DOWN and OUT and STRUGGLING in LONDON – PART EIGHT

 As I read that Baycorp is all but onto me, with bills coming out my ears, no regular income, and professional bridges being burnt every step I take, I wonder – what led me to this point, what sacrifices have I made, all to be ‘living the dream.’

 Well, as usual, a helluva lot has taken place since the last entry. Wowzers! So, in short, my second production has taken place. A Simple Procedure has been and gone and we can all sigh with relief. Not that it was too taxing.

 In my experience there is always one major, huge obstacle that occurs when one produces a play. Sometimes it’s an actor pulls out two days before we open, sometimes we don’t have a venue the day before we open. With A Simple Procedure we had a venue but we weren’t told that we would be running at the same time as a raucous youth show. So, during three performances, we had a glut of hyper 7 to 12 year olds bursting from the main stage, zinging and screaming with youth, and drowning out our little performance in the studio space. It was deafening. I was tempted to run out and scream at them, grabbing the nearest sprat I could find and throttling them as an example to the others, but I couldn’t leave my lighting post. The whole affair threw the actors but only really ruined one performance, which just happened to be a performance that some agents came to. Needless to say we won’t be hearing from them.

 But the other nights went swimmingly. Some of the subject matter was close to the bone. There were some racist remarks from some of the characters and a new mother who flippantly forgets her dead child. But no one walked out. We did hold auditions for one of the parts, mind, and a young actor organised to meet me. He then, an hour before we were to meet, sent me an email detailing why he would not audition. He thought my use of ‘shock tactics’ was cheap and that he was offended by my flippant portrayal of 9/11, knife crime, rape, race, terrorism and dead babies, among others. I’ve kept the email as a trophy of sorts for, although I was bummed and throughout the performances I was desperate for the audience to enjoy themselves, I must remember that art is to provoke and challenge, just as much as it is to entertain. I may not have changed the world but I by using ‘shock tactics’ I have hopefully made a few hundred people rethink our current world.

 The rehearsals for A Simple Procedure were a joy. I had such a good cast though would sometimes get frustrated. And I would get frustrated because I wasn’t communicating properly. The cast were having trouble with ‘the world’ of the play. So, after being a cantankerous old man, I allowed them to discuss it and we all decided the world was very heightened – extreme characterisation, extreme situations - just as all my other plays seem to be. Though, personally, I think they’re a realistic representation of humanity. Oh well. And once we’d decided that the actors were far more at ease and we made huge leaps and bounds with the story. So a lesson I certainly have learnt is talk, talk, talk during rehearsals. Discuss every possibility. I always just want to hurry up and get things done. But taking time sometimes helps.

 Okay, I think that’s about it. I think most of the audience was confused about the end of the play so I might have to fix that up. Oh, I do hope the script gets to see the light of day again.

 Now onto the next show. My knee-jerk reaction is always to jump into rehearsals for the next play, but now I have to take some time and do some more organistion. We have a three-week season of LUV screaming towards us. And it is going to be expensive. Oh how I look forward to the day when money is no longer an issue. I guess my interim production will be a fundraiser. But how does one go about that?

 Take care y’all. Until next time. XXX

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