I know it's been a while. I've been rather preoccupied over the last couple of months and now it's all over I feel the need to write about it, even if writing about it is just for myself and nobody else ever reads it.
I've just finished performing in a local play in my village.
This play, in fact, which was directed by my husband. I played the female lead, in as much as there was a female lead as there were 4 prominent female characters, although I think I had the most lines and stage time (and no, contrary to popular belief, it had nothing to do with nobbing the director.... my husband was harder on me than on anybody else. Hang on, that came out wrong. I mean that I had to work harder than anybody else because he wanted me to prove that I was cast on my own merits rather than just because I begged for the role. I did beg for the role but was instructed to 'bring it' at the auditions. I hope I did... Ironically the best performance I gave was on the last night of the run when I corpsed and had to cover it up by pretending my character was having a fit of weeping for her lost love).
Well, now it's all over I am absolutely exhausted, and filled with a kind of relieved melancholy. I'm glad it's over because of the time I had to devote to it, especially over the last couple of weeks, what with preparing the stage and performing over 4 nights, and also the stress of performing such a large and complex role (a character in drag, who was pretending to be man, but kept coming out of her male character to speak to various members of the cast who knew her as a woman), and I'm sad, because I loved the role and the character so much, and this has probably been the peak of my 'am drams' career. I don't think I will be too willing to take on such a large role again, because it has been incredibly draining and demanding. Not only for itself, but also because I moved house, started my own business and got married in the early stages of rehearsal, so there was an awful lot on my plate on the same time. There's also the fear that if I give a poor performance, I would be letting the play down much more than I would be in a small character role.
This is the review:
http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/REVIEW-Servant-Masters-Locko-Amateur-Dramatic/story-20027367-detail/story.html
It's a lovely and generous review, which mentions my filthily talented cousin by name as the titular character, and commends his excellent performance. Without his energy, and the fact that he totally embraced the play and the character, the rest of us would have just collapsed from collective exhaustion, so the boy needs an award in my opinion.
But, even out of the ashes rises the phoenix, and Mrs stupid here has volunteered to co-direct the next production of our group with my best friend from the amateur dramatics group, Claire..... the show will be.......
Count Dracula, to be performed in May 2014.
HELP!
I will post more information as it comes. We are still in the very early planning stages of the play at the moment. I would love any bloggers who are in the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire/Leicestershire area to help me promote the play if possible, so we can get as big an audience as we can. I am happy to be a guest blogger to write a few words about the play and hopefully try and get a bit of promotion.
