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Rob and Roberta has been given a second performance; my Candlewaster, On the Wasting of Candles (which, as you may have gleaned from the title, is kind of esoteric to this show), is being acted out on both days that the candlewasters are showing; The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz was granted a second performance by the Bedlam Committee a couple of weeks ago. It seems strange to me that all the shows I've pitched this year have been so widely accepted- it wasn't even my idea to double up Rob and Roberta or On the Wasting of Candles- since, as previously discussed, at one point it was hard to get people to even consider staging my writing.

This was the only promotional image for one of the earliest shows I did- A Million Ways. I was gonna post it next to the Rob and Roberta Poster to show how far things had come, but I'm actually just gonna leave it here on its own because it adequately sums up how I feel about my workload. 

Speaking of Candlewasters- it turns out that none other than Esmond will be acting in mine! This came as a surprise, because I just banged out On the Wasting of Candles and then handed it to other people to put together. But a lovely surprise because, in all our years of friendship, Esmond and I have only worked together three times- and only actually properly spoken to each other onstage once. This will not only add another instance of our collaboration to the pot, but will also mean that Esmond has acted in something I've written- something I've wanted for quite some time, actually- but without the awkwardness of me having to direct him- something that I was worried about. In this case, I get to have my cake and eat it too- I'm really excited to see what Esmond does with the part, even though it's extremely brief. On his part, Esmond assessed the play merely by stating 'it's so you [meaning me]' over and over, which is obviously the highest compliment you can pay a work.

I've just come from a double bill of rehearsals for the two of the above-mentioned shows that I'm directly involved in, and now I'm working on my dissertation (you might contradict me and point out that I am, in fact, blogging, but fuck you, having the Word document open counts.)
This is indicative of the week I've been having and I'm slightly scared to think it might be a microcosm for fourth year in general: on Wednesday, our landlady came around to see the flat for the first time since I moved in and this meant that a certain amount of...correcting had to be done. And so, two days into term, I had to skip all my classes for a day and clean my damn room. On the plus side, Anne- my landlady- said I was 'obviously very tidy', so dodged a bullet there. On the plus plus side, it means my room is inhabitable for other people again and so I was able to invite Adam in to eat his lunch, picnic style on the sofa in my room- I felt like a proper host.
Other stresses, apart from the shows and general work load, are dissertation, which is really starting to kick in now that Christmas is over; TEFL work, which I have to complete by the end of January or pay a fine; another round of job applications, some of which are for work which seems really quite shady; and writing a press release for Rob and Roberta, which was fun but difficult. I ended up using words like 'brash' and 'lurid', which aren't actually positive in their original definitions but I think can be spun in an approbatory light, given the context (can you tell I've been studying semantics?).

Adding to the stress of this week was Stageageddon, a name I sadly cannot take credit for but which I do really enjoy saying, especially in the heavy metal tones that I feel the bold font implies. I'm not actually sure what happened- some say the stage was declared unsafe, others that essential building work merely went on too long, personally I like to think that John Rushton escaped from his cell in the crypt- but the result was that we were not allowed in the auditorium anymore. A week before a festival. Eep.
While this did effect me directly- and give me a few stress-induced headaches trying to work out where my rehearsals were, how many I'd lost and when I'd make them up- I'm mainly writing this to express my respect for the people who stepped up and helped solve the crisis. Well done, Bedfest team, and Bedlam Committee and everyone else who helped. I think you did really well: much better than I am doing facing about half the level of stress that that must have been, to which my response is to curl into a ball and sob.

As indicated by his wonderful quote from Tuesday, Professor Cann is proving to be a brilliant professor and his subject is kinda complex but varied and interesting- definitely more so than that other discipline he trash talked so pithily. I'm glad about this not just for the normal reasons of not wanting to have to dedicate time to something that bores me, but also because, if I apply myself- properly and actually- I could possibly, just possibly, get a first on my degree. I'm currently on a 68; which means I need to average 72 this semester to counter that. I think I can do that- I'm doing subjects which really interest me, and I managed to get a 78 on an essay just a couple of months ago. I let myself down a bit on my exams last semester, but I think with a bit of dedication, I could make the grade.
Literally.

Finally, I'm going to relate a story which will only make sense if you've read/seen Rob and Roberta, which will obviously be all of you come this time next week. Emma, Laurie, Izzy and I were sitting reciting the script at a table in Pleasance- eventually, we came to the Bees Monologue, and I noticed a man standing near us, waiting to be served, clearly listening in and being absolutely horrified. A testament to Laurie's acting ability, yes, but also a powerful warning against Eaves-dropping.