Both last year and this, I've stayed at Darroch Court, which is a set of flats that are part of Edinburgh University. Dorms, basically. And I must say, they are not the Ritz. Nor the Holiday Inn. Nor the Red Roof Inn for that matter. They are brilliantly located, to be sure. Right by Arthur's Seat, and a less than ten minute walk to Riddle's Court, the theatre we perform at on the Royal Mile. Still, some of it can be challenging, and for some reason often involves moving from one flat to another at inconvenient times. Last year we moved from the floor of one building, a four story walk up, to the bottom floor of another at 11pm. That was fun. This year, did the same slog, from top floor to bottom. Happily, it was only the afternoon this year. They must like us now.
Keeps me off the street at least.
But the streets here are so beautiful and rumbling with life and wonder I do not wish to be off them.
I want to run up and down them, screaming joy, dancing a few licks, and absorbing the energy here, dark and creative and wild.
We had our Press Launch for Greenside yesterday. This is where a few shows get to perform about 2 minutes of their show for all sorts of rarified press folks. It's a lot of fun, a little stressful, and important.
So of course, one of my cast gets a stomach bug.
Panic. Think. Rearrange. Go.
We had a number ready, but the actor with the bug was prominent in this one. We tried to move things around a bit, to get the best possible option with a diminished cast ready. At one point, we considered doing an acapella bit from a different song. But that wasn't going to work, mainly since we had already done the tech for it at the space with 19 others shows, everything was set as far as cues, and that was that. So we made it work. Of course, there was the exciting moment at the top of the number- the first one of the show- where the cast had decided that they didn't need to say their lines at the top, which might have been fine except no one thought that the director might need to know this, so that if nothing else, I could tell the tech crew that their cue for starting the music was not cut. Nothing like having lights come up, a cast on stage, and confused silence for a moment.
It was probably only a second, but felt like an eternity.
The music began, we kicked it in the ass, and all was good.
Then we were told we had to move from the top floor to the bottom.
Yay. A free work out after a press launch. Sometimes, the luck is just with you.
Went and saw our first show, a one- man show out of Toronto called Twenty-three and Me. A one person musical all about a guy who finds out his father is not his biological daddy. Went with a good chunk of the cast and Lisa, and it was pretty good.
Then off to our first party at Greenside, at their new space, over on George Street. Met a ton of people, talked of theatre and writing and shows for hours. I am a bit of a social butterfly, flitting from converstaion flower to conversation flower. I can't sit still. I just love it. Theatre, life, people- all crammed into a room too small for all of us, talking shop.
At some point it winds down, but not before I run into Sam, a friend I made last year who has had some success as a playwright this year and is just full of life and glory. He got there somewhere after ten.
One of the many great joys this year is realizing how many friends I made last year who I am seeing again this year. It's mad.
Finally, Lisa and I decide it's time to find dinner. Only problem, Edinburgh shuts most of it's restaurants down around 9. Bars stay open later, but not anywhere you might want to eat at. So, after wandering a bit- and there few cities better to wander in - up and down alleys and closes and up steps and down them, we decide to grab cheese and crackers at Tesco, hit the pub near our flats so Lisa can have a dram or two, and then do a picnic in our kitchen- which is rather nice.
Somewhere after the midnight hour, it's time for bed.
Today, we tech the whole show in the theatre we are performing in, which is a different theatre than where we did the press launch.
Now it show begins in earnest.
We will scour google for any links to anything from the press launch. We will run lines and songs. We will meet more people all over, every day.
And we will rise.
I try to write, but this is more of a long charger for my soul battery that will fuel writing later on.
That's all for now. More soon.
Oh, one more thing. There are a lot of seagulls here. Like, multitudes. And they all sing day and night like insane children left to their own devices while their parents nap in the late afternoon. Today's song would be Seagulls Screaming by XTC, but I think, in defiance of their screams and more importantly because it feels right, I shall instead play Ballad for a Rainy Day by them instead.
If you are in Edinburgh and want to see our show, Click HERE.
If you want to kick in some dough to buy me and my compatriots some coffee- which won't available until 6:30 am because why serve coffee early to a bunch on theatre people- click HERE.
Here's XTC.
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