The Adventures of Mr Darby

Moving House

2009-11-27T12:36:00.001Z

http://kdstrider.wordpress.com

Mr Darby and the Child of Destiny

2009-09-22T21:33:00.004+01:00

In two days time I head back to Exeter. Since handing in the dissertation, I’ve being doing anything I can that isn’t drama related. Unfortunately, such a notion isn’t really that possible. When you study a subject in detail, you’re let behind the curtain, so that its very presence permeates into reality. Potential PhD topics drift past me all the time, and you can’t ignore them, because one of them will be what I will devote three years of my life to.

However, distracted I have been, spending most of the time with Chivers and Cumella. It’s quite nice being back with the Worcester gang; something that hasn’t occurred since we were at college. Cumella spent a year in Canada after his degree in Leeds, I’ve been in Exeter and Chivers graduated from Bournmouth. Fainer is currently in Australia, so I wont see him till November and Harty is back in Worcester working (yes one of us has a proper job). However, the main purpose of this entry is to mention an individual who has had a remarkable affect on my life. A man named Chivers.

Many people don’t believe that exists, but trust me he does.

Remarkable things have happened to him, and fortunately I myself have been witness to them. Others I hear from him and others, and I can only imagine what he gets up to. I wont list all his triumphs here, because it would take too long, and I forget a few of them, however recent highlights include getting his hair caught in a lathe drill and scalping himself and nearly having his head caved in my his 10 month old nephew. However, Chivers is currently job hunting, so I thought I’d help. Having spent the day helping him on his portfolio, we embarked upon a road trip to an interview with me navigating.

Now it is worth noting that Chivers hasn’t got a good track record with interviews. For one interview he turned up a week early to the surprise of his potential employers who were not prepared at all. For another he simply misheard a question, believing it to be “What sound does a car make?” rather than “What makes the sound in a car?” He of course answered, “Brum Brum?”. He didn’t get the job.

After 20 minutes I was surprised to see Chivers had finished his interview, so we nipped off to visit the grand-parents. Now an odd coincidence is that my Nan lives just round the corner from Chiver’s, right in the north of Birmingham. So we managed to visit both of them. We then had lunch at the Pie Factory, which was fantastic as usual.

Today, an important event occurred. I met the new Chivers, the prodigal son aka the child of destiny. Well his nephew and god son to be precise. I have never met such an expressive baby, transfixed by Cumella and my scarf, it was an absolute joy to hang out with him, and was truly one of the highlights of the entire summer.

Had a night out with Team Red which was great, and went round to Zozo’s last week and watched the Summer School dvd with Mani and Bobbi. I still don’t know yet whether I will don the red activities shirt again. Maybe if I have a good team again.

Back to my own family now, and as usual my brother isn’t home. However, he’s not round his girlfriends but at university. Yes my little brother has started university. A few days before he moved in properly I got up at 5 in the morning and drove him down to Plymouth. He was asleep in the car leaving me with Mr Moyles for a few hours. Because the campus is in the city the police closed some of the roads temporarily so new students could park. This left us a window of two hours to unpack. Now me and my brother are very different, we get along but we are very different. I try and be optimistic, and he’s a miserable bastard. He’s not that bad really, he just moans a lot. However the moving in went pretty smooth and he sounds like he’s having an ok time.

My sister is back in Edinburgh in her new house with her big room, I ought to ring her. My cousin has started high-school and is settling in fine, and I am here, prepping for the PhD. I spent this morning organising finances and trying to find tutoring jobs, I got sent a load of stuff for teaching which has awakened my nostalgia for my undergraduate studies, so hopefully that will last me 3 years. I still don’t know what I want to do for the PhD, to tell you the truth there have been times over the last few weeks, when I’ve thought about not doing it. It’s not the challenge of 3 years, because that will go by in a blink of an eye, but my subject matter. Performative Walking? What the hell does that mean?

That question will be my starting point.

Unbottling.

2009-09-04T15:13:00.004+01:00

The dissertation is in. The MA is finished. Now I all I need to know is whether I will get the thumbs up or the thumbs down.

I'm currently living back up North now. At the moment, my brother is about to leave for his holiday, and it's all a bit frantic. Yesterday, Holly and I took him to Merry Hill, a shopping centre near Birmingham that we visited as children. As children we nicknamed it 'Merry Hell' due to the fact that each tier is akin to that of those in Dante's Inferno. Holly and I didn't need anything in particular, but we exercised our duties as older siblings to help our little brother. Before the journey itself began, both Holly and I had visited the dentist. Mine was just an annual checkup, but Holly had a filling which left one side of her face completely numb, so that when she spoke it looked like she was trying to be some sort of ventriloquist. Sat in the car I tried to extract myself from my hoody, and my sister sensing my difficulty decided to help pull the hoody off me; what resulted was that my arm bent in a way it was not supposed to, causing my entire shoulder to lock and trap a sizeable amount of nerves.

My brother has gone now. Complete silence. Ten days in Turkey. He'll be fine. If they get to the airport on time.

These last few weeks have been pretty surreal for me. Frantically writing, reading, re-writing and now nothing. The year has flown by quicker than I thought. I don't know what to do with myself. I'm currently sorting things for next year with the PhD. I still need to arrange an appointment with my supervisor. I'm teaching as well next year, which both excites and terrifies me. I'm not too fussed about being placed in front of a group of people and discussing things, its just that for a drama student, there are a lot of gaps in my knowledge. Some subjects I am a bit rusty on, but others I don't know anything about at all. Oh well, I'll cross those bridges when I get to them.

I still need to find a job for next year, I have this wonderfully romantic notion that I will be able to tutor and such, but if that falls through I'll need something, in order to eat. And I need to eat, these past few weeks have caused me to lose weight, which is something I can't afford to do.

My house though is sorted. I'm living with 4 PhD students of various fields and backgrounds who seem like a pleasant bunch. I am yet to sign a contract, but that is due to the fact that we've only just found a 5th housemate.

Next week, it'll be a year since grandad left. I'm not usually accustommed to talking about these things on a blog, and also our family bottles everything up, but I was asked once what my favorite memories of him were, and as soon as I said them, I instantaneously felt better, like a great weight was lifted. Some things can be bottled up, but not emotions. For a person who has spent nearly 10 years on and off the stage, I'm still pretty awful when it comes to this.

Grandad.

I remember, that he was the only person I've met who could do the 'double-take' in real life. When greeting me, he'd always emphatically shake my hand, smiling 'Hiya KJ!'. He could turn a room full of strangers into his best friends with a smile and a wink. Even till his lasting days, he had an energy that was felt by all he met. He had a cheeky face that could get him away with murder, a mouth that released a musical laughter that became infectious to all who heard it. He'd play the piano with my sister, like some figure in England's music hall tradition of the past. He had a collection of cuddly toys that would sing songs. He'd sign all our birthday cards with W/R (Wolverhampton Road, the school in which he was educated and was very proud of this fact). When he visited me in Wales with Nan, they'd always stop off and visit the red kite centre. He loved it because he was seeing birds that were never seen in the city, the air was better for him and made him younger. One of the last things we did together was go for a walk in the fields behind my house. I can't remember what we spoke about, but I remember having to point out rabbit burrows and such for him to walk around. Mum had to pick us up because he couldn't walk back. I've only just remembered this walk, I don't know why I hadn't before. The last place he visited was Aberystwyth, a place that was important to both of us.

There is another reason why Grandad has weighed on my conscience. A few weeks before the submission date of the dissertation, Exeter University's Drama Department lost one of it's staff. My teacher who I did not know well, having only known her not even a year, but I looked forward to working with her for the next 3 years at Exeter. It is because of her that I saw Bertolt Brecht in a new light, as well as painting and performance. The most important piece of information she imparted on me was that no reading is pointless, every book you read will have a use at some point.

Danke Birgit.

Holly and I are going to see Nan next week, to see how her garden is doing.

Le Corbusier's Gaze

2009-08-21T18:35:00.004+01:00

To my left I have a photograph of Le Corbusier staring at me. Its quite ironic having him here, as the figures I write about have strived to combat the very architecture he designed.

I am sat at a long desk that spans the width of the room, under a low beam. It is over 30 degrees celcius outside and not a cloud in the sky. Yes I'm not in England. I am in a small village not far from Bezier in the south of France where for the last 7 days I've been holidaying, for want of a better word. To be honest, it has felt like a holiday. I've spent time with my family, eaten good food, drunk wine and actually read something that was nothing to do with drama.

Highlights include a trip to the medieval town of Carcassone, where apparently Robin Hood Prince of Thieves was filmed. However, that wasn't the reason we visited it. Its a truly wonderful little gem, full of narrow winding medieval paths and roads brimming with shops and restaurants. No sweeping Haussmann boulevards here, no Corbusian secularised buildings. You could get lost here and not feel worried. It was worth the trip to France alone, and made me want to see Kevin Costner attempt an english accent again.

However, a slave to academia I remain, getting up early to work on the dissertation, sporadically editing throughout the day before making necessary corrections the following morning. Its going ok. The third draft reads better than the second (sorry Ila), as I've had time to reflect, to take my head from within the clouds and acess the situation from afar. Both my parents have read my second draft and my sister, the first chapter. My brother was only interested in the pages with pictures alas, but an outside eye is an outside eye. It was quite surreal handing it over to my parents, as I've never let them read my essays since high school. My mum was interested in it and raised some interesting points. My father didn't wholly understand it, but gave me some useful tips on presentation and such (as he reads a lot of reports in his job). I am now basicaly in the polishing stages, making the essay read well, connecting all the points and remaining consistent with my grammar aswell as binding the bloody thing. I haven't been able to fit all I wanted into it, as it is only a dissertation, but hopefully it'll be enough.

Back from the Dead

2009-08-12T14:47:00.003+01:00

I am sat in the only free space of my bedroom, surrounded by boxes comprising of all I have accumulated over a year. I've moved out. For a month. It was sad leaving as I really enjoyed living in that house with my housemates. Oh well. I'll only be moving round the corner.

Now I am sat with what looks to be the second draft of my dissertation, complete with pictures and references! Its still way off completetion yet, as some of my sentences are a bit too wordy and a couple of references need to be completed, but it is a dissertation nonetheless. I've been very lucky in comparison to that of some of my friends as this is all I've had to do since I finished with the Shakespeare. Some of my friends are true machines, working part time and writing a dissertation, which is something that I will need to get used to for the next 3 years. The only setback I had occurred a few nights ago, when my computer was hit with 3 viruses which knocked it into a coma. Fortunately I had backed everything up, but it was slightly annoying having to trek to the library or the department to work on it. However, last night, I restored it to its factory settings, and its back in the dissertation game.

What else have I done? Ah I went to France for 4 days which was nice. Although I spent alot of it on the diss (I always seem to panic when I leave Exeter). I popped into my old job for a day and got to work with my sister which was pretty cool. It was great seeing everyone again, and what made it special was that some of the kids from last year were there.

Today, I was supposed to be working on my introduction, but Mum, Loz and me got sidetracked by some documents that belonged to my Grandad. There dated in the 1650s and are connected to the English Civil War. Basically, it seems that we might be connected to Guy Fawkes in some way, which is pretty cool and might explain why I like V for Vendetta so much. Anyways, I scanned them into the computer and brought out the details to make them legible. The title is that of 'A Perfect Djurnal of Passages in Parliament' (written in ye olde english) which was the title of one of the earliest newspapers in Britain. This specimen however, is even rarer and looks to be notations made by a journalist for the newspaper. We still havn't deciphered all of it yet, but we are going to contact the British History Museum - who have a large collection of similar artifacts - for help.

Mum and I are fascinated by the history, my brother wants to know how much it's worth. Bless his capitalistic cotton socks.

Update: The signature of the document seems to be that of Thomas Winter who was...
"Sir Thomas Winter, 2nd Baronet of Huddington Court, was born in 1620, the only son of Robert Winter and Ann Faulks, who was of Flemish descent. His father Robert, was the youngest son of Robert Wintour the gunpowder plotter."

A Breather

2009-07-03T20:22:00.003+01:00

Handed in the first chapter and a bit of my dissertation today. Exciting stuff. I already had 3000 words down, however after having a talk with my supervisor I realised that I'd gone of track straying and forgetting that I'm doing a dissertation on performance!

I've had a hell of a two weeks. My whistle-stop tour to Aberystwyth was a successful affair, however commuted from Tywyn to Aber each day got pretty tiring. I met some interesting people from all over the world skilled in performance, geography and anthropology and was fortunate enough to have encountered this research. It has given my dissertation a great boost. An unforeseen factor was going back to Aberystwyth. I don't know what it is about that place that pulls me unlike any other. I think its due to its comparative remoteness, up there in the middle of the Welsh coast. Walking through its streets and its hillsides reiterates memories of old. Its such a small place that they overlap. A walk to the best view in aber was one that I had done many a time, and before driving back to Tywyn one night I decided to do it.

Crossing the road at the point where Jon and I once drunkenly fell into a hedge, to the base of the bridge where one night it was really foggy and looked like a level in silent hill, past my old house, over the grass where we built our pirate snowman, round the corner into the woods where Pete, Emily and I stopped once and sat on a bench, to the forest where Craig and I walked into some Live action role players in battle, where Pete climbed a tree, where I took my family in my first year, through the trees and scrambling upwards into the daylight to behold the whole town from above; left: the university, national library, panning right through the town; train station, castle, pier, short-tempered sea, constitution hill; behind me where we had a bbq once and on the way back James' bag caught alight. Its still there.

I bumped into one of my old lecturers when I was there which was nice, and got to see Kevo (Twelfth Night, Cafe Cappella, Macbeth), the last of us who stuck around. He showed me his footage from the third year performances we did 2 years ago, which I had never seen. Which was great. It made me feel glad for not leaving Exeter this year. This year has gone too fast for my liking, I've been lucky enough to meet some truly wonderful people from all over the globe, and look forward to meeting more over the next three years.

I spent one night at home after the conference and then drove down here to Exeter for dress rehearsals for the Shakespeare project. I was pretty nervous. But it was good. It made me realise that acting is not really my thing anymore. I had a great time with the cast, and I thouroughly enjoyed working on that production, but its not for me anymore. We had a good turn out audience-wise considering it was the end of term, and hopefully I was psychotically-peverted enough for them. The final run, I really went for it, and relished every moment; something I hadn't done since Amadeus. Its such a bizzarre machine, acting. Its not about being believable, becoming someone else or thinking your someone else; its about telling stories. You are not given a part in a play, but a story to tell. It may not be a long story, or even a detailed one, but it is a story nonetheless.

After wrapping up the Shakespeare (or so I thought) I focussed all my attention on the dissertation. Unable to let go of the Bard fully, I took part in some Shakespeare workshops with Liz looking at all-male casts in Shakespeare's plays. It was nice, and over three days I got to play Rosalind, Macbeth, Duke Orsino and many others. I think I'm Shakespeared out at the moment.

Now, I am cracking on with Chapter 2 of my diss waiting for the cinema later.

At Base Camp

2009-06-17T17:08:00.003+01:00

Currently sat in the dining room at home. There are flowers everywhere which hasn't helped my hayfever. I can hear my brother on the television aged 1 shouting wildly. In the corner, my sister's new hamster, which consequently explains the amount of 'duplo': my brother has been building mazes for her.

Barely made it to my train yesterday. Didn't realise how heavy my bags were and had 20 minutes to leg it from my house to the station. Literally got to the platform as the train pulled in. Read some journal articles on the train, but was pretty knackered.

I was expecting my brother to pick me up from the station, but instead was greeted by mum who told me that he had buggered off to Plymouth. Hopefully I'll see him again one day. Its nice being back here. It's been a while. Holly also came back yesterday from Norway, the first thing she said was that I looked brown. (She's currently my favourite sibling).

The pollen count is so high here though and I felt zombified this morning when I woke up. Spent the day, sorting fathers day things out and doing some last minute packing for the conference. Holly and I got bored so found a home movie of us when we were kids (For some reason I said 'cheeseburgers' a lot when I was a child).

At 7am tomorrow, I will be at the Porters Lodge in Aberystwyth awaiting a mini bus that will take me to Ynslas. Its going to be strange going back, as an outsider. Its also going to be a long day as I wont be finished til about 10 having been up since about 5. I've got a pretty whistle-stop tour ahead of me though as I drive off to Wales this evening.

Should be a laugh.

Drunk with Fatigue

2009-06-04T20:32:00.002+01:00

Did a rough run-through today. Went ok.

I'm being laconic at the moment.

Perhaps I should move to twitter.

Finished my outline essay I think. I've found it very difficult writing about my dissertation, without being able to duplicate anything. It's like there's an elephant in the room.

I'm so tired and I don't know why. Its probably because I force myself to get up at 7 every morning. Conversely, I have lots of energy, which is making it difficult to sleep at the moment. Am going to go to the library later this evening to print off my essay so hopefully that'll get rid of some energy.

Stopped my all-veggy diet. The prospect of another veggy-fueled bbq did not appeal. I made a triumphant return to the life of a carnivore by eating 4 burgers finely cooked by Ila's boyfriend.

Got a blank postcard sent to me this morning, which I have to fill. See here. Have started a separate blog which is for my research. At the moment there is so much to take in and look at that I need somwhere to store all of my musings and ideas, and hopefully therefore find others in the similar line of research. You can find it here.

I'm a little bored at the moment. I know I shouldn't be, because:

I have to be off book by Monday
I have to do a poster for the Shakespeare Project
I have to do a poster for Stored Sunlight
I'm doing a poster for Chivers
I have to finalise my house for next year
I have to organise my travel home
I have a dissertation to do

So as usual in Darbyland, there's a lot to do. I'm just a bit zombified at the moment. Sleeping awake.

Oh and I need a hair cut. I'm starting to look like Frodo Baggins again.

Getting out of the theatre

2009-05-30T10:23:00.004+01:00

Clowning is going good, have found my grotesque-psychopathic-clown that will the basis of Richard. Lines are slowly coming together.

The dissertation is going ok so far. I've been pretty organised, planning as much as I possibly can, referencing whilst writing to avoid the monotony of doing so in August.

I also have a bookchair, which means that I have another hand free to type, which is always nice.

So far, I've read Lefevbre's Writings on Cities, re-read Pearson's In Comes I and am about to finish Lights Out For The Territory by Iain Sinclair. I'm flitting from Psychogeography to Site-specific for economic reasons but also, because it allows me to make sense of the shape of the essay as I'm reading. The parallels I have already found between these books have spurred me on further and have reassurred my choice in making this line of research.

Since, the PhD proposal (By the way I got a rejection letter from Queen Mary, gutted) application, my idea of backpacking and dramatised landscape has lost its appeal. Firstly, in terms of economocs such a study would prove financially draining and secondly, it would probably overwhelm me.

I have therefore returned to one of the first topics I happened across back in February: Psychogeography. There is only one book with that title in library - sat amongst the philosophy section - and its title alone intrigued me. It made me aware of the fact that I really needed to get out of the theatre. I've been in it for nearly 10 years now and its got a bit claustrophobic. Whether it was stifling black box 'studio' at my high school, the stuffy nearly black box 'studio' (one side was blue) at college, the windowless studios at Aber, the poor acoustics at Morlan or now the illusionary vastness of Roborough; I needed to get out. These next 3 years therefore will not only be an important part of my life in terms of career prospects, they will also mark an evolution in my dramatic learning. A friend asked me the other day where had the wannabe actor gone?

He's gone for a walk.

Yann The Man

2009-05-22T15:42:00.003+01:00

The Yann Tiersen concert was simply stunning, and one of the best things I've ever witnessed. I even bumped into the guy before it started which was a bit unexpected. He's certainly gone in a different direction since Amelie moving into the rock side of things. I'm not complaining though as it was truly astonishing to see him and his band live. He's got a new album out in september called Dust Lane which I will definitely be purchasing. Luckily I had my mate Jared there to witness it also, and he seemed to like it.

Learning lines for Richard III at the moment. Quite a bit of them, and their going in bit by bit.

Trying to find a house at the moment for next year.

Also started work on the dissertation now, but I havn't got far. I just have too much energy.

Also having a crack at being a veggy for a bit as an experiement. I'm a massive meat eater and eat it everyday, so the equivalent of going cold turkey would be my version of someone quitting smoking. Should be interesting though. Went for a run the other night, expecting myself to collapse due to the pollen count, but was fine. Hopefully my hayfever is leaving me.

Meeting Jon my old housemate later. Its been a while since we spoke.

Clowning, Wedding and Presenting

2009-05-14T13:52:00.003+01:00

Just got back from another clown workshop. I'm really getting into this. Lauren is a fantastic group leader and the group themselves are equally fantastic. Basically, what we've done so far is to first become comfortable with each other and ourselves, involving the obligatory trust exercises and children's games. We've also been trying to find our individual clowns as well, finding them physically and more recently, vocally, as well as introducing a best friend (mines an old squash bottle called Gozzo) from the magic mountain that never leaves our side. It has truly been a remarkable experience because just before you don the red nose you have no idea what your clown will do or say. Anything goes. I'm not needed next week, which means that its back into line-learning mode.

The presentation, went ok, I'm amazed I got there in the end after less than a week's work. Apparantlely it was 'concise' and 'crisp', but could have done with more visual stimuli. Oh well never mind.

The big thing however was Cat's wedding. We left saturday morning by train to Blackwater (me doing work for the presentation), we dumped our stuff at the B&B, got changed before taxiing it to Sandhurst. It was amazing. It was my first wedding so it was extra-amazing. Cat herself looked stunning and her other half looked dapper in his regimental dress. Although in a suit, I felt pretty under-dressed. Afterwards, we went to the reception at a very nice hotel owned by the army with acres of land. Two words: Free Bar. Enough said. Met some great people, one of which introduced me to a theatre company that would be relevant possibly to the dissertation: Punch Drunk. Sobered up on the way home and had a great sleep.

Currently, I am working on the performance analysis for Waiting for Godot, and am having second thoughts as to its format. It has to be in for Monday, but ideally I want it finished Sunday afternoon at the latest, because I am seeing Yann Tiersen in the evening.

Yes

2009-05-03T17:41:00.002+01:00

Just sent this e-mail:

Dear ,

I accept the offer.

Thanks,

Kris

Its official, I'm staying in Exeter to do my PhD! Very scary!

Sad news today, Augusto Boal died. I first heard about Boal when I was working on When I'm Alone I'm Alone with C&T2 back in 2004 (However, I thought his name was pronounced bowl) where a quote of his was included in my part:

"In its most archaic sense, theatre is the capacity possessed by human beings - and not by animals - to observe themselves in the act of seeing, of thinking their emotions, of being moved by their thoughts, they can see themselves here and imagine themselves there, they can see themselves today and imagine themselves tomorrow"

Brilliant.

Am well on the way to finally documenting everything dramery I've done over the last ten years (http://www.krisdarby.exofire.net). Hopefully it'll work.

On May 1st we had a Wicker Man night at Carey and Jareds which was fantastic. Carey introduced me to this great pen and paper game which was hysterical then we introduced Kim, Claudia, Jude and Ila to The Wicker Man. I hadn't seen it since uni and forgot how funny it was.

Also randomly bumped into Jon my old housemate at Aberystwyth in town the other day. Pretty weird. Small world though.

I might have to say yes

2009-04-29T15:32:00.002+01:00

Had a chat with my module coordinator today and explained to him whether me wanting to change my propsal will effect my funding oppotunity. He said, 'No don't worry about that, we want you.' Well thats sorted. I also found out that for the 80 hours of teaching I do a year, I wont be paid extra. Therefore, I need to rethink my finances, I've started looking into becoming a part time tutor to earn some money. I still need to find a house, but it looks like I'm going to be here for another three years. Its going to be a long road but I reckon I can do it.

Here comes the PhD.

Oh Bugger

2009-04-28T15:53:00.002+01:00

Just received this e-mail

Dear Kris

I am pleased to inform you that SALL Board of Graduate Research is offering you a University doctoral bursary. Bursaries provide an award of £7,000 per year for three years. Bursary recipients will be required to carry out 80 hours support work a year within the School in the form of teaching, research support or as an International Ambassador.

Please note annual renewal of the bursary is subject to satisfactory progress of your PhD.

Please notify us as soon as possible and no later than 5^th May that you would wish to accept this offer. I would be grateful if you could email the Postgraduate Administrators to confirm this.

Oh bugger.

The good thing is that they liked my proposal and they believe it would make for an interesting project. However, in lieu of my last post, unless I can change my proposal, I am to all intensive purposes buggered. In addition to this, I will need to find a way to survive on £7000 a year including tuition fees. I'm chuffed though that I've been given something, its more than what I was expecting.

I've Changed My Mind

2009-04-28T00:22:00.004+01:00

This week I will hopefully find out whether I will be given PhD funding for Exeter. I am still interested in doing a PhD, however, I want to change my proposal. My original plan was to examine the landscape and the ways in which it is dramatised through the backpacking state of mind. I have however, recently had a change of heart, from reading Calvino and doing this critical bibliography and have decided to revert back to what I was interested in originally; namely that of psychogeography. I'm writing this now because I don't want this week's decision to change the fact that I want to change my propsal. If I can't change it, I may have to just turn down the funding. This may seem quite rash, but I know for a fact I couldn't do something for 3 years that I wasn't interested in. I'd go mad.

As of 3am this morning, we finished principal photography at Kay house for Shields of Justice. For the last few weeks over the Easter hols I've been spending time on set, acting, lighting, filming, carrying, pretty much helping out in whatever way I can. I'm not alone, and this project has been shaped really by all the people who have committed themselves 100%, to help Ben & Tom achieve their dream. What I like about this film in particular is the freedom, the patience of Ben & Tom and their willingness to hear any idea no matter how small and insignificant it may seem. Part of the reason we were up so late, eating apples and werthers originals as well as the odd sachet of sugar, was because we all knew that we didn't just want this film to be good, we wanted it to be more. I've still got more to do on this project, and I look forward to it greatly.

The City

2009-04-13T19:16:00.009+01:00

Just got back from London.

It was a nice 4 day break in a different location. Met Sam at Victoria and then managed to find Hugh and Gemma's place somewhere south east (I think) of London. Its the first time I'd been to the capital for fun since the production environment trip I did at uni back in 2005. We didn't do the touristy things, just drifting round London, visiting the Tate Modern, a noodle place that was off the pH level, and a retro sweet shop. London has made a different impression on me this time round. Beforehand, I was always intimidated by the big city with its overwhelming buildings and masses of people pushing through the intricate network of public transport. This time round though I got to see the appeal of London. I still don't know whether I could live there myself but I can see why others do. I took with me Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino to read, which presents a series of ficticious accounts by Marco Polo of fictional/actual cities. I haven't read a book quite like it. Not only does the writing flow so well, but the brief impressions it gives you of each city stay with you until what you end up with is not a series of cities, but one city. What Calvino therefore presents is individual facets of the cities we all know and are part of, whether we are outisde of them, perceiving them as a whole, or within their walls, an active part of their construction.

"The city, however, does not tell its past, but contains it like the lines of a hand..."

"Many are the cities ..., which elude the gaze of all, except the man who catches them by surprise."

"For those who pass it without entering, the city is one thing; it is another for those who are trapped by it and never leave. There is the city where you arrive for the first time; and there is another city which you leave never to return."

"Elsewhere is a negative mirror. The Traveler recognises the little that is his, discovering the much he has not had and will never have."

"It is not the voice that commands the story: it is the ear."

Before leaving for London, I also started my first day of shooting on Shields of Justice. It was basically just background stuff, which was fine by me, which involved me looking confused in the lobby. The level of detail and attentions put into the production is simply staggering and the energy of everyone involved is relentless. It looks like I'm going to have a lot of fun on this one. Although I'm probably going to have to grow some sideburns.

Before then, Holly and Laurence drove down for the day. It was great because it was the first time in which the three of us got to hang out in ages. I took them round Exeter, stopping at the Imperial for lunch, before heading to the Quay and through the highstreet. Turns out Laurence is looking at going to Plymouth this year, so if I get the funding, he'll just be round the corner.

I still need to do some work, and learn lines I guess.

Exeter Interview

2009-04-03T16:55:00.003+01:00

Had my interview at Exeter today. I don't know exactly how it went, I just delivered my presentation and they asked me questions. As for how good it was, I wont know until the 23rd, but we'll see. The dificulty I'm facing at the moment is the justification to myself about it. This is a project of my own creation, it has its influences but its something I've set out to do myself which is both exciting and terrifying. The major thing I got out of the whole process was the lunch afterwards. Not just for the food, which was nice. I got to meet people interested in PhDs and members of the department. It made me realise the sheer variety of different topics that are being studied in the department. By freaky coincidence, I met two guys waiting for their interviews both affiliated with Aberystwyth. One actually acted in the production of Merchant of Venice that was part of the school shakespeare project that I had to study in my first year. The other is studying performance arts at Aber and is experienced in walking as performances. Regardless of whether I get the funding or not, these sort of meetings introduce you to new ideas and other people's work.

Yesterday was a good day. Do you ever have those sort of days where everything just clicks? I got an e-mail from an academic associated with backpacker tourism:

Dear Kris,

Many thanks for the outline of your Research, which looks very interesting.

I think you may need to make a clear choice between the qualitative and
quantitative elements of the research as you have currently defined them.
Although surveys might help to gather information on the scale of backpacker
performance and how often it might take place in different settings, for
most of the information you need I would say that qualitative research is
probably more relevant. You might also look at some techniques which combine
the two approaches, such as Q methodology. I have attached a paper that
might be of help here.

The new version fo the Global Nomad research is also available on the WYSE
Travel Confederation website (www.wystec.org - see the research pages).
There is also a report on the cultural impacts of youth travel, which might
also be useful.

This paper (all 14 pages of it) was of enormous benefit to the presentation I gave today, encouraging me to make a change of emphasis for my proposed research. Instead of just considering the backpacker as an individual, I also want to consider them as a community or culture. "anonymous intimacy" was the term I liked, being both part of something, but isolated as well: neither here not there. I sent a reply and received this back:

Dear Kris,

Glad that staff was useful. I don't think that defining the backpacker is a
real issue. Backpacking is more a state of mind (or a more of performance)
than anything else.

Good luck with the application.

Cheers,

Academics have found it difficult to define a backpacker (to be honest so do most backpackers) instead opting for a hybrid of other titles, such as drifter, tourist or traveller. For the quantative research needed, I would have to consider how I would differentiate between the different types of walker when interviewing.

I just need to wait. To be honest there's a lot of competition here (about 70 I think) with people from all over the world all trying to stake their claim. I never imagined I would be in this position. At the beginning of February, I didn't have an idea of what I wanted to research. Now I've just been interviewed for a PhD. Its all a bit bizarre.

With this out of the way I still have several things that I need to do:

-Start work on Shields of Justice, the guys say I can visit the set whenever I want, but I'm not too sure when I begin work on the project myself

- Begin writing my critical bibliography of books for my dissertation (what dissertation?)

- Begin work on my performance analysis - probably going to do Waiting for Godot

- Finish graphics for Judith's storybook project

-Work on application for Victoria University

- Attend Landscape conference at Aber

- Book a place on a workshop in June based in Snowdonia (girl I met today is one of the guys running it)

Next week I'm going to London! Bought my tickets yesterday. Looking forward to it, havn't properly been since 2005 (Last time was with 50 Chileans last January). Meeting up with Samwise who's taking a break from the rigours of DJing in Orkney. He reckons we're the new Mayo and Kermode.

Also my sister and brother may visit next week, which would be good cause its rare thats its ever just the 3 of us. Hol's in her 3rd year I think of Uni and Loz is choosing which uni to go to this year.

Anyways Easter wont be boring.

Got an interview

2009-03-25T15:21:00.004Z

Got an e-mail saying that I've been shortlisted for an interview at Exeter.

Your interview time is at 11.45am on 03 April 2009.

It says that I have to prepare a 10 minute presentation for it, which although unnerving gives me something to prepare.

I also got a reply from an academic associated with tourism

Thank you for your proposal, which looks most interesting - the research will certainly be fascinating to carry out.

I am not particularly up to date with sources on backpacking tourism, but you can find a good many listed on Google Scholar, and it may be worth contacting Kevin Hannam, at Sunderland University, who chairs the Backpacker Research Group for Atlas.

For your methodology section, you will need to be much more rigorous in explaining how you select your backpackers for survey or interview. You also need a much better understanding of what quantitative research is!

Where are you thinking of doing your PhD? It's the sort of thing that the Centre for Tourism & Cultural Change at Leeds Met might be interested in.

I've suddenly realised how wholly ignorant I am of all things backpacking. Its more than just putting a bag on your back. However, I have been mulling it over so hopefully will have something to present next Friday. I am nevertheless, finding ways to put it off. Have started my critical bibliography and am thinking of doing waiting for godot for my performance analysis. Spent the morning helping my flat mate emily with a photobook for her nephew's first birthday. Going to walk to Tescos now, and the weather is absolutely awful!

Some News

2009-03-24T12:17:00.004Z

Got a notification from QMU that they have recieved my application. This combined with my Mother's recieval of her Mother's Day card has given me faith in royal mail.

I've also heard back from one of the guys who was connected with the Global Nomad project.

"Dear Mr Darby,
Thanks for your note. I find your project innovative and interesting,
though do not see how the quantitative BP data fit in. In fact, the routes
you describe, and which exhibit a highly post-modern character, are probably
not specific for BPs.
There is a strand in tourism studies looking at tourism as performance (Ed
Bruner, B. Kirschenbaum) with whom you might be familiar.
Re the BP Research Group: I am not a member of that group, but you might
approach Greg Richards, who will be able to respond to your question."

I've already e-mailed Greg. "innovative and interesting" is a bit encouraging though. The only bit of info I've heard from people so far, and I know how to apply it to Qualitative research.

Got another reply from an academic connected with backpacking:

suggestions: 1) get at backpacker experience rather than survey 2) you don't site the relevant backpacking literature which is extensive (people at Leeds could help you here 3) just because you are a backpacker be careful not to impose your ideas on the data.

I totally agree with the experience, as it is necessary, however, I think to give it structure, some form of quantative research is necessary. I am really wholly ignorant on backpacker literature so will e-mail Leeds. And finally, this enters the question of ethics in my proposal, something I've been umming over for a bit now; how involved do I get in the interviews?

Waiting and Reading

2009-03-22T19:36:00.002Z

I've broken up from Exeter for the Easter holidays. But it doesn't feel like a holiday.

On Thursday I completed two application forms for PhD funding (one at Exeter and one at Queen Mary). I cannot believe that I have even considered such an idea. It quite frankly didn't seem possible. Since starting reading at the beginning of February my ideas for a possible PhD research topic have evolved a bit. I began with looking at narratives and their existence in design, focussing on architecture. I then moved to travelling with a bid to examine travel philosophy and its place in the rehearsal environment. I then moved from that to Psychogeography before finally deciding to examine the backpacker and their relation to ambulatory performance. But as my Professor puts it, we're still all feeling around in the dark. I don't know if I'm doing the right thing.

To be honest I'm torn. I know that if I get offered the funding I will have to take it because its rare that it happens. However, it does mean that I will be living in the world of accademia for three more years. If I don't get it, career-wise it'll be harder but it would encourage me to stick a pack on my back and leave the country. I'm not ready to settle down, find a 9-5 job and thats it. Not yet. There's still a lot for me to do.

Went home last weekend and saw two of my heroes on stage. Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. I still cannot believe I saw these two giants together before my eyes doing star jumps on stage in Waiting for Godot. Its a classic, but a classic that has been done to death my many students over the years. However, Paddy and Ian were fantastic, and I felt very lucky to be able to see them.

I have a big map of new zealand on my wall right next to me. There's a pin in Wellington. This is my back up. If I get rejected from both Exeter and QMU, New Zealand will be my last chance this year. There, I would get to travel and study and not feel torn. However, its more of a leap than what I'm currently hoping for. I mentioned this to my professor, and he reckons I should go for it.

Nevertheless, I am really setting in to the department here at Exeter. I've been keeping myself busy, as usual, doing rehearsed readings and performances. I'm currently helping Judith with her applied theatre project, Lauren with her clowning shakespeare project, Ioannis with his PhD project and have just got a part in a 70s cop series entitled 'Shields of Justice' which will be filming this Easter, which I'm excited about because I always enjoy short films.

This enters me into a further difficulty. I don't know if I can do a PhD here without the guys I'm studying with. All my life I have been very lucky with the people I've worked with. There are only 6 of us on my course, but they are all truly remarkable and wonderful individuals; intelligent, well read and most importantly hilarious. We went for a picnic yesterday (its not snowing anymore) which was lovely, soaking up some Vitamin D and swatting bees.

So at the moment, I'm waiting. Waiting to see if Exeter will accept me for an interview, and reading, just in case they do. Its the calm before the storm. However, until the storm arrives I'm enjoying this sunshine.

Snow, Darwin, Wallace & Gromit and Insect eating

2009-02-03T00:03:00.004Z

Today Exeter was in blizzard conditions. Obviously, with such an event work was impossible and not really an option.

Went to a lecture on Darwin (its his 200th Birthday) which was very informative. The lecturer, Timothy Clack in particular spoke of the eating of insects. Apparently we ingest a kilo a year! Crazy. He then went and sent samples out in the audience for an impromptu buffet. Now I will eat anything once, and so supped with glee on Giant Grasshoppers, Silkworms, Dung Beetles (pizza flavoured), Ants (curry flavoured) and Locust. It wasn't bad, and I second helpings of ants. Needed a glass of water afterwards though. Also, at the Phoenix they have an exhibition of animation, with Wallace and Gromit in residence! What a day! Snow, insects and plasticine!

Sang Thong

2009-01-31T13:27:00.002Z

Yesterday we finished the production of Sang Thong, a PhD practical production. It was a mixture of Thai and Western styles of theatre that followed the plot of a classic Thai fairytale. It was very interesting to work on as it gave me a crash course on Thai theatre, but it also marked my first theatre performance since Rape of the Fair Country back in 2007. I was pretty nervous to start of with, partially because of how I had become more disilluisoned by acting towards the end of my undergraduate, and consequently had not done any since. However, nerves aside, it went very well and we got good feedback. The nerves went as soon as I walked on stage and the lines didn't go.

At the moment I am between semesters, reading information on conjuring for my dissertation and design narratives for a possible PhD proposal. I'm scheduled to do some Shakespeare and two rehearsed readings, as well as the voice for Xpression Fm, so I'm keeping myself busy. However, I really don't know what I'm doing at the moment. I don't know whether my essay writing has improved or worsened. I talk of PhD proposals but if I'm not up to scratch, I wont be able to do one. Also funding wise its a bit of an issue. I'm looking at scholarships, but I don't think I'll be ready this year. I don't know why. Yet I don't want to live at home for a year.

Two major things I forgot to mention previously.

1) My trip to New Zealand. It was fantastic, and I have to go back...

2) My Grandad died. Malcolm William Plester.

He was a remarkable man. A vessel of energy and passion, and a comic genius. Stubborn til the end. When we left their house to go the funeral, everyone in the street was stood outside their houses. It was like royal procession. It was freezing that day, but the people stood there. I don't think I fully understood how much an impact he had on the people. I was very proud.

4 years since Twelfth Night

Nearly 23 and still no wiser

2008-11-20T10:34:00.000Z

On Saturday I turn 23, or half way to 46 as my sister would call it.

I've been at Exeter university for 3 months now and am thoroughly enjoying it.

I'm doing a module entirely on Brecht which has been a real eye opener for me in learning about the real man and not the icon that has been put on a pedestal.

I'm also doing a module on painting in performance which is kind of an extension of the scenography module I did in my second year at aber.

I don't know what to say really. So much has happened.

Did a short film with Pangaea Tv which was great fun. It was a 48 hour one so I was used to it because of The Other Side and Silence.

Got a job as The Voice for the University radio station eXpression FM which hopefully I'll start at some point.

I want to direct something. Something simple in form but difficult in content. I'm thinking of Art possibly as it was a play I was scheduled to do years ago with Paddy and Dan. Perhaps I ought to do it.

I think I've accomplished some things in the last year. I've done various drama jobs, I worked at Abbey College again in the summer, but this time as an Activities manager. It was hard work but definitly worth it because of the people I worked with. All of them remarkably energetic and committed to the job. Every day was a laugh.

I've made more friends here in Exeter. My house is fantastic and the girls I live with are lovely people. I am content here on my course, and I'm learning a lot.

I want to act though or direct something.

Going into research.

2008-03-01T19:49:00.000Z

Had my interview at Exeter on Thursday and have been offered a place, reference pending. This means now that I know what I am doing in September, which is a huge weight of my mind. As well as this I have been frantically sorting stuff for New Zealand and pricing stuff up. Me and big ben did a walk over the malverns as a form of training. Twas a good day, and a great opportunity to give my boots some proper work.As always the highlight of the month was getting to see Nicola as I hadn't seen her since november, so she got her christmas presents late. She spoilt me rotten as usual buying me a variety of things to cater for all my current interests. One of them was a dvd of The Fountain which is possibly one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen.My month at the Abbey College was brilliant as always. The kids were fantastic and we all had a good laugh with them. They did a little presentation for us which was wonderful as it gave us a brief glimpse of their culture. I got given my hat (pronounced choo-lo) which is officially the most comfortable thing I have ever worn. My month at the Abbey college completely altered my perspective of what I want to do. I realised that acting, although fun doesn't have the same appeal on me any more. I want to meet people and help others. I also want to travel, to broaden my horizons.Although the acting has taken a backseat, I've still been working on scripts for my own piece of mind. The only problem with this is that whenever I watch a film now or read a book, I'm always trying to see how it could be adapted.I got a message from Owain (Twelfth Night, The Other Side, Human Being, Silence) about the possibility of working with him again which would be fantastic as it's been about 2 years since 'Silence'.So at the moment I am very busy, which is where I want to be. At the moment my to do list is this:-Apply for funding-Travel insurance-Get a job-See Nicola-Pack for NZ-Get the Indiana Jones Box set for a good price.

Chilean Music

2008-01-06T23:29:00.000Z

I am currently sat in a square yellow room. I have two mirrors. A wardrobe that has been turned inside out and a better internet connection then I get at home.I’m back at the Abbey College. I’ve been back 36 hours and already they’ve been just as eventful as my summer here last year.After having dinner I drove here to find out that in 20 minutes time we would have 50 students from Chile arriving. I don’t speak Spanish. I’ve just gotten to grips with English. Sometimes I wonder whether I’m right for this job. I feel so lazy as a Briton, not knowing more than one language.The coach arrived and we shepherded the students to the assembly and then the canteen before taking them to their rooms. The accommodation I was in charge off was KR which involved quite a walk. The doors –like most of the college’s- have a code, which sounds pretty simple once you know it. However, I couldn’t get it to work. I felt so guilty. I was surrounded by tired, cold, jetlagged students who had travelled hundreds of miles and yet because of me were not able to travel 3ft into their house. So I busied myself with making small talk. The kids were surprised at my age, as they reckon I look 18. Now I don’t know if this is a compliment or not really. All because I shaved away the beard. Eventually, Zozo arrived with a minibus laden with luggage and managed to open the doors. I then walked back to unpack my things from the car. I’m the only one in my accommodation at the moment, as the academics haven’t arrived back yet. It was cold. So cold. I ended up wearing my hat in bed and wrapping myself up in anything that would offer warmth. Basically the boiler wasn’t working so I had no heat. Again, so cold.This morning I decided to get up early and drove home to pick up some thermals and a sleeping bag. Mum was surprised and Laurence probably didn’t realise. Having showered I bombed it back to Malvern and managed to fix the boiler. I put it on continous, which means the heat is on permanently. You really know that you appreciate the little things in life when the best thing in you whole day is when the radiator stars to radiate.Having donned my red shirt as an activities officer I bounded into breakfast content but still a bit cold. Whilst the students were in meetings I set about cleaning out the DJ box. The only problem was that they had lost the key. Since October. Sigh. The intriguing thing is that they’ve still been able to get in, which is an interesting trick. Apparently the process itself is an “art form” which is why that at about 10 this morning I was stood with a long plank of wood threaded through a hole at the front of the room, trying to open the door from the inside. Nicki would have been proud of my McGyver like abilities. However, I couldn’t master the “art” and Mike the caretaker opened it. After cleaning out the DJ box me and Zozo suddenly realised we didn’t have a decent football to use with the kids. And guess what? The pump was broken. Eventually I found two that were lurking in the gym. Whilst Zozo took football, I took a big group up in the hills. This was one of my favourite activities to take last summer as I love walking. This time I more time to kill so I took them on a longer walk going towards the well and up on to the hills in one big circuit. I like the activity as well because it gives you the opportunity to chat to the students and to learn about them and their culture. We didn’t get back till it started to go dark and they were very tired. The reason it took so long was due to a late start and several photo opportunities along the way. After dinner our evening activity was a disco which turned into a Chilean education of music for me. These kids have a great taste in music. One guy has and Ipod nano which can fit inside a wallet with 8Gb of music! That’s crazy. But he has an amazing playlist.I have now returned to my warm room now and am procrastinating til I start work tomorrow afternoon.By the way, I have applied to university in Exeter and am eagerly waiting to hear from them. I also have in the pipeline a trip to New Zealand. Which means that this should hopefully be a busy year.Christmas was a good laugh. I worked a lot of it at the Wagon Wheel with my earnings paying for the service/MOT of my car (The Welsh roads destroyed my exhaust pipe and drive shaft). I have a job interview next week for a Teaching Assistant job which I’m strangely looking forward to. It’s timed nicely with this job as it gives me plenty to talk about.

2007 in one entry

2007-12-06T14:04:00.000Z

Before I start, I just found this saved draft which I never posted:-------------------------------------------------------------------Finished Cafe Capella. It was good. The review summed it up well:"Too much of a very good thing Cafe Cappella Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, UWA Parry-Williams Building Studio 1, UWA January 26, 2007Joan Mills, the director of ‘Café Capella’ – a play devised by her and her company of third year drama students at Aberystwyth University – is a past mistress of ultra-naturalistic devised theatre, and usually comes up trumps with a good, engaging show. There is no doubt that there was a good, engaging, professional-standard show in Café Capella: the problem was finding it. The play tells the stories of the regulars at a small Stafford café, and how their lives have changed, are changing and will continue to change, especially after Giorgi, an expat of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, comes to work there. There is an overworked, unfulfilled estate agent, attempting to sell the café for the owner, Brian Swanson. There is Brian himself, lovelorn and eager for a change. There is Florence, the regular assistant as well as Brian’s cousin, and Jess, a schoolgirl who helps out for extra money. There is an elderly couple – Giles and Grace Davenport, who hark back to earlier, happier days, as Grace’s physical and mental health decline. There are schoolchildren, a writer, a decorator, a teenage mum. There is Janice, the vegetable farmer who supplies the café who harbours secret desires, and of course, there is Giorgi and his son Dato, who have left quite a past behind them. In short, all the components of a regular, busy café are there, with a few additions. But it is all just a bit too much of a very good thing. That said, the play looks and sounds beautiful. A highly impressive set, recreating very faithfully the look and feel of a slightly run-down café, right down to the fully operational kitchen fitted for the show. This set made best use of the integral features of the studio space it was in to create multiple levels and maximise the space available for many different uses. This ultra-realism spilled into very effective costume also.Lighting was extremely well-employed for the realistic setting of the play. Cues were pretty much spot-on, for the many instances of having to match the sounds of on-set switches to instant lighting-box controlled effects. The only qualm was the sheer number of blackouts that occurred, though this had a lot to do with the vast number of extremely short, often seemingly needless scenes that peppered the production.A Joan Mills play means a good play for sound, and this did not disappoint. The recorded sound was well-chosen and highly appropriate, and the live sound was excellent. Mills always puts together a good live, a capella score of songs (in this case almost always Georgian folk songs, in keeping with the story and the general sectioning off of the play in line with a growing menu of Georgian dishes and toasts for a feast) and this show was no different. The singing was beautiful – gentle and tender when it needed to be, powerful and poignant when that was called for. Performances were of varying levels of interest, but there again, no matter how hard this play tried to give everyone a fair portion of action, it was never going to work with such a large cast. Stand-out performances, however, came from Hugh Edwards whose Giorgi was tender and watchable as well as entertaining, Christine O’Donovan as Florence, who was laugh-out-loud funny and always extremely natural and in control and Lauren Hodgkins as the hapless Janice, whose portrayal was both heartbreaking and extremely witty. Add to this Tom McCarron, whose performance was likable and top-quality, but whose scenes, alas, did not allow his character quite the level development that could have been hoped for, Kris Darby’s tender portrayal of acoustic scientist Andrew and Amy Ross’s hysterically funny estate agent, Margaret, and you have a lot of fodder for a wickedly funny, deeply moving play, which can include a lot of the other characters and actors that we do not have room to mention.The problem lay in the fact that, in an attempt to capitalise on the great talent of all involved, Mills has created a piece of work that does very few of her cast any favours. Janice’s story goes unfinished; the Davenports – very interestingly and engagingly created by Dewi Evans and Helen Cockill – remain at that awkward point of having said too much to be mysterious and not enough to be understood. Some characters’ stories, such as Jess’s, virtually do not get a hearing at all, which, had judicious cutting occurred with certain very short, or very unnecessary scenes, such as a nightmare sequence that gets mentioned once and never again, or a rhythmic section, involving percussion created by spoons on cups, bouncing footballs and a panoply of other items. That was the most frustrating thing about this show – the obvious talent of the company shone through, but, in its creation, it felt as though sentiment overcame pragmatism in the retention of some scenes, and the audience’s comfort and possible reaction to unfinished stories was only very occasionally a concern for whoever edited the final working script. At three and a half hours, including one interval, this is a long old show, particularly given the deeply uncomfortable seating arrangements. Our problems with this production should not, however, take away from what is, for all its flaws, a very nice, heartwarming show which allows a glimpse of some very impressive, developed and developing talents, and for that showcase, Joan Mills and her team deserve congratulation and potential audience members should be encouraged to attend. There is real beauty in the show. The run continues until Saturday, January 27th. Ticketholders are advised to bring a cushion, and expect some lovely soup at the interval. Reviewed by: Paddy Cooper and James Ellington"Nice to get mention once again. It was really an extraordinary show. I was incredibly skeptical to start off with, but I found myself learning so much from the process of creating a play. THis was the first devised piece I had worked on since 24 in the union years ago. I think I'm nearly ready to leave uni now. I'm about half way through an application for Royal Welsh College. What will confirm my views will be Macbeth. Which hopefully all being well; I will get on to (the auditions are today but nobody knows a time). I just need to find time to do what needs to be done:A Reflection on Pactice Essay thingA Shakespeare play (hopefully)An essay for ShakespeareLearn 2 monologues for Drama SchoolsIt was weird going back to lectures and seminars. On Monday Ihad a 9.00 in the Old Collge for Ancient Sun. Me, Kev and Pete then went to FGs for a coffee. Kev met a girl he knows there and we helped her carry a load of milk from 24 hr spar. She then kindly gave us a lift up the hill with me in the back playing with a bob the builder version of satnav. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------It’s nearly been a year since I updated this. It’s strange really cause I could never understand why anyone would do these sort of things. It’s really for me because I have adventures and episodes which I don’t want to forget so I type them up so that I may read them later. I’m not fussed whether people read this journal or not, as I’m not trying to be narcissistic or anything. It’s just a chronicling of the places I’ve been and the amazing people I’ve met.As it’s been a year I should really give a brief summary of what has happened to me since Christmas 2006.JanuaryCafé Cappella was performed as part of my 3rd year exam piece. Hmm. An interesting albeit long play. I learnt a lot from the process of devising but kind of dislike the play due to it’s length. Paddy’s review sums it up well."Too much of a very good thing" Cafe Cappella Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, UWA Parry-Williams Building Studio 1, UWA January 26, 2007Joan Mills, the director of ‘Café Capella’ – a play devised by her and her company of third year drama students at Aberystwyth University – is a past mistress of ultra-naturalistic devised theatre, and usually comes up trumps with a good, engaging show. There is no doubt that there was a good, engaging, professional-standard show in Café Capella: the problem was finding it. The play tells the stories of the regulars at a small Stafford café, and how their lives have changed, are changing and will continue to change, especially after Giorgi, an expat of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, comes to work there. There is an overworked, unfulfilled estate agent, attempting to sell the café for the owner, Brian Swanson. There is Brian himself, lovelorn and eager for a change. There is Florence, the regular assistant as well as Brian’s cousin, and Jess, a schoolgirl who helps out for extra money. There is an elderly couple – Giles and Grace Davenport, who hark back to earlier, happier days, as Grace’s physical and mental health decline. There are schoolchildren, a writer, a decorator, a teenage mum. There is Janice, the vegetable farmer who supplies the café who harbours secret desires, and of course, there is Giorgi and his son Dato, who have left quite a past behind them. In short, all the components of a regular, busy café are there, with a few additions. But it is all just a bit too much of a very good thing. That said, the play looks and sounds beautiful. A highly impressive set, recreating very faithfully the look and feel of a slightly run-down café, right down to the fully operational kitchen fitted for the show. This set made best use of the integral features of the studio space it was in to create multiple levels and maximise the space available for many different uses. This ultra-realism spilled into very effective costume also.Lighting was extremely well-employed for the realistic setting of the play. Cues were pretty much spot-on, for the many instances of having to match the sounds of on-set switches to instant lighting-box controlled effects. The only qualm was the sheer number of blackouts that occurred, though this had a lot to do with the vast number of extremely short, often seemingly needless scenes that peppered the production.A Joan Mills play means a good play for sound, and this did not disappoint. The recorded sound was well-chosen and highly appropriate, and the live sound was excellent. Mills always puts together a good live, a capella score of songs (in this case almost always Georgian folk songs, in keeping with the story and the general sectioning off of the play in line with a growing menu of Georgian dishes and toasts for a feast) and this show was no different. The singing was beautiful – gentle and tender when it needed to be, powerful and poignant when that was called for. Performances were of varying levels of interest, but there again, no matter how hard this play tried to give everyone a fair portion of action, it was never going to work with such a large cast. Stand-out performances, however, came from Hugh Edwards whose Giorgi was tender and watchable as well as entertaining, Christine O’Donovan as Florence, who was laugh-out-loud funny and always extremely natural and in control and Lauren Hodgkins as the hapless Janice, whose portrayal was both heartbreaking and extremely witty. Add to this Tom McCarron, whose performance was likable and top-quality, but whose scenes, alas, did not allow his character quite the level development that could have been hoped for, Kris Darby’s tender portrayal of acoustic scientist Andrew and Amy Ross’s hysterically funny estate agent, Margaret, and you have a lot of fodder for a wickedly funny, deeply moving play, which can include a lot of the other characters and actors that we do not have room to mention.The problem lay in the fact that, in an attempt to capitalise on the great talent of all involved, Mills has created a piece of work that does very few of her cast any favours. Janice’s story goes unfinished; the Davenports – very interestingly and engagingly created by Dewi Evans and Helen Cockill – remain at that awkward point of having said too much to be mysterious and not enough to be understood. Some characters’ stories, such as Jess’s, virtually do not get a hearing at all, which, had judicious cutting occurred with certain very short, or very unnecessary scenes, such as a nightmare sequence that gets mentioned once and never again, or a rhythmic section, involving percussion created by spoons on cups, bouncing footballs and a panoply of other items. That was the most frustrating thing about this show – the obvious talent of the company shone through, but, in its creation, it felt as though sentiment overcame pragmatism in the retention of some scenes, and the audience’s comfort and possible reaction to unfinished stories was only very occasionally a concern for whoever edited the final working script. At three and a half hours, including one interval, this is a long old show, particularly given the deeply uncomfortable seating arrangements. Our problems with this production should not, however, take away from what is, for all its flaws, a very nice, heartwarming show which allows a glimpse of some very impressive, developed and developing talents, and for that showcase, Joan Mills and her team deserve congratulation and potential audience members should be encouraged to attend. There is real beauty in the show. The run continues until Saturday, January 27th. Ticketholders are advised to bring a cushion, and expect some lovely soup at the interval. Reviewed by: Paddy Cooper and James Ellington For any actor you have to do a play that you may not like. I myself am quite picky about what I do. I’m not a snob, I just like a meaty script with depth. The devising process was initially very difficult for me because I had no character or text. However, the more I wrote, the better my writing became, to the extent that lots of it was used in the final production which was nice.FebruaryThe big one. Auditions for the School Shakespeare Project. This year it was to be Macbeth. A play I had not read since year 10 at school. One of the reasons I did not keep the journal up to date was because I kept a video diary which chronicled the rehearsal process. It’s quite interesting how you progress from decision to decision, thinking you know the character but then finding out you are wrong. It’s good to come back to Shakespeare every so often because it is I feel the ultimate challenge for an actor. It also capped off my final play of uni for Kev, Amy and myself, because we all acted in Twelfth Night our first play back in 2005. Full circle. I myself got the role of Malcolm, a fascinating young man who is thrown into the role of a fugitive king when his father is murdered. It was a challenge in some cases with him being devoutly religious and me not being so. I therefore had to make his faith relatable otherwise I could not have played the English scene with any conviction. It was a fun production but very nerve wracking for me because of the specificity of Shakespearian dialogue. Shakespeare is a big thing to take on. It taught me important things though; the two most important mistakes an actor can make are 1) thinking there no good enough for the character and 2) thinking they are too good for the character. I’m not a Prince or a King but I had to be one.It also snowed in Aber this month, which meant that it was no mans land outside with people throwing snowballs. We built a snowman and later people picked it up and placed it on top of the postman’s van. MarchPerforming Macbeth to the kids was interesting because you forget that most of them are not aware of the rituals of audience behaviour. When the play began kids were still talking and laughed at the entrance of Birnam forest. Mr Pickett who played the big M. was truly remarkable. One of his last speeches “and tomorrow” was mesmerising. Like Rape of the Fair Country, this was an exceptional cast that I felt lucky to be a part of. Before performances we visited Gregynog again, and all drove to Castl-y-bert to soak up the atmosphere. A helpful act but one which I found difficulty in remembering due to nerves when performing. One of the funniest things that happened to me was when I ran offstage into what I thought was an exit. It wasn’t. Just a alcove in the stage which obscured me from the view of the audience but invariably left me trapped. There was also the time when Pete turned up onstage without his Duncan costume which probably confused a lot of the kids.AprilWent home for Easter. Auditioned for a role in ‘The Duelists’, a film Pete was acting in. Got the part.MayMy free time. Although I think I had some exams. Me and Nicki went out on road trips whenever the weather was good. It was great. We went to Borth Animalarium again and visited Dolgoch falls again with Tom and April. This was also the month for the May Ball which saw me in my own suit! It was a fun night and a good laugh.Me and Pete did filming on the Duelists with me playing his dogsbody Stephen. That was great fun doing a film in period costume although I am yet to see the film yet (Its in Germany). JuneExam results. I got a first which I was very happy about as I had slaved my guts off to get it.Began work at the Abbey College for the summer, which was probably one of the best jobs I ever had. The kids were great and the team I was working with are some of the best people in the world. Highlights for me are having to teach 50 Slovenian girls how to play volleyball when I don’t know the rules myself, catching kids outside of bed at 3 in the morning and the several hikes up the Malvern hills.JulyGot a phone call from James Palmer (Café Cappella, Macbeth) asking if I wanted to do some voice over work. I heartily agreed and went over to Milton Keynes for the day to do some which was great fun.Graduated from University. Felt an idiot in my gown, twas like the staff room of Hogwarts. A long ceremony though (it had an interlude).Went on holiday for 3 weeks. Very lucky. Visited Croatia, Italy, France, Austria and Germany. Went to Mozart’s birthplace.AugustGot back from holiday. Went to the caravan.SeptemberRape Of The Fair Country the unofficial revival. Went and stayed with Chesh in Borth with Henry and Kate. Was a good laugh but I was frustrated towards the end of rehearsals and ended up hating the play at one point. To make matters worse my voice went during the production week so I couldn’t sing or do a welsh accent. Me and Sam visited Blaenavon again almost a year to the day since we last went. This time the weather was much better and we walked from the Big Pit to Gandyrus Forge. It was an amazing walk.OctoberStayed on in Aber, working for Chesh as his PA. It was interesting seeing the department from the other side. Processed module forms as well as helping him on 4 scripts. One of the scripts was for his new 3rd year production; Stage Beauty which I had to adapt from both the play itself and the film script. This made me interested in script adapting as a hobby.Managed to get work as an extra in a Advert for PG tips. Easy work and I got to meet monkey and a London DJ.Met my friend Lauren from College and Emily N in Exeter.NovemberManaged to get some extra work on a new feature film; Faintheart being filmed in Worcester. Was interesting because as an extra you are essentially part of the background, and it was interesting to watch the process. My birthday. Got some Cds and Nicki made me a lovely gift with a theme attached to it. Got a part as a lead in a short film up in Carlisle. Was a great week and I met some great people. Look forward to the DVD.December.Owain put up the film Silence which I did last year. Am working odd shifts at the restaurant as well as applying for more drama work. Got a phone call from the Abbey college about work in January. Am halfway through applying for Exeter University.At the moment I want to lecture Drama. To do this I need:-An MA in Drama Research to help me for later-A PhD- Experience. This year will all be about experiences for me. I had lecturers that just read from books. I want to have experience to help me teach.So here I am, sat at the desk. My hair is shorter, my room has been decorated. My glasses are still buggered from when Mum sat on them. Hopefully the adventures will continue to happen and hopefully I will write them down. Oh and I think I’m gonna visit New Zealand next year. Oh and the Golden Compass movie is rubbish.

Merry Christmas 2006

2006-12-25T05:56:00.000Z

Merry Christmas.I can't sleep. I've recently discovered a thing called facebook which has helped me catch up with some old friends. I ordered Loz's present yesterday (several reasons why I was late doing so) and I wrapped my pound present, although while I was doing it I thought of something that would have been cleverer. My plan at the moment is to stay on here til my battery runs out.Went and saw some people in the village yesterday. Went for a run with Loz, went and saw Mr Bird and had a chat with him. Then saw dad's parents, then walked the dog. Then saw Jenny and Andrew with Holly.Hope Holly likes her christmas present, got her a muse apron.

Christmas and Cafe Cappella

2006-12-23T18:15:00.000Z

Has been ages since I updated. I think weve got to the stage in life now where we can longer be bothered to type things let alone write them. At the moment I am sat in the study chair at home and loz is shredding something. I am earning some money this evening which is a bonus, as I have managed to resume my part time job at the restaurant. Apparantly he might not need me for new years eve though because it might not be as busy. Read the Woman in Black Today as it has been over a year now since I saw it at the west end and I miss it. Just finished reading The Prestige which was an amazing book Nic bought me for christmas. Its a brilliant film as well expertly directed by chris Nolan but no where near as good as the book.So Rape Of The Fair Country went very well. We finally got it together when we were examined. I should have really updated this site when it was all fresh in my head but anyways. The review we got was quite extraordinary:"The most beautiful and powerful play I have yet to see, RAPE OF THE FAIR COUNTRY TFTV Dept., UWA, Emily Davies Studio, Parry-Williams Building, UWA November 12, 2006 Very, very rarely, as a critic, you come across a production for which mere words will never be enough in summation of its beauty, its power and its sheer, dizzying greatness. One might expect to find such a play in the halls of the National Theatre or the RSC, but for me, it was a cold November night in a black, concrete studio in the drama department of Aberystwyth University when a company of twenty-nine students, under the direction of Richard Cheshire and the management of Crystal Mendoza showed me what passion, anguish, joy and raw, biting humanity meant when they staged their production of Manon Eames’ adaptation of the Alexander Cordell story ‘Rape of the Fair Country’, in a run that continues until Saturday, November 12th.Set in the heart of industrial South Wales in the 1830s and following the story of young Iestyn Mortymer, his people and their neighbours through carefree youth, tempered by the fires of the forges, through to the Chartist Rebellions and the violence that met them, Cheshire guided his young company through every conceivable human emotion, and the harrowing tale of a slice of Welsh history sadly all but forgotten. The action took place on Trudi Molloy’s beautifully economical set. Broken ladders, harsh steel spiral staircases and vaulting scaffolding swept into the playing-space (its floor a mottled mess of reddish paint on black, like cooling molten metal) to emphasise the towering importance of industry in the lives of the folk portrayed, while gauzes slung from the metal balcony which runs round all four walls of the studio were utilised to tremendous effect to create mystery and a sense of voyeurism into lives one can only hope never have to be lived in their bittersweet horror again. The set was lit superbly by Helen Taylor, whose lighting design was more than a match for her last work with the department, in March’s ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in the Arts Centre. Cold steel blues were met with fiery, oppressive oranges, startling whites and warming straw hues at just the right moments to capture the mood of any given time. It was not a subtle lighting design, but this was not a subtle story, and the balance was struck perfectly. Add to this the breathtaking soundtrack designed by Charlie Carter (which ranged from lively folk music to grating industrial sounds, explosions and melancholy strains) and the live vocals of the cast and you have an environment rich with potential and dramatic fertility, expertly stage managed by Lewis Gwyther and his team, and beautifully portrayed in very evocative costumes overseen by Cat Winton.Though I would love to be able to take the time and space to do so, it would take too long to mention all the actors seen in the play, most of whom rose to the challenge of learning an unfamiliar Welsh accent, but it would be deeply remiss of me not to mention a few of the outstanding performances, and certainly those of the central characters.The role of Iestyn, whose story is told through the play, was taken on with great fervour by Graham Hill. His portrayal of Iestyn’s growing-up was, simply put, perfect. His journey from wide-eyed eight-year-old through to married man, from fist-fighting youngster to fearsomely protective head of his family was a joy to behold and utterly believable from start to finish. He kept a firm hold of the sense of intensely likeable naivety with which he started and created a character whose intentions were always pure and noble, even when he occasionally failed, and proved himself a talent worthy of note and one to watch for future work. Henry Pickett as Dada (Hywel) Mortymer was never anything less than galvanising. His towering presence and beautifully cadenced voice carried with them presence, honour, gravity and dignity, even in the moments of his greatest peril. And he was matched in this bravery and dignity by Kelly Williams as Mam Mortymer, who gave a fearsome, soaring and deeply human performance. Her angered speech to the striking miners towards the close of the play is one to remember – her power and poise throughout would put a lot of professional orators to shame. Sam Turner, who played both the youngest Mortymer – Jethro – and the tenderly childlike Willie Gwallter, also turned in a fine showing worthy of high praise. The two Mortymer girls – Edwina and Morfydd – were beautifully if necessarily very differently played by Patricia Graham and Sarah-Mair Gates. Though Graham’s Welsh accent was not very strong, this was negated by the simple power of her embodiment of the deeply religious younger daughter whose story is heart-warming and heart-breaking all at once. Gates proved a singularly dominant woman throughout, her portrayal of the agnostic, free-thinking, deeply driven Morfydd an absolute, unqualified tour-de-force. Her set-piece speeches were compelling in their clear, heartfelt delivery and her tragic story was told with dignified economy of movement and speech. This flower of Wales did not have to be hectic to grow wild and free.Special mention should also be made of the mighty presence of Alan Mehdizadeh, particularly in his role as Tomos Traherne, the preacher, whose voice was every bit as imposing as his physicality. Also the richly comic and darkly disturbing Tim Newns as Iolo Milk and Billy Handy and Kate Edwards who embodied every shade of femininity in her roles as Mrs. Gwallter, Sara Roberts and especially as Polly Morgan and Mari Dirion. Steven Humpherson was a deliciously menacing presence as Dai Probert while Kris Darby – always an engaging actor to watch – turned in tremendous and interestingly nuanced performances as Dafydd Phillips and Mr. Gwallter, the former bouncing off a delightfully prudish Mrs. Phillips played with verve and waspish style by Jennifer Woodhouse.Indeed, the entire cast (and I apologise to those who went unmentioned) gelled so completely, so beautifully in so deeply, gut-wrenchingly human a fashion that an entire community was created and every audience member was immediately drawn in to full, if silent membership of a neighbourhood bound by joy and terror, exhilaration and desperation. The live singing, under the musical direction of Elinor Powell, captured the best of Welsh close harmony, further underscored the shared bonds of the characters and offered the audience the chance to bind themselves to them.The story of the harsh life of industrial workers moved seamlessly from chapter to chapter. Major set-piece scenes were not obviously so until after their completion. One event naturally followed another and a beautifully-wrought journey was created for the company and the audience to go on, shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand. This chapter of Welsh history, with its sickening violence in the workplace which spills into politics, working-class wrangling and sanctioned torture, rape and murder is one which, to our shame, we often know nothing about. It is testament to the power of how this story was told by a group so young but so talented that by the end of the show, a man such as myself, confirmed and religious in my pacifism, was ready to join their fight. And more than that – as one who is notoriously difficult to impress, I openly wept and the only thing stopping my offering a standing ovation to this, the most beautiful and powerful play I have yet to see, is the fact that I was shaking so much that I couldn’t physically stand. This show put forward some harsh questions. How dare we forget these crushing chapters of our history? How dare we forsake the lives and spirits of these honest folk? Richard Cheshire and his company, though they took our innocence and ignorance, stripped them bare and raped them like the fair country they showed us, gave the audience the gift of knowledge and showed us the meaning of dignity. Men, women and children in Wales who lie dead in their graves this night will thank them heartily one day. One fine, glorious day. Reviewed by: Paddy Cooper"Cheers Paddy! Richard read it to us the day after our 3rd night (Probably our best performance). It pretty much hyped us up for the rest of the week. Part of acting in something like that means that you are never fully aware of the justification for such a reaction because you are not watching it as a member of the audience. However, I think I would have liked the play because of its professionalism and the fact that it was the finest cast I had ever performed with. All of them owned the roles and I felt quite humbled to be on stage with them. The play does have its flaws however, as I don't think it is a particulary good play and the actors have to work hard to achieve a sense of characterisation as the play consists of brief snippets of action.The other productions at that time were very impressive. I enjoyed Dream Play(directed by Dave Blumfield (Amadeus)) because it took me to a place that I hadn't visited in a long time in theatre. I was thoroughly engaged by Three Sisters (Directed by Vladimir Bouchler who I did a course with a year ago) because of the characterisation and the superb acting.At the moment, I am working on a devised piece called 'Cafe Cappella' due to be performed next month. To start off with I was very apprehensive about the whole thing because I was not very confident in devising and frustrated by the lack of a text to cling on to. However, gradually, I started to ease into it and my confidence in my writing has grown. The director Joan has created a character for me to act and write for and I am coming up with ideas every day for him.It has all paid off for me and is challenging me in new ways of performance.

Rape Of The Fair Country First Night: Robocop in the Kitchen and the missing gun

2006-11-08T15:56:00.000Z

Last Night was interesting. Yesterday our situation was that we hadn't finished our tech and had only ran act one. Bugger. From experience with the nomads I knew that tech runs can be hasty things so I still had confidence. A few days ago it suddenly hit me of what a mammoth undertaking this is. Its such a huge project and is the most ambitious thing I've ever done. I have 12 costume changes, several characters and 7 entrances into the space. The performance itself went rather well considering some of the costume I'd only got on the morning and was still getting used to. Minor cockups occurred with the cueing when during an intimate kitchen scene the sound of a furnace explosion was heard. This was my cue to come on for the next scene, which resulted in me entering the space and coughing. Also at the end of the play, I couldnt find my gun and had to use an axe handle instead. We got a good applause though at the end which was nice. I've got to go back in a bit as there are some wrinkles that need ironing out.

Gregynog (Again)

2006-10-27T18:00:00.000+01:00

Currently sat in Seminar 3 at Gregynog. And I think we have the wrong room. Got to go, what a waste of an entry. Made loads of development with my character though and have discovered the wonders of the eccles cake.

2006-10-21T23:11:00.000+01:00

I've tried to get to sleep for the last 2 hours. My head is so mixed up at the moment. I cannot think straight or focus on anything. I feel like I'm really slacking in this play. I don't get it. My back is painful at the moment. I just don't feel right at all. I need to sleep but I can't.

North Walian Accent

2006-10-20T22:22:00.000+01:00

Been a while since I've posted anything.Been very busy working on the stage adaptation of 'Rape Of The Fair Country'. Have set up a myspace for the page in which I've been putting photos of every rehearsal on to. I have luckily been cast as my favourite character; Daffyd Phillips. Its been a really fun experience so far as weve had lessons in singing the welsh hymns, accent training and stage combat. The set itself has gone through a few changes but it is going to be quite something. Got a trip to Gregynog again next week which should be a lot of fun. Today, we ran up to page 26 of Act 2 I think, and worked the scene where I get flogged (It happens to me twice in the play). Tomorrow, we have to be off books which means that I am learning my lines at the moment aswell as trying to understand the emotional nature of my character and his progress throughout the scenes. Tis fun. Saw 'A Scanner Darkly' yesterday. Quite an intersting film, although the rotoscoping made me feel a bit ill.Anyways early night for me methinks,Thing I've nabbed the North Walian accent now.

Rape of the Fair Country or how quavers cure hangovers

2006-10-04T23:23:00.000+01:00

Currently sat in my room with an aching stomach. Its been an interesting week. Started work on Rape of The Fair Country last Thursday. Although we do not know who we are playing yet (we find out tomorrow) weve worked on trying to perfect the accent, singing of welsh hymns and stage combat. We also went on a trip on saturday to Blaenavon. I gave Pete, Kelly and Sam a lift. As Kelly is from the area in question, it was easy to get there. The iron works itself was incredible and we spent time walking around the reconstructed houses. The guy talking to us was interesting aswell, with a sense of humour that was lost on all of us. After getting some chips we went to The Big Pit mine on the other side of the town. This was a fantastic experience as we managed to go down the pit and have a tour around the mine. Last night I made a prat of myself. This sort of thing happens. Its a metaphor for my life; normal with some stupid parts. I basically drank about 1/2 a bottle of whiskey in a bout 1/2 an hour (typing this now is making me feel quite sick). Nicola, had about 3 hours sleep because of my childish behaviour. I woke up this morning still drunk and went to rehearsals straight into a singing session. I managed to sober up by about 1 O'Clock this afternoon. What really saved me was a packet of Quavers which helped a lot with the hangover. Not drinking for a long time.Have to perform two speeches tomorrow. Am taking a bit of a gamble with one of them but hopefully will pay off. I don't care who I play as long as its not Iestyn.

Amadeus Revived - Second Night

2006-09-27T00:09:00.000+01:00

We finished it. I really put my all into it tonight and I'm shattered. The first act got a great response from the audience and the second act was the best I've ever done it. I really went for it today. My big speech was incredible to perform, I really felt connected to the audience.The interval was nice as it was David Kendel's birthday and Lizzie and Rachel had baked him a calorific chocolate cake. I had a slice and felt quite ill (because I hadn't eaten - I'm cooking something now though)which helped for the second act when I'm meant to have stomach pains. It was quite funny for Julie (Greybig) because she got really bad hiccups and couldnt go on for one of the opera scenes.It was nice to see the reactions from the first years as well. There a lovely bunch and their great to talk to. Today I drove into town with Nicki, Emily and Tom. Twas nice to spend time with Nicki and it helped me take my mind off the show. So now I have 2 days off now in which to prepare for my next play: Rape Of The Fair Country

Amadeus - Revived

2006-09-26T17:12:00.000+01:00

Last night went very well. I had a lot of pressure on me for several reasons; we were being reviewed, we were being filmed, we were being watched by first and third years who were having to study the play and the production.The first act was brilliant as I put a lot of energy into it. The second however lost alot of energy but still went well.We had a full auditorium aswell this time which gave me a proper full house to perform to.This is the review courtesy of theatre in Wales:"Bold design and barnstorming performances Amadeus Aberystwyth Community Theatre Aberystwyth Arts Centre September 26, 2006 The Aberystwyth Community Theatre Group, under the direction of Richard Cheshire, resurrect some potent ghosts from our musical history this week as they stage their revival run of June’s production of Peter Shaffer’s tour-de-force Amadeus. Bold design and barnstorming performances meld in this traditional but strikingly innovative run to give a theatrical experience audiences will remember for a long time.The action takes place in Vienna of the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, as Antonio Salieri, lately court composer to Emperor Joseph II of Austria, reflects in his potential last hours, on his plan to overthrow the talent of Mozart, whom he sees as God’s chosen musical conduit. This is achieved through a mixture of theatrical flashback and ‘present’ time depiction. This all takes place on Stu Art James’s breathtaking set – a faux-marquetry effect flooring with central Masonic device, while the court of the Emperor appears from within an imposing stage-high, flown, picture frame which, through use of curtaining, is its own free-standing and glorious motif. This environment is supplemented by Jac Gough and Cynyr Rhyc’s sumptuous lighting design, which at all points perfectly reflects the play’s emotional tenor, from soaring, golden heights, to cold, gloomy lows on the part of the central characters, and James Ellington’s sympathetic and expertly executed sound design, bringing Mozart’s music crashing, sweeping and whispering into the world h inhabits.Salieri, played by a top-form David Blumfield, was given a highly emotive portrayal. Seamlessly ageing from a man in his dying days to a young, vital musical force and back again, Blumfield gave a galvanising performance which carried the audience at all times and allowed sympathy to be poured onto Salieri’s internal brutality, by deftly exposing his inner turmoil. In an onstage world where frustration and passion grow and dissolve exponentially, Blumfield has the stamina and nous to keep pace without breaking an actorly sweat. The Mozart family, too, were a delight to the eye and ear. Kristofor Darby’s Mozart ever the ‘obscene child’ and, though physically overactive to the point of distraction in the first half, was always vocally engaging and settled well into Mozart’s descent into destitution, illness and paranoia in a performance that marks him out as a new talent to take note of. Similarly, Lizzie Bowen, who played a beautiful, delicate, frustrated Constanze Mozart, gave a performance of such poise and professionalism as to be constantly watchable, with hardly a flicker of doubt in her voice and face. Supporting performances such as those by David Kendell as Emperor Joseph and Colin Adams-Toomey as Count Orsini-Rosenberg added immeasurably to the high drama and occasionally comedy of court life, and were expert foils to the principals, with a wide variety of physical and vocal talents, not least of which being the voice of Roy Leett, who portrayed Baron von Swieten – a voice which rang deep and melodious, giving a stern gravity to many outlandish scenes at court.The play was impeccably directed by Richard Cheshire, who, though not always accounting for sightlines – many effects and stage pictures were geared towards the centre stalls and were almost lost on those at the sides – produced an exquisite and intensely memorable performance of one of the great British plays of the late 20th Century. This was a production which more than did justice to its director, its participants, its author and its subjects, and those of us lucky enough to have witnessed it will not soon forget its gentle subtleties and its powerful forcefulness. A credit to all involved, and to the spirit of solid community theatre. Reviewed by: Paddy Cooper" That was a nice little mention for me. The last play I was in that had been reviewed was 'Twelfth Night' way back in the first year.So anyway I'm in my PJM house at the moment. Its a very nice 6 roomed house with a big kitchen. My room is right nextdoor to craigs which is pretty cool. The most bizarre coincidence is that our house is right nextdoor to Nicki and Emily's.Right I better start getting ready now. At 7.30 tonight I will perform my last production of Amadeus.

Its been a while...

2006-09-19T12:05:00.000+01:00

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 BrechtMy 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 McDonahoughFor 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 ShermanPretty 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 ShafferIn 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 ShakespeareOne 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 far11.14 amMe 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 pmAm 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 far9.48pmCurrently 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 Far8.04 amCurrently 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 FarThis 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 Far4.05pmCurrently 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 Far8.53pmCurrently 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 Far9.08pmWe 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 200611.58pmWell 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.

Easter and John's Funny Feeling

2006-03-31T17:36:00.000+01:00

I’m back in Worcester now.Did fine in all my extracts. For Pillowman, I need to convey my right age and in Bent I need to look more closely at the character relationships. Had my first rehearsal for Amadeus and it went well. Twas just a readthrough but I think it will be quite fun to perform it on stage.Cooked for Nicki on Wednesday, and she was brave enough to try sea food. We also ate a Chocolate Brownie from Somerfield, which was one of the best things I have ever eaten.Today I did some housework, walked the dog and watched ‘Young Sherlock Holmes’ on DVD. Also, the mothers day present I ordered arrived today: a book entitled ‘I never knew that about Ireland’. Sorted out Craig’s new present for his birthday.All I have to do now is sort out this powerpoint thing for mum.Nicki has given me Gizmo to borrow which is cool, and I will hopefully take him to Ireland with me.

Second Year Drama updates.

2006-03-26T12:49:00.000+01:00

Second day of filming for Silence went well. Lovely weather. The climax of the days filming was me dressing in Owain's subway uniform and shouting Nooooooooooo!!!!!! on the castle. Got a few looks.Have a rehearsal for Amadeus on Tuesday. Got to organise a rehearsal for my Equus group tomorrow (performing at 20.00. This is how my groups are going at the moment:Equus:My actors are understanding the characters and have almost got the lines. Had some more ideas for the performance.Corialanus:Me and Aidan are thinking of setting it around Gregenog's snooker table and have experimented with different ideas with acting with it. Know the lines.Pillowman:Got further with this than any other group. Did a rehearsal outside in the castle and it was brilliant! Gets better each time we do it. Takes alot out of you though. Know the lines.Bent:Know the characters but need to make sure I fully know the lines.Life of Galileo:Know the lines. Playing around with character ideas.Currently experimenting with different character ideas using music.Went and watched the School Shakespeare's production of Midsummer Nights Dream and it was brilliant!!! I knew a lot of the cast anyway because I did Twelfth Night with them last January.Showed Nicki 'Spirited Away' last night and she seemed to like it.Going home next Thursday, and then Ireland bound!

Yellow Car

2006-03-18T19:58:00.000Z

Have just made a chicken salad.Soon after last updating it snowed. It wasn't just a light dusting which didnt settle. It was a blizzard. As soon as it happened I ran outside and made a (rather crap) snow angel on the pavement. It wasn't long before we had a go at making a snowman. We made the body and we needed a big enough torso. Luckily some guys in the street were also making a snowman, and we teamed up with them to create one. Having been taught how to make a proper snowman by Nicola on 'Animal Crossing' I felt pretty confident. It was one of the best ones ever! We gave it a nose made from a cucumber, eyes of oranges and a mouth made from a bannana. So he was pretty health concious. We then dragged it into the middle of the road and left it to have a snowball fight. There was many casualties. I got caught in the crossfire of one on the way to Nicki's. She didn't know it was snowing so I dragged her outside to see. The next day was amazing except that someone had driven through our snowman. The whole of Aber looked like a ski resort.Holly came to visit for the day which was cool considering I hadnt seen her since Christmas. I took her to the bakery and then to Spartacus' before eating lunch on the beach. Here Holly played Grandma's footsteps with a seagull. We then went back to the house and watched Batman Begins. Craig's birthday was great for all. I made him a card that included all the stuff that made him laugh including a list of things that wouldn't have happened if he had gone to America. These include, we wouldn't flinch if we saw a yellow car or that we wouldn't have known that there was a dog next-door. The theme for the day was yellow cars. This is a game that is played by Bugsy and John and simply involves punching someone whenever you see a yellow car. We all went to Bar E and went for a meal before playing table football (champion) and beating Delta Force at pool. Afterwards we went back to the house and had chocolate tart (with a yellow car in the centre). Recently his present arrived (A Chelsea hoody) and I've got to send it back as it is too big (He'll grow into it).Just finished the edited teaser poster for Godspell.Found out that I have got a part in Amadeus, and me and John are playing the two Venticello's who are the town's gossips in the play. At last I have something to do before the summer!Also just finished first day's filming for Owain's (Twelfth Night, The Other Side, Human Being) new film for Film Soc's 48 hour film competition. I'm playing the lead which is pretty cool and I'm depressed and suicidal. The film is really comical with wonderful visual humour. It was a wonderful way to spend the day; pretending to hang myself in the bathroom, helping create fake brain guts out of tomato sauce, baked beans and porridge, eating at weatherspoons, shaking a box. I'm looking forward to tommorrow where I get to see Dan (Twelfth Night, 24, Other Side) as a towny and me getting wacked in the face with a frisbee.http://www.freewebs.com/kingoftheducks

Its been ages

2006-03-03T19:14:00.000Z

Apoligies to anyone for lateness. Have fallen foul to a number of problems over the last 2 months:1) Although my timetable is comparitively empty to that of preceding semesters, I have managed to plug the gaps with other things.2) My computer had a 4 week hissy fit that resulted in me formating the computer.As so much has happened the best thing to first would be to start talking about my modules for this year (Got 74 for my Production Environment Essay). I got my results back yesterday for 1st semester and they were way better than I could have hoped. So Happy! Especially with Acting One and Theatre and Society.Acting TwoManaged to pass acting one which meant that I am currently now being taught by Joan and Chesh. Joan Mills (Flight) classes have been interesting as she has tonnes of energy. We are currently working on Shakespeare sonnets. Mine is this (which I have learnt)That time of year thou mayst in me beholdWhen yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hangUpon those boughs which shake against the cold,Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.In me thou see'st the twilight of such dayAs after sunset fadeth in the west;Which by and by black night doth take away,Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire,That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,As the death-bed, whereon it must expire,Consum'd with that which it was nourish'd by.This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,To love thee well, for thou will leave ere long.Picked it at random. As well as this we are currently learning a Georgian chant (Mara-val-jam-i-eh) which is pretty cool. Have chosen my monologue aswell now which is another Brecht one. It is The Little Monk's speech from 'Life of Galileo'. Thinking of initially basing him on a character from Babylon 5 called Lenir.With Chesh (Merchant of Venice), we are working on Shakesperian duologues. I am working with Aidan who I know from the Vladimir course. Aidan works at one of the bakeries in town (which is amazing!) which I lost twice when trying to show it to Em. After every practical we go down there and buy something (I recommend the Apple Turnover or Jam Square). Theres a thing called a Rheidol surprise which you have to try when there. DirectingVery interesting. Hopefully the gamble may pay off as I was originally going to do Theatre in Education. I have to direct two people in an extract of my choice.By a stroke of luck, I am directing John (Vladimir, Journey's End) and Aidan (Vladimir, Coriolanus) so I know I can trust these guys. Have just told them which parts they are playing and hope to have a run through soon. After trying to find an extract (mum and dad brought my box of plays)I finally returned to Equus by Peter Shaffer in a hope to see it afresh from a director's point of view.As well as directing an extract I also have to act in another 2. I am working with:Maria (Vladimir, Acting two) who is directing me and Graham (Acting One, Acting Two) in Pillowman which is an amazing play.Dewie who is directing me and Tim (Vladimir, Directing) in Bent which is going to be an interesting one to do.American VoicesAs well as the practical, I also have a nice theoretical module as well. This was another gamble (I no nothing of American Theatre) and seems to have paid off. I am really enjoying the module and have recently handed in an essay on stereotyping. Read an interesting play called 'Topdog/Underdog'.Only 3 modules, but they are busy ones.Got confirmation of accomodation in PJM which I am happy about.Auditioned for 'A day in the Death of Joe Egg' and got down to the final audition but unfortunately didnt get the part (oh well). Tried desperately to find something to fill the time after Second Year since I am annoyingly unable to do Baz's thing in Cardiff (Twas a tough decision but a good one as it meant that I had two days spare to revise). Therefore Nicki convinced me to audition for Amadeus by Peter Shaffer (Equus) which Cheshire is directing for the Arts Centre. I auditioned and managed to drag my mate John up aswell. Alot of people were there and me and John ended up getting a call back. I was lucky enough to audition with Lizzie who I had worked with on 'Twelfh Night' a year ago.On the subject of John, him and Bugsy (Vladimir, Journey's End) have taught me and others something called 'The Game'. The rules are simple: If you think of the game then you lose. When you lose you have to admit it outloud. Its bloody annoying. And typing it now, means that I have lost repeatedly.Parents visiting this weekend, will bring me MS Office to install. Nicki has introduced me to several wonderful Tv series. My favourite is Millenium (which we are about to start on the 3rd Season) and my new interest is that of Babylon 5 (just started the second season). We both agreed that for Valentine's day we would not get each other anything but both of us still did. For me, she developed all the photos of us together (some of which I have on my wall). I made her a card and bought her an eore toy that she liked. She has also bought me recently a Batman graphic novel which I need to read soon.On the subject of Batman, I have really gone to town with my craze. Have bought the entire animated series on DVD and it is amazing! Currently working through my DVD collection at the moment (on The Usual Suspects). Had the Curtain Call gala last weekend. This meant that I spent the week avidly trying to do the marketing for it. It turned out really cool in the end and the gala was a great success. I was selling tickets for it on the door.Have also been introduced to the Wonderful thing that is 'The Ricky Gervais Show'. Now I am not a big fan of Ricky Gervais, but he himself isnt the star of the show. That role goes to his friend, Karl Pilkington who is a leg-end.To Do list:Direct 1 ExtractAct in 2 ExtractsAct in 1 SonnetAct in 1 MonologueAct in 1 DuologuePay for GregenogPay for LondonPay for ElectricityHoping to watch Serenity soon with the house (Nicki introduced me to Firefly).Went for a walk with Grae (An Ideal husband, Who Bumped off the Baggage?) and we covered a fair distance in a short amount of time, visiting the cannon, llanbadarn and constitution hill.Did Mike's soap opera 'Shoreline' which was hilarious.

6 is an unusual number

2006-01-09T16:28:00.000Z

Just handed my production Environment Essay.Now I have time to do this sort of thing.I chose to compare the productions Macbeth which I saw last year with that of The Woman in Black (which was amazing!).Have fengshued my room now which means I have my bed next to my radiator which should be warmer.Christmas was a good laugh with my brother and me finding a variety of different ways to wrap dad's presents. Got a lot of Batman stuff aswell as V for Vendetta and 1602. Worked at the pub for new years eve again which was good as I hardly left the house all christmas.Spent New Years day walking around PensaxJoined Mr Chivers, Gary and Harty on an expedition up the Malvern Hills.Oh the last week of term was manic. Had 3 essays to hand in in about 10 days! Did it though and went on a trip to London and saw some plays at the westend.Woman in Black: Amazing, bought the text and a poster for it off ebay. Love the play and read alot of Victorian ghost stories over christmas.The History Boys: Was quite funny but seemed a bit overbugetedThe Producers: Hilarious. Springtime for Hitler was brilliantJourneys End: Not as good as Craig said it was, but this was a repeated productionKing Kong: Saw it in Leicester Square where I found that my old school friend Kempy works. Twas amazing though!Came back here on Saturday and Nicki cooked me a really nice meal. This will probably be the healthiest thing I have all semester.Going to chill for a bit now and watch the Family Guy Movie with Emily.The only people in the flat are me, craig and cat.

Lots of new things

2005-11-29T20:33:00.000Z

Its been a year now since I did this journal thing. The weird coicidence was that as I walked out of my scenograhy lecture today I heard the opening monlogue for 'American Beauty'. In the room nextdoor a first year film group were doing the exact same thing I did last year.Performed some of Journey's End today. Twas quite good however we need to work more in it.Birthday was amazing! Got lots of nice new things. Nicki got me a Batman duvet and a very rare production booket from the new film! Emily gave me enough sugar to make Sam weep. I also got lots of Wallace & Gromit stuff (The film is amazing!). Now to new stuff...I have apart from my bday things a new ebay account which I have been using a fair bit.Craig has a new laptopSam has some Lucky Charms which he ordered of the internet for £10! Hes a lad.Jon has..a new haircutCat has food poisoning, bummer.At the moment I am currently flitting between the essays that are due next week. I'm trying to find a time to see Chesh so I can change my module choices for next year.Also for the last 4 hours Jon has been trying to find the TV remote (the important one) which is somewhere around the house (still whatever keeps him entertained). This has meant that he has literally stuck his arm into every item of furniture in the house. We do however believe it to be in Sam's room.By the way it is very cold in fair aber.*PS since typing this Jon has in fact broken into Sam's room as drastic times have ultimately called fro drastic measures*

So Cold

2005-11-20T11:30:00.000Z

Typing in gloves because of how cold it is at the moment. Also trying to get up to date with my working note book and doing some reading for my upcoming essays (yay).Saw Harry Potter 4 on Friday and thought it was rather good. It was however a poorly edited film simply because of how much they had to cram into 2.5 hours. Craig's lent me the music which is rather good as well. Family came and visited me yesterday which was great except that I had still got bad indigestion from the night before (Rushing to see HP4) which meant I just spent the day eating rennies and sipping hot water/whiskey. We all went to Newquay where we walked around the harbour and sat in a cafe. Afterwards we went to the Rhy-Pennau and had something to eat. Got some W & G mugs!Sorted out acting groups for exam. I'm with Bugsy, John (both who I did the acting course with) and Fivo. We are doing Journey's End and I am playing the part of Hibbert. I studied the play for A level and loved it and we are seeing it in London next month.

Vladimir

2005-11-12T23:25:00.000Z

Just completed the most important course of my life. I can't effectively put into words the amount I have learnt in 4 days. Vladimir is a legend. I first heard of him last year when some of the second years who were in Twelfth night had him. I can't believe how lucky I am to be on a course with such talented individuals aswell. I have learnt alot from these people and have found it interesting to see how they have changed over the past 4 days. I'm never going to read a play in the same way again. We basically worked on scenes from 'Three Sisters' by Anton Chekhov. I played Chebutykin and Kelagin? and I had to do a drunken speech to the audience. Vladimir helped me alot though. This presents a turning point in my career I think. I had begun to become slightly disillusioned over the nature of practical acting, but this guy has shown me how limitless it is. Its even made me consider directing, and I have emailed Chesh to see if I could change my modules. I am adding him now to the list of the dramatists who have influenced me the past 5 years:Sue Rickman (Still teaching at Chantry)Pat Abbott (Same as above)Tom Knight (Teaching in Africa)Daniel Morgan (C&T)Pietro Cardillo (In Manchester)Allison Reeves (Still at WSFC)Paul Roseby (NYT)B (NYT)Dave Blumfield (Tom's Uncle(NYT))BazStephVladimir BoucherMe and Em wrote the panto in the end and my mate Steve (Practical group, Dogs on Tour and Russian Workshop) is playing one of the ugly step sisters. Went out for Halloween (Year since Craig's mate Becky visited). I hand-made my scarecrow costume and scared alot of people. Bumped into Owain, who has some projects lined up.Mentally knackered and worn out.Have to learn Macbeth lines for Tuesday.

Wireless!

2005-10-12T10:14:00.000+01:00

Currently sat outside my room as close to the router as possible! This is the only way in which I can be sure of a consistent internet connection at the mo as its being a bit tempramental. Have one lecture today at llanbadarn and am meeting em to get a taxi up. My course this year already is shaping up to be really interesting. However, there is a lot of work for me to do (lots of reading) which means that I have decided to relax the amount of drama I do socially. At the moment I have this left to do:-Eat Breakfast-Read Hedda Gabla-Read up for Theatre in Society Seminars-Essays (yay)-Read reccomended stuff for my course-Go and see Productions (School For Scandal Tonight)-Pay For London Trip (which will be amazing)-Update Working Notebook-Write a pantomine (with Em for Jen)-Update the Curtain Call Website-Jon's Bday (We have bought him 'The Motorcycle Diaries' and 'A Buddha'Just got over a cold which wasn't very nice

Lost

2005-10-03T10:35:00.000+01:00

I am currently on a computer in the Parry-williams building at the moment eagerly awaiting the opening of the student reception. I will therefore soon hopefully be able to purchase two module readers for my course this semester. Its great being back in aber, but I've had a pretty madcapped week (as usual).I lost my phone twice (but found it) and left my card at the sports centre (while getting my new card). This meant that when mum came to visit that I could not contact her a all.The house has got character though. We've (they've) installed a new phoneline and we are currently waiting for our broadband to activate. This will be brilliant as it will mean that I wont have to keep treking up the hill to check my e-mails. Rundown of Our House:Living room - Square cell-like thing that doesnt look as if much living has occured. Old fashioned style patterns apparantly tell a story. Although now Jon has put up a few posters thats makes it all look slightly modern.Kitchen- Tiny!!! Us 4 blokes cooked the other night together. We had Cajun coated chicken and hallucinagenic sour cream. Bathroom- Grubby but has a new toilet and shower.Bedroom- I like my room as I was lucky enough to get a nice bookcase and I have very a bright duvet and rug (thanks to Ikea).Went to a social last night for Curtain Call with all of us sporting ou brand new hoodies. For some reason they have gone from black to a blue very similar to that of my old year 11 jumper. I did some mingling but not really enough I feel. I essentially helped Mike and Adam cockneyerise songs (OOOOOOOO). Gawd bless em. Have got a seminar at 3, and have to read jup beforehand.

August

2005-08-31T19:40:00.000+01:00

Had a fantastic two week holiday in Italy which was very nice. Twas pretty much a coldplay marathon throughout which made it a very chilled break away. We spent the first week in Tuscany at the same site we visited last year. This is essentially the sort of italy you see on pasta sauce bottles. The week after we spent in Lake Garda which was much more swissish (great word). We did the usual driving thing which was long but rewarding at the same time. Favourite places were Venice (where I bought a hat) and Lake Garda.Few days after I came back Nicki came to stay which was fantastic. I took her round worcester(not very exciting), showed her the commandery (which is full of weird models of people), showed her Grimley (not very exciting) and showed her the pretty woods at Shrawley. I showed her Messiah & Messiah 2 which she enjoyed (even though she could predict what would happen). Speaking of which Messiah IV finished last night and it was quite good although a little unbelievable. She showed me Cross-worlds which had some interesting ideas.Went to aber to see my house for next year. Took Loz with me, which was interesting. Turned up at the pub on Monday to find that my landlord had been injured in a car accident and wouldnt be back til wednesday. So slightly miffed at the fact that I barely managed to park in aber and would not be getting into my house that day; I went and visited Em in her giant yellow party house. Tis very huge indeed and leans to one side. On tuesday, Loz and I went for a walk around Tywyn and then went bodyboarding. The waves were huge and hit you from all directions. After that we went and picked up Em and we went to the chippy. On wednesday, I eventually met my landlord and managed to pick my room (upstairs). The house is nicer than I remember with the kitchen having more space. My room also has alot of useful furniture, although I may need a new matress. Current eta in aber is September 23rd.Have read a few books this month.- The Rats- Theo's Odyssey - Very interesting but hard going if your not religious- Harry Potter VI - Hmmm a very mature step for J.K. Rowling and feels more like a second part of the fifth book. I liked the fact that yet again I managed to survive a long time without knowing the ending.- The Dante Club - Just like Messiah IV - but a very interesting work of faction- The Return of Sherlock Holmes- The Shadow of the Wind - My favourite of allI have just started my annual Lord of the Rings marathon, and have nearly finished the hobbit.My current interest is sudoku and I have spent alot of time on miniclip.com playing it.Got the Dentist tomorrow. Yay.

July

2005-07-25T22:10:00.000+01:00

Quite a busy month here. Went to stay at nicki's again and again it was amazing. What made it great aswell was that em was there as well so all 3 of us hanged out together. We watched Batman Begins and I also got to meet Nic's friends this time which was cool. We went to a pub called 'The Rat and Parrot' and had drinks there and basically watched dvds (Angel, Zach and Reba). The day I left was the day that London was hit by the bombs which meant that I was delayed on my train journey for about 2 hours extra. In addition to this my sister was also on a college trip to London aswell and had to be diverted back. I was dumped off at Shrub Hill station (a part of worcester I'm not familiar with) and had to leg it to the bus station to get the parish link with my sister.Saw 'The Descent' with mr fain and it scared the hell out of us.Went and spent the day with Nicki in oxford. Was quite wet and fortunatley she brought a map so we knew where we were going. We spent most of the time in the natural history museum. It was all together interesting because the book I was reading at the time was set around Oxford.Went and played golf with my brother.Went round to Kates for a BBQ. Was nice to see everyone from college again. Chivers and Harty who didnt want to drink and drive. Camped with Cumella in a tent in a field near the quarry.Bought some new DVDs (Hellboy, Big Fish, The Goonies [That Cumella loves],I Robot and Messiah 1+2).Finished Reading Instance of the Fingerpost, Finished 'The Rats'Bought my Harry Potter which I have not read yet.Took the dog to the kennels today.Grae's just told me that some film makers will be looking at his script tomorrow.

June

2005-07-01T19:05:00.000+01:00

Well my first month away from aber has just finished and it has been quite a quiet one. I've been doing odd work really such as security for the funrun held here in worcester. In addition to this I'm doing a few shifts at the Wagon Wheel which gets me out of the house.My highlight of the month was my little venture down to visit Nicki for a week in Woking. It was one of the most relaxing times for me ever. At Aber I was always busy and at home I feel guilty if I have a lie in. So at Chobham it was very nice. She even took me to Horsell Common where in 'War of the Worlds' the spaceship crashed. Unfortunately this site is not in the new movie. We pretty much spent the week watching DVDs and stuff which was great fun.I've just done a talk today at my old college where I was part of a panel to inform AS students about the concept of University. I mumbled a few of my words and I think I came across a bit too strong as I was so excited about Aberystwyth.Watched Batman Begins with Mr. Fain and Ben and it is amazing. One of the best renditions of the dark knight I have ever seen. Probably watch it again.Started and well on the way to finally completing my portfolio of everything dramery I have done.Finished 'Altered Carbon'(the book Nicki lent me) and am now on 'An Instance of the Fingerpost'.Going to visit Nicki again next week and Ems there at the moment so that'll be a laugh.Got to start/finish the website for Curtain aswell as do something for Jon's birthday.Oh I also have a cameo in the new C&T play which I'm quite chuffed about. I play a mirror and a policeman.This month has been pretty quiet though compared to a month at aber.

End of Year One

2005-06-04T22:04:00.000+01:00

I'm back in Worcester now. This was how my day went:Feng Shui-ed all of my belongings into 2 vehicles.Drove to Twywn.Realised that I had left all of my Pots and Pans in the kitchen.Text from Cat saying that I had left all my Pots and Pans in the kitchen (sausages).Received encouraging-abuse from my mother.Drove ahead to Aber.Rang the doorbell to find that Rich was there to let me in.Feng-Shuied a bit more.Drove into town and bought myself a new Buff.Drove home.It feels really weird to be back. My brother has somehow gained a baby guinea pig that remains trapped in his hoody pocket. The thing also apparantly urinated down his back at one point. The final exam was alright. Feels like it was ages ago though (due to the fact that I didn't sleep til 4 this morning). The night before we had a big revision session at Ems. This involved me sitting on a desk chair reading notes while she straightened my hair.A few nights before that Nicki came round and we watched some Star Wars and Family Guy. It was really good.Speaking of which, she has been very kind enough as to actually give me her original copy of Cube on DVD. This is due to the fact that she has just aqquired the trilogy.Yesterday Em solved an interesting equation:Penbryn bunch + Trefloyne = 42 = A jolly good plan(No Oven but lots of food) (Oven with No Food)So basically after me, Cat and Rich had cleaned everywhere the Penbryn bunch came round and we ate.Well, I am no longer a fresher. It seems strange to think that less than a year ago I was doing Sports week. That week was so important for me. Firstly it got me used to Aber but also it meant that I got to know Sam and Craig.Got to get a job. Don't want to but I have to.

Sprite Fairies and BBQ

2005-05-29T23:25:00.000+01:00

Took Emily and Nicki to Dolgoch 2 days ago. Twas very good. Stocked up at Co-op on the way before heading there. Spent about 4 hours sitting around (did some revising) and paddling in the stream. We also constructed a make-shift fairy house in a little hollow. We also used acorn lids as bowls and filled them with the remains of the Kettle chips and Sprite. Weather was fantastic. Managed to have some honey ice cream on the way back. Went and had a BBQ with the Penbryn bunch today. I was elected as the person who had to show them where to go(?). I took them up to where I call 'The View' about halfway up the hill (Me and Jon discovered sometime back). It was a really good day. I went and grabbed Craig from constitution hill (revising) and brought him along. We had equally good sausages(emily) and burgers(james). We also toasted marshmallows (tom). I got a bit adventurous and tried to toast two at the same time. This meant however that it became difficult to eat. I ended up getting all over my face and arms. Carrying the BBQ things back was a laugh. They first started to melt there way through the plastic bag which made it hard to carry. And to top it off as I was walking mine caught alight again. I wouldn't have realised if James hadn't pointed it out. Luckily Emily doused it with a bottle of coke. However, it later started to show signs of starting again. More dousing finally put it out, and I was glad to finally dump it in the PJM bin.Craig came round afterwards and I ripped him the Episode III soundtrack. Its really weird/quiet not having Jon here. Hes probably luvin it back home though.Worried about my exam though. Have done bugger all revision. I'm just not in the mood really.

Revenge of the Sith, Football, Curtain

2005-05-26T14:21:00.000+01:00

Me, Jon, Craig and Sam watched Revenge of the Sith on May 19th at the Commodore. The film wasn't too bad but was exactly what I expected. Amongst the geeks with lightsabres I spotted Grae, Adam and Mike. Adam said it was a beautiful film and that there was nothing more tearful than watching two wookies roaring up to space.Went to the Nomads awards last Sunday at the Cambrian. The amount of times that I have used that upstairs room is amazing. For Twelfth Night (Dress rehearsal), Ideal Husband, and the Walking Club. Here were the nominations.Best ActorJim (Twelfth Night)Paddy (Twelfth Night) WinnerLee (Channel Hopping)Kris (An Ideal Husband)Grae (An Ideal Husband)Best ActressEllie (Twelfth Night)Winner Rachel (Twelfth Night)Becky (An Ideal Husband)Hayley (Oleana)Best Supporting ActorColin (Twelfth Night) WinnerJoe (Twelfth Night)Charles (An Ideal Husband)Dan (24)Best Supporting ActressLizzie (Twelfth Night) Winner I thinkAnnie (An Ideal Husband)Natasha (An Ideal Husband)Best DirectionChannel HoppingTwelfth NightOleanaAn Ideal Husband WinnerBest Production TeamChannel HoppingTwelfth NightOleana Winner I thinkAn Ideal HusbandSexiest Boy in CostumeJoe (Twlefth Night)WinnerKris (An Ideal Husband)Joe (Channel Hopping)Charles (An Ideal Husband)Sexiest Girl in CostumeLizzie (Twelfth Night)Hayley (Oleana)Becky (An Ideal Husband)WinnerAnnie (An Ideal Husband)Best Foreign AccentColin (Twelfth Night)WinnerCharles (An Ideal Husband)Lee (Channel Hopping)Best IdiosyncracyCharles' Accent??????Tim and Ben, for showing up to rehearsals pissedJoe's realisatin that there actually is a rehearsal WinnerMost Nomadic in the Nomadic PlayersMelissaCharlesAnnaKrisCatherineIt was pretty much a clean sweep for Joe. Dan accepted the awards for the people who weren't there. Afterwards, we went to Spoons and ended up at Bens where we watched a really creepy Dr. Who episode (kid in a gas mask) and listened to Team America.Me and Jon got bored one day so we took Craig on a road trip after we bought cat's birthday presents. I took them to Tywyn (Jon pronounces it Taiwan) and to Dologoch Falls (My favourite place in the world). I also bought the Revenge of the Sith music that day aswell. We then dropped Craig off at Aber and me and Jon headed to Ynslas where we met some of the Nomads lot for a game of football. I hadn't been here for ages. Its basically a vast expanse of beach which you can drive on to. The others bought a really light Noddy ball. I knew what was going to happen to it as soon as it was kicked. One pass and it shot up the beach. We did however fond a bowl like place in which we were slightly sheltered from the wind.TEAM ONE - Joe, Dan, Me, Lizzie, The Wind (first half),TEAM TWO - Ben, Jon, Ben, Jim, The Wind (second half),I ended up doing in my ankle again (bloody rabbit burrow) and did the other one in later, which meant I couldn't walk properly. It was really windy though with the sand blowing in your eyes.Me, Jon and Chris slaved over Cat's birthday animation thing. Which we all believe to be the best of the lot so far.I am also now officially the web designer for the Aberystwyth Musical Theatre Society. I sent some logo designs to Al(who was fantastic in Pygmalion) and hes happy with them.Yesterday I made a book wish list for the summer: An Instance of the Fingerpost Grass for His Pillow Brilliance of the Moon Dead Run – PJ Tracy The Ninth Gate The Name of the Rose Spirit Walker Altered Carbon The Treatment The Half Blood Prince The Hobbit The Lord of the Rings The Solomon Keys The Shadow of the Wind The Time Traveller’s Wife The AlienistThere will be more no doubt.Went round to Penbryn last night. Good laugh. Watching Cube and the Fifth Element today.

Playstation 3

2005-05-18T23:19:00.000+01:00

Me and Jon have just watched the unveiling of Playstation 3 at E3 2005. Bloody hell. I am excited.I have a TV exam tomorrow.I'm still excited.My hand still hurts from when I scolded it.I'm still excited.

Who Bumped of the Baggage- Night II: Stewie Hat

2005-05-13T20:54:00.000+01:00

Jacob Barnard did it.Done about 2/3s of my Film/TV revision.Sorry this is incredibly late.2nd night of the show went well. Mucked up one of my lines though. During the performance I thought it would be good to put some of the Irish Stew in Tim's Hat. Jen had to throw it out afterwards though.Afterwards, because of the wet conditions we all went to Ben's and ate the BBQ there.Revison is a hell of a drag at the moment.So much has happened.Handed in my working notebook.Oh yeah the day of the second night was the same in which I had my performance exam.Me and Dom's duologue went really well (for the first time ever). I've kept the box of matches. We went first so it wasn't too bad. My monologue was alright but I wish that I was more relaxed when doing it.So for the first time ever I have no plays to do. Weird. Me and John walked to the cannon today. Fantastic day. Ate at Grae's last night, we had Mexican it was pretty cool. Talked to Alan about being their webmaster thing for the Aber Musical Theatre Society. Doing that at the moment.Took part in a Film thing yesterday aswell. Watched Ginger snaps II (good film) & Ginger snaps III (not so good film) and filled in a questionnaire. Bit miffed that I didn't get to meet Emily Perkins though.Craig got me Jon and Sam, tickets to Revenge of the Sith. Amazing. I personally cannot wait to see the light sabre scenes. How sad.Personally the film I am looking forward to the most is Batman Begins. I've been following this film for about 7 years.Just got over a cold. Bought Worms2, Tomb Raider 4 and Tomb Raider 5 for a tenner.

Who Bumped Off the Baggage - Night One: Wilko!

2005-05-04T22:48:00.000+01:00

Just finished the first Night. Angela Stropfort did it.Been ages since I done this could not be bothered. Alot has happened.Got pulled over by the police (bit of a bugger) for a routine check. It was a because I had Chris, Jon and Craig in the back weighing it down. Past the breathalyser test though (still got the tubey thing). Unfortunately because I did not have my documentation concerning MOT and insurance, I had to go and see them on the saturday. Luckily my family were visiting.Did some filming with Owain on his new film 'Human Being'. I played the bastard boyfried who leaves a girl as the last survivor on earth. I think I will have to refilm a bit of it though due to the dance music upstairs.Currently nurturing the idea for a potential script at the moment. Just getting it on paper. Something for the summer I think.Grae has lent me the the entire series 7 of Buffy on DVD. I am currently wading through all the episodes whilst guilty to the fact that I have to revise for the oncoming exams. These include the performance exam I have to do tomorrow.Went to a mini-dinner party at Grae's a few nights ago. I was really good. Grae cooked Mexiacan but got bladdered on the absinyth (excuse the spelling, I am very tired).My family visited at the weekend for Laurence/Dad's birthday. Aber was really busy though. Went for a meal.This car thing has had quite an effect on me. I am more wary than usual now when driving. i dont know why though. I just avoid driving when I can. Not that I drive much anyway.Oh yes the play. Well we performed to a packed crowd of about 12. Not as little as 24 but that does not matter. As Peter Hall said (more or less) "A proud company plays to a half-full audience, a confused company plays to a half-empty one". Either way there was lots of chairs free.Lines were alright. I did fine in the end and got a few laughs. Helen said that I am to be nominated for the Ian McKellen award. I basically wanted an excuse to play Gandalf.The funnuest part was the end of the play. We actually hadn't rehearsed a way in which we signalled to an audience what the end would be. I said stuff like "Yes Barnard what are you doing this evening", "Do you want his number", "Do you want a pen?"Just leant Grae 'The Other Side' hope he likes it.Joe told me that the eagerly long awaited 'Twelfth Night' DVD's will be ready by Friday.

Ideal Husband - 3rd Night: The last line was said

2005-04-25T17:12:00.000+01:00

Glyn remembered his last line. "I hope you will make this man an Ideal Husband"It was a good thing. Well its over now. I really did not get on with my character. 3 months of work. Learning lines whilst skiing. Its weird considering I was asked to do this job at the 24 thing. The audience loved it.Grae pocketed the watch he used on stage. While we were backstage we began talking about a script he's wrote called 'Aberystwyth'. Hes offered me the role of Dave that sounds pretty cool.After the play. I thankfully parted forever with Becky's trousers. We all then headed to the Bay, Rummers and then finally Ben's house. At Rummers we had a mini awards ceremony, where I got "Best replacement on the planet" and a carnation, which is on my window sill. Me still having an essay to do left quite early.Yesterday, I got up late and met Owain for filming on his film 'Human Being'. I basically played the bastard boyfriend who ignores the girl. There was singing involved though. Another song to learn this week! After that I went to a new rehearsal for 'Who Bumped off the Baggage?'We ended up on the beach with a large bottle of Brandy watching the sunset. I love this town.Today I handed in my essay and also handed a DVD in to the office so that 'Dogs on tour can be dumped down'.By the way, spoke to Joe who says that the 'Twelfth Night' DVD will be a double disc thing.Got a rehearsal tonight. Trying to perfect my Gandalf Voice.

An Ideal Husband - Second Night: Trousers and Apple Juice

2005-04-23T14:24:00.000+01:00

We are going to have to ration the apple juice.That is our wine for the play. I can't help swigging the stuff.Second night was overall better than the first night.However, in act 1 I felt as if my acting was a bit off, I think I became lazy. However, it soon picked up. I liked the audience although they didn't outwardly laugh as much as the first night.Mike and Adam thought it was good though.Overslept this morning. Had half an hour to leg it down to the commitee rooms in the union to audition people again.Filming tomorrow with Owain for his film. Trying to do a drama esaay at the moment. Slow progress.Finished post-production for John and Sian's film yesterday, did some more voiceovers with them.Got to shop at some point.Tired as hell.

An Ideal Husband - First Night: The Timelord and Women's Trousers

2005-04-22T00:21:00.000+01:00

Very Interesting day.This was how it went.Started with a 9.00 lecture that was cancelled. Bit of a bugger.At 10.00 I met some 3rd years to do filming with them. One of them was John's flatmate so I sort of knew her. What I do in their film is essentially start it. Its a music video which begins with a clown in the middle of the stage who sings to the audience the first 30 minutes of the song. This meant that I had to repeatedly listen to the song in order to remember it for filming. I was then made-up to look like a clown using the fingertips of the two 3rd years and some face make-up. I also donned an orange shirt, a suit with a dandelion and a bowler hat. Filming went really quickly and they were really pleased with it.At 12.00 I drove to the Arts College and met Tim and Catherine and together we eventually managed to cram the chaise-lounge into the corsa. It was agony. Eventually it worked, but the boot wouldn't shut completely. With Catherine riding shotgun we eventually made it to the museum (going the wrong way out of the oneway street, cutting up a white car and parking in a disabled spot). At 2.00 I had a film seminar and after that I went back to the flat and did my bloody hair. Ow. Incidentally by the end of the night Grae said that both our hair styles matched.At 3.45 I drove to a Drama practical at Llanbadarn for 4.10. Me and Dom worked on the Dumb-Waiter and its going to be quite funny (when we know the lines).I finished the practical at 6.00 and drove to the museum where I performed at 7.30.A few problems before I started: I didn't have any trousers until about 20 minutes before the performance. Ben went and leant me a pair of his but they were too big. In the end (sigh) I had to borrow Becky's (Mrs Chevely). This -combined with the braces- felt as if my area below the equator was wrapped tightly in gaffa tape. The worst was when I got up from sitting down, because the braces went taught and sent my trousers further upwards. All because Grae nicked my trousers. I was however able to salvage the shirt I wore in Twelfth Night which was quite cool.ACT ONEFine - had to improvise slightlyACT TWOFineACT THREEFine - felt as if I was not often drunk for the whole of it thoughACT FOURFine - Although I was a little rusty. Forgot to take on my draft of the letter. Just realised that in both Twelfth Night and this one, I have been the bearer of a letter.Afterwards after extracting myself from the trousers (sorry Becky), we all headed over to Varsity where me and Grae were very tempted to order a Hock and Seltza.By the way Grae looked so much like Dr. Who

All I need is a hairclip

2005-04-20T23:15:00.000+01:00

Havnt had time to do this for a while. Had a dress rehearsal this evening. Went alright. Stage is amazing.Things to do still:An Ideal Husband - For 3 NightsWho Bumped of the Baggage - For 2 NightsDogs on Tour - Voice Over work - looks pretty coolLaura's film - Music Video - As a Gothic ClownAnother 3rd Year Film - With people I did return of the Klems withOwain's film - As an extraEssayMade my choices today about what modules I will take next year.Today was me and Grae's great Subway escapade

Sunglasses

2005-04-11T22:54:00.000+01:00

Nice day today.Had an interestingly-boring-thought-provoking lecture on German philosophy today. Started learning the Dumb-waiter amazing how much I know. Me and Jon met Craig in town (eventually) and we went off to play football. I didn't have too much time to kill as I was due at a rehearsal. After visiting the park and the castle, we instead opted to play on the beach instead. Bloody knackering but a good laugh. It ended up with us 'hoofing' (Jon's expression) the ball up the beach in the thick sand which made us move like the elderly. I got tons of sand in my socks as well as me shoes. At rehearsal I found out that we are performing a week Thursday. Magical. Got to go shopping tomorrow.

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy

2005-04-11T00:47:00.000+01:00

Back.1st WeekDid not do a lot. Converted 'An Ideal Husband' into 3D Movie Maker. Me and Fain went for drinks with Chivers, Harty, Jo and Gary for Gary's birthday. Unfortuantely Gary had lost his driving license the week before and as he looks quite young was refused from Lloyds bar. The bouncer-lady-thing looked at my ID and spent a while telling me that I looked better in the photo than I did now. When I went out to stay with Gaz she asked me for the ID again and passed to other bouncers to see if they would agree. My photo on the afformentioned driving license makes me look more like a dimented ferret than anything human. In order to compare my face to the one in the picture she actually had to lift up my bloody fringe.2nd WeekWent sking in Auvoriaz. Brilliant. Me and Holly were in the same group and we did lots of red runs and blue runs with our guide Hubert (I think his name was). I fell over a bit (mostly on the rabbit runs) but I was majorly taken out by a bloke who I now call 'Eddie the Eagle'. He basically ran over me as I lay crumpled on the slope, with my sadistic sister laughing. Skiied into Switzerland aswell and gravel (in which 'Eddie the Eagle's' skis abruptly stopped whilst he carried on running). Learnt Lines.3rd Week Did bugger all. Fain has got mumps which means that he could not speak to anyone for 10 days. I'll probably get it now, bugger. Me and Chivers decided it would be good if we went and had a party in his front garden. Went and saw C&T2 who I have not seen for nearly a year. They are doing 'Animal Farm' at the moment and apparantly it is a bit of a nightmare. Hopefully I will be going with them to BYTF this year again. Had a pint with Dan afterwards before going out for a meal with the Sadlers which was really good (especially the fish head). Went and sat in a rehearsal for my old highschool's new show. This is the first one they have done since 'Tom Sawyer' back in 2001 which I was in. Halfway through though, I had to duck out and go for an interview at the job agency. Spoke to a nice receptionist who looked at my ID and told me how good the photo was. Bloody hell. Did a few tests on Microsoft Word and Excel. Then went back to the rehearsal for the 'Quest for Love'. Had a nice chat to the lads about british comedy afterwards. Nice to see that the legendary Monty Python is still being remembered. Was going to leave for Aber on Saturday morning but got quite ill on Friday.Came back today. Me and Jon went and visited Craig. Craig bought me a book because of the lift home I gave him. It is 'The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories' by Tim Burton who is one of my favourite directors. I read it all whilst he and Jon were playing footie on the Playstation 2.Finished the Life of Pi. Brilliant. Also read 'Bare Bones' and 'Birdman'. Now I am reading the 5th Harry Potter Book because the 6th one is out in June.Stuff left to do.- An Ideal Husband - Learnt 98% of the Lines- Azdak Monologue - Learnt 100% of the Lines- Dumb-Waiter Duologue - Learnt 20% of the Lines- Bumped of the Baggage - Learnt Bugger-All% of the Lines- Drama Essay - Set whilst away - tight gits- Dogs on Tour- ExamsFound out how to spell Facetious

Craig, Jester and Invasion of the Body Snatchers

2005-03-15T00:36:00.000Z

New Star Wars Trailer is amazing. Took me a while to find it.For Craig's bday me and Jon went and panic-buyed. We pretty much covered the whole of Aberystwyth, settling on a 'Hero' DVD and a New York collection poster. On the morning of Craig's birthday, we all sat in the kitchen taking photos and trying to create an end montage using Team America music. Craig liked it though. Had a crack at cardiac hill in the corsa though. Bloody Hell.Just done 99.9% of my film essay. Had to borrow Invasion of the Body Snatchers out of the library today in order to do it. Today carried on filming with Frozen fish. I thought that I had peaked the embarassement level with my running around in a dressing-gown. I was wrong. After filming the toilet roll scene with the brick wall, Sian and John thought it would be fun if we dressed up. Steve had already brought his Michael Jackson costume (with horrifying mask). I was left with John's Jester costume that he ordered for the Rocky Horror picture show thing last year. So there we hav Chole walking through town with a pack of toilet roll slung on her shoulder and Michael Jackson and a Jester coming in the opposite direction. We went down a treat with the locals. One guy took a photo of me and steve on his mobile. We got a few beeped horns aswell. It ended up with both me and Steve moonwalking in the middle of the high-street. Steve was OK cuz noone could see his face as it was hidden behind a bloody mask. I however, was dressed not only in bright red tights (which were strangely comfortable) but a stupid hat that would not fit my head. This meant that for each take I would have to drag this bloody thing down my scalp (restricting blood flow) before it slowly receeded upwards and fell off.Tomorrow, I'm filming the shop scene and will have hopefully finished my essay. In the evening I'm reading for a new play. Called 'The Death of Agatha Christie' i think.

Frozen Fish

2005-03-11T16:42:00.000Z

Knackered.Did a two hour drama rehearsal yesterday where I 'slipped a disc' in my back. Oww. Me and Dom are doing the Dumb-Waiter now. Then Steve gave me a lift to the Old College where I did a rehearsal for an Ideal Husband. Oww. Went with Charles and Greek Ben to Ben's place with a few people. Got up this morning for filming. Weatherspoons has cleared up now. Somebody died there yesterday (sin city). We filmed the 'How to break into a car' sketch using Steve's mini and Henry's tools. We managed to clear open a closed car park using a wrench and Henry aqquired a new hubcap.Henry basically played the part of a presenter who shows the audience how to break into a car. Then him and Steve get in and drive off. I then run into shot and then after my stolen car. It was really funny and bloody cold. I decided just to wear a dressing gown and swim shorts. There were some shot that we filmed from inside the car with me running after them around the streets. My feet were frozen by the end. Pigeon also crapped on John.Went to the Old College afterwards to verify my presence at Aber.Went to John's and watched some of his and Sian's old films they had done.Doing my film essay soon on Formal-aesthtic and social-ideological.Finished for Easter (technically)

The Lost Burger King and Driftwood

2005-03-05T21:59:00.000Z

Thursday was knackering. 9.00 film lecture on the history of cinema where the bloke said the word 'cinema' about 56 times in 40 minutes.Went with Pete to Llanbadarn and did the studio thing. I borrowed a shirt and tie from Jon. It was weird walking on to a set with all the cameras in front of you. We were not allowed to swear though because the women marking it would take offence to it. So we had to change the script. Unfortunatley I did swear in the end. Might be working with them again. Had a good laugh.After that I had my practical with Baz. Me and Dom are going to do 'The Dumb Waiter' now.After that got a lift with Henry to the Old College where I did my rehearsal for an ideal husband. Bit worried now as I am performing it next month and we havn't learnt our lines yet!Walked home.Friday is my early weekend. Craig came round and we went to the beach looking for drift wood. It was all part of my plan to make mum a mother's day present. We found loads of really cool stuff. Dropped it all off at Craig's and went and bought a vase from the florists. We then watched Resident Evil Apocalypse at Craigs. Went to the rehearsal and did Act 3. Went to get something to eat afterwards. Unfortunately, I had a massive mental block as I forgot where Burger King was. I actually had to phone Craig and ask him. Its opposite the train station. Went back to Craigs and finished RE2 and then walked back to the flat with the driftwood and vase.Today was really good as well. Me and Sam went climbing and had a go at some new routes. I then drove up to the caravan and met mum and dad. Mum liked the driftwood thing. We went to a cafe and had a baguette before then taking the dog to the beach. Dad kept leading us through the groins leaving mum stuck. Personal satisfaction though was due to the big bloody drift-log-thing that we managed to push down the slope. Afterwards we drove to the pub at Bow Street and had a nice meal before me driving back here.Got to sort out what I am doing for this film essay. Got a film meeting tommorow. Oscars meeting Tuesday. Got to photocop scripts for Baz.

Busyness

2005-03-01T22:58:00.000Z

Got lots to do:1)Short Performance- film thing. Filming tomorrow in the lift of the Arts Centre. Doing the final thing Thursday. Acting in it with one of Em's mates, Pete.2)Short Film. Happening in the next two weeks3)Oscars. Thankfully meeting moved to next Tuesday. Still got to find someone for the commitee.4)Find a duologue for me and Dom by Thursday.5)Got to learn my monologue.6)Got to do a film essay.7)Got to do An Ideal HusbandWatched Once Upon a Time in the West. Good but bloody long! My Amelie CD and Birdman book came through the post today. Owain also gave me a copy of 'The Other Side' on DVD. Absolutely hilarious!

At 4.48

2005-02-25T10:35:00.000Z

Quite a bit has happened recently.1)I've still got this essay to do for monday. Its good fun doing it though. Is theatre a good forum for social debate?2)I am currently rehearsing 'An ideal husband' with the Nomads. Its really weird Its not even been a month since twelfth night and I am already back in the same place. I'm playing Sir Robert who is one of the main characters and I've got 2 months to do it (lots of lines). So I went to a rehearsal last night and met the cast. They've already got through 2 Sir Roberts so far so they were a bit bewildered. One of the people who plays a main character is Gray who I knew previously from Drama. It'll be a laugh anyway.3)Paddy phoned me aswell last night an asked me if I wanted to be on the Nomad's Oscar commitee. It basically raises money for funds in which students can apply for loans for projects of film or drama. I don't know what I will do though.4)Saw Baz's play 4.48 Psychosis last night aswell. I really enjoyed it and it seemed quite surreal that we were applauding suicide. The play itself has no characters. Just lines with dashes before them. This means that it can be performed by 1 or 1000 people.

Engagements, Vampires and Artists in 24 Hours

2005-02-20T21:23:00.000Z

Just finished 24 with the nomads. Quite knackered.We started at 9 yesterday evening at Greek Ben's. I thought I would just tag along and help out when needed. Joe, Dan and Ian were writing so I thought I might have a go as well. I was reading the Big Issue and happened to find an article about vampires that had been spotted in London and Birmingham. So from 9.00 till about half 2 in the morning I wrote the following script:24Scene 1Two people Detective and Suspect sat in interview roomDetective: So this is your statement?Suspect: Yes.Detective: Is this everything that happened?Suspect: Yes.Detective: Right. So Mr Koven…Suspect: Tim.Detective: Mr Koven, you were in Sparkhill at about 3.30 this morningSuspect: How do you know that?Detective: Its in your statement here. Now you were spotted by an eyewitness, who claimed that you were assaulting a person in an alley nearby.Suspect: Hmm.Detective: Now according to your statement here, you were in fact helping the person. Could you please explain?Suspect: YesPauseDetective: Now please.PauseMr KovenSuspect: Tim.Detective: Mr Koven could you please tell me your story?Suspect: Right. Well I was strolling down the street as one usually does…Detective: …at half three in the morning…Suspect: Yes, and I happened to meet a person who appeared to be very distressed. So I went over to them and said…Detective: …’Give me your money and you wont get hurt’…Suspect: Yes. What.Detective: That is what our eye witness heard you say.PauseSuspect: Right. Er, I actually said… give me your money and you wont get burnt.Detective: Burnt?Suspect: Yes burnt.Detective: Give me your money and you wont get burnt.Suspect: Yes.Detective: Why was this?Suspect: Er…well…He was smoking a fag…yes…and he was in a pretty bad way, choking and everything. And he had some notes in his other hand…Detective: As he was chokingSuspect: Yes.Detective: And you were worried that they might get burnt?Suspect: Yes exactly that.Detective: So that is why you snatched the money from him?Suspect: Well I had to do something, otherwise it could have been burnt.Detective: So let me get this straight. You saw a man choking on the street, and the first thought that popped into your head was to deprive him of his money?Suspect: Now I can see why it may look like a mugging.Detective: Can you?Suspect: But I promise you that there is a perfect and rational explanation for all of this.Detective: I’m sure its just a huge misunderstanding.Suspect: YesDetective: Now what did you do next? Incidentally did you return the money to the poor man?Suspect: Oh yes definitely, as soon I knew it was ok to.Detective: Which was?Suspect: Er, when you arrived.Detective: I see. So what did you do after you so caringly took this man’s money?Suspect: I tried to stop him choking.Detective: You tried to stop him choking.Suspect: YesDetective: By forcing him into the wall.Suspect: YesDetective: And repeatedly (glancing at paper), yes repeatedly punching him in the stomach and head.Suspect: YesDetective: Why, may I ask?Suspect: Er.. to stop him choking and to er force him to breathe properly.Detective: What about the Heimlich manoeuvre? Suspect: Er, I didn’t think.Detective: Right. Now Mr Koven…Suspect: TimDetective: Yes ok. Now I find this all very difficult to believe.Suspect: But its all written there, I’ve only written it how it was.Detective: I see so when you bit him, you were also trying to help him?PauseSuspect: Yes. I was giving him a Tracheotomy.Detective: On his shoulder?Suspect: YesPauseDetective: Did it help?Suspect: It did yes.Detective: Good. So when our witness claims that you then began to suck the man’s blood, you were in fact giving him air?Suspect: It makes sense when you think about it.Detective: I’m sure it does. Now after successfully ‘resuscitating’ the man, what did you do then? Suspect: I tried to sort of position him in the recovery position…Detective: By trying to force him into a bin.Suspect: YesDetective: Right. Now Mr … TimSuspect: Mr KovenDetective: Ok Mr Koven, now can you please try and explain the logical reason for this? Some might say –and I’m merely playing Devil’s advocate here- that you were intending to dispose of the man without anyone noticing.Suspect: I don’t see that.Detective: You then see this as a perfectly rational thing to do?Suspect: Exactly.Detective: Do tell…Suspect: I read it in a book somewhere. There are special people who use confined spaces to feel calm and relaxed.Detective: Like meditation?Suspect: Yes.Detective: So you therefore felt that after reviving this person, the best course of action to take would be to force them to meditate inside a litter bin?Suspect: To be more relaxed.Detective: So when did you discover he was dead?Suspect: When I got to about his knees, and he sort of began to shake.Detective: Shake.Suspect: Yes. And I had to sort of lean into the bin to…Detective: …Check his pulse?Suspect: Yes…Detective: …Not to try and get his wallet?Suspect: No.Detective: I see. So what did you do when you found out he was dead.Suspect: Well I tried to get out to call for help…Detective: But you couldn’t.Suspect: NoDetective: How long do you think you were trapped there for then?Suspect: About 45 minutes. Then you lot came and brought me here.Detective: Right well that clears up a few matters. Now we have two conflicting stories here.Suspect: Yes.Detective: One is that of a valiant rescuer, and the other is that of a cold-bloodied killer. Which are you Mr Koven? And yes, I know your name is Tim.Suspect: Oh. Well I suppose the first one.Detective: The valiant rescuer?Suspect: Yes that one.Detective: So you believe the witness’s report to be false?Suspect: Of course! I mean they probably made it up anyway just to cause a scene! You know how people can be.Detective: Yes sir, the whole concept of beating a man to life seems completely rational when you put it like that.Suspect: I mean a person who can make up a story like that has got to be sick!Detective: Even if they were the wife of the deceased?Suspect: Even if they were the wife of the deceased! Oh.Detective: In addition to all of this we also found some interesting items in the bag you were carrying. (reads)One black cloak, one pair of plastic luminescent fangs, a banana and a copy of ‘Interview with a vampire’ on DVD.Suspect: But you see…Detective: Now considering all the evidence here, would you sir call yourself a vampire?Suspect: Oh no…yes.Detective: So I might therefore be liable to have a wild stab in the dark and say that you were in fact trying to drink the blood of the deceased?Suspect: Sort of.Detective: Sort of.Suspect: Yes.Detective: So why dare I ask did you want to be a vampire?PauseSuspect: You wouldn’t understandDetective: Try me.Suspect: Its not something that’s easy to talk about you know, people get the wrong idea.Detective: I can imagine.Suspect: I always wanted to be different ever since I was a kid. I always wanted to sort of go against the trend of things.Detective: There’s nothing wrong with that.Suspect: You didn’t think that before.Detective: I meant about being different, not the whole vampire thing. Look, we all live our lives differently, it makes us who we are. You just chose to live your life a little more differently than others.Suspect: That’s your opinion.Detective: My opinion! This morning you assaulted and killed a man. That does not sound like your average human being.Suspect: We’re all capable of it. I just got caught that’s all.Detective: Be that as it may, I still have to convict you.Sergeant enters and goes to lead Suspect out.Suspect: You’ll get caught one day Inspector and you’ll be in the exact same position as me.Detective: Well until that happens I’ll carry on my job here, which at the moment is to put you in the cells.Sergeant and Suspect exit.Suspect: Crazy sod.Scene 2Sergeant enters.Sergeant: Sir we need you to come quick.Detective: What is it?Sergeant: Its Koven sir.Detective: What. Spit it out man!Sergeant: He’s gone sir.Detective: Gone? Gone where?PauseSergeant: We don’t know sir.Detective: What exactly happened?Sergeant: We put him in the cell and locked the door properly as usual sir.Detective: And?Sergeant: And when we went to check on him later sir, he wasn’t there.Detective: Did anyone else have access to him.Sergeant: No sir just me.Detective: And the door was locked properly.Sergeant: Yes sir, as usual.Sergeant recollects somethingDetective: What is it?Sergeant: Nothing sir. Just that I though I saw something outside of the cell window.Detective: What?Sergeant: I don’t know, a bird or something. Gave me a scare.Detective: A bird…Sergeant: …Or something like it.Detective: Could it have been a …Constable entersConstable: Sir, Pathologist on the phone, apparently there’s something you’ve got to see.Detective: (rubbing his neck) I’m coming. All exit.Whilst writing this, we also went out to the beach and played on Mario Kart. I got home and into bed at about 3 in the morning. I then got up at about 9.30 to type up my masterpiece and print copies. At 12 O'clock I turned up at the Joint. I then went with Dan to print what he had written and show him the pictures of 'The Other Side'. In the end we had 3 scripts. The first was Dan's which was my favourite as it presented alot of interesting characters. It tells the tale of a couple that go to restaurants and fake engagements to get free meals. The cast was, Aimee(Steph), Lewis(Dan), Melvin the Old man(Joe), Boss(Me), Jane, Craig(Me) and the Waiter(Kurt). I didn't need a script for this one but we all adlibbed a bit.The second was mine (see above) which I was surprised they picked. Detective(Roisin), Suspect(Me),Sergeant(Mel) and Constable(Ben). Got a few laugths.The third and final one was written by Joe who finished it about 3 hours before we went on stage. It inverts the idea of the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles and instead tells the story of the famous artists who live in the London Underground. Michaelangelo(Joe),Raphael(Me),Leonardo(Ishmael),Donatelo(Kurt),Grand Master/Andy Warhol(Dan),Tracy Emmins(Helen) and Damien Hurst(Ben). We all practically read our scripts throughout this, but nobody cared.It lasted about 40 minutes, which is quite good. About 10 people came to watch but it was still good fun anyway, and something to say I've done. It felt weird performing a play you'd just written a few hours ago.Twelfth Night Social on Wednesday, yay.

Ashes to Ashes

2005-02-11T22:05:00.000Z

Went shopping today. Walked to Iceland (for Pizzas) and Safeway (for everything else). I bought The Village today. Probably watch it with Craig and Sam tomorrow. Saw Ashes to Ashes today. The shortest play I've ever seen -40 minutes. Kind of bored at the moment. Did Owen's short film last Sunday, good laugh.

Twelfth Night: Very Good! The End of All Things

2005-02-02T02:27:00.000Z

Its done.The show went really well, although I am still (too bloody late now) not happy with my character.The biggest shock/surprise of the night was glimpsing my parents through the glass windows (Jesus on a bike).With other Drama lecturers in the audience, the pressure was on. I knew that as long as I nailed the first scene I would be fine.After the show we all went to The Bay where most of us got pissed or addicted to the popcorn treats that Colin's parents had given us. By the way, while all this was happening the bloke we hired to film the play was still filming (he he). They hope to create a DVD with extras. Ellie and Rachel had also created awards for everyone. I won Best Shakespearian Actor and shared Best Cover Up with Rachel for our little blunder in Act V yesterday. They also appear to all like my stage voice and some say that they could listen to it all the time(?). I think I'll probably read audio books when I'm older. It was sad however that all good things must come to an end. Therefore I would like to say a little bit about the people in the play.Jim/Orsino:A crazy laid back bloke with a crazy sense of humour. Got completely pissed this evening. I had to go round his house afterwards where I borrowed his keys to get my bag from his car. I do not know whether it was a drunken whim or not, but he wants to put on The Long, The Short and The Tall of it next year (A play I briefly acted in at year 10)and he would like me to act in it.Owain/CurioAbsolutely hilarious bloke who remains in the background and steps forward occasionally and delivers funny lines. I'm a big fan of his films and would like to act in one. Cannot catch chewing gum in his mouth.Ben/ValentineAn eccentric man who is a big fan of books and was often found reading inbetween scenes.Ellie/ViolaA fantastic person who undoubtedly has the potential to go far on stage. Like all the others in the cast she has a terrific sense of humour and a real passion for her acting.Lizzie/OliviaA crazy rock and roll chick who is equally commited to drama and creates performances that are mesmirising. She also introduced me to Strongbow and Black.Joe/SebastianA man of the world with a witty sense of humour who looked like Errol Flynne on stage. He is also in the works of writing a spoof of the Hobbit and says that I can be in it.Kev/Sir TobyA fellow first year who remains spiritually and physically connected with his character. He is famous for his 'bolt-ons' (thanks JTA) on scenes as he is always willing to experiment with new aspects of his performance. We will hopefully be both directing Two Gentlemen Of Verona together later this year. A smashing bloke.Colin/Sir AndrewBloody hell. Colin is and will always be a legend. He introduced me to magical Trevor. He is crazy, eccentric and American. He always has something genuinely interesting to say about everything and it is fascinating to hear him speak. He has a vast experience of theatre and performing and was a joy to work with. A man with a heart of gold.Liz/MariaWithout Liz we would be nude on stage. Her organisation of costumes was fantastic. She organised everything concerning clothing and props such as the letter (one of which I've kept). She is a lovely girl with a down-to-earth sense of humour and I hope she has a good time in China with Chris.Paddy/Malvolio/DirectorA man who is beyond his years and naturally commands the stage. He is witty, hilarious and a fantastic director who shows compassion and professional understanding. It should be quite interesting to work with him on Art.Rachel/FesteAs a last-minute addition to the cast, Rachel has done a fantastic job of dynamising the whole production. She was the one with the eternal optimism who always had a smile on her face. She has a wonderful sense of humour and her singing is incredible and gave the play a voomph. Damn you continuity.Hayley/AntonioAnother extra addition to the cast who completely wowed us all with her performance during the duel scene. Another person who was always happy and hilarious to watch as she tried to put both her legs behind her head inbetween scenes.Amy/Everyone elseA lovely girl with unflatering energy that dynamises all her roles. She is my practical group.JTA/DirectorWith a firm knowledge of performance, we knew from the beginning that this production was to be in safe hands with Paddy and JTA. The two directors were a pleasure to work with. JTA created a strong sense of freedom within the group in terms of characterisation which allowed our characters to evolve more easily.I am ?

Twelfth Night: Damn you continuity!

2005-01-31T23:09:00.000Z

Just come back from the play. Everything went really well, considering we only saw the space (ironic) at about 9.30 this morning! I had a lecture aswell inbetween which was quite interesting. Everything building up to the performance was rushed:We had not run through our linesWe had to build a benchWe had to organise cuesWe had to organise lightingWe had to organise photosMakeup (Did not take as long as I thought to get my hair done)We were doing our tech run 20 minutes before the audience arrived.The bench scene worked really wellHowever, Act V began with a problem, me and Rachel ran on too early and straight into Dan who was clearing the set away. Rachel pushed him away leaving the bench behind. Luckily, I managed to push the bench towards the wall in order to create space for everyone else.My Pizza is cooking nowOne down, One to go

Groundhog Week

2005-01-29T02:52:00.000Z

I have become an InsomniacFor the past week my days have consisted of getting up at 11-12 o'clock, doing bugger all for a bit and then rehearsing at 5 till 9.30. I just can't sleep properly. I think its because I am excited about this play, I really am. Its weird because its something I don't usually feel.I went to bed at about 12.30 and I still cant sleep. One of the main reasons is that the bastard in the flat above me is watching the Lord of the Rings, and as I am a big fan I know exactly where and when they are in the film.However, to pass the time when trying to get to sleep I have pondered over the following things:1)My lines for Twelth Night2)The Definition of God3)The book I am currently reading (Murder Room)4)Praying that they are not playing the extended version of The Return of the KingToday I have got a rehearsal at the Cambrian for 1 O'clock, yay!

On top of the moon

2005-01-20T22:21:00.000Z

Weve got the house!We just signed the documents this evening.We got them to rewrite the contract the night before though.I finished my exams today as well (bonus). The questions were good but I dont think I did very well.

The Blue Wrath

2005-01-18T21:18:00.000Z

Just looked round the house again. Got to meet them again and put down an offer.

Witness

2005-01-17T21:25:00.000Z

I am going to rename this town Sin City.Cumella arrived on Friday (same train as Jon's bird)and I showed him around Aber. However, in the evening I went to a rehearsal down at the Old College and left Mr C at the flat on chat.Afterwards we went to a few pubs with Craig before heading back to the flat. I walked with Craig back to the seafront and left at 2.30am. I made it back to the flat for 4.00am. What transpired between those times will be one of my most unforgetable and surreal moments of uni life.In short, me and two people I met (one of them a mate from Drama) witnessed an attempted assault with a sword. Interesting.The film Sin City -which is due to be released this year- has a trailer which I feel epitomises Aberystwyth. Please feel free to watch it.Trying to do practice papers at the moment. Exams on 19th and 20th. Wahoo.Still trying to read Murder Room by PD James, hard going though.Just tried on some of my costume in rehearsals. Not as funny as everyone elses. One girl looks like a baked Alaska.The icing on the cake is a letter I have just received stating that I have been randomly picked to send in my GCSE certificates as verification that I have not fluked my way through education.

Burnout

2005-01-12T23:53:00.000Z

I am slightly pissed after playinf Burnout 2I was not very good at the game which meant that I downed the most vodka which we bvough form spar. I dont know how I made it home at all. Hopefully I wonrt get a hangove t6omorrow. KHaF A DRAMA MEETIg discussed various forms of combat, rolled up maagaxzines I suggesred cricket bats hop[efullty that will najek IT. k

Slice of Fried Gold

2005-01-10T19:25:00.000Z

Did a bit today.Got up went and handed in my video practical essay.Sorted out my library book fiasco. They had actually got the book which sort of takes the piss.I had to go and find the book and match with its bar code. Fortunately I was exempt from the fine.Watched Ice Age again, put some pictures up in the kitchen.Going out to Scholars later.

2nd Round

2005-01-09T21:13:00.000Z

Just been and checked if the loan has been payed through. Pissing it down with rain.Christmas was good. Went to the Roman Baths, interesting and the Bull Ring, bloody howge!.Before Christmas went shopping with me brother in town. Saw Rory but he blanked me. Probably didn't recognise the hair (my arse) he he.Worked the Sunday after I came back. Nice to be back there. Been a mass inflation of prices on the spirits by 10p.Worked New Years Eve, absolutely mental! As soon as it hit 12 we did a massive conga line around the bar and restaurant. Still don't know the words to Aud Langs Syne?!Unfortunately the cat died which started the new year with positive optimism.Got new DVDs: Eddie Izzard: Dressed to Kill, Edward Scissorhands (Bull Ring), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Bath), Ice Age (Bull Ring), Return of the King EE, Monty Python, Shaun of the Dead (Bull Ring), Withnail and I (Bull Ring).Walked the dogs with Chivers & Pip (Toto Anhilatation Chivers), Harty & Beu, Kate, Rob and Cumella in Shrawley woods. Like Homeward Bound 3. Buried Pip in leaves. She almost floated downstream. Had a drink in the New Inn Pub played Killer Pool (came 2nd).Had a meal with Fain and Benny in Chesters.Saw Emily in Safeways (shopping with Mum and Jon) said that Uni doesn't properly start until end of month (bollocks) because of exams. So I feel a bit I dunno.Don't know what to do. Might watch Ice Age later.Mum decided to rechange my room. Spent last half hour trying to find where the hell everything is.Craig is back and Sam will be here on Wednesday. Got a text from Cumella. He's coming on Friday till Sunday.Fuckadoodledoo

Of Art and China

2004-12-09T12:41:00.000Z

Quite a bloody rumpus this week.Found out that the Dinner Game play will no longer take place because Chris (director) is teaching in China for a year (lucky git). I wish him all the best of luck.I was then asked by Paddy and Dan if I would do a play with them and I accepted. The play is called 'ART' and is about 3 friends arguing over the expensive purchase of some modern art. An Irishman, a Welshman and an Englishman, should be interesting and a good laugh.Just handed in my Film Essay, still got a TV one to do though. Last night's rehearsal was the craziest and funniest one I have ever done. It began with Paddy telling us that the dates for the performance have moved again. Unfortunately, when we are supposed to perform, Chris will be in China. Bugger. It was therefore quite a sad occasion when Chris left because we had just been reading through his lines together and he had been researching his character for months. He left on a high though, wishing us all the best of luck. Thanks mate. Without him I would not have had the opportunity to assitant-direct when we were affiliated with 'The Dinner Game'. I would still like to do the project though when he comes back.10 minutes later and the new Feste arrives. Her name is Rachel and she is a lovely girl who will undoubtedly give Feste stage presence. So basically this is it:-We have till the end of January to perform this play-We have one cast member who hasn't read the play let alone learnt the lines yet-The stage we are perfoming on is used for lectures and cinema screenings and is about the size of a snooker table.Our only answer to these problems is to laugh.We had an amazing rehearsal in which we only got about 3 scenes done, but it was so funny.The cast are incredible and we really get on together.On one side we have Colin singing to himself (Fireworks! Fireworks! La la la la la la) in the corner we have Jim creating placards on the PC (Act2 Scene4 is Nude day in Orsino's palace)and in various places of the room we have our Director JTA quietly destroying pens before forming the foetal position and rocking back and forth.The scenes between Kevin and Colin are fantsatic and hilarious to watch and they work well together. By the way do not cut Colin's lines off as he will attack you with his German accent.Getting my walking club hoody tonight, walking to Borth on Sunday.

Se7en

2004-12-03T22:09:00.000Z

Come back from a rehearsal. Finished our film a week earlier than we were meant to, so I don't have to go to anymore lectures or workshops. However, I've got an exam in January on it.Not doing the Dinner Game play anymore because the director's going to China.Planning my essay on Se7en at the moment. Got to find a 4 minute clip to analyse. Still havn't learnt my lines for Monday.Last nite me, Craig and Jon came up with an idea for something. Interesting.Hopefully we will find somewhere to live soon.

Which one of you w**kers is Goldilocks?

2004-11-30T22:28:00.000Z

Found some writing I think at last. I chose se7en and a piece of writing about fear of the city. It took me ages to find it. Been listening to me lines when I can. Its freaky how much I can recall. Off script tomorrow.Watched Peter Greenaway's film on Vertical Remake and Hitchcock's Rear Window.

Batman or From Hell?

2004-11-29T18:48:00.000Z

I'm buggered. I can't find writing on a film for my essay that we are not studying. I want to do either Batman (nothing I like), From Hell (nuthin), Kill Bill (don't know anything much about Tarrantino films) or Lord of the Rings (Nuthin).I've got to practice for next monday's practical. Had me lines for twelfth night blaring on me mini disc player. Hopefully I'll know them.Gonna see Great Expectations in a bit with Craig.

The Pixies of Argos

2004-11-27T16:46:00.000Z

Tried out me rock shoes this morning, work like a charm. Thinking of going bouldering soon, work permitting. Dad visited and brought some stuff. Went into town this morning with Jon, food shopping. Crammed everything in our rucksacks including a 16 portion Forest Gateaux. Knackered my ankle whilst walking. Hopefully it will be alright for tomorrow.Went to Argos afterwards with Jon to get him a watch. I still have 2 essays to do (start). Going to Safeway this evening.

Aftermath

2004-11-26T13:05:00.000Z

Last night was a good laugh as most people made a good turn out dressed as something beginning with the letter C. Jon couldn't get a cowboy hat cause Chris wasn't in, so he went as a civilian. We both signed up for the walk on Sunday. We were then split into different groups and then set off on an assigned route around some of the pubs before meeting in varsity for 10.45.We started at 9.45. My group was comprised of a Climber (me), a Camp (and later nearly blind) Commando (Rich), a Convict (Tim), a Cheerleader (Rich), 2 Canadians (Andy & ?) and Jon Burrel: Crap undercover cop.We were a crappy version of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.At Harleys a group of girls tried on Rich's wig whilst other Rich descided to order me a triple K Vodaka and left me to pay for it, (bastard). He then bought cheerleader-rich a camp cocktail that tasted of that heavenly drink UM-Bongo complete with sparkler.On the way to weatherspoons, Commando-Rich continuously applied cammo-cream to his entire body which unfortunately led to him nearly blinding himself.After Varsity some of us went to the Glen. Unfortunately it was empty; filled only by 4 cowboys (the commitee), a climber, a convict and Jon Burrel: Crap undercover cop. We then left and went to Rummers stopping for a brief discussion at the Pier. From there Tim, Jon and I then went to Hollywood Pizza before walking back.Went shopping this morning. Jon got stuff for walking. I got some Rock boots from the amazing people at Escape Outdoors for £35 reduced. Back of the net. Got a rehearsal tonight, meant to be off script by wednesday. Bugger.

Thats interesting

2004-11-25T19:24:00.000Z

Hmmm yesDid a film seminar this morning. Watched the opening of American Beauty. Still can't believe I have not seen it yet. Walked back up to Uni, bloody hell. Started to edit my film for introduction to video production. I'm amazed that we managed to do it. Weve got hardly any footage but hell yes we have edited with every trick in the book (with sheep and gates).Lecture on the Shining. Quite interesting how much the film/book was influenced by others, such as fairytales and stuff.Going on a pub crawl with the walking club. Got go wearing something beginning with the letter 'C'. I originally thought that we had to go as something beginning with the letter (climber). However Jon actually read the e-mail properly.Absolutely cream-crackered.