Happy Al, back at home in my hot room, two cats scrambling for attention.
I think the dishwasher has packed up but that’s a thing for tomorrow. The sink is full of plates. I didn’t eat at home tonight though.
Sometimes when we do these events at The UnderGlobe they put the clients in the same room as we are. Usually they stay until just before dinner and then go and sit in the main space in enough time for the two of us to drop our pants, run lines and make plans for gags based on the theme. Just occasionally they set up shop in there with us, which limits what we can do. They did it this evening. Thankfully they weren’t the highly strung versions. They were lovely.
It was hot as hell in costume but by the time we got to performance, Joanna and I were comfortable enough with the clients that we were sitting there with our costumes undone in the breaks trying to get the air onto our underwear. Mic or no mic it is hard work playing a space like that even when it isn’t roasting.
Joanna did sterling work for her first time. She was getting all sorts of “advice” from me. “Because you’re on mic, they can’t necessarily locate you as a speaker so find reasons to make broader gestures than you might normally, to draw the eye,” “Keep moving constantly while you’re talking – you’re always going to have your back to someone.” She dealt with a difficult learn and an unhelpful performance space admirably. Also it was much later than usual owing to things outside our control. She rolled with it. Fair enough… I’ve been working that space on and off for 24 years now. I still haven’t had a sniff of the one above it, and were I to ever audition for it I wouldn’t mention this work. But we keep our integrity.
We were fed too. Aubergine and melon thing. Chicken. Rhubarb fool. I managed not to drop any of it on my ruff. Doing this new material with another actor helped me realise how tight it all is. It works. Likely we will add another one before long but this one is a good one, built out of necessity when a client asked for “As You Like It and Sonnets”. Now we have it in our back pockets. And another lovely night’s work. Medical professionals, I’m told. I’ll be back there on Wednesday.
