14th July 2006

Edinburgh

Rising in Drumnadrochit with a slightly sore head, we awaited the people carrier to start our trek south-east! We stopped in Dunkeld for afternoon tea or lunch, depending on who had managed breakfast, and Mother Rachel issued the orders for returning to the van.

We reached Edinburgh around 3pm and settled in to the venue before the actors headed for the centre of Edinburgh for some charity shops and to feed themselves, again! Then we headed back to North Edinburgh Arts Centre and I caught up with Morven about other company business while the actors got ready for the show.

One of the beauties of theatre in a traditional performance space is the absolute control you have over what goes on – once the door is shut then all you have to worry about is the actors being on their best behaviour. With the first half of this show being outside, there’s no real telling what will happen from night to night. Tonight the young people of Pilton got the chance to see the outside part of our show from the viewpoint of the wall surrounding North Edinburgh Arts Centre. This might’ve given the actors a challenge or two and gave a new meaning to audience interaction but certainly shows what taking theatre out to the community is all about. The audience seemed to really enjoy the show and again found it to be a very emotional experience.

After the show and the get-out I decided to have the actors back to my flat for a little (civilised) drink! I’m just beginning to realise that drinking two nights in a row is something that easy when you’re young, but not so good when you reach my mature (26) years!

Robert Softley