It is about 6pm here… (11pm Uk time) and I am at my digs contemplating tonight’s performance. Contemplation includes light grazing on a variety of leftovers I have in the fridge washed down with Throat Coat tea. The show starts at 10.30pm and like any fringe theatre experience we have exactly 30 minutes after the previous show comes down to set up and be ready for our public. Due to the number of shows on tonight and the many cast members my call to the theatre is not until 9.30pm, which means I have less than an hour to make up, slip into my two layered body suit and warm up the muscles and vocal chords. There is some falsetto singing to get to grips with this evening and I want to sound tip top! It’s going to be a tight thing time wise so a calm head is needed and perhaps another mouthful of brown rice and tofu.
The last two weeks have absolutely flown by. We have worked every hour we could to develop the first installment of Porno, a clown theatre experience about the sex industry. Tonight we open at The Brick Theatre in Williamsburg as part of the Amuse Bouche Festival and then we transfer the show to Babeland in Soho for a couple of nights with a Slipper Room apperance sandwiched in for good measure. We have assembled a cast of mighty performers – all highly trained and skilled in physical and clown performance – and we are as ready as you can be without ever having had the chance to do a dress rehearsal. Yep… that’s right no dress and tonight’s show will be the first time we’ve managed to get everyone in the room at the same time. However we are finely tuned and have some license to improvise thanks to the directorship of Denni. Add to this the Russian designed costumes that Filipp has masterfully made and tonight will surely be a ball, a carnival of sorts and hopefully a dam good show. By the time we hit Babeland in Soho we will at least have run this spectacle and assessed it’s impact.
On a domestic note I am living in Brooklyn and I feel very at home. I have commuted daily via the G train up to Williamsburg or Fort Greene for rehearsals and occasionally taken the F to Manhatten. The commute is an experience that varies in length and although I could read or listen to music I pass the time by people watching and looking at the skyline for the brief moments the subway comes above ground. I have been asked for instructions twice and I was able to help, so that map is slipping into the sub-conscious. I regularly hum Tom Waits ‘Downtown Train’.
So tonight awaits and I must focus my mind…. lessons learnt thus far…
1. Don’t drink all the free booze you can on the flight… it gets messy at customs
2. Production Meetings and Jet Lag don’t mix well
3. Sometimes Blind Faith is the only thing you can cling on to…
Gareth
This week we were both deeply saddened to hear of the death of Frances Medley. Fran had been a dear friend, an inspiring mentor and a shinning light in our creative lives. We worked with Fran over the last 18 months on developing our business and creative plans and she has inspired and guided us to undertake projects like the one above. She will be sorely missed but we both feel deeply privileged to have known her.
Gareth and Marega