hoo boy. what a week… my apologies for the lack of updates, but frankly, i haven’t even checked my email since i last updated here. well, until about 10 min ago, anyway.
i could start at the start, and go through the entire week, event by event, but i’m not sure if i can remember it all.. the bottom line: both performances of the play went extremely well… there were a few stuff ups of lines (due to the nervousness of the relevant actors), but those were covered and recovered well by the others.. the tech crew were amazing, the cast had an intense energy and focus, and the audience reaction was incredibly positive on both nights. actually, on the second night, i went out to the foyer straight after, to find princess et al, and got stopped by about 10 or so people within 2 min, all strangers, all had something to say: “That was amazing” “I thought you were brilliant” “I really related to some of that” “You know, I would have punched that bitch” “Well done, I thought you were great up there” and more of the same…
if you were to ask the director, the first night was brilliant, and the second, even better.
personally, i thought i had lost some focus and intensity in the first act of the second night… coming off after scene 4, i felt like i really hadn’t hit the mark i wanted to hit, then i lost a touch of confidence and stuffed up in the dance in scene 6, scene 7 was a little off colour as well, scene 9 i was getting it back, but i was a tad flustered, scene 12 was pretty good… intermission, and i took myself off outside, and sang “Bottle” at the top of my voice, to no one, my voice drifting out over the park… got the focus back, had the break from scene 13-20 to work up the energy i needed for the argument scenes (20, 21). came off after 21, and Paul (playing my character’s boyfriend) hugged me, “That slap was a fuckin 44 gallon drum of whoop ass. Well done mate. You rocked that scene. It was awesome” whispered in my ears in the wings.
the cast party rocked. held at the Pink Palace, huge thanks to Odyssey for allowing us to use the space, huge thanks to Clay for being the responsible one and being the host for the night. (that wasn’t all he did for the play, either. he was assistant stage manager, and had a part in the play, scenes 5, 6 and 26. he even got the last line of the play.)
at the cast party, a lot of moments of nostalgia, a lot of quoting of lines, a lot of alcohol consumed… a few moments –
Myles and I defining and consolidating a friendship, which we both hope will stand the test of time…
me, on the mic, telling everyone what Paul had told me on the way there: “I have one thing to say..” Louise: “Just one? That’s not like you!” – “I just wanted to tell you all what Paul told me on the way here..” Paul: “No, no, no!” – “Oh, yes, yes, yes Paul! He said ‘You know, I am so glad I didn’t drop out of this thing’.” and everyone cheers, and i continue “and the only thing I have to say about that, is – so am I, mate, so am I.” and i gave the mic over to someone else, and he comes up from the back of the room, and hugs me, whispers in my ear “Thanks mate..”
Glen, before he left, hugged me, and tells me “You have helped me more than you will ever realise.”
Craig, tells me what Rose said to him about me: “She carries the play, she has so much talent, and so much strength and confidence, I’m so glad I met her.” and Craig carried on to say that I was the one that made the biggest script saves on each night – #1 – Rose went blank during a scene, couldn’t remember what the rest of the scene was, and walked off, OP side, I was the only one on that side of the stage, waiting to go on for my next scene, she looked at me, and “I can’t remember what else there is to that scene, I know there’s more. Help!” – “The elf has to follow you” I said, and she looked at me, relieved, and turned, walked back on, as if it was scripted, and completed the scene, word perfect. #2 – Rose went blank again, and this scene being one that I wrote, and knew word for word every line, not just my own, i gave her just enough of a clue for her to pick up and save herself. she thanked me profusely for both of those..
about 5.30am I was behind the bar, cleaning up a red wine spill, and Ann grabbed my hand tightly. “You know, I have to thank you for everything. You were so focused, so professional, you knew everything you had to do and when, so prepared. You made my job a hell of a lot easier. Mate, you don’t know how much I appreciate that. Seriously, to know that I didn’t have to worry about where you were, whether you were ready for your scenes, you knew what props you had and all that, that made my job so much easier.” Ann was on the tech crew, her official title being props manager.
the last of the partiers left at about 8.30am, at which time, i had been up 25 hours – i went inside, Clay had already fallen asleep on one of the couches, and i sat beside him, intending to wake him so we could go home, and i dropped off to sleep as well… i got about 40min of sleep before Clay woke me up, we got home at about 10.30am, and i slept from middday til 5pm… got up, still zombies, and we lounged around, doing nothing much, until i went to bed at midnight…
to backtrack, there’s more about this week, as well… we got broken into on wednesday afternoon… whoever it was broke in through the back door, went through the house, went straight for my room, went though most of my stuff, found the ring that mum and dad gave me for my graduation from uni, and then took off.. oh, and the other thing taken, was the half burnt candle from my candelabra. go figure.
so i got home from rehearsals at 6.45pm on wednesday to find that… my room in disarray, the presence of someone else felt everywhere, spent the rest of the night waiting for police to show up, shaken, stirred, edgy and sitting on the front steps in huddled in Clay’s arms, on the verge of tears, nostalgia washing over me – that ring being the one thing i have had, that proved my parents support for what i do.
i still know it, but the token is gone.
i was also pissed off about the timing – i didn’t need to be completely unstable the night before opening night.
didn’t sleep well that night, understandably so. i think i finally dropped off to sleep at about 3am, and woke up every hour or so.. got up thursday morn, went to the 7-11, talked to myself on the way back, reminding myself that i am not a victim, and i refuse to let myself be one, or be seen as one – and there was no way in hell i was going to let this affect my performance. i had to remind myself that work is work, and i had to leave home at home.
got to the theatre the next morning, and Clay told everyone what happened.. i didn’t really want to talk about it, but everyone wanted to give me support, and find out details, so i ended up feeling washed out and slightly unstable again, but after everyone realised it wasn’t helping, they dropped it..
after opening night, Clay and i went for a couple of drinks with a few of the cast and the director and choreographer. the Royal George at the top of the Valley Mall, got home at 1am, asleep by 2am, phone call from the police at 7.30am – forensics arriving in 30min.
they didn’t find any clear prints.
and i’ve spent today feeling a tad better, still tired, but not exhausted.. we’re supposed to be catching up with a few people this afternoon, possibly a few drinks somewhere.. we’ll see….