Bubble Wrap

hey! do you want to,.
no i don't. i don't care. i'm going to my room.
slam!
you just locked yourself in a cell, fly.
i know.
do you want me to let you out?
no.
fine. then i'll be out the back seeing if there's anything left to salvage of the garden.
hmm,. why are there two toilets?

oh well,..
aaaaaaaah!
now to wash my hands in the,...
oh,..

by Dan

Well, now I'm an amateur actor. I feel poorer already.

It's been a curious process. I'm so used to putting in maybe 10 hours of preparation to do one impro show and this time round I've done 70 or 80 hours of preparation to put on 12 shows. The problem is that being rehearsed, people's expectations are higher. I was quite surprised at how quiet a full audience was and figured it just wasn't going so well, but then afterwards the rest of the cast were delighted about how appreciative they'd been.

I've become spoiled by Impro audiences who hoot with delight at the merest hint of cleverness. In scripted theatre you've really got to work.

Of course the other thing to wrestle with is that the theatre shows are getting reviews. Not just 'I liked it and want to share my delight' style reviews, but 'My job is to write reviews and here are the things that I didn't like' ones. It takes the wind out of your sails when you pour your heart and soul into a project only to have someone mention that maybe you shouldn't have bothered. Still, there's always at least one really nice thing to read in each review. And the positive ones are like a drug.

Am I addicted yet? No.

But maybe I'll become a casual user.