Blog: A Day Of Future And Past

< previous

next >

I had a funny old day yesterday, not least because I had to get up, get dressed, and COMMUTE at the same time as other people. I haven't done that for AGES and I did not like it one bit!

The reason for my hideous TRAVAILS was that I had an INTERVIEW at 10:15am - not for a job, as such, but for an internship at a TV Development Company. We'd had an email about it come round our course, and I thought "Why not?" It would be for two-weeks over the summer, so I'd be free, and it would be interesting to have a look how it all works. The more I researched it, also, the more I thought that it would be a good thing to do. In the UNLIKELY event that i DON'T sell a script for a million quid before September I'm probably going to need to get another job, and it might be rather a lot more fun to get a job doing something similar to what I've done before, but in a more INTERESTING field. Epidemiology has been good to me over the years, but I'm a LOT more keen on Telly!

It felt very strange when I got there as I was TREMENDOUSLY AWARE that the other people applying would probably be about 20 years younger than me, and a lot less OAFISH and SWEATY. Despite all that, the interview itself was ACE - we sat and basically talked about TELLY for half an hour, something which I THOROUGHLY enjoy doing, and I even got to do my "Why The Mentalist Is BRILLIANT" speech.

I think it went OK, but it's over ten years since I last had any kind of job interview, so have no real way of knowing. Whatever happens, it was VERY interesting to have a look around and certainly gave me THORTS about my future work. I should put that on my LinkedIn page shouldn't I?

After all that FUTURE THORT I took a gentle step into the recent PAST later that day, as I travelled out to distant Tottenham to meet Mr S Hewitt for a REHEARSAL, ready for our performance of Total Hero Team next Thursday in York. Since moving to the Olympic Village EVERYWHERE has become easier and usually QUICKER to reach ... EXCEPT for Tottenham, which is now an almighty pain in the behind to get to. It's actually, I think, NEARER to us geographically, but without direct access to the GOBLIN Overground Line it takes FOREVER to get there!

Thus I ended up running slightly late when I got to Tottenham Hale, and saw a sign saying "This is an Abellio Greater Anglia" (stupid name) "ticket barrier - Do not use your Oyster tickets at this barrier... Use Alternative Exit" as I SWOOPED by. "All right", I thought, "I'll follow the signs to the other exit". However, when I got there it turned out the other exit was CLOSED, with signs saying "Use alternative exit". Was i TRAPPED? I went back and interrupted two Abellio Greater Anglia (stupid name) staff having a chat and asked how to get out. "Through the barrier" they said. I pointed at the sign. "No," they said - if you read on, to the FOURTH LINE of the poster, which you would only see if you STOPPED, read past the FIRST LINE, continued reading further, and digested the message, it said (in bold) "Do not use your Oyster tickets at this barrier" then (not in bold) " if you already have a paper ticket for your destination. If you have a paper ticket PLEASE USE ALTERNATIVE EXIT." They seemed astonished that anyone would not stop and read the entire poster before eventually discovering it did not have any relevance to EVERYBODY USING THE TRAIN or that, even for the few to whom it might apply, it was WRONG as there was NO OTHER EXIT. It was all A Bit Annoying!

ANYWAY, for all of the above reasons I rolled up a couple of minutes late to find Steve back in our usual rehearsal room, with our usual "audience" i.e. Diana Ross and a range of Motown Stars in pictures on the wall. She loves us, Diana Ross, she never misses a practice. Neither of us had done a HUGE amount of revision (I'd practiced most of the guitar songs a few days ago, but that was it) so hopes were not HIGH. Still, we've got ANOTHER practice booked before the show, so I said "this is the one that makes us panic, learn it, and do it properly next week".

We launched into the show and - blow me! it was GRATE! There were a couple of places where we stumbled, occasional lapses in concentration and confidence but, as Steve said at the end, it was better than several actual PERFORMANCES! Clearly NOT doing the show for a couple of months is the best preparation for doing it again!

We emerged VICTORIOUS, also EARLY, and headed of home light of heart and RELIEVED that it was probably going to be OK. It'll also probably be the last time EVER we do it, which means that, in a week or two, I can start writing the NEXT show. We have a DRAMATURGY meeting pencilled in for the trip home from York, where we discuss what we'd like to see in the next show and what we WOULDN'T. I'm asking for MORE tap dancing and LESS heavy props - I bet this is EXACTLY how the RSC work out their shows!

posted 4/6/2014 by MJ Hibbett

< previous

next >

Comments:

Oh. My. GOD.
posted 4/6/2014 by MJ Hibbett

CHANDLER BING!
posted 4/6/2014 by Dan H

Your Comment:
Your Name:
SPAMBOT FILTER: an animal that says 'miaow' (3)
	(e.g. for an animal that says 'cluck' type 'hen')