Planning

Contrary to popular belief, the production was not in fact actually planned, but came about as a result of a misunderstanding during a telephone conversation. It appears there were different interpretations of the phrase “the last thing we should do is to take another show to Edinburgh”. After the commitment was made, it took several months to choose a name for the theatre company as no one could think of one. Once named, No One had little time left for planning.

Schedule One of the defining principles of the No One Theatre Company has always been to preserve the freshness and spontaneity of its performances by avoidance of over-rehearsal. In later productions, this approach was taken to its logical conclusion. The stamina required for No One's after-show parties is legendary - the first being planned to be held in London after a 12-hour trip from Edinburgh in a minibus with a park bench and a small tree.
Expenditure A striking illustration of how times have changed since 1978. Note that £32 was spent on printing the tickets for the show, while the accommodation for the entire company for one week cost £110. These days it would cost about £3.20 to print the tickets, while it is hard to find a week's accommodation in Edinburgh during the festival for less that £110,000.
Set design With little time available for peripheral aspects of the production, such as writing and design, much was simply copied from other sources. The set design was based on this 15th century Italian design for a helicopter.
The set design decoded A country road. A tree. A park bench. A piece of green grass-like material. A standard lamp. A gas cooker. A set of vertical banners that look like something from a fascist rally of some kind. A selection of rotor blades (not essential if unavailable).