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wintersoulwitch · 4 months ago

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Stage/Fright changes and tweaks Act 2

Act 1 notes in this post

Following on from my initial Stage/Fright report after my first viewing and the post on changes/things I noticed the second time around, here are some things I picked up on my last visit on 01/03/25 where I watched both the matinee and the evening show because: A. I was able to get some cheap tickets B. I am insane

La Terreur de l’Asile

I think I forgot to mention before, but there is a really cool bit of projection at the start of this scene where we see a shadowy figure on the sheet at the back of the stage hacking into a body and pulling out intestines and stuff. It's a bit like the theatre of fear/art of fuckery bit in Our Flag Means Death with the sausages, you know what I mean?

People have said that there's a hare in a jar during this scene. I kept my eyes out for it but couldn't see it. BUT there was a head in a jar that made me think of Steve's head in the Psychoville Halloween Special (but not of Reece's Dead Line head - I think cos this head in a jar didn't have eyes) AND more excitingly (for me, at least) there's a little phrenology bust just like Blake has in The Trolley Problem!

Reece has really leaned into the physical comedy as Hugo. Again I think this is because he's more relaxed about the show, is taking it less seriously (just in comparison to the previews, obviously he takes his work and his craft very seriously hi reece) and has been trying things out throughout the run.

So now when he greets Suzette with "Good morning, good morning, good morning" he moves across the stage with an exaggerated stepping motion with his elbows up and his hands thrown out and his fingers spread and curled like little claws.

And during the snippet of The Elements Song... before he would point at the jars in time with the music, and did a bit of jigging at the very end, but now he has a full on dance routine.

Also! His wig has changed a little. Below is the press night photo of the old wig. The one he wears now is much more styled, with the mallen streak all coiffed and curled. No photos of that, obviously (💔), but you can get the idea from this fanart

The lighting has changed a bit again, with more highlights when the cast play up the expressionist/overacting moments, thunder and lightning etc. Another lighting change since previews is the swirly whirly hypnosis projection over Reece when Hugo is being hypnotised by Dr. Goudron.

The leg sawing bit has been tweaked a bit, too. Now there is more fake blood and the whole thing is more grisly. Reece and Steve really show off the lep stump so that the audience can see the gristle and fake blood in the prosthetics. Lots of gasps and groans from the audience during this section!

I feel like the delivery of "No, I'm afraid that won't be possible" when Suzette says she wants to put her clothes back on is a bit softer/gentler than it used to be? During my first watch that felt like a really shocking moment - proper To Have and To Hold-style mask drop. I noticed on both shows I saw on 01/03/25 that it was a more subtle lead up - maybe because the nurse is still on stage at this point, maybe to make it more impactful when Goudron confesses to abusing Suzette's sister? Speaking of which, this whole bit is more played for laughs, whereas the first two performances were more leaning into the horror. So now when Goudron talks about giving Suzette's sister a "special injection" Steve is, like, fingering the air and everyone laughs. When Goudron says "When I saw my wife's ring on your finger..." there's a dramatic organ chord and a spotlight on Suzette as she flings up her arm to display the ring, and when Suzette picks up the hydrochloric acid and threatens to "disfigure my own face" there's another dramatic organ chord and a spotlight on Goudron throwing shapes to match the one on Suzette. So all of this breaks the reality of the scene and leads the audience to laugh more. And Steve delivering the line about "one does not need to admire the mantelpiece when one is poking the fire" while his hands move to undo his trousers gets a big laugh as well. I've read/listened to plenty of interviews where R&S talk about building and breaking tension so I feel like this must have been a conscious choice - maybe they felt the tension needed to be broken/undercut in this section? Or maybe they always intended it to be played for laughs but the audience wasn't getting their vision and so they've adjusted things?

Company Rehearsals

When the set is dismantled and the LED screen rises up, there was a logo for Duncan MacLean Projections in the corner. This is the real projection company that is working on Stage/Fright - and was also the projectionist for the League of Gentlemen Live Again tour. But instead of the usual stag head logo, the screen shows a silhouette of a hare!

Becky Bainbridge as Lisa as Madame Goudron's Headless Ghost plays up her part a bit more, doing some physical comedy staggering around and limp wristedly flapping her arms when Marcus praises her performance. (Also - did I mention the portrait of Madame Goudron is a projection and at one point shows her head coming off and spurting up blood? That definitely didn't happen the first show I saw because Marcus the director praises Lisa for "good timing on the head plop" and I remember thinking: "What head plop?" I think some of the lights/projections weren't quite ready in time for the first previews because that's an element that has changed quite a bit and really elevates the show)

There's more antagonism between Vince (Steve's character) and Jack (Bhav's character, who plays the nameless Warden). When Jack starts talking about his character, Steve is doing some great eye rolling and head shaking in the background. And when he says he's been doing some research he throws his arms up and takes a step forward and Marcus holds his arm out to stop him coming any closer and says "Stay back!" When Jack is talking about his character's back story etc Marcus and Vince exchange looks.

The fake trepanning scene has changed a wee bit. First of all - the acting is even more over the top than before. "The cuckoo in your brain needs to be set free my dear!" is delivered by Steve holding his hands up like a surgeon wearing gloves (know what I mean?) and sounds almost robotic. During the rehearsal, Marcus mouths along with the actors' lines. Maggie puts a helmet on Suzette/Sherrie's head and there's fake blood trickling down her wig (there's a lot more fake blood in the show now than there was during previews!) So now it makes a lot more sense when Marcus thinks Sherrie could actually be dead... Instead of just being slumped in the chair like she's zoned out, she's got blood on her hair and could conceivably have a metal spike in her brain.

The section where Steve breaks character and starts talking about Daniel Day Lewis seeing the ghost of his dead father during a production of Hamlet has had some tweaks too. Now the cast seem to respond to Steve before he even says that line - Anna/Maggie delivers her joke about shocking the audience after seeing the bar prices after a pause and a look of concern in Steve's direction. Almost like Steve is supposed to say a line here and she's covering for him.

The first time I saw the show the cast were glancing at each other a bit during Steve talking about Hamlet and there was a vibe of "uhh, what's going on?" whereas now they've amped up the sad/concerned looks. It really struck me, especially as Miranda/Sherrie's face is projected up on the big screen during this section. And Reece/Toby is looking down at his shoes like he's really awkward and doesn't know what to do. (BTW it's definitely not because I "know the twist" now - this is stuff that has changed since my second viewing, and it really stood out to me because it made this whole section even more emotionally impactful)

The hug is a lot more lingering as well. And when Steve pulls back Reece-as-Toby can't meet his eyes. Ooof and augh.

Sherrie’s Audition Tape/Backstage Camera

Marcus’ death scene has been tweaked/extended. Before, Abby stared up at the box where Bloody Belle was standing while Marcus was stroking her arms, looking like she was maybe in some sort of trance. Now there is audio played of Bloody Belle whispering "Abby..." before she breaks his neck.

It feels like Marcus's death is a bit less quick and clean than before - more choking, with Marcus being forcefully pushed up onto his tiptoes as Abby clasps his neck with both hands. And instead of Abby looking up at the box and whispering "thank you" before the jumpscare scream and lights out, there's a longer sequence where the light on the steadicam flickers in the same way as the ghost light. Abby picks up the steadicam and turns round in a circle, shining the light out into the audience. (I'm guessing that Reece and Toby swap places while the light is blinding the audience - note to self, try and pay attention to the body on the stage next time) The camera turns on and films the people sitting in the stalls, then blinks out and the image is replaced by all the empty seats. Very spooky! I thiiiiink this was already in place during my second viewing? Can't quite remember. But something that has changed is that when the camera swings back round to the stage it now shows THE SCREAMING FACE OF BLOODY BELLE.

The Fake Curtain Call

The cast's sad expressions were something that really got to me when I saw these curtain call photos from 20/02/25. Especially Miranda 💔💔💔 And, yeah, as they did earlier they have leaned into the grief aspect during Steve's speech. Which I do kinda appreciate and I've sort of struggled to put this into words properly but my own first viewing of Stage/Fright was coloured by mourning and I found it a bit distressing how everyone was laughing at the thought of Reece having died before the show opened and yeah yeah yeah I know it's a joke and we're meant to find it funny and Steve playing it straight just adds to the humour and I'm not knocking anyone who does find it funny and it's very much a me problem and repeated viewings have desensitised me somewhat so it's not like it prevents me from enjoying the show or anything, I'm just... I dunno... feel a bit alone in this reaction and maybe I'm actually not?

The Final Song and Dance

There’s a much longer gap after the fake curtain call. The house lights stay up for longer and the audience chuckles and shuffles awkwardly before the voiceover of Steve complaining about his mic belt and talking to the rest of the cast is played. I also think Steve comes back on stage a lot later than he used to? Because the first time I saw it I remember thinking that I could see that his mouth wasn't moving even though audio of his voice was playing. And now it feels like the curtain is almost touching the stage by the time he comes on, like you can barely see his legs and shoes.

Not too much has changed since the things I noted in my second viewing report on the 25/01/25 show. The timing of the "maybe every ghost story is just a love story" line was slightly different between the matinee and evening shows (in terms of playing around with pauses). The only thing that I really noticed was Steve leaning into the comedy of the "I'm not sure I wanna be stuck in limbo watching Jason Manford do me every night." The first shows I saw he stressed the word me: Watching Jason Manford do me every night. Now he stresses the word do: Watching Jason Manford do me every night. And instead of going straight into Reece's "fucking little Toby" line there is a pause for laughter while Steve looks out into the audience with a slightly pained frown.

During the heavenly version of Tears of Laughter, the cast look up at the rafters after Anna sings "It's almost time to bring the curtain down" and take an abrupt step back. (Question: Can heavenly backing dancers still be killed by falling lighting rigs?) (Another Question: Did Paul Chuckle appreciate the "to me, to you" line in Tears of Laughter?)

Don't think I've written much detail about the final song and dance routine before, so here's some stuff...

The first few lines are sung/spoken by Bhav, Anna, Miranda and Gaby while R&S are offstage

The cast have big white ostrich feather fans which they arrange in a cirle and dramatically fling out as if they're going to reveal someone standing behind them and a spotlight appears to show... no one. The cast look behind themselves, confused, and then R&S appear from other side of the stage (one last big misdirection! They can't help themselves!)

The boys have loosened up even more in the song and dance routine. Again, I think this is just the result of getting more relaxed and comfortable as the run has gone on. Other people have talked about the sheer joy you can see radiating off Reece during the dance routine, and, god, I know I'm repeating myself but it's just so so lovely to see him doing foot taps and little flourishes with his hands and the way he dances with his top hat. And how wonderful that they get to end the show on such a high.

Bloody Belle joins them for the final curtain call which I'm sure didn't happen when I first saw the show. Becky is really gettimg into the dancing as well 😆

BTW Choreography was done by Nicola Keen who choreographed the original Tears of Laughter dance for the BCDR episode and her son posted some really cute pics from press night on Instagram

Thanks everyone who commented/reblogged the last one, it means so much to know that there are people who appreciate my archiving efforts and don't see me as a total pest🖤🖤🖤

For more tidbits, browse the Stage/Fright tag on my blog and check out the list of celebrity guests which is updated after every performance!

#stage/fright #spoilers #very very long post all about act 2 of stage/fright

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