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I was a battered Herring today, but tried to take it easy and went back to bed once the kids were at school. Perhaps this acting lark is beyond my failing body (though to be fair, it was the podcasts that really fucked me - along with having kids and a night time job not really being a viable mix).
Possibly due to last night's enthusiastic singing from German song cycles and racist 1980s school musicals (how did I remember the words to the play I did over 40 years ago, yet am struggling to recall the words to the play I am doing NOW?), my throat was a little sore and my voice a little crackly, so I tried not to speak too much. Again having kids makes that quite tricky, as you have to break up their fights and arguments. Maybe it should be a rule that actors aren't allowed to have kids. Though the effect that would have on the next generation of the industry might be devastating. They would have to find some actors who didn't have actor parents. Where on earth would casting directors begin to look?
I was pretty worried about the fatigue affecting the performance tonight, but I got slapped round the face by Doctor Theatre and didn't feel tired on stage. I think this was the best we'd performed the show, but even with just one day off (and the slight lag on our brains that tiredness provides), I felt we were chasing the lines, which threatened to disappear into the distance, though we usually caught them up. We required one prompt between us, but there were plenty of times when it felt like it took me 5 seconds to remember my line. Luckily my character is drunk most of the time, so it looks like fantastic acting.
This was the first time that the tears barely came at the end for me, but it was still a solid enough show. We got more laughs than we have before, I think, but maybe we didn't quite hit the emotional bits as hard. It's a delicate balance in this magnificent play. In some ways it's a shame that it's only 8 shows (though it was originally only going to be 5) as we're finding new stuff in it every time.
I am not sure I'd like to do an Operation Mincemeat and have to do it 1000+ times, but there's probably a point somewhere between 8 and 1000 that would be better.
Though given it's an unpaid job it's probably for the best that it's not too long a run. It does mean that I don't feel I can or have to do too much in the day, so it's a very intense, terrifying holiday from work.
Having said that -
I risked my voice doing a Newsround, where hopefully the improvised nature benefitted from the way your brain works when deprived of sleep - I can't remember a thing about it.
It's certainly a terrible thing when a man who has devoted his life to tormenting animals, ends up with one of those animals spearing him up the rectum with its horn. I hope the report is suitably respectful to this brave man and his perforated anus.
Producer Terry is working from Cyprus this week, so reports may be slightly delayed.
