It’s hard to believe that I woke up this morning in Harrogate. “Let’s mission it back to London,” I stated, instead of trying to get breakfast and take it easy as we’d been considering.
It’s a long long way across the country from Harrogate to London. Not in American terms – in American terms it’s a trip to the store. But in UK terms it’s half the fecking country. We chewed up the miles. I’m rather looking forward to a stop now as I’ve been behind the wheel for too many hours this week. One more drive tomorrow morning and I can let the pressure off. I’m glad to have made some momentum though, moving all this random stuff. There’s more to be done, but isn’t there always more to be done? I’ve started doing. That’s the key.
I allowed myself an evening of joy after the drive by getting a ticket to Alice in Wonderland – a virtual theme park – put on by my good friends at Creation Theatre and Big Telly – performed live and audience responsive on Zoom as we did with The Tempest, but bringing in all sorts of other layers of tech and wonder.
What an unmitigated joy of an evening! In terms of form matching content, the conscious playfulness that can be found in the Zoom-theatre medium blends beautifully with the eloquent madness brewed up by Lewis Carroll. There was some gorgeous play, mixed with virtuoso moments of problem solving, turned in by a universally strong and fun company who seemed to be embracing and loving the madness, and enjoying the complicity they have when an audience can see their constraints and enjoy watching them overcoming them live. I watch it and there’s hope.
Having said that, there’s the sniff of an audition in the air for some live theatre! Would you believe it?! Only a few months after aeroplane flights were considered acceptable. Maybe we won’t all have to do monologues at the front of 747’s. And if that IS the only option, then thank God we have the creativity and fun of shows like Alice to stop us all ending up as culturally dead as Oliver Dowden.
Meanwhile I’m trying to pack for three days in a field and so far all I’ve managed is a pair of trousers, a frilly shirt and a hammock.
AlBarclay 