A Reflection on Toad of Toad Hall

When The History Boys ended I sat at my laptop and did two things. First, I wrote a love letter to the show that I was later persuaded to share with the cast, and, secondly, I wrote a crew call for what would not become my next directorial experience. Now that Toad has so recently come to an end, I find myself drawing parallels, sitting as I am at 4am eating chocolate cereal and still able to hear the cast’s voices in my head. Every project is different and there is no mistake that despite sharing some lines and a certain amount of comedic value, the two shows that I have directed during my time at Oxford could not have been more polar opposite. I will not compare the two experiences (how would I even manage to do so?!), but I will certainly reminisce some of the highlights.

If I were to play a game of peaks and troughs, there are clear moments which stand out. We achieved two standing ovations during the run (one on opening night and one on closing) and while I am sure that we will all agree that these are amongst the highlights, I’m sure that my producer (the wonderful Zoe Hartland) and I would disagree on the lowest point. For her, I daresay it may
have been lugging a ridiculously large crashmat from Catz to The Clore only to have it confirmed that it was unusable for the scale of the show. Whereas, waking up to a text from a cast member about the fact that they were in A&E was definitely not in my top ten moments of term. The individual in question has assured me that his next director will not have to contend with a black eye and two trips to the JR from him… Let’s hope this is a promise that can be fulfilled. Thankfully, the phenomenal acting ability and spirit for teamwork more than made up for this (as did the rap we were serenaded with at the end of show party). But not to focus too long on one cast member, let us hop through a range of wildwooder performances, all of which were unique and yet part of the
whole. It has been a pleasure to work with such a large cast, watching them tackle such an interesting array of roles. Standout moments for each actor range from the drama of the Usher’s theme to Alex Ever’s adlibbing of ‘love’ in the dress run that brought the already hysterical washerwoman scene to a grinding halt as the crew struggled to catch our breath from laughing. Of
course adlibbing comes in many forms and one cast member could be relied upon every night to come up with something different… and even to rip the buttons off his shirt. I will not do a roll call of actors and moments, for there is not the room to do them justice. Instead, my mind whirlwinds through the newcomers to Oxford Drama, the old hand at Peedie Productions, and to our four leads who were a pleasure to work with from day one. They embraced the world of The Wind in the Willows and the passing comment about the nature of the relationship of Rat and Mole.

I won’t gloss over the challenges that lie in the role of directing, for there was certainly a large difference between the full cast rehearsals and those of the main four (and not only due to the rooms being used). The energy of the latter was always high, with the wonderful Wren bringing life and movement and Matt an endless supply of facts that I am sure I have not retained. With talk fluctuating from the budding romance between Rat and Mole to the neurodivergence of the characters, it felt like we were diving deep into the story which no one could understand why I was choosing to put on. A children’s story seems like an odd choice for a university prone to the dissection of deep matters through theatre, yet even by the interval of the opening night opinions had begun to shift. It is amazing to think how far I have come from that girl lying on the floor of her room texting a friend about maybe putting on the show. New friends have been acquired, old relationships drawing closer and stronger… perhaps it is for this reason that I have just hung a medal on my mantlepiece for being one half of the best showmance, in partnership with my AD and best friend. This will probably come as no surprise to anyone, just as the fact that I choreographed the wildwooder scenes and he designed the romance of the piece should not come as a surprise. From day one we have been working together on this (which mainly means that while I have been standing in heels on a chair directing silent cast members, he has been the one with the smile on his face bringing the party and making sure the insane artist remembers to actually eat).

I have already hit the word limit without any effort at all and could say so much more. There will forever be memories of show tunes sung in The Pilch and Fitz’s Toad who was spectacular in every way. It has been a pleasure to work with so many cast and crew that I admire and whose talent can only grow and I am curious to see what they do next.

 

Photo courtesy of Andrew Maxted