All is quiet...

So, the final show: sold out, a smidge ropey in places, but we made it through and the audience was brilliant. Went for drinks in Annie May's afterwards, where we were well taken care of (and I was informed that I was a "lighting bitch" - in the play, that is). Then I came back with a friend to Baltimore, thinking it would be just the one drink...

And so, at 6am this morning I said goodbye to the last of the party guests. Most of the cast & crew reappeared in Baltimore, and my place was nominated as the Place of Continuation. Good craic, and it marked the occasion perfectly.

Today was my own official New Year's Day - which I love to have as a soulful, quiet day. And although the day became unexpectedly sociable (my "nipping out to the shop" ended up taking four hours - I met a lovely Malahide couple I used to babysit for a zillion years ago), it has been a delight.

And it was on this day that An Ideal Husband debuted many years ago - as they'd say in The Big Chill, there's a certain symmetry to that :-)

Normal service to resume soon

Another time lapse. Well, the season continued as it began, leaving me in a state of exhausted elation. Had a friend visit for a couple of days, which was faaaabulous - she had sent me over long black velvet gloves to wear in the play; when I introduced her to locals, her identity was already known: "You're the Black Gloves Lady?" She was made to feel most welcome :-)

Tonight is the final performance, in Skibbereen Town Hall. I just wandered into the village, which was like running the gauntlet of fear-inducing comments:

"The Big Stage tonight. [Shakes head wisely] Skib like their plays. It'll be a tough audience."

How tough? Like, rotten vegetables tough? Someone else says they've heard tonight's show is sold out. Like that only makes matters worse. I tried to take sanctuary in the shop...

"I heard last night's rehearsal was ropey. Not good. [Shakes head wisely] Skib take their plays seriously. Rotten tomatoes seriously..."

Alrightey then. Time to practice lines I think!

In the meantime, here are some snaps of the New Year in Baltimore:





And the Martha Stewart-esque displays that my sister conjures up without any apparent effort...


And finally, the many champagne corks reminded me of The Fisher King...



A belated Happy New Year to all :-)

You're some bitch

Goodness me, it's been days since I blogged - how simply dreadful!! [I'm filled with Oscar Wilde language at the moment]. Life has been pretty hectic.

Off we went on the ferry to Sherkin Island on Friday evening, and did our first performance. We were extremely well taken care of, and no-one seemed to mind that we perhaps weren't quite polished...

And so the play was followed by a session, and on the second night when we came to the line "I heard you were out dancing till four o'clock in the morning!" there were smiles backstage, for it was all too true. Night Two was followed by Casey's Christmas Party, which finished, ahem, later than the previous evening. The cast were in various stages of tenderness last night, but rallied for the performance (and having a fantastic audience really boosted us all). And so we hurled ourselves into session three, which was, ahem, later still. And involved daylight.

The vampy villain role went down well: last night someone came up to me and said: "Jesus, you're some bitch!" Success!!

Oh, and I had a bad car accident before dress rehearsal, and have been in agony throughout! I have a sash-like bruise across my front from the seat belt - the amount of concealer it took to cover that up!

Tomorrow, I shall start thinking about Christmas...

A glittering debut

That's the vampy lipstick of which I speak, not me. Yes, we did costumes + make up + props + lighting this evening. An Ideal Husband is gradually coagulating - not the most enticing of verbs, but theatre can be a sticky business.

Using the props revealed a whole host of problem areas, and there was improvisation a'plenty on my part. However, we're getting there.

The only writing today was a To Do list: the day was spent between drama things, a minor 'break' for sorting Christmas #2 photos for the faaaamily, and a trip to Skib to proof the programme. Today's Christmas Cardey post is still sealed, because I refuse to open those lovely cards in a hurry...

However, the good news is that I'm responding to a cocktail of cold medications. Feel a little trippy dippy dopey, but that's not necessarily a bad thing...

Long day's journey...

Long day :-) I left Dublin shortly after 6am, picked up all our costumes in a roadwork-clogged Limerick, then headed for West Cork.

Nap. Costume fittings. Rehearsal - which is still going strong, but I'm not in Act IV, so I dragged my ready-for-a-sleep self home. Got a head cold over the weekend, so I snuffled a bit through my evil conniving vampy scenes. (The Master of Costumes this morning thought I'd lost my voice as well, but I reckon that's just a result of family conversations & playtime.)

Anyhoo, home now; I have taken a certain mother's advice, and poured myself a glass o'wine.

I also test-drove my new "food machine". Obviously. Aaah, chilli popcorn - such a warming treat on a wintery evening for a tired snuffley lady!

Milestones

The other team members were able to reel off any current affairs tidbit that you could possibly want to know about. But then came the question: "Who is Declan MacManus better known as?"

Ah, how I love that man! Just hearing his name makes me smile...

Well, the dates for the play have been finalised:

> Friday 19 December: Sherkin Community Hall
> Sat 20 & Sun 21 December: Baltimore Community Hall
> Friday 2 January: Skibbereen Town Hall (Note to self: schedule disco nap for that afternoon. And not too much fizzy on New Year's Day...)

Tickets on sale... whenever they're ready from the printers. Baby steps...

And in other news...