Last night there was a gathering at the Playhouse Theatre to honour the memory of a great member of the artistic community. I was one of many who spoke of Carol’s life in the theatre, and of our friendship which began as young actors in the founding years of Queensland Theatre Company. This is what
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It’s often said that the play is not complete until the house is ‘in.’ Saturday night – Preview 1 of 4, and the first audience arrives to test our waters. We are very ready for them – craving them; comedy especially needs the feedback of laughter to assist the tempo and attack of playing. The very ‘liveness’
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There’s another kind of orchestration happening in the backstage area. It has a rhythm of its own, conducted by the Stage Manager, and one never heard out front. I sit waiting in the wings during tech rehearsals and listen to the sounds around me – music and sound effects, the gentle rumble of stage machinery,
Continue reading ...Yesterday we said goodbye to Rehearsal Room 1 at Queensland Theatre Company. It’s been our cosy playroom since just after Christmas when we came together to begin work on QUARTET. It’s into the Playhouse at QPAC tomorrow and the start of tech week. This means getting used to a new space; those green (Act 1) and
Continue reading ...Waking early today into the light in the sky. It’s high summer and my diurnal rhythms seem to be in sync with the bigger picture. Eyes open, into awareness, and the low-level adrenaline that’s come to be part of my life, kicks into play. I’m grateful for a day off for the light domestic duties, a spot of gardening, and
Continue reading ...Rehearsal days are flying by – we’re nearing the end of Week 2 – and the work on the floor this week, blocking scenes and interrogating action through character, is intense and tiring. This is where the richness of a text becomes apparent, but it takes its toll. The tiredness only becomes apparent at day’s end when,
Continue reading ...Week 2 begins with no calls in the rehearsal room for me today. Work on the role doesn’t stop, of course; there’s homework to do – always homework when becoming absorbed in preparing a performance. This afternoon I watched an extraordinarily moving documentary on Casa di Riposa – a home in Milan – endowed by the great
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