My director, Miles, and I - dressed to the nines as Frank and Tilly Wedekind - set up a store at the Farmers' Market, Davis, to promote the show, as well as the Theatre and Dance department in general. I confess, I don't get to see too many 6.45ams on a Saturday. Yet, I was delighted by the sense of community among the stall holders - be they local farmers laying out pumpkins and peppers and potatoes, or local bakers luring us with chocolate croissants, or organic coffee makers supporting impoverished communities across the globe, or jewelry makers or school district campaigners.
By 8.10am, the market was already beginning to hum with shoppers and the grey-ish skies were brightening up. I was particularly endebted to the designer of the poster, Stephanie (who also set up this blog for me some months ago) as it caught the eye of many a passer-by in the course of the day. By 10am, Miles and I were joined by our indomitable Stage Management team, Reed and Sabba, who had also recruited her talented (and clearly devoted) boyfriend, Michael, and fellow thespian, Brendan. And now their acting abilities kicked into action impressively!
'Do you want to come and see Tilly No-Body?' invited Sabba, to anyone whose eye was caught by the poster. The majority stopped and enquired about the play. Very few scurried off in embarrassed silence.
'There's passion, laughter, tears, song, magic, broken hearts, romantic love...' Sabba declared.
'Ahh!' sighed many a Davis citizen. 'That sounds like the story of my life...'
'It's already in my diary,' chirrupped several people - which was terrific.
As Miles (in white tie and tails) and myself (in circus outfit) wandered up and down the market stalls, I truly had a sense of the hub of Davis that the market comprises. Fingers crossed, Theatre and Dance will be regular contributors to the early morning community. And heartfelt thanks go to the trusty team of Sabba, Reed, Brendan and Michael. And Miles is what you'd call in the UK a really 'good egg' - not many distinguished directors or leading actors (he's playing Salieri in Amadeus and Prospero in The Tempest at the Old Globe San Diego next summer!) would be so willing to pad among the pumpkins at dawn - unless, like Frank Wedekind, they'd been up all night drinking absinthe and were now on their way home to bed!
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