Damn it’s good to be back in the room.
Wednesday night Factory. What’s next? Right now we are looking at The Winter’s Tale. We will look at Pericles and Cymbeline and then have some sort of vote.
For now though, the best times the best best times. We will just work for the joy of working, for the company of working. We will seek rigour, we will believe, we will love each other and we will take risks.
TC was quite right that if we didn’t start to show our work our interest would tail away. But we can go a long way between concept and show, this is The Factory, we’re a gym. We are working to grow together, we are working without showing our work, we are trying to make things we believe in, free of the noise. In the light of the fact we have many new players, it is time for an exercise in rigour. If we do detailed and challenging weekly sessions for months and months then we will shuck off most of the “when do I get my chance to shine” humans. Hopefully. And then we can show a thing that is true and comes from craft and isn’t burdened by the vast mess of noise and false merit we have all been running up against forever. “Why do we keep seeing that person?” It’s how it works. You can take yourself out from that position if you do enough damage, but it takes work. I was very sad to hear of Tony Slattery’s death. Matthew Perry… Bojack is incredible for really plumbing the depths of it. Nobody can be “the now” for very long as “the now” responds to time.
I’m home and thinking of my best friend who is directing Winter’s Tale at our old drama school and fuck me, those lucky students, to work on that text and to do it with her.
It’s a late one in the canon, and it’s so jazz, so full of difficulty and options, the opposite of the regularity you find in Titus, R&J etc – he’s got his chops, he trusts his actors, he’s pushing the envelope. It’s mature. Plus he’s using the resources he can get hold of. He likely had a mate from the neighbouring pits. “So you wanna be an actor?” “Yep, but I’m ok doing all the presentation at the bear pits, and there’s some of the bait bears that are so tame and sweet they follow me around.” “So how do you fancy a monologue? And maybe a bit of scene work? I’ll make sure you can leave the theatre in plenty of time to get back for your late night MC bear thing. But… Bring the bear you work with. I’ll make sure you mostly can be with it, but maybe teach one of the lads to hold it in the wings. Make it a double bubble night for your pay. I’ll have you come on, do a bit of monologue, and then we can send in the bear. You guys are mates, you can play with it a bit and make it look like it’s eating you. Then just exit stage right. It’ll be golden.”
Exit Pursued by a Bear.
I’m fully integrated into my animal household. I could offer Exit Pursued by a Cat if any of my timeless playwright friends wanted to build a part for me…
Night happy friends. Yes it’s mostly on the corporations. But let’s not take the piss. Mony a mickle maks a muckle. x
AlBarclay 