A bright start to the week. Well rested and awake before my alarm but still hooked just enough on pushing snooze that I had to rush my coffee into a takeaway cup. Into Bergman for a quick shot out to Harlesden where we were making this radio drama in an old fish packaging factory. It’s a brilliantly odd place with pastel walls and lots of rooms available for different soundscapes. The morning flew by and I was glad of my prep work as you don’t get lots of do-overs. I’m not sure how much I can say about the project, so even though I haven’t signed an NDA I’m going to say only a little and wait for it to air. It’s an interesting and quite eccentric true story of some arty London types intersecting with Moscow just as the iron curtain lifted. The man at the heart of the tale was with us this morning to hear the read-through – it’s a true story. My character sadly died some time ago. The protagonist signed a copy of his book for me and I only bloody went and left it in the studio when I finished. He seems to have led an interesting life, but so have we all, darling.
Radio drama is an interesting and fun medium to work in. We sent it up in Fitzrovia Radio Hour to great effect, as there’s something delightful in the intersection between doing the thing in the script for real and making a Foley that works. The tragic climax of one of our tales at Fitzrovia involved a fan being switched on, a card inserted into the fan, and someone vigorously squelching the inside of a melon with a plunger, dead pan, while the character used a giant lathe to kill themselves. “I should’ve known me place!” That was purposeful anarchy. This was, of course, much more measured.
Still, we walked into a room with a load of strangers and had to play with them immediately. We had to mock up a car driving to Moscow and an airport security gate. The hardest bit was the background noise for the party. First thing on a Monday morning and it had to be raucous. We sounded like a load of yahoos, but they’ll tweak the levels and make it work I expect. It was a pleasant group, surprisingly sausage-heavy for this day and age but I’m not gonna complain when I’m one of the sausages. I’m thrilled to have had the chance to work on something a little unusual with such a friendly lot. I’ll let you know when it airs, unless I forget.
Now I’m home, baking in the glorious late summer flatoven, running a bath before I decant to Brighton for a few days to look after the little cat. More little jobs like this thankyouplease. What a delight.
It might be possible too. I walked out of the studio to find my agent has landed me another nice tape for another part I can see myself playing. I immediately went to the barber for a trim and to take the beard off. Nice to be shorn in this heat, frankly.
AlBarclay 