Two shows today, and a good turnout to our matinee despite our worries. The lovely and talented film-maker Julie Angel came in to film the show. Very solid performances and lots of people asking us what’s next for The Conker Group. A good sign. We have some ideas up our sleeve but nothing decided… I’ll put up a few more photos, a last video blog and perhaps an edited version of the show but this blog is reaching it’s close. For now. - Conker Director Tara

I was really nervous tonight because I had a lot of supporters in to watch but we’ve had brilliant feedback both in person and via the feedback forms (which Tara won’t let me read yet!) We worked a bit in the afternoon to fine-tune technical moments and it was a good clean show. - Conker Actor Hatty

3 Hour Tech which we blazed through. Half of a dress then on they went. Very proud of my team, it was a great show, and a great audience too. Lovely to have a nearly full house on our first night and to see so many smiling faces afterwards saying how much they enjoyed it. Bring on the rest. - Conker Director Tara

We had a record number of show runs. 4. Tara made a last-minute cut. Scary but good. Met our lovely DSM Jude - really excited to be welcoming her to our team. Pumped for opening night tomorrow. Now for a good night’s sleep. - Conker Actor Hatty

Last rehearsal in our Peckham space and did two runs. Lip-synching is not easy as today proved but should work. Only two more sleeps and we’ll be sharing our show. I’m excited. We still have lots to iron but we definitely have a show. - Conker Group Actor Alex

Conker Group Master of Sounds Ed came in today to record some bits and pieces. We’re planning some lip-synching. Scary but a little bit genius too. My team spent a long day tidying transitions, practising songs, beating themselves up for forgetting lines, debating how to act ‘casually’, running the piece, nursing lower back stiffness, assigning duties, eliminating props, shaking the shaky egg. - Conker Group Director Tara

Yesterday we had our first run through, bit of shambles but we have a show. One of our friends came in to tell us what made sense and what was a bit off-piste. I was a bit stressed out yesterday by the task of writing a song for the ending, but everyone got involved and we have a great tune and lyrics. Conker Actor Tim

We are slowly getting rid of our bits of text and it feels incredibly satisfying. Ran through the first half of the piece and it flew by, it’s surprisingly quick when everyone knows what they’re doing. Rehearsals were extremely time efficient today, not one cup of tea passed a Conker’s lips and that is a first. - Conker Actor Hatty

Getting right down to the nitty gritty now and I’m knackered. Tonight we really started to link the ending. The timing is everything. We’ve last-minute bits of text thrown in and we’re catching up to get off-book but when we do it’s really alive. Just hoping I remember them for tomorrow’s rehearsal. - Conker Group Actor Alex

We had the lovely Sam Goodchild in taking rehearsal photos for us today. Good news that he laughed a bit! We are almost a week from the show opening… getting close. Hard work on the ending scene which needs lots of energy, and revisiting the opening with a new idea. - Conker Group Actor Hatty

Three hours intensive on one tricky sequence where someone dies (but not really).   I got a huge buzz from working specifically with my team. We’re at that stage where everything has shape but needs to breathe, fight and be re-evaluated.   - Conker Group Director Tara

We had our first run today of the first half of the material. Problems arise, solutions present themselves and everything is coming together… slowly but surely. It’s nice to be constantly editing and shifting even if it is scary.   - Conker Group Actor Tim

research: martyrdom   Although a late arrival, Tim’s role in the form and arc of the piece has been straight-forward, rich and sweet. And Hatty’s material emerged early on and continued to develop to make more and more sense. But we’ve struggled with Alex’s function. We know he believes in heroism as an ideal, but talking about heroes, fictional or real, wasn’t working. I hit the laptop to research martyrs.   I learnt that the martyr’s message is made poignant through the spectacle of death (which is handy for our opening). I learnt that a hero is communally agreed to have sacrificed for good, but a martyr’s cause is the subject of dispute. I learnt that a martyr is in opposition to the dominant group in society.   And I asked my team: “If somebody sacrifices themselves for the greater good, who are the dominant group that don’t care?”   The selfish people. You and me. And Alex. We’ve arrived.

Birthday number 2 today (mine yesterday, Hatty’s today) and we were back in our Old Street home. New material generated yesterday means I have to list lots of things I hate. Not as easy as you think to come up with original ones. Lots of shaving and honing today but it’s starting to have a shape. Bit nervous about sharing it now!   - Conker Group Actor Alex

Just had a lovely few days in whitechapel. Started working through the beginning of the piece, probably the first ten mins. Continuing to edit our ‘script-of-sorts’ (a document with ideas splashed across it) as we put it on its feet. It’s been decided I’ll have my own microphone on stage - I like this fact. - Conker Group Actor Hatty

Read, sung & danced our way through our existing material. It ran at 40 minutes, minus some holes which we still are yet to fill. Realised we’ve been a bit too cryptic about some things and had an intense discussion about how to solve this. We need to keep our audience guessing but firmly on the trail. It’s tricky. We’ve an option but it will need some more crafting.   Tim played us his first attempt at a David Cameron song. It was magical.   - Conker Group Director Tara

Today we worked on the opening - I never realised how hard it is to say your own improvised words once they’re written down! We discussed some more idea-crunches, danced a bit and made a complete crime scene of our set design.   Good to be back after a weekend without the team.   - Conker Group Actor Alex