Wednesday 3 October 2012

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!

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