On Friday we went to lunch with a splendid bunch of people at Higham Hall, an impressive looking house in its own grounds near Bassenthwaite Lake that runs all kinds of residential courses for adults. Our hosts Jim & Eileen have been running their theatre appreciation course for 5 years; classically, they retired and wanted something to do. I think they've been overwhelmed with the interest and the amount of work that a course like this can bring and whilst looking a little exhausted by the Friday, that interest is all to their credit & the credit of Ian Forrest, who has allowed the delegates unprecedented access to the theatre, its productions and how it is all run. Volunteer actors were required to add their prespective to a week that had heard from casting directors, agents, front of house staff & the theatre's executive director as well as Ian himself, all talking about the unique way that TbtL is run. All but two of us stepped up; Maggie Tagney quite rightly had a date with her duvet after six shows in just three days and Mr James Duke was enjoying a visit from his family which understandably a person has to make the most of when up here for all this time.
The rest of us climbed aboard a little mini bus at the theatre and jollied off to take part in a general discussion about what it is we do. After a welcome coffee with homemade biscuits, we went in to the main room for the discussion only to see a large flip-chart on which the participants had rated each of the six shows they'd seen that week. Now, we are a proud lot; proud of how much we apply ourselves to a job and invest in a production to make it the best it possibly can be, so to see a show rated a 1 on a scale of 1 to 5 by most of the delegates is hard to take to say the least. I mean, we still have to do that show for quite a while longer and it's hard as anyone knows to forget unkind words. Our brains it would seem are more aware of negative things than positive and actors can have a hard time erasing these negativities like anyone else. Like I said about reviews..If anyone is reading this from Higham Hall, please, just cover that chart up before the actors wander in! You are obviously entitled to your opinions of course but there are ways of doing these things which are less harmful. Or, allow us to defend ourselves! Aside from that, you know that everyone there is passionate about theatre- many members of amateur companies across the North- and keen supporters of the Theatre by the Lake. Some seemed especially passionate about one George Banks who went home that day with a few more fans than he arrived with as it were! It was really interesting to sit around a hear what everyone had to say about their life as an actor, as something new is always said and also to have a good chat with the participants over a good lunch. Top score went to the creator of the rice pudding, complete with chestnut brown skin on top. Naughty.
Beyond Higham Hall , comments from the good public of Keswick have been entertaining to say the least. A kind lady recommended that one actress should alter her speech so that she said yes instead of yeah. Apparently if she did so, her career would take off! Another generous soul told the same lucky girl that she had loved the show in the studio, only to add that she hated all the main house shows, to which my colleague had to reply, "I'm in two of the main house shows!". The woman didn't seem bothered by that! A nice man in a local bar was impressed that Jess, playing Delie in Roma wasn't actually mentally disabled in real life... Otherwise it's amazing to note how you can be marching up a remote fell somewhere with your thoughts far from the world of theatre, only to be approached by a smiling stranger who wants to tell you what they thought of your performance in Dry Rot! Chris had to firmly explain to one well-wisher that he hadn't played Flash Harry as the stranger thought, only to have the stranger loudly correct themselves by saying,
" Oh no! You were the idiot!" All kindly meant I am sure...!
Sunday has passed brilliantly with a proper walk over many a fell top by a good number of us to Glaramara and down into Seatoller. Rounded off the perfect day with generous quantities of excellent chilli cooked by Jess & Zoe, fruit salad by Maggie Tags. And team 'Winner' won 'Who's in the Bag'. What more can we ask?
On now into workshop week and the possibility of an Indian Summer September... I won't hold my breath!
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