Its been a while...

At the moment I am sat in Al’s living room. Theyre are workmen fixing the doors and al and amy are asleep on the sofa. This has been the longest delay for me when updating my journal. Basically its because I’ve been so busy. Gregynog was amazing! It’s a beautiful country manor just outside of Newtown and is full of interesting rooms and wildlife. As soon as we got there, the actors had about an hour to find the space in which they were to perform their monologues. The Little Monk’s speech – Caucasian Chalk Circle – Bertolt Brecht My speech talks of me studying “the phases of Venus” which I initially assumed meant that I would be looking through a telescope at night. However, the fact that my monologue was probably going to be performed during the day meant that I had to find a more logical place. I finally settled on a corridor outside the library which had one of those wonderful slidey ladders like in bedknobs and broomsticks. After we have found our locations we then fill out a form stating our name, piece and its location. Dave Kendall took these and formed a rota in which the examiners can follow to cover the shortest distance possible. Mine was set for 3.15 that day I think. Beforehand I removed some science books from the shelves and took a little black book and pencil and actually started to write about the phases of Venus. Unfortunately, I only had room for a small audience, and when they entered, I walked in and sat down with them. It went really well and I got really good feedback from it. Joan (who marked the monologues) especially liked the way I listened and looked at the people outside the window as I talked. Katurian the Writer – Pillowman – Martin McDonahough For this piece Maria chose a dank, grotty storage room behind the kitchen of one of the seminar rooms. Yet again we had a limited audience, but the performance itself went really well (it was one of the pieces I was really confident in). Unfortunately, we ran longer than our allotted 8 minutes, and were stopped. This was the first time it had happened to me ever in a drama exam and the frustrating thing was that we only had 2 lines left to go. We got very good feedback though. Max the Yellow star – Bent – Martin Sherman Pretty much straight after performing Pillowman I had to leg it round to the main lawn to do Bent. Unfortunately, beforehand we realised there were really no rocks in the area, so we pinched some bricks from outside from one of the rooms. The piece itself went really well and was called courageous and moving. Bonus. Directing Project - Equus – Peter Shaffer In the evening we had my directing piece with Aidan and Buckeridge. I initially panicked because I could not find the right room to set the piece. Instead we opted for the corner of the lounge, framing it with chairs. Bad timing meant that we had only 5 minutes to set up with Buckeridge’s directing piece taking place in the lounge as well. However, it was during this piece that both me and Aidan had a brain wave. Throughout Buckeridge’s piece we both heard the consistent ticking of the Grandfather clock in the corner of the room. We decided to quickly use it in Equus for when Dysart hypnotises Alan. Therefore when Aidan stopped tapping his pen in the performance, the clock carried on the rhythm for him. Think we got bonus points for that. I was so proud of the performances from both Aidan and Jon. It was probably one of the most moving pieces of theatre I had ever seen. What made me realise how good they were, was the fact that I forgot that I had directed it. I was very lucky with the actors I got. They made the process of directing the piece so much simpler for me. People did seem to like it and wanted to know what happened afterwards. One of the best decisions I made was to mention to the audience before the extract what exactly Alan had done. This was because the act itself was never mentioned in the extract, and I wanted to frame it with a series of preconceptions for the audience. I got very good feedback and they said it was a very mature piece. Aufidius – Coriolanus – William Shakespeare One of my favourite parts of the Gregynog experience was the Shakespeare duologues. Me and Aidan having only had 4 rehearsals were still confident that we could pull it out of the bag… except that Gregynog no longer had a snooker table. Bugger. We tried different things, darts, Cluedo, Guess Who?, Space Invaders. However, the best decision we made the whole weekend was in using a chessboard. We both used it effectively to highlight Aufidius’ answers to Coriolanus. We blacked out the windows using the blankets from the bedrooms and held them up with the skewers from the desserts from dinner. We had two armchairs facing each other with the chess-board in the centre. We even used the gun that I accidentally acquired when filming Silence with Owain. We were the only ones doing Coriolanus and we had excellent feedback. Highlights of the trip included, Pete’s innovative monologue, Sam’s creepy monologue, Kev and Kate’s piece, Frost’s directing piece, Amie’s directing piece, Tom’s monologue, Aidan’s monologue. Played bowls on the green (And Lee Clotworthy is a pro at it), Frisbee with Keir’s star disc, giant jenga in the bar, and football (where after 5 seconds of arriving on the pitch I crippled my toe and Kevin’s leg – who was on my team. On the last night we had a massive sing song with lots of drink. Twas one of the highlights of my university life, but it took a lot out of me. It takes a while for everything to slip out of your head, but some of it doesn’t leave. I thought then that I could therefore look forward to a rest as my next role in Amadeus was not going to be too difficult. How wrong I was, it had been a year since I stepped in at the last moment to play Sir Robert Chiltern in An Ideal Husband and fate it seems wanted the same thing to happen this year. I got a call on my phone from Richard and taxied it up to the parry-williams. When I left, 20 minutes later, I was now playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Bugger. So much for a rest. What then followed were rehearsals everyday till production, where I saw very little of anyone except the cast I was performing with. Everyday, I would walk up/ get a lift with Buckeridge up to the Parry-Williams to rehearse with Dave (First year practical teacher) and Lizzy (Twelfth Night). Colin (Twelfth Night) joined the cast later playing Rosenberg and had to wear a fat suit to make him look more toad-like. Al (Curtain Call) took over my previous role of Venticello 2 and made the part his own. Initially, I did not take well to the character of Mozart as I saw him as vulgar and obscene. However, underneath this (like the soppiness of Sir Robert Chiltern) there were redeeming qualities that are brought out in his big speech in Act 2. The thing about this character that I liked was that I did not consciously have to become him. All his character traits manifested themselves by accident as I became more comfortable with the role. In 2 and a half weeks I learnt all my lines and I had many a headache because of them. About a week before production I went to Richard’s costume store to try out different costumes. I tried on several flamboyant types which were altered for me. I then wore the shoes to every rehearsal, which helped me significantly because it helped me lean how to walk as Mozart does. I read some books on Mozart in order to fully get to grips with playing a character from history. One of the highlights for me however, was listening to the music itself. It was such beautiful music that, I then knew that I had to make this character far more flamboyant, vulgar and passionate. Comedy is a collocation of different things, and there is nothing more different or comedic when trying to associate this man with his music. The fact that I had to mime the playing of the harpsichord on stage emphasises this. When the final production week came, we moved into the arts centre. It was an amazing experience. This was the first time that I had actually performed in a proper theatre. I had a dressing room with my name on the door (which I pinched after). One of the saving graces for me about having long hair was that I didn’t need a wig fitted. These didn’t look too fun, especially if I was to run about all over the place. At the first dress rehearsal, I had a bout 6 costumes which were a bugger to change into in quick speed. However, afterwards, Richard split it down to 2 changes with 3 costumes. Rachel (Twelfth Night) was the costumer and made sure that everyone’s changes were sorted in the wings. At the first performance I was incredibly nervous as this was the first time I had performed in a theatre before and I was one of the leads. I nearly blanked in the second scene with the Emperor because I added a laugh because I thought it would look good rather than feel good. This highlighted a reason for my nervousness, as I sometimes try to hard to rationalise everything. A minor hiccup in tech resulted in the menu screen for powerpoint being displayed. The second night was more unnerving for me as Nicki, Emily, Mum, Dad, and Dave would be there watching. This was however, the best night and I got a really good response from people afterwards. The last night was just as good and even better in certain scenes, as all the cast let go and ran with the text. That to me is the hardest part about acting, letting yourself fall and knowing that the text will catch you. Nicki, Nan and Grandad saw me that night along with some students from the year. So much has happened since I last updated which means I’ve got to condense a lot. Summer was mixed for me really. I went and spent a week at Nicki’s which was great as it was nice to see her in Chobham again. Spent a week in Wales with the family which was also good. Did a fair bit of walking which is something I really enjoy. Got a bit ill which wasn’t very nice. Worked a few shifts at the pub, and it was nice to see everyone again. Trying to get back into my fitness routine and have bee doing a lot of running. Managed to get up to 14 miles. Hoping to do some in Aber, but I’ve forgotten my trainers. Both my sister and my brother did fantastic in their exams and my sister is at the moment at uni in Edinburgh and my brother is at college. Did a mammoth of a walk with Cumella called The West Highland way, Diary transcript as follows: “Thursday 31st August 2006 12 Miles So far 11.14 am Me and Cumella are at the moment on the train to Glasgow. The weather is a bit overcast outside, and we are currently travelling through the Lake District and the views are very pretty. We’ve attempted a crossword, played a few games of cards and read (I’m reading ‘The Name of the Rose’ a medieval whodunnit). Everyone on the train seems to be reading. It is a long journey though (duh). 9.54 pm Am now sat in the ‘wigwam’ after 12 miles of hiking today. Twas a bit difficult to start of with as the rucksacks are quite heavy (I took way too much stuff with me). Eventually we found a good pace and made it to the farm for about 5.30. The wigwam itself is not that of the traditional type. What it actually is, is a huge tetrahedron made from wood. Its huge, big enough for 4 people, and me and Cumella have got it to ourselves. I feel quite guilty as it is pissing it down outside, which makes it pretty wet for the people camping. After settling in, me and Cumella walked to the nearest village (Drymen) to have a pub dinner. The pub we were in was the oldest in Scotland (Fact not just an observation), and it looked it. To top it off we had locals outside playing bagpipes. I’m incredibly tired and am going to sleep very well. Friday 1st September 2006 26 Miles so far 9.48pm Currently lying in a tent with the wonderful sound of water outside. We are in a wild camp site in Rowardennan. Today started off pretty wet but ended up being very hot and sunny. The 7 mile trek to Balmaha was pretty gruelling and involved walking up conic hill. It was my turn to carry the tent today which added an extra 3.8kg to my current bag weight. The views were stunning and the air is fantastic. After a very nice pub lunch we did another 7 miles. I had to stop off at a shop though to buy some blister stuff. Even though it was shut the lady still let us in. Everyone is so friendly here. We bumped into a dutch chap who stayed at the same site as us. He’s about 6 miles behind us at the moment though (He’s not used to the hills). We walked by the side of Loch Lomond and most of the walk takes us along it. Me and Cumella bought ‘dinner’ from Balmaha (2 rolls, cheese, banana for a £1) because there are no facilities here. Tomorrow is going to be the toughest day yet, but at least I don’t have to carry the tent. Sunday 3rd September 2006 47 Miles So Far 8.04 am Currently lying in a bed in the B&B in Crianlarich. Yesterday was probably the most tiring day of my life. As there was no facitilies on our ‘camp site’ me and Cumella retraced our steps half a mile to Rowardennan visitor’s centre. It was great as they had hot water and musical taps. After taking down the tent we walked to Inversnaid (7 miles) and ate at the hotel there. It was a lovely place with tartan carpets. We met a Scottish group of 4 who we had met in Rowardennan hotel yesterday and 2 men who are walking from Lands End to John O’Groats. After filling up our water bottles we walked another 7 miles along Loch Lomond to Inverarnan. It was here that we bought stuff from there camp site’s shop. I stocked up on chocolate and we both filled up our water bottles. We then began the last 7 miles to Crianlarich. This was incredibly tough. You get to a point where it is so painful that your mind detaches itself from your body. We reached the B&B at about 9.45 and collapsed in our room. I made tea and we cleaned out their supply of biscuits. 21 miles! 11 hours! I’ve had one of the worst sleeps ever. My ankles have been in agony all night. Got breakfast to look forward to. 10.00pm 61 Miles So Far This time yesterday we had just arrived at the B&B! Currently lying in a tent by Orkney Bridge on another wild camp site. Done 14 miles today. It got bad for me to start of with but I managed to persevere. We had lunch at an amazing place called ‘The Real Food Café’ in Tynbridge. Went to the bar of the hotel on the other side of the river where we me the two blokes we had met previously. They are currently walking from Lands End to John O’Groats. Bloody hell. Me and Cumella ate with them and just had a starter each (Twas expensive there). Also managed to arrange for the hotel to give us a pack lunch for tomorrow which will be nice! The B&B by the way was fantastic with a great breakfast and hot showers. Only 13 ½ miles tomorrow and I wont be carrying the tent. Walked past a rainbow today (random). Monday 4th September 2006 74 ½ Miles So Far 4.05pm Currently lying down in a tent at Kingshouse. Theres not a lot here (just the hotel on the other side of the river). Today we did about 13 ½ miles and we bombed it. This is because of two reasons: 1) we have gotten used to this walking malarkey and 2) Because everytime we stopped we were attacked by midges. So much that we were practically inhaling them. I found it easier today as I didn’t have to carry the tent which really helped. We’ve made good time though today and only have to do 8 ½ miles tomorrow. Tuesday 5th September 2006 83 Miles So Far 8.53pm Currently lying in a bunk bed in a cabin. Last night Cumella and I went to the climber’s lounge at the Kingshouse hotel for something to eat/do. We had a very nice baguette and chips and played cards for a bit. A good source of amusement is the hotel’s resident dog Keeley who is a big fluffy, bear-like black dog. All it did was to watch people eat their food in hope that they might drop some. The bar itself although quiet, has lots of interesting things on the walls. In a cabinet there is a selection of rocks from some high peaks and a jar full of midges. Justin and Dan (2 blokes doing the big walk) came in and had some food and it was nice to see them again. After leaving the midging hour began. I slept all right in the tent, but was disconcerted/deeply pissed off to here rain this morning. In addition to this, when I poked my head out of the tent I was greeted by a swarm of midges. Although ‘walker friendly’ the hotel does not allow campers to use their toilets in the morning. This meant that me and Cumella had to trudge through wide open midge infested bog to find a good spot. By the way did I mention it was still raining? It hasn’t stopped all day. Taking the tent down was a giggle as well. We ended up having to move it on to the road to avoid the midges. Our only breakfast had been a nutrigrain elevenses bar (very nice by the way) so we were quite hungry. Although we only did 8 ½ miles today, they were not fun. The rain did not let up at all. This was worsened by me having to carry the tent, my waterproof trousers slowly falling down and the lack of shelter the entrie walk. The route itself was quite pleasant except for the horizontal rain. I found the walking quite easy, including Devil’s staircase, which is supposed to be the hardest bit of the entire walk (Although steeper than cardiac hill). Finally on reaching Kinloclevan I saw Justin and Dan at a camp site, and darted for shelter there, as all my clothes were soaked now. We chatted for a bit while it carried on pissing it down outside. Me and Cumella then trudged the 500m to the camp site we were due to stay at. My back was really hurting at this point. However, we managed to get this cabin at quite a reasonable cost. Theres plenty of storage space here, and we have been able to tumbledry most of our stuff. This place also has a heater mounted on the wall, and I have managed balance stuff on chairs and make a mini washing line. We have both eaten at the pub and paid for a cooked breakfast tomorrow. 14.5 miles left. One more push and it will be finished. Wednesday 6th August 2006 97 Miles So Far 9.08pm We did it. Currently sat in the lounge of the hostel as there is someone asleep in the room. Woke up this morning to find that most of my stuff was near enough dry. My boots had made a nearly full recovery which was an encouraging start to the day. The Highland breakfast was great as well, as I managed to have a bowl of grapefruit (Not had one since the London trip baby) and an extra helping of toast. The walk itself had spectacular views that were made even better by the weather which was pretty clear all day. The views of Ben Nevis were incredible. After 15 tough miles we made it to Fort William. The ending was a bit of an anticlimax: A big sign by a roundabout. We managed to get our photos taken with the 4 Scottish people who we hadn’t seen since Inversnaid who finished after us. We then walked to the hostel which was a bit of a trek up the hill. It’s a really nice, fun, welcoming place. My bed is called ‘The Old Man of Stoor’ (Place in the Isle of Skye I have been to). It is on the top of a bunk and has no ladder. After dumping our stuff we went to get something to eat. After ambling through Fort William, we reached a pub called ‘The Ben Nevis’ (By the way, nearly everything is Nevis something here). The meal was amazing and we had a really nice waitress. We then walked back to the hostel. On the way we checked our bank balances (both quite low by now), discovered Morrisons was closed, before making a scenic route back. We nearly got lost at one point, but a kid who was playing gaelic football in the street pointed us in the right direction. Thursday 7th September 2006 11.58pm Well last night was a good laugh. Met some more people in the hostel. Played Uno with an Australian guy called Craig, a German girl called Stephanie, a South African called Ewan, another Australian, Dan and an Englishman named Cumella. After several games of uno we moved on to Taboo, although the language barrier made it a bit of a problem. After that, we played a round of trivial pursuit which again was limited because there wasn’t enough pieces, the board had faded so you couldn’t read the colours and nobody could remember how to play. We quickly finished that game and moved instead on to quite a violent game of snap. Craig kindly let me share his cheap whiskey with him, which was a bit abrasive but I had a few glasses of it. We were all up till about 2 in the morning. Conversation topics included the heroism of the late Steve Irwin (Craig reckons Australia will probably have a national holiday in his honour), Australian phrases and the rules of shit head (hostel card game). The hostel was really a great place and has encouraged me to take an interest in backpacking. Both me and Cumella have said that if we were to do Ben Nevis we would stay there. Its just a nice friendly atmosphere, plus if you do 2 hours of cleaning you get a free night there. I myself spent the morning with a free cup of tea and a 50p homemade scone, and just wandered round the place. The lounge has a log fire which was really warm last night and a bookshelf where you can trade books. After packing our stuff me and Cumella walked to Morrisons where we shopped for lunch before sitting in the café reading the paper. We also bumped into the 3 German ladies we met on the West Highland Way. Well we are now on the train to Glasgow. This should hopefully take us past some of the places we walked.” Had the anuual river trip which was good fun. Check out http://www.freewebs.com/therivertrip Found out that Amadeus is being revived so have had to come back a week early and am now kipping on Al and Amie’s sofa till I’m allowed into halls. Had my first rehearsal yesterday and twas quite difficult because I just wasn’t ready for it all. It’s the first time I’ve done a revived piece and it feels weird. Afterwards, drove out to a place with some of Al’s mates and burnt a sofa which was quite interesting to start my 3rd year. Got another rehearsal today. Might go for a swim beforehand though. Hopefully will keep this updated more throughout.