Off the Ground is celebrating its tenth birthday this year and this is our ninth tour. That seems quite silly as I can still remember our first tour as clearly as last year’s. So what was different ten years ago? In many ways, not very much. We did our first tour because we were idealistic students and we wanted to bring what we believed to be a quality production to the area in which we lived. We did it, not because we were being paid, but because we believed it was a good and a fun thing to do. But nine years ago we also did it because we had never done it before. Well, now we have. We’ve done it eight times since then and we’re still at it. You’ve got to ask why!
Nine years ago the vast majority of the cast spent the three weeks touring
in a tent that leaked in an impressive manner. We used to work out where the
wet patches would be and then assign places according to who was there at
the time. This wasn’t necessarily the best way of working. I remember
my very first tour (not with OTG but with Castle Theatre Company) where I
was assigned a spot right in the middle of the tent. As I snore like I’m
imitating a set of particularly virulent roadworks this was a good spot as
it allowed most of the cast to hit me during the night. However, the place
allocation expert hadn’t bargained on the fact that I would be last to
bed every night (as I can’t bear to go to sleep thinking other people
might be having more fun than me) and so would wake everyone up by treading
on them before I embarked upon several hours of Olympic level snoring. So
this is the kind of thing you learn after ten years of spending your summer
camped out in fields and stately homes.
As I am trying to write these notes every year I look over the previous year’s
ramblings and they all say, more or less, the exact same thing. Every year
the director’s notes say, “I hate coiling cables in wet fields,
I hate camping when the weather is miserable, I hate staying up until three
in the morning writing the programme, but I love it.” They also all say
feel free to buy me a gin whenever you see me, and I can find no fault in
that statement. But that brings me back to the question why. Why do I love
it? The reasons are set out at the beginning of these notes. I do it because
I believe in it. That may sound strange when all we are doing is a show, but
OTG, and by that I am fairly sure that I can speak for all of the cast and
crew, believe that putting on a good show is something worthwhile doing. This
show won’t change anyone’s life or make anyone see the world in
a different way but it will, hopefully, provide a great evening’s entertainment
to those who come to see it. We really hope you have a great time - and that’s
why we do it. Some things never change.
