, her character and why people who reside in Essex will especially enjoy the show.

How are rehearsals going?

Really good. It’s starting to come together and look like a piece.  It’s been very, very hard work but it’s enjoyable and I’m loving being at the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch for the first time.

How does preparing a show for Zoom compare to your experiences of rehearsing a show for the stage?

It feels very different, like a hybrid between TV/film and theatre. Your instinct is to act for the theatre because it’s a play, but you need to be conscious that what you’re acting to is the size of a television screen. It’s exciting.

Have there been any surprises/differences that you weren’t expecting from performing a show on Zoom?

You don’t need to be as big, so you need to try and remember to hold back a little bit which in this piece, is quite difficult because we’re playing characters with large personalities. That’s been quite a challenge! It’s a strange one as you know that the audience are watching the show live, but it feels like a TV show. It’s an odd feeling but a good and refreshing one.

Have there been any specific challenges that have come up during rehearsals?

We’ve created the roles of Sharon and Barry from scratch so that’s been amazing. It’s been challenging but very enjoyable. We developed and created everything that they are saying during the rehearsal process. There wasn’t a script at the beginning of rehearsals, just a concept. Everything has been improvised in the rehearsal room with the guidance of Douglas Rintoul, the Director. It’s been a great experience devising those characters from scratch. It’s felt natural, we’ve been able to get into character quite quickly. The characters now feel like an extension of ourselves.

It’s been very different to work with the Shakespearian language, which you need to be exact with, against the complete improvisation of Sharon and Barry’s lines. You use both disciplines which has been motivating.

What’s been your favourite part of the process so far?

Devising Sharon and Barry. Plus, I love Shakespeare! Although Sharon and Barry aren’t that good at Shakespeare, it’s been wonderful for me as an actor to play Juliet. It really has! I never thought I’d get the chance in my fifties so that’s been an incredible feat for me!

What are your feelings about performing to a Zoom audience?

Yeah… strange. I can’t imagine really. As I said, they’re going to be live and we’re going to be able to see them, but we won’t obviously get the feedback that you’d get in a live theatre, so I don’t know how that’s going to feel. I can’t even imagine. I’ve got a feeling it might be a bit nerve racking, but we’ll go with it.

Can you tell me about your character Sharon?

She’s wonderful! She’s a very confident person, she’s very secure in her own skin. She’s lovely, a proper salt of the earth Essex lady. I’m from Essex myself and I think that she’s a good representation of the County. A very positive representation! She’s a much more confident version of me. The very fact that she’s taking on this absurd idea to perform Romeo and Juliet as a Zoom performance shows that she’s fearless. She’s nervous at the beginning but fundamentally I think she’s a confident woman with her own business. She’s a good character to play.

You mentioned that you’re from Essex. Which part are you from?

Yes, I’m Essex born and bred. I’ve lived in Southend on and off. I’ve lived in Romford and then London for a bit, but I’ve been back in Southend since 1996.

Why should people book to see the show?

I think that particularly for Essex people, they’ll recognise Essex in the piece. I think it’s a bit of fun, it’s something totally different. You don’t need to know anything about Shakespeare to enjoy the show but if you do enjoy Shakespeare, that’s bonus as you’ll get the best of both worlds. I don’t think it’ll be like anything else you’ll have seen.

It’s the second week of rehearsals for Sharon ‘n’ Barry Do ‘Romeo & Juliet’, our up-coming new everyday comedy. We had a chat with David Nellist who plays Barry. He gives us an insight into the rehearsal process and creating a production for Zoom.

ARE YOU ENJOYING BEING BACK AT THE QUEEN’S?

I love it! I don’t notice it so much in the rehearsal room but when we break, put the masks on and go to our Dressing Rooms, rather than the Green Room, I do notice it and it’s a little bit more isolating, so I miss that social side things. I also miss the ‘welcome back’ hugs. However, it’s really nice to be back!

WHAT SURPRISED YOU ABOUT REHEARSING FOR A ZOOM PRODUCTION COMPARED TO A STAGE SHOW?

It’s quite a complicated production already because it’s like a double play. We’re playing Sharon and Barry who are playing the characters in Romeo and Juliet. So sometimes as you’re rehearsing, you’ll feel like that felt like Barry playing Romeo but then ahh…. you’re out of shot, so then you have to change that.

Also, all the things that you normally must hide from the audience like the props and costume changes, now just must happen out of shot rather than in the wings, so that’s different.

It’s anarchic which is good, the way we’re having to solve the problems. You get to a scene where there is three characters in it, and we as actors are quite used to doing that and improvising. Sharon and Barry wouldn’t be, so what will they do when they discover that they’ve got to play two characters in one scene, how would they approach it? That’s the ingenious and funny part about it.

It’s been quite fun to use the different tools of Zoom like different backgrounds. There’s a lot of humour to be had.

HOW HAS IT BEEN REHEARSING WITH YOUR ‘NIECE/NEPHEW’?

We met them on the first day in person and then we’ve only seen them over Zoom since. James Watson has obviously been doing great work with them in between the rehearsal sessions because when they come back, you can see that their performance is so much better than the last time we heard it. And of course, Jack was in Macbeth so it’s nice to be working with him again. They’re both really blossoming. It’s great to see young actors gaining their confidence. One of them performs their part and then you’ll see that the other one realises that they’ve got to raise their game a little more. They sort of buoy each other up.

THIS PIECE HAS BEEN DEVELOPED DURING REHEARSALS AND IMPROVISED. THE CONCEPT WAS THERE BUT THE SCRIPT IS BEING CREATED IN THE REHEARSAL ROOM. HOW ARE YOU FINDING THAT PROCESS?

There’s still a lot of Shakespeare that we’ve had to learn but this is harder because we’re playing multiply characters. I’m playing Romeo, then the Nurse and then Romeo again, and you’re talking to yourself back and forth whilst also remembering which costume you’ve got to have on for the next scene. Then Doug, the Director, will remind me that I forgot to put the music on!

The interaction between Sharon and Barry really developed from day one. Doug told us from the start what he wanted us to mention and then we improvised around it. Gradually Doug has recorded what we’ve said and then told us what to keep and what to cut. We now know the characters quite well. We know when it feels wrong and when they wouldn’t be saying or doing that. The modern parts aren’t going to be 100% scripted, it will be slightly different at every performance.

WHY SHOULD PEOPLE SEE THIS SHOW?

First and foremost, it’s funny! If you know Romeo and Juliet, it’s a different way to how you would traditionally view it. If you don’t know the play, it doesn’t matter, it’s a nice story. It’s a bittersweet comedy and there’s a lot of love in the show. We all need that at the moment!

AND FINALLY, WHAT WAS IT LIKE BEING IN BBC ONE’S SHERLOCK?

It was good…, it’s just good TV. I feel a sense of pride about the show because, as well as being in some later episodes, I was in the pilot when nobody knew if it was going to work at all. People thought that it should be set in Victorian London with foggy streets but when the show went out, it just grew. Martin and Benedict are both so good it in that you couldn’t imagine anyone else playing those roles, which is always the mark of good telly. They’re such nice lads, really lovely lads.