Everyman Daily Report: 9

First of (hopefully) many publicity shots

Today went wrong very early on.  Having realised I have a doctors appointment at the end of the week I had to have a blood test this morning - which meant a visit to the new Community Health Centre - so called because they built it where there is no community whatsoever.  This took out my morning, because getting to the middle of nowhere from another part of nowhere takes a while, plus the queue took an hour to get to me.  (This was an improvement from the last time I was there, and the chairs in the waiting area have been re-positioned in a more sensible fashion - i.e. facing the general direction of the number counter.  And the nurse was lovely.  The machine coffee was reassuringly undrinkable.)
I then didn't quite get my connection to my first flyering site, plus I realised I'd forgotten various parts of my flyering kit for the afternoon and so gave up on the day as a bad job.
On the plus side - and after this massive whinge (sorry) it's a BIG plus side - I then spent the rest of the day working on the play.  I'm now much, much happier with progress.  I was starting to get the impression that progress was on the slide.  I was behind on my schedule, I hadn't got up and moved the show much and, though I was only a little behind, I was getting really worried that I wasn't giving enough focus on the show - too much on the process of putting it on.
I also took some time to sit and think about the aesthetic of the play - of imagery and what to do with the opening.  I've gone through so many different openings for this production, it's getting silly, and I need something to work against the venues I'll be playing.  I need to create atmosphere in spaces where there often will not be one, to create a sense of anticipation from the very start.  This is tricky.  And I'm still working on it.
Another thought that I liked today was to do something more with my collection of good and bad deeds from the previous shows.  I've still got them all, and I think something, some work of art to add to the art of the play, could be created.  Sketches in progress.
Also, I want there to be a comprehensive logic to the symbolism of the play - for the few props to add to the understanding of the play.  I'm struggling in some parts - and I don't want to abandon the use of props halfway through, I prefer an all or nothing look.
But props are a discussion for another day.  Tomorrow I'll hopefully get a few more flyers out and continue working on the close of the play (another discussion for another day) before I act as question master for a quiz.  As you do.  And, at some point, I'll finish editing the video shoot from the other day.  And... and... and...
It's nice to be busy.

Encore Thoughts

I went to see Medea today - an encore performance of the National Theatre production at my local cinema.  I've watched a lot of theatre this way now.  I rather like it, as I've posted before.  But...
I seem to drift.  My thoughts are almost always pulled elsewhere.
Now, this was a very good production, mostly great performances (wasn't convinced by some of the smaller roles) and I did enjoy it.  I don't think, if I'd been in the room, that I'd have drifted.  But I noticed, often, that instead of fully engaging with the work, I was thinking about something else.  I stopped listening to the words and would snap back with a jolt.
I think this isn't because of the show, I think it's the format.  I had the same thing with Macbeth last year and many operas.  I didn't have this with The Audience or Skylight.  But they had a lot more humour and it's harder to drift if you're laughing.
That isn't to say my drifting ruined the event for me.  I drifted to a purpose, as I basically planned out a complete production of Oedipus the King in my head.  I had no intention of doing so before I went, I just started thinking and reacting to the play (which I last saw over ten years ago but have never staged) by thinking about a play that I have staged many times.  In part or in whole three times.  I used to stage a lot of Greek tragedy, or at least, a simplified sort.
I've never fully staged a production with a proper chorus.  It's always been chorus light.  This has largely been for practical reasons - not having enough people - but also because I didn't really know how to do it.  I liked to get to the bare bones of the drama, rewriting the plays so that the chorus was a singular figure.  But watching Medea I started again, in my head.  Not that I wanted to copy the dance work or the idea of chorus used in this production.  I had an image of something quite different in my mind, something from a dance piece elsewhere, that hit me.  And then I was designing the set, looking at a rehearsal structure, thinking back to the texts I've used in the past.
And yet I was still watching Medea, still enjoying (if that's the right word) the event, still engaged - if fitfully.
Then I remembered that this is how I write sometimes.  I'll get a DVD of a Shakespeare or other classic text and half watch / listen to it, while notebook in hand I dance shapes of dialogue about a page.  Sometimes I'll watch, sometimes I'll work, sometimes I'll get myself a cup of coffee.  There is a term for this kind of viewing.  Selective inattention.  And it's just how my cookie rolls.
So, you might be in for a bit of Greek tragedy from me again.  It's been quite a few years since the last one and I think it's time to go back.
But, for the moment, I need to finish writing Historic Crimes for next month.  It's nearly at a first draft stage.  I've been pulling all the threads of my notes together and am very nearly there.

But till then - here's a new episode of a comedy thing I've been working on.  The Museum of Tat.  Enjoy.

listen to ‘The Museum of Tat #2’ on Audioboo