Well I can gladly say that I haven’t seen Bournemouth at all! I slept there. I woke there. I worked there. I left my hoodie there with my spare car keys. And I rushed back to London to get to an evening rehearsal. I’ll have to go back and get the hoodie before long somehow…
I’m playing Capulet in a much abridged and adapted flowing R&J for an event in Southbank on Saturday. Tomorrow my diary has “Capulet” written in it. Up until just now I’ve been too distracted to think about it so I’ve earmarked tomorrow for the learn. When things are as scattered as they usually are, with multiple heads to wear, I have to partition and work out when to think about what. Tomorrow I’ll cram lines for this. It promises to be joyful. You can’t have a proper long rehearsal process for such things, but I’m glad to be involved and everybody is up for working hard but fast. It’s an extension of the after dinner work I’ve been doing for decades, and it’s a brilliant opportunity to meet and work with people right at the start of their career. My friend has been working with them for weeks now building fights etc. He had a hand in training them at an excellent drama school.
I haven’t had to show up to rehearse until tonight as he knows and trusts I’ll work quickly, but I’m happy to be there now and to meet a load of fresh actors. My address book needs beefing up at the lower age end – I’m frequently having to cast things and haven’t had a gig like this for a while – so says the mercenary part of me. But truly it’s nice to mix it up with fresh actors and remember the passion and craft that brought me to this delightful geeky way of living. It’s why I got excited about maybe being in that damn musical up in Yorkshire. We jobbers – we are as current as the people who recommend us and who we can recommend…
I’m one of two “older” actors in this very young company. My”daughter” is 23 and yep, that’s not just biologically possible but reasonably common for men my age. That first wave of friends having babies? Well done you lot. You’re starting to get your lives back. Hopefully your daughter won’t fall in love with someone from a rival family and get involved in some interfamilial nastiness leading to way too much death.
It’s gonna be delightful this potted Romeo and Juliet. And then it’ll be over. I think I’ll make some friends in the process. Another fleeting joy. Another splash of colour in the quilt…
Meantime I’m finally at home and can sleep in my bed. Rain outside. Cosy in. mmmmm. zzzz
AlBarclay 