'So I'm back
from my 2 1/2 weeks in the UK. Arrived yesterday evening
after delayed flights all the way from London (lucky that
I'm not there still as our Boeing developed 'technical'
(engine) "problems" just before take-off). I had an
unforgettable time: a week's very intensive (6 hours a day)
rehearsal at an Arts complex in Bethnal Green; then off to
Goodnestone Park Estate in Kent for a weekend's technical
rehearsals - our 'Uncle Vanya' production was in the Music
Room (built by Lady Fitzwalter to commemorate her late
husband, Lord Fitzwalter). Our 'digs' were in the sumptuous,
beautifully appointed (with ALL mod-cons) 'Oasthouse'
(converted from the shell of an oasthouse used for drying
hops) in Littlebourne, a village east of Canterbury. The
accommodation was SUPERB! (my first word in the play): I had
a triangular bedroom overlooking the mallard-meandering
river flowing along (and under) our private deck below. One
of the actors,Robert Cook, who played the part of 'Vanya'
commandeered the kitchen and produced a different cordon
bleu meal every day! (He was good enough to dictate all his
recipes to me, so I'm looking forward to trying out his Thai
chicken dish, and his risottos, lentil soup, cous-cous
dishes et al!) I discovered lovely walks in the woods and
fishing lakes and fields round about, so each day I went off
exploring the countryside round about. The village also has
a functioning Water-Mill and lovely old buildings, including
a very old flintstone church, complete with crazy-leaning
grave-stones, a la Grey's Elegy. So the days were restful,
but for me the nerves would begin mounting and mounting as
the afternoon wore on and curtain-up time marched inexorably
nearer (except that there was no curtain as we performed in
the round with the audience - all seats sold out the day
booking opened - ranged in chairs round the walls of the
Music Room. I found acting multi-layered Chekov and with no
safety net (no prompt) and in-your face audiences a
high-anxiety experience. Luckily the wonderful 'warm-ups'conducted
by Robert before each performance did help to quieten down
my rampant nerves (my memory is not what it was and I had a
terror of hitting a 'blank dry-up' spot). Anyway, now in
retrospect, the whole experience was something that I would
not have missed for worlds (although there were many times
that I sorely regretted landing myself in such a
trauma-inducing
situation!)'
Andre Lemmer |
