Nearly Easter
Dear Readers,
I come to you on the eve of our show in Chelmsford when I should really be either sleeping or doing some work on my degree. Oh well.
We recently completed the first and longest stretch of the tour, 10 days away visiting 5 venues (Liverpool, Colwyn Bay, Abergavenny, Kendal and Hexham). Each theatre and town had their own special charms- some had very individual charms- which we discovered on the few hours off we had.
If you are a regular reader of these diaries, you probably know the schedule by now, 9am get in- carrying and setting up all the lighting and sound equipment, 1pm class, rehearsals until 6ish, then free until about 7 for the show, get-out after the show. Not so bad until it begins to build up with about 3 days of it (with no sleep, but that's my own fault).
Things change when you're on stage. There's less time to agonise about how things are going. In my case there was less time to worry about how out of my depth I was, doing parts that I'd only just started performing in. There's a lot to be said for just getting on with it though. Do now, worry later.
It was quite fun in the end. The worst parts were probably having to go straight from one piece into another, missing the bow to do a quick change that was like a formula 1 tyre change (tie off, shirt off, t-shirt on, trousers off, trousers on, coat on, GO!). The best bit was all the other stuff: get in's, rehearsing, performing (despite the fear) and travelling about; and pubs.
We have also had the privelige of getting to know our wonderful stage crew of Russ our stage manager and Rob (it gets confusing, believe me) our production electrician. Two wonderful professionals who are always willing to help you out, or give assistance on the quiz machines (I fear addiction taking hold- Wayne Rooney II). I have also been introduced to Bill Hicks, but the less said about that on here, the better. It's a wonderful sight to see how they organise an entire herd of students into a crack team of focussed stage crew.
The tour already has an unofficial mascot in the form of David the stress Pig (think stress ball, then mix it with a cute little porker) who rides in the van (named Henry-who knows why, but it suits him) on all dates. He assists on difficult get-ins: when you want to scream just get David, look into his little porcine eyes and crush him into a tiny sphere. He'll bounce right back.
Abergavenny was an experience in itself, we were up at 4.30 to travel from north Wales, to the venue and found a stage that was reminiscent of an olympic ski jump. 'Concerned' describes my state of mind at the time, but in the end the show was great, with a wonderful crowd and lots of fun. On leaving the venue, we went to the evening's accommodation and found that it was a converted convent and as such the rooms were tiny and a little spooky. We had to bust out. Once we had escaped and wandered around in the rain we finally found somewhere to relax and eat. Unfortunately they didn't have lettuce leaves and a glass of water, so I had to compromise and eat sausages.
Once we got back to the hostel it was imperative that we investigated the reports of a ghost in the convent- how could we possibly have slept otherwise? We steadied ourselves and looked, although we found nothing in the end- they did have a laboratory though and a chocolate machine, as every hostel should. When we awoke and went down to a very pleasant breakfast there were reports of some mysterious events including: ghostly voices, the running of what sonded like lots of feet and in the morning a stick was found outside the door of our company manager Lucy's door. We don't know if she was in a significant room, but what we can be pretty sure of is that the ghost must be some kind of giant talking caterpillar, crossed with a dog. Scary thought isn't it?
On that note I shall depart. Please don't have nightmares about the caterpillar-dog-ghost. I'm sure it's a nice ghost deep down.
Farewell,
Robert
Posted by Robert Phillips at April 11, 2006 11:46 PM
