Week 5: Entry 4: First Night

What a lovely audience! They just seemed to get it. They laughed in the right places. They fell silent in the right places. They expressed their spontaneous appreciation of moments with a flutter of applause. They were just great friends to share the auditorium with. This play is about audiences and actors and the relationship between the two, and this audience was very good fun.

Actors have no real purpose without an audience. And Tilly uses the audience as a friend, a confidant, someone to whom she can confess true feelings, and give them some insight into how she feels about Frank and his plays. I don't like audiences to feel they don't have an importance and an input, which is why I love live theatre. It's a new thing every night, and it's very exciting to feel the atmosphere that can exist.

This is quite a short entry, because I'm just off to warm up for the second night. I like second nights even more: there's something slightly more 'real' about second nights. It's the 'real' show. Last night, some of the props played up: they were mischievous. Not that that really bothers me: I like anything being a partner - a prop, a costume, a sound effect. But I'm looking forward to feeling the play's real rhythm and story telling. It takes me about 3 1/2 hours to prepare for this show. From 5.30-6.00, I warm up my voice and body, and scamper through some lines. From 6.00-6.20pm, I warm-up the theatre space, tuning the lute and testing out a few other little things. From 6.20-6.40, we curl my hair. From 6.40-6.55, I put on the make-up. From 6.55-7.15pm, we finish styling the hair. From 7.15pm-7.25pm, I sit quietly and contemplate a few photos of Tilly, Frank and their children which are stuck to my dressing room mirror. From 7.25-7.40, we get the costumes on. From 7.40-8.00pm.... Well, you'll have to come and see the show to find out what happens for those 20 minutes...