A slightly late posting this week, as the weekend was spent exploring the jolly little burgh of Saltaire, courtesy of new chums living in the area. That involved the Saltaire Fest as well and plenty of good living. A good time was indeed had by all, and we hardly got rained on the whole time. Most odd...
This week things are speeding ever more towards The End as new projects drift in from the outside world to claim peoples' time post-Keswick or P.K. A touch of a nip in the air and a decided turn to the colour of the trees and we are reminded that Autumn comes briskly on in these elevated Northern parts. It's great to watch folk start getting work for the P.K. part of the diary ( otherwise known as the rest of our lives!!), but we still have a job of work to do here and now and shows have still to be done and done well. You know what it's like when you're sat next to a clock-watcher- ever so slightly annoying- so with actors, you have to remember to be present. You tend to get you leg pulled if you use phrases like 'being in the moment' but that is what it's all about. Sometimes you have to take a second to remind yourself to focus on that fact and quieten the thoughts bubbling round your brain about the next stage, or NEXT STAGE as it looms ever larger in the mind. All the usual worries about paying the bills of course as well as what plans you need to make to generate more work. We can't just sit about and wait for our agents to do all the leg work. It is a shameful indictment of the business we're in that most casting directors don't or won't come to see the shows here in Keswick. The old attitude reigns that if you're any good, you'd be working in London. That is such twisted logic I am not even sure I want to tackle it here! On the positive, all the good folk who do come and who have come this year will know the folly of that state of mind but that is how it is and show-business is all the worse for it. A cynical mind-set prevails which is deadly. So many people take other peoples' word for the quality of something ( or someone) instead of making up their own minds.. It is a problem affecting many businesses these days I am sure. People are feeling increasingly time poor in their jobs and so they become less and less willing to make any time for a trip to the Lakes- or even the other side of London. I kid you not! I know if I were a casting director I'd put this place on my list as the quality of shows is getting better and better, there are always new faces to see and you can throw in a few nice days out to boot! A no-brainer. In a good-sized company like this, there in much opportunity for actors to help each other out, tipping people off about good jobs or recommending each other for work that's on the way somewhere. A good reason to be cheerful.
So we are now vowing to make time slow down enough outside of the theatre for us to enjoy all those things still on that lengthy list of To-Do's, whilst fitting in a few more workshops for TbtL, visits to family & friends nearby for birthdays and those jobs that need attention, like servicing cars and sorting out problems with permanent homes wherever they may be. We also have the prospect of the new cast coming in at some point; the lucky lot who will be rehearsing The Railway Children for Christmas. Sorry, I dropped the C-bomb! You can't help it in a world where things have to be planned so far ahead. It's like all those lucky blighters filming Christmas Specials for TV at the moment. It's a funny old game and no mistake. I'll be honest, I've packed away the summer clothes and have the big woolly jumpers, socks & hats on standby. I love this place but I am a Southerner and soft through and through!
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