So. We're through our first few days in the Patti.

Epic?

Cast, crew and creatives embark on a long journey.

They encounter a series of challenges with the unknown.

Problem-solve with remarkable bravery and good cheer.

Pull together to make extensive displays of impressive achievements.

And they do all this in a new place that they've never been to before.

Or at least that's how it might go in the poetic version.

So, in this here blog reporting back to you all on how it has really been, let's keep that version as our litmus test shall we.

To be fair, it's not been far off. Sure, the kettle has short-circuited on a daily basis, the microwave has given up hope and the toilet roll has unwound completely, (20 toilet rolls in a week? Ceri our production manager is an experienced man but he's been totally dumbfounded by the volume of Andrex necessary to keep this adventure ship shape) but otherwise, we're so far sailing along through not-too-stormy waters.

The cast have been put through their paces constantly. The daily training continues and now with a much bigger space to sprint around in. Bonus. Adapting all the sequences from rehearsal room to set can be a long-winded and arduous process but our guys get their heads down, hoodies up and crack on with it all stoically. As we get to tech, costume and props are added and the lighting starts to shift and totally change the working environment, so potential sources of frustration and difficulty constantly present themselves. But our cast are handling it all brilliantly. They are looking fierce together and developing authentic performances that celebrate their individuality, openness and honesty. And they all go and hang out on the beach outside the Patti for their lunch and tea break. Not a bad job is it guys?

Andy is now starting to shed some sort of light on what we've been up to so far. It's clear that the lighting is going to have such a massive part to play in telling this story. When his final plot is laid next week, the Patti, I guarantee you, will never have looked as tasty. Talking of taste, I'm concerned that our team is developing a dangerous affinity with the balti restaurant next door. The Patti Raj is good. And it's one minute from work. Damn. Between Passandas, we're thankfully making some good progress. Carolyn's ensuring the beats are balanced and big enough to rock the pavilion proper when they need to. For one sequence, she's also been making some recordings of the cast to work some text into the soundtrack. The broom cupboard proved an extremely adequate booth for that. Baltis and broom cupboards; I don't know about epic but by gollly it's glam. Chris from Hybrid paid us a visit this week too and he'll be busy editing tracks as we start to lock down what intros, timings and transitions we're going to need.

The combination of all the elements going into this show and the way in which the work is constantly moving forward each day as we gradually layer it all up is definitely epic in proportions, not least in excitement. Movement, text, music and now design, costume, sound and lighting. And Joni has swopped rehearsal room camcorder for cans and script (we just about have one now!), as she starts to work out with Matt and Rhodri how the whole shebang will be cued, operated and stage managed.

It occurs to me in one shamefully romantic and philosophical moment that there are a really large amount of variables going on here. So many people, so many things to pull together. It's only week three of the project and we're in the thick of it and there's so much happening in this big place they call the Patti. The week is alive with industry and conversations. Constant action, analysis, attempts, failures, more attempts, solutions... everyone is asking questions of each other and pulling together to make it all happen. I wonder if.... Perhaps we could..... Why don't we..... Yes... Ok.... I wonder if..... Great...... Do you think we need to rethink that completely? Did that work? I think it did, didn't it? …. I'm not sure …. Maybe if we.... Let's try that again ...

And the cast are right at the heart of it with work that is deepening and enriching more each day as we start to discover what this piece is as a whole. Rehearsals were task-based and fragmented and we didn't really know what the show was. But we're getting closer to it now as we put it together with all the other elements. What is the journey of everyone through it, as individuals and as a group? A mixture of the specific and the universal, the detail within the bigger picture, the individual voices within a generation, is now really showing its potential for the piece. We can start to think more clearly about the overall arc of the show and what journey these little dogs are going on. How are they following, or discovering, or being led by, the urges and forces that grab hold and pull them or gently guide and coax them into the new places that they've never been to before? And what are the consequences of them going there? And where will they go next? Epic? We'll see....

Thursday morning and we were in one corner of the Patti with Sian Phillips rehearsing a scene with Darren Evans. They're sat on a piece of set Tim has nicked, sorry, borrowed for us from the Skins set and we're trying out new material that is sourced from a book Berwyn brought in the other day. The book is falling apart it's so old and fragile and Sian tells us it was given to Berwyn as a child by his grandparents. The convergence of all these surprisingly disparate elements in this one delicate little moment occurs to me to be a joyful and relevant illustration of how this show is being created and of the seismic contrasts and shifts in scale that we're looking for to make this subject matter sing. That little corner of the Patti, just after we'd been rehearsing a pumped and feral scene to some fairly loud beats, was then all the more private, tranquil and beautifully focused in that little moment. The scene shows exactly the kind of potential we were hoping for. And, come to think of it, there were a fair few more moments like that this week too. Rehearsal room lump in throat? Maybe... but that would be telling.

There's more and more happening all the time. Matt has been creating the programme and needs it proofed. Catrin has set up press interviews for Scott, Steven and some of the cast. Sian and her wardrobe team need to work out the rigging for one costume (clue!) and to work out the logistics of whereabouts all the changes are going to happen (there are no dressing rooms at the Patti and the actors are on the go for the duration of the show so everything has to happen within the space). And, all the while, I'm keeping things tip top with the Sugar stocks (Nature Valley bars have now been superseded by the almighty Crunchie).

Thursday night and we're ready for our first stagger through in the space. Lisa our emerging director does a brilliant job of standing in for a performer who can't be there – not an easy task on a show like this. John and Lucy from NTW join us and we all walk around to see the show as (we hope) the audience will. 'Promenade' seems such an official theatre word to me. It teases my imagination with an overtly pompous style of walking. There, an outurned foot. Here, a plumped up chest. But yeah I guess we are in a promenade-kind-of-zone here. This is a somewhat unknown factor that we're of course planning for but it will be an interesting one to discover through previews how we best manage this element.

Friday and we teched through most of it.

On Monday, we will tech the rest.

And then we'll go back to the start and work through it again to troubleshoot, change, develop and improve it.

After a couple of dress rehearsals, it'll be the first preview on Wednedsay. Gulp.

So. Epic week? Yeah I think it probably was.

And an epic challenge ahead for everyone? Definitely. I'll be reporting back with you on it just as soon as I can.