Week 29: The Down-Hill Final Run.

The last couple of weeks beckon us on and the theatre bustles ever onward with its new projects. So we start seriously examining the weeks beyond and new projects for each of us. Some already with jobs to go to, others auditioning, the rest hunting around for gainful employ to take us back to our lives before Keswick or BK. The lucky few with jobs already in place are quietly getting on with learning their new parts and organising their personal lives in the short time they might have between contracts. Others are depending on partners to sort out house moves and improvements while their new jobs run straight on from this one without a break. That is lucky and quite rare in the grand scheme of things, but jobs can often be like buses. Then you can sit and twiddle your thumbs for six months and wonder what happened! It's times like that that really test the relationship an actor has with their agent. A good agent keeps you feeling positive despite the lack of meetings, doesn't leave you feeling that it is somehow your shortcomings as a human being that means no-one wants to cast you! Examples? " You're at a funny age" Gee thanks. That one is great for denting the ego! My favourite was when I had sat for too long watching bad tv. I kept seeing adverts with actors in who looked like me, so I phone the agent to discuss the question of why I hadn't even been to castings for these adverts. I was told that these actresses didn't actually look like me but were my perception of me.. Eh? Talk about messing with a girl's head! ( It wasn't long after that dear reader that I got rid of that one).  The good agent buoys you up and cracks on with the job of breaking that hungry gap asap, but doesn't cajole you into taking a job ( any job just to get you off their backs) that you won't be happy doing. It's a very lucky actor who finds that agent and keeps that relationship going. Most settle for a slightly prickly relationship where the agent often tries to take on the role of bossy parent, treating the unemployed client like an ungrateful or unwanted child! I wish I was kidding! The trouble is, an agent is pretty essential in this game, unless you are born into show-biz and have an address book full of useful contacts  and so we hang on often too long to a bad relationship, all too aware that a poor agent is better than none. We all forget that they work for us and not the other way round; it's just such a crowded market place, definitely the agents have the upper hand. Gone are the days of actors hanging around the Equity union offices first thing in the morning, waiting for a tip off about an audition. Someone would dash in and announce that they were casting down the road at the Strand and everyone would beetle  down there to do their stuff! Now it gets harder to get that foot in the door, so you've got to want this job very much indeed. Accentuate the positive and save the terrible nightmare stories for those merry evenings with good friends who will help you laugh it all off. Once you've heard a few dozen of the ghastly stories that actors often find themselves in, you understand why we get a bit giddy when things go well. And go well things have very much done here at Theatre by the Lake. And continue to go well. No end of term ennui here amongst this bunch (mostly); everyone still jumps to the warm-up and the show to do with gusto and interest.  Of course the other important matter here is organising the best end of Season parties we possibly can just so we mark this amazing time in the most excellent way, not missing a single significant moment.
You have two more weeks of lovely stuff to come and see; make sure you do!

Four Weeks To Go & How Far We Reach!

This week has been a time to really consider the reach of this mighty little theatre in the region of Cumbria. Now maybe we are getting a bit carried away with the idea of great distances when talking about Carlisle, Cockermouth or the Old Man of Coniston, but it is very impressive to be wandering about in any of these far-flung places and to have someone suddenly pounce on you and say how much they enjoyed the show they saw you in at Theatre by the Lake.  Some of the girls   went shopping in Carlisle and met a large group of students who had seen Roma & the Flanelettes and who became quite hysterical at the sight of Brenda & Delie in the flesh. It also reminds you that you can never judge an audience by what you might see from the odd glimpse at them from the stage or even by listening to their reactions! The night those students came was a very unsettling one, as they sniggered and fidgeted about throughout or appeared to be lounging about in utter boredom with the whole thing. Turns out we blew their minds. Who'd have thought? Maybe they don't know how to behave when they enjoy something in a social situation? Should we create an app for that? Honestly! I have worked with a lovely man called Neil Bartlett who used to run the Lyric Hammersmith and when large numbers of school children arrived to see a show, he would invite them in to the theatre for a chat. Seriously, the man knew what he was doing; many young people have never been to the theatre and don't know the way to behave, don't understand that talking, walking about, texting & listening to music on your iphone isn't what you do once the play has started! He would be very kind but firm about it and I take my hat off to him.
 The lady in Cockermouth almost fell of her chair because she'd seen the show only the night before and suddenly Delie and Jean were in her shop, but somewhat altered, in the wrong clothes. That disconnect is something you forget about; something can can easily confuse people. You need only to bear a passing resemblance to a fellow actor; same hair style & colour for instance, and you can be constantly mistaken for the other one. This can lead to all manner of paranoid thoughts if you're not careful, and you have to try to grab some perspective.  For example, the theatre here often uses members of staff as models for the show posters, which actors have very mixed feelings about for obvious reasons, but it is a practical matter out of our hands. To then hear a man walking past the green room open windows say how much he thought that the young man in the poster was the best actor in the show makes you realise that these mistakes happen all the time. David Hockney is famously often confused with Alan Bennett and I believe now they both simply sign each others' autographs and don't even try to correct the erroneous autograph hunter. There are more important things in life to worry about I guess!
So we enter the last three weeks of this marathon and splendid experience at Theatre by the Lake. Come and see us while you still might have the chance! The trees around the lake are turning and some mornings the waters are like glass.. fires have been lit and the fine wines await. Pull on a fleece and sensible pair of boots and join us before winter closes in!

Autumn Leaves..

Well, once more I'm sat writing this as the rain falls with unrelenting determination. I can't quite believe there's anything that can withstand this marathon of wet, and yet the fells stay stubbornly as high as they were 6 months ago, still clothed in ankle-deep mosses and ferns, not dissolving into tiny hummocks with all this precipitation. Nature. Blooming amazing. Only yesterday, it was brilliantly sunny and we were able to sit cat-like in the sun and dream of Spanish beaches and a healthy tan.
For four whole days folk have set their alarms and got up as many big hills as possible, thinking quite rightly that this might be our last chance to do it. So, Blencathra, Skiddaw and others were conquered. Now we resume searching for creative ways to fill our days indoors. I'm jesting. This bunch are super-creative what with all their writing projects and other such stuff and the theatre too is buzzing with activities; this time with an open day for school children who will find out all about the production team and the roles of everyone involved. Actors taking a back seat for a change.  In the scene dock is a great spread of Blue Peter-like bits and bobs necessary to make a convincing wound or bruise and various members of the stage team will be on hand to describe what they do and get the kids to have a go. This kind of thing will help keep theatre staffed with  people passionate about live performance. Hats off to them all.
The late posting of this here blog is  partly because I've been gadding about enjoying all manner of treats courtesy of this gorgeous crowd, who made me birthday this weekend past go with a proper bang. In all my days I've only ever been able to  celebrate my birthday when doing a theatre job twice. In 24 years.  Says a lot for the frequency of jobs in this game.. Or just that October is a lousy month for theatre work..? Anyway, a bit of a 'do at the local winebar Magnolia, with tremendous gifts and a sinful chocolate cake with balloons and general quaffing of alcoholic beverages, then a fine walk up Castle Crag on the Sunday and a slap up meal with a movie at Zefirelli's in Ambleside. Castle Crag is one of our favourite walks, being kind of small in comparison to the fells around it but having all manner of delights, including one of the best views at the top of Derwentwater & Keswick with Skiddaw in the background.
I tackled Skiddaw on the Monday and thought at one point that maybe the mountain would win. That is a relentless climb with little cover around, making you feel very small and frail in whatever weather is all around. This time it was blazing if distant sun, making every slatey surface shine and every step upward pretty tricky, until it levelled out a little. The other 'treat' about Skiddaw if approached from Keswick is how you 'lose' the top behind other lower peaks which deceive you into thinking you've made it, only to see the trig point marking the highest peak sitting far off towards Scotland. Still, I did it and it feels great to look at the big old lump and know I've been there. THe views from the top are incredible and totally worth the effort!
So the few precious weekends remaining are now earmarked for more good walks followed by a movie night or  big old cook up at someone's house.
Worst. Job. Ever.

Counting Down: 6 Weeks To Go.

So after a few months of running a show or shows, a person can get a bit comfortable. Ok. I admit it. It's reached that point where I was thinking about what to buy at the supermarket when I was tucked up in bed on stage as Susannah in Bedroom Farce. So sue me! Let he who is without sin cast the first stone etc etc..! We are all human and when lying still in semi darkness while everyone in the audience watches someone else doing the acting, the mind will wander. It's a bit of a challenge to stay focussed when listening to something so familiar, that like the shipping forecast, the repeated lines spoken by others send you off into a reverie,  so you end up with a situation a bit like if you've ever tried meditation. The trick there is to  empty your mind and to keep it empty, pushing thoughts away gently but firmly so that the mind can clear and peace settle upon you. It's becoming a popular antidote to our increasingly stressed lives and can be a handy mental  skill.  So onstage, you try to keep focussed on the scene going on around you and push away thoughts of tonight's dinner or tomorrow's shopping.  The most heinous crime for anyone in a bed on stage is of course to fall asleep. Again, our frailty that makes us good interpreters of the human condition is just what can also make us suddenly snap to and realise that the last few moments have been a blur!
No one is going to admit to that here... The level of comfort that people settle into after a longish run can vary from person to person, but  a lot of book reading goes on, puzzles get filled in and ideas and future projects get discussed while folk wait for their cue backstage. Stage management are not immune: where once they made use of any 'free' time backstage to catch up on little jobs for other shows-  for example, many Great Expectations props were tended to during Dry Rot & Bedroom Farce runs, with little heaps of fake money & copies of letters cut out and hanging up on lines to dry- now the sudoku is out and a figure dressed in black can occasionally be seen sitting under a light quietly filling in numbers before having to get up and do a vital thing to push the play along, before settling back to continue the numbers game.
I've been creeping about during Dry Rot- where I have an hour or so before I have to go on stage- with my camera, attempting to catch the little moments before folk go on in the wings. I am trying to catch my favourite glimpses of Fred & Alf or Beth & Mrs. W as they wait behind timber flats that make up the magnificent set of the Bull & Cow. I might also tiptoe front of house to do the odd email. Many actors would choose to have a 'late call', meaning they can stroll into the theatre as their colleagues are already busy on stage. I don't feel comfortable with that idea; I like the feeling of being a part of a company and that means the preparation and beginners, regardless. Perhaps on a long run like in the West End of London I might change my mind after 6 months, but not here! People have too much fun in this company and I ain't going to miss out on that!