Guest Blog: Guy Retallack Talks MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET

We're just about to start the third week of rehearsal for our in-house Christmas show Miracle on 34th Street: A Live Musical Radio Play. This marks the sixth European premiere we have staged here at the Bridge House Theatre in Penge.

What really distinguishes this show from the others is that we're only the second company to perform it in the world, so it's particularly exciting to be producing seasonal work that's so new.

When I first walked into the Bridge House, back in 2013 - with my wife Rachel Tucker, who was eight months pregnant - we had an idea of running a small local theatre, but we really didn't know whether or not it would ever become a reality.

The first production we staged was a fledgling production of my own adaptation of A Christmas Carol, and we cast a wonderful group of actors, including Tim Frances and Olivier Award winner George Maguire. We were so thrilled when demand for tickets meant we had to add two extra performances.

What's exciting about this small (25ft by 17.5ft) Victorian function room is that when me and my wife stood at either diagonal of this high-ceilinged room and imagined 40 to 60 people sitting in this space, it felt so ideal for creating theatre. Luckily, Scott Blenkhorn and Sinon Kelly, who run and manage the Bridge House pub together, had a similar vision and desire to make this incredible space work for the people of this part of South-East London.

This bit of history is important to understand what an extraordinary undertaking it is to open a theatre, which aims to put on the highest-quality drama, comedy, cabaret (and the odd film) for an extremely diverse population. I've always been a freelance director, but by chance and serendipity, I've become artistic director of a small but perfectly formed London pub theatre. We've managed to attract a superb range of actors, with a tremendous skill set.

This year's production has been a real joy to create and rehearse. It's been very challenging each year to find a new show for our audiences that truly fulfils all the criteria that myself and Rob Harris, my producer, believe are important to communicate to an audience at this very special time of year.

The premise of Miracle on 34th Street, which is billed as a live radio play, is a genre perhaps better known in America, but it's such a wonderfully accessible way of bringing life to imaginative epic stories. It's the largest cast we've had yet at the Bridge House, and it's also a musical. What's not to like!

I guess it's hard to imagine a radio play with songs and choreography, but the history behind this particular genre of production is rooted firmly in the big Thirties and Forties films that were promoted by these live radio broadcasts, which often combined the stars of the film and an ensemble of local actors who played all the other parts.

Imagine the cast of Iron Man 2, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johannson, standing in front of you in a theatre of 200 people performing their story, without all the aid of special effects, but just their sheer acting ability - and then imagine how exciting it would be to see those stars up close and personal!

The process of bringing to life a live radio play, which I first encountered when I directed It's A Wonderful Life a few years ago, initially put me off, because I thought it was a kind of straightjacket, that I would be hemmed in by a slightly kitsch concept. In fact it feels like a liberation - a really imaginative way to give further life to a much bigger story.

It's a real empty space theatre, and you have these strict rules, which occasionally, just occasionally, you allow yourself to break, and then perhaps, you really find the magic of the heart of the story. With Miracle, the music adds a whole other dimension, where melody, the use of a chorus, works in a way that's both moving and provoking.

Some of what I know about making theatre is instinctive. I loved watching it as a kid: I was always an analyser, an observer, a critic. But what really formed me was working with the extraordinary talent of people like Stephen Daldry. I often think of the Gate Theatre (which Stephen ran), when we're being ambitious at the Bridge!

Making theatre, especially at the level I work at, is often a struggle, but it's something I adore doing. As I get older, I think perhaps the more I genuinely collaborate, and really listen, the better I get.

Year after year, I've seen our local audience grow in size and commitment, and that's what really stimulates my ambition and desire to create not only a magnificent local theatre, but also create productions that can have a life further afield. I hope you can all come to the Bridge House for Miracle on 34th Street. It really is the perfect, magical festive show.

Miracle on 34th Street at the Bridge House Theatre until 23 December

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