The rehearsals have, so far, gone really well with the lads showing tons of potential and enthusiasm... a few more months to go at this pace and we'll be flying when it comes to principle photography. From a filmmaker's point of view it's really interesting watching non-actors be put through their paces and develop their performance techniques. The workshopping means the script is constantly changing - James, the writer, is an American - so there is only a certain amount of Geordie authenticity that he can write!
A favourite session for me happened in week two when we were working with script pages and blocking a scene when the lads find themselves in a pub in Sunderland. They spot a picture of the legendary, Floyd Rawlins III and Pob proceeds to quiz the busty barkeep... In the script the dialogue reads "If you'll kindly remove your honker from me hooters..." 10 mins of patter and read through later, the script has been reworked and now the line is, "If you take your beak oot me baps..." Only a small change, I'll grant you - but as a certain retailer claims - "Every little helps."
Might try to record some video of the next rehearsal... and post it here.