Home James

So, I still have 15 minutes of Internet access left on my account at the hostel. May as well use it up by posting again right?
I've just checked my work email. Didn't read anything, but wanted to see how bad it's going to be when I get back. Nearly 300 emails. Oh dear. What a fun time that'll be. I'm actually pretty convinced that I've forgotten just about everything about AskNow and RefTracker, so I'm sure I'll need lots of help when I get back to work in a week or so. Wow - how quickly that month has gone!
I'm also beginning to think about Windfall again. I hope the rehearsals have gone well while I've been away. I'll admit now that I have not touched my script since the last rehearsal before I left Australia. Oh dear. I guess I'll try to cram some of the lines into my head on the plane ride home. I'm very much looking forward to getting back to the theatre and starting rehearsals again, and seeing everyone again too!
I'm talking myself out of auditioning for Jungle Book. Methinks I need some time off, but the idea of time off is absolutely terrifyng to me! What will I do with myself? Eeeek!!
This last few weeks with the 4 of us has been really great. I just wish everyone else from the group could have been here with us as well. I miss you guys! The reunion party is gonna be a goodun!
I'm also looking forward to seeing Mum and Bec and Lachlan and Nan and everyone else as well. And my lovely Jessie and naughty Gilbert! I've bought lots of presents for you all!!
But most of all - I'm already ready to start planning my next trip!! Which festival CJ? Antigua in a few years? Florida or Denmark? Back to Hronov, back to Monaco? Or one of the festivals in Avignon, that'd be nice hey? Or can we find one in Croatia or Hungary? Let's do it - the Colour Play has been so well liked over here, and it's so awesomely great touring with you guys!!!
Anyhoo - I should go and start to cram all my stuff into my suitcase. That's a monumental challenge for sure!
Love you all, and see you all soon!!
xxx

Hairspray and Les Mis

Hi all,
Probably my last post before heading home tomorrow night.
Sorry for the long gap between posts. After Edinburgh Terry and I caught a train down to Swindon (actually we stayed in lovely Wootton Bassett for all those Swindon haters out there). We caught back up with Fiona and Mark and spent some time with Joyce. It's a lovely lovely part of the world - if you don't count the magic roundabout.
Roundabouts in Swindon and in Wiltshire in general all have traffic lights at each entrance. Some of them have little mini roundabouts leading to a massive one in the middle. Scary and Very bizarre. You approach the roundabout, get into the correct lane etc., then you have to stop at the lights before you enter. Seems a bit pointless really, but there you go.
Anyway it wasn't so bad for me as a passenger and navigator, but Fiona may have lost a few years from her life with all the driving!
We went to Salisbury (where the Dr. Who shop has closed down!), Stonehenge, Bath (where I would love to live one day) and did a lot of driving on gorgeous little windy roads in the very green countryside. You know the roads you see on all those ye olde English dramas? Well we were on them. It was lovely.
Jane Austen lived in Bath, so I went to her house as well which was very cool.
We're now back in London, furiously spending the last of our money and doing the last lot of sightseeing.
Last night Fiona splurged and bought us tickets to see Hairspray. Our hostel is literally smack bang in the middle of the West End and there are theatres everywhere, it's so tempting! Anyway Hairspray was FANTASTIC! It was the feelest good feel good show ever! So much fun, better than the movie by a mile.
Today Terry and I made a very long tube ride out to East Ham to the Dr. Who shop. The Tardis for Mum is on board!
I've spent the afternoon in the British Museum. It's huge, I could spend weeks in there, but had to limit myself to 4 hours. Saw all the Ancient Egypt and Greece and Rome stuff. Wow.
Tonight we're going to see Les Miserables. It just doesn't stop!
Tomorrow we'll check out and spend our final day in London either at Portobello Road markets and Notting Hill or doing something else...
I have no idea how I'm going to pack all my stuff for the plane. Here's hoping my suitcase is like the Tardis!!

Dungeons and museums

Don't look now but it has actually stopped raining. Right in time for our train ride out of Scotland.
Had another busy day today, I honestly don't think my feet have ever had such a work out!
We went to the Edinburgh Dungeon and then to the National Museum of Scotland. Both were very cool. We actually got kicked out of the museum at closing time and still hadn't finished looking at everything.
Tonight we caught a bus to Ocean Terminal to have some seafood on Tom's advice. Unfortunately, we ended up at the Britannia, and the only restaurant we could find was Italian. Still good though - I did have seafood risotto so it was kinda still fishy. On the bus on the way back to the hostel we spotted about 15 seafood restaurants! Oh well never mind.
Tomorrow we're off to Swindon where we'll meet back up with Fiona and Mark. If it still isn't raining in the morning we'll head up to Arthur's seat before we leave. From Swindon we plan to visit Bath, Stonehenge, find the Dr. Who shop (don't worry Mum, I still have your tardis order), maybe take a drive down to the Cotswolds, and of course spend some time with Fiona's Mum, the very lovely Joyce. I'm also amazingly still on budget - so DFO in Swindon here I come. I'm already planning to pay for the excess baggage on the way home - 23kg is simply not enough!!
Then 2 more days in London before the big nasty flight back home. Not nasty cause it's bringing us home, just nasty cause it's in the air.
I'm DEFINITELY going to the British Museum in London. And we're seeing Les Mis on our last night. There's still so much to do!
Oh - I might have even set foot inside the National Library of Scotland today. But just to have a drink.
Huge thanks to Bec and Lachlan for looking after the animals - especially the pesky Gilbert who has apparently been fighting and gotten an abcess for his troubles. Little bugger.
Love and hugs to everyone!!

The rain in Spain stays mainly in Edinburgh

Ola
Terry and I arrived in Edinburgh yesterday afternoon. And it started to rain about an hour after we got here. And it hasn't stopped yet. My new umbrella and parker and the best things I've bought so far. I've never had wetter feet.
Still it hasn't slowed us down, or stopped us from spending way too much money!!
Yesterday we went on an underground tour to Mary King's Close. Look it up, it's very cool.
Today we went to Edinburgh Castle. Windy, wet, and then some more wind. But it was great. A beautiful old castle built on a volcano. Noice.
We've been seriously shopping too. There is sooooo much Celtic jewellery here, I'm having a jewellery daze. I've bought necklaces, earrings, brooches. And there's so much more!
Terry bought a kilt in his ancient Duncan tartan. Eventually. Ask him about it - it was quite an adventure involving several trips up and down the Royal Mile, a lot of money spent on the wrong tartan, discovering the correct tartan, returning the wrong tartan, correcting the delivery address. Ah such fun.
Tomorrow we plan to go to the Edinburgh Dungeon and have our pants scared off. Yay!
If it ever stops raining we'll walk up to Arthur's seat as well. But in the meantime we'll be in the pub.
Then we're off to Swindon and back to London for our last few days.
Love to all!

xxx

London calling

Hello from London!
The city has turned on some lovely overcast, cold and windy weather for us on the first day of Autumn. Perfect British weather.
Well it's all really over now. The rest of the group will be sitting on their plane on the way back home to Australia by now. I miss you all too much already! It's very strange with only the four of us here after being together for so long.
When is the next tour?
We've had a very busy few days in London!
Yesterday I went to the Tower of London and then to the Globe. Today we've been to Harrods, Trafalgar Square and St Paul's Cathedral and in between all that we saw a matinee performance of Phantom of the Opera.
It was incredible. The set and effects were absolutely amazing. Wow!! What a magic experience.
We've found a great Moroccan restaurant just around the corner from the hostel, with great cocktails and great food so we've been there for a few nights. Of course we've also been to the put around the other corner and had fish and chips and several pints of beer!
I bought some chocolates from the food hall at Harrods today. Couldn't quite afford the Belugar caviar for £950 per 120g. The shop at the Globe has set me back several too many pounds as well, but it's totally worth it!
Tomorrow Terry and I are off to Edinburgh for a few days and then we'll meet back up with Fiona and Mark in Swindon. Looking forward to castles and drams of whiskey!
Love to everyone
xxx

Closing night

Well it´s all over!
We just did our final show of the Colour Play in Girona. The house was completely packed, there were people standing up and we had to get extra chairs to fit everyone in. Our performing space kept getting smaller and smaller so we could fit the audience in!
It was incredible. They loved it. The blue boys have already been given email addresses and phone numbers from adoring fans. Luckily nobody seems to recognise yellow after we take off our lovely costumes!
Last night´s show in Olot was really interesting. The road we performed on was supposed to be closed, but the police didn´t quite do their job. So we performed on the road with people walking past and the cathedral bells ringing right above us. Fun fun fun. People were literally touching our suitcase and going right up to the red and blue boys to shove past them on their way home from work. Despite all this, the audience who did stay to watch seemed to really like it. We had a little group of very young kids doing their own version of the blue acrobatics after our rehearsal, they were so cute.
So tonight we´re going to the final party and then we´re off to London tomorrow.
Doreen announced that today´s show is going to be her last show ever. It was really sad, we gave her 3 cheers and she cried in the dressing room after the show. She´s been an absolute joy to travel with, and we´ll all miss working with her at the theatre.
It´s going to be super sad saying goodbye to everyone in a few days when we all go our separate ways. We´ve all gotten so close to each other. Terry, Fiona, Mark and I are travelling on for a few more weeks (UK and Scotland), while the others all go home. I´m going to miss you blue boys an awful lot (Shane you still owe me an ice cream!).

skinny dipping with south africans

hi hi hi!!
sorry for the long gap between posts. it´s hard to find a computer and hard to find time to stop and think for 5 minutes to actually write something down.
it´s been a VERY busy few days.
the friendship dinner in Monaco was the BEST night ever!! we sat with our friends from South Africa (big hi to Craig, Roy, David and Alex!) which was awesome. the dinner was spectacular - real gold leaf on our dessert can you believe it!
after dinner we watched this amazing Elvis show - it was like a real broadway hit - music and dancers and amazing costumes and a live band from the 50s.
After dinner there may have been some skinny dipping in the mediterranean with the south africans, but what goes on tour stays on tour!
we had a fantastic night in Avignon. What an incredibly beautiful city.
Two nights in Barcelona were a bit of a whirlwind - but we saw heaps of stuff and had our first real tourist experience.
Last night we arrived in Girona. What an INCREDIBLE place. I know I keep saying that about everything, but it´s true!
The city is small and very old. Spectacular architecture from Roman days right through to today. The people and food and performances are amazing. I can´t think of a word strong enough to describe how magical this place and this festival is. We´re just feeling a little bit stressed about performing the acrobatics on some very old and uneven cobblestones in 35 degree heat with about 80% humidity.
everyone says hi - we´re all still alive. although some of us have very swollen feet and ankles, and sore backs (says Shane), and i have a growing collection of big bruises in some unusual places.
I´ll try to be a better blogger over the next few days.
Now it´s time to go and wash the costumes.
Love to all!!
xxx

King of Bahrain

Apparently the King of Bahrain just stole one of the theatres parking spots with one of his cars, the most expensive car in the world. bastard!
the second show on tuesday night went really well. it wasnt as hot so we didnt melt our make up off quite as quickly. gosh and shane were still dripping wet though.
now that our shows are over in monaco we have moved to nice. the apartment is up about 450 stairs. its pretty amazing but the poor boys had to carry all our bags up the stairs for us!
we saw shows by south africa, finland and france last night. they have all been excellent. the finnish one was hilarious!!
tonight were seeing shows by belgium, austria and japan. tomorrow night is the big friendship dinner which should be lots of fun.
everyone says hello!!

Hello from Monaco!!

Well here we are!!
it is very very hot and humid, but absolutely amazing!!
we had our first performance last night and just about died from the heat. this morning we had a critique of the show and it all seemed to go very well. the audience wasnt sure about our language, and they asked lots of different questions about our theatre and the show and characters. they are super happy to have us here!
we have been on national tv and met lots of important people and are being very well looked after. there is a tv crew everywhere we go filming us, even in the wings before the show! its like the paparazzi!!
we have another show tonight and then we can relax a bit and see some of the other shows as well.

Children's laughter

Our season in Goulburn went really well. Actually better than I was expecting. It's interesting too, because it wasn't really until we had an audience reacting to the show and then talking to us about their interpretations afterwards that I realised the show has quite an impact on people and really makes them think quite a bit. Awesome!!

The colour that really made people talk was green. What was the green character, what was she doing, what was going to happen next?

Cool.

On a few nights there were kids in the audience. There is absolutely nothing better than hearing the sound of children's laughter. It's so free and uncomplicated. They thought the play was funny so they laughed. There's no embarrassment or self consciousness. That really loud joyful belly laughter is amazing to hear, and even more incredible when you realise that it's you and your fellow cast making them laugh.

Here's hoping the kids in Monaco and Spain feel the same.

Then on a few nights, there was absolute silence from the auditorium. It was so quiet that I was beginning to wonder if there was anyone out there at all. It's amazing that one 45 minute show can evoke such a spectrum of reactions from people. On the quiet nights it seemed that people were finding much more to think about and talk about. They were enjoying the show, and going a bit deeper than the kids.

The two shows on Saturday were EXHAUSTING. I can't write that in a big enough font. More exhausting that doing a matinée and night show of a normal full length play. Absolute bone crushing tiredness. Thank God we don't have to do two shows in a day overseas. Still, I guess it shows that we were working bloody hard and hopefully it paid off.

So, less than 2 days before we leave!

The props and costumes all fit in the yellow suitcase. Huzzah! It only took 3 of us most of a day to pack everything and get organised. As long as no one loses their shoes and everyone can take a bit of the promotional material in their bag we'll be fine.

My own packing on the other hand.... Well it's still all over my bedroom!! There's stuff everywhere!

We're heading off for Sydney on Friday morning. I'm still in denial about the impending 48 or so hours of plane travel, waiting, waiting, plane travel, waiting, blah blah blah blurgh!

My next post will probably be from sunny beautiful Monaco!!

Opening Night!

It's opening night tonight! Lights up at 7:30pm.
After months of rehearsals, indoor and outdoor, several bouts of the flu, some injuries and the inevitable arguments and stress (and lots of fun of course) - we've arrived!
These rehearsals have been different to any I've been involved with before. Well I suppose I'd say that for every show, but these ones have REALLY been different.
We built the Colour Play ourselves from a bunch of concepts and ideas into an energetic fast paced acrobatic whirlwind of a show that will hopefully entertain audiences of all ages and all Nationalities.
We started with our initial tribe groups and spent a lot of time developing our characters. What would each colour look like, sound like, do, feel, want? Of course, the beauty of this is that we were able to be totally imaginative and really strectch ourselves creatively and artistically.
From there we've created a 45 minute show that explores the concepts of war and peace, multiculturalism, and even death.
And on top of all that - it's funny! And acrobatic and energetic.
What more could you want?
We're doing a short season the show in Goulburn - 6 shows between tonight and Sunday. 2 of the shows are outdoors - bbbrrrrr!!
But despite the cold, the outdoor shows promise to be something pretty exciting - Marsden Weir on Saturday afternoon and the Caroline Chisholm courtyard on Sunday afternoon.
The play is actually designed more for a large outdoor space (CJ would love it to be in the bush) so the outside shows will be more authentic than the ones on the Lieder stage.
Then we have a week off to pack everything up and get organised before our flight next Friday.
eeekk!!
We're at the pointiest end of the pointy end now! I can't believe how quickly this has come around!
Hopefully we'll see you at the show!

Welcome!

Hi!
Welcome to the blog!
I'll be (attempting) to blog regularly throughout our trip to Europe, so read on to find out how our tour is going - performances (which will of course all be magical), workshops, street theatre, bid to host a festival, fun stuff - it'll all be here.
I'll post shortly on how our rehearsals have been going, but first - our trip:

We leave Sydney on 14th August
Arrive in London on 15th and fly immediately to Nice, France.
We're staying in Monaco for 4 nights (during which time we perform)
Then we move to Nice for 3 nights (during which time we participate in festival activities)
We travel via train to Marseilles, Avignon and on to Barcelona (tourist time)
Then we go to Girona, Spain for a week (during which time we perform and participate in festival activities)
After Girona we fly back to London and have a few days as tourists before the tour ends and we go our separate ways.
Most of the company arrives back in Sydney on 3rd September.
Doreen, Erin, Terry, Fiona and Mark will arrive back in Sydney later in September.

I've also created a Flickr account, so I'll upload photos of the tour as often as I can. Rehearsal pics will go up after the tech and dress on the weekend:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liedertour2009

Stay tuned - more soon!