BEHIND THE SCENES: The Final Pre-Show Diary From RAGE

Well, it's the final stretch and this week the premiere of our original new play Rage will take to the stage to play its first sold-out run.

To say this has been an exhausting rehearsal process is an understatement; from cast members having to pull out, others been axed due to us writing their part out, rewrites, delays etc etc its all been a bit exhausting.

Normally when so many things are going wrong I'm two seconds away from a nervous breakdown (on 'M' I think I had about 7), but with Rage every time something fell down or kicked us in the teeth I just found the solution and moved on. Maybe that means I'm growing up..yikes!

I have found however that for the first two2 months of the rehearsal process I found myself sadly not enjoying the process. My mind felt like it was working overtime so I just had to paint on the smile and have confidence that everything would be OK. However, over the past few weeks all that has changed.

Last week the cast gave a performance that blew me away; it was like nothing I had ever seen before. At that moment I knew it was going to be great. This is a hard show to work on as an actor (and even harder if you are an actor, writer and director of the piece) - the piece keeps you on the emotional edge all the way through. Set in real time and taking place straight after a shooting on campus where over 40 students have been killed means that the characters we meet in the show are damaged, scared, confused and angry; some of the cast including Emma Willcox are in tears for 80 percent of the show, which really takes it out of you. I have to applaud my fellow actors on throwing themselves whole heartedly in to something so heavy, but that's how blessed I am to have this cast.

So where are we up to now after all the drama?

Well, the script is locked and everything is in place, so we are now ready to go. The past Sunday was the first time we got to work with the projections and sounds etc which was exciting (and went surprisingly smoothly), and the cast have been rehearsing in costume for the past two weeks. Last week we had a few tweaks with the news reporter scenes on projector to sort out and bought the final few props. Today we had the get in, Tuesday morning till Tuesday night will be a full rehearsal in the venue and preview performance to a few industry - and then Wednesday (November 4) is opening night.

Rage as I've said before is a show that we have been working on for years and now it's finally opening it feels strange. For me, though, as well as presenting what we hope will be a powerful play, I really hope it speaks to people. It makes people sit up and pay attention to the links between bullying and these massacres at high schools and colleges, and makes people educate their kids or Brothers and Sisters in to the dangers of what bullying can cause.

Unlike our other plays this one is not a comedy or a thriller. It's a hard one to sit through because it constantly makes you look at yourself and others around you. It's not moved along with a catch to get the audience's attention, it's a play which hits you with its words and words alone - no gimmicks, no distractions, just two hours of what I feel is a massively powerful drama with performances which will blow you away.

I just want to take this opportunity to thank the cast and crew of this show, even with the people who had to leave the show and all the drama it caused I would not change it for a second, because if that did not happen I would not be left with the cast I'm left with. Thank you for helping me bring a piece that you know is very personal to me to the stage. Without your hard work we would not have what we all know we have now. Emma Willcox is giving a performance that should be winning her awards; Dale Vicker has slid so easily from comedy to drama and I'm so proud of him; my co-producer and co-writer Adele Stanhope brings to much beauty and heart to a role that is controversial; Brian Hook, your performance is so heartbreaking you should be proud; Mathew Tattum, you have taken this role and run with it and made it great; Graham Atkin, you are giving one hell of a performance, you have blown me away; and Rick Carter, who has been with Vertigo from the start, well, what a performance and a show to go out on, you have shone in every show you have done with Vertigo but this one is the one that audiences will remember you by. Thank you for a great few years and good luck in the future.

So that's it, I will try and get a follow-up done after we have opened and let you know how its gone, but for now I guess we hand it over to the audience. Thanks to Carrie and Broadway World for covering this show and to all you guys for reading it.

See you when the curtain comes down.

Craig x