Last night we finished our tour in Uppingham, in a theatre that is part of the school Stephen Fry went to as a child.
We played to 150 students - in some way it was a bit like being back in Norwegian schools, in other ways it couldn't have been more different.
We were made to feel very welcome there and have been invited to go back soon. If our schedule has space for it...
Iva left last night after the show to get a head start on her monster journey to Linz. Bara left last night as well, because she had to get back to Prague to perform in her own show there.
The rest of us took off this morning, and saying goodbye at Heathrow made us realise that some of us won't see each other for a while now.
The two upcoming projects have an entirely different cast because they overlap.
So I'll be seeing some of them on Friday when I go to Linz, the others (who are involved in the show we'll be making in Stuttgart) I won't see again until the beginning of May.
But first things first: on Monday rehearsals start for a show called 'Das Schiff', which is a co-production with Sgaramusch and Schäxpir and will be performed as part of Linz Cultural Capital 2009.
We'll be playing on a boat in Linz, which I'm very very excited about.
Showing posts with label EEE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EEE. Show all posts
Saturday, 28 February 2009
Thursday, 26 February 2009
Canterbury in the South East
After Warwick we drove down to Newbury (West of London) and stayed in a hotel next door to the theatre. David commented that his hotel room was probably closer to the stage than the dressing room in some of the theatres we've been to.
In Newbury we celebrated Nikita's 5th birthday with an overdose of chocolate (chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream). We all screamed the devil out of the cake as Tom was cutting it, and the other people who happened to be in the theatre cafe at that point must have thought we were mad.
Today we are in Canterbury.
I took a bus into town to get a haircut, and first of all I nearly had a fight with the people of Toni and Guy. They didn't have time to cut my hair so I asked if there was an other hairdresser near (bad manners, I know). The woman pointed vaguely into some random direction and said: 'down there, but I don't know what the quality is like'. To which I replied: 'it's just a haircut, I'm sure they can do it'. She gave me a very angry look and I left.
I found another hairdresser which wasn't part of a chain and which was far less expensive. While my hair was being washed, I sat in a massage chair, and if it hadn't been for the show tonight, I'd probably still be there.
As I expected, the haircut was fine (not quite as impressive as my Chinese haircut, but I don't have time to go to China for a haircut, so I'll live with it).
On the way back I overheard some students discussing the cheapest way to get wasted. The result of their comparison was cider: cheaper than wine, same percentage, and they could get a lot more of it. They also tried to calculate for how long they'd have to drink at home to be drunk enough to be able to go into town and not have to spend too much money on alcohol to get completely hammered.
And I wonder: is talking about getting drunk beyond words as 'cool' as actually getting immensely drunk? And is either of it 'cool' at all?
Or am I just getting old?
In Newbury we celebrated Nikita's 5th birthday with an overdose of chocolate (chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream). We all screamed the devil out of the cake as Tom was cutting it, and the other people who happened to be in the theatre cafe at that point must have thought we were mad.
Today we are in Canterbury.
I took a bus into town to get a haircut, and first of all I nearly had a fight with the people of Toni and Guy. They didn't have time to cut my hair so I asked if there was an other hairdresser near (bad manners, I know). The woman pointed vaguely into some random direction and said: 'down there, but I don't know what the quality is like'. To which I replied: 'it's just a haircut, I'm sure they can do it'. She gave me a very angry look and I left.
I found another hairdresser which wasn't part of a chain and which was far less expensive. While my hair was being washed, I sat in a massage chair, and if it hadn't been for the show tonight, I'd probably still be there.
As I expected, the haircut was fine (not quite as impressive as my Chinese haircut, but I don't have time to go to China for a haircut, so I'll live with it).
On the way back I overheard some students discussing the cheapest way to get wasted. The result of their comparison was cider: cheaper than wine, same percentage, and they could get a lot more of it. They also tried to calculate for how long they'd have to drink at home to be drunk enough to be able to go into town and not have to spend too much money on alcohol to get completely hammered.
And I wonder: is talking about getting drunk beyond words as 'cool' as actually getting immensely drunk? And is either of it 'cool' at all?
Or am I just getting old?
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Warwick west of the middle
We've now played two performances at the Warwick Arts Centre and so far so good.
Last night was a very warm crowd, who stayed behind for a Q&A session. This morning we played for house full of students and it was great fun too.
Our two hour get-in seemed ridiculous compared to the two day get-in Kneehigh is doing next door in the main house. Our beloved blue Caravelle also looked tiny next to their trailer.
They have the most enormous amount of stuff and part of me wonders if that's really necessary. As they're playing tonight (like we are), I won't be able to go and check if it is really necessary, so I'll just assume it must be.
The hotel we are in looks like it was used for Twin Peaks. It has dark wooden corridors leading to a variety of meeting rooms, dining rooms, breakfast rooms, ball rooms, pool rooms, and any other rooms you might need in a hotel. It boasts about parking for 500 cars (I'm a bit dubious about that, but can't be bothered to count), and everything about it says '70s.
In my bathroom there are a set of very strict health and safety rules:
So I'll try to be careful, as there must be a reason for all this caution.
Last night was a very warm crowd, who stayed behind for a Q&A session. This morning we played for house full of students and it was great fun too.
Our two hour get-in seemed ridiculous compared to the two day get-in Kneehigh is doing next door in the main house. Our beloved blue Caravelle also looked tiny next to their trailer.
They have the most enormous amount of stuff and part of me wonders if that's really necessary. As they're playing tonight (like we are), I won't be able to go and check if it is really necessary, so I'll just assume it must be.
The hotel we are in looks like it was used for Twin Peaks. It has dark wooden corridors leading to a variety of meeting rooms, dining rooms, breakfast rooms, ball rooms, pool rooms, and any other rooms you might need in a hotel. It boasts about parking for 500 cars (I'm a bit dubious about that, but can't be bothered to count), and everything about it says '70s.
In my bathroom there are a set of very strict health and safety rules:
at the edge of the bath on eye level:
above the toilet:
and as a summary above the middle of the bath:
So I'll try to be careful, as there must be a reason for all this caution.
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Peterborough in the Middle
On Saturday we drove to Peterborough. As part of a project we are planning to make in Peterborough, we decided to play in a community centre rather than in the Key Theatre. The whole set-up is a start of something bigger, part of us learning things about Peterborough, bringing things there and taking things from there.
We had a small but enthusiastic audience and had a chat with them after the show about what we could do in Peterborough, how we should do it, where we should go and who we should talk to.
There were people from 4 different organisations in Peterborough who all had different suggestions.
Afterwards we all went to a bar on a boat to celebrate Tom's 30th birthday. I thought that day would never come, but here it is: Tomas Mechacek has finally joined the 30something brigade.
After the boat we went to a pub where karaoke was being sung badly, and where they had pool tables. So we played a few rounds. I met a man called Sean who was intimidated by my hair and said I had some 'crazy shit' going on. He wondered if it had electricity in it. He hung around for a while and made us laugh a lot. But I guess it's time for a haircut... Only I fear no European haircut will be as good as my Chinese one.
Another part of the things I got used to while living in London and then got unused to again after moving away is food in England. At the risk of offending a nation: when it comes to food, there is something rotten in the state of England. On tour we generally have to eat out. And eating out in England is not easy. That is to say, not easy if you want something fresh and healthy. In some of the places we've been to the only options have been burgers and chips, jacket potatoes or sandwiches that look like they died a few years ago.
After 4 days of that, I had a dream that I was having an affair with Nigella Lawson. Which was quite shocking but it makes things very clear: something had to give. So I went to the supermarket to get some salads and fruit.
Because that is something I will readily admit: supermarkets in England are probably the best in Europe. Only takeaway or sit-in food doesn't reach those standards by far.
Today we have a day off in Peterborough. Peterborough is not very big, so when I went out to go to the supermarket, I first bumped into Nils Petter and 5 minutes later Iva walked by.
I like it when that happens. It's like a coincidence that isn't a coincidence at all. And for the briefest of moments, I have the feeling I live in a small town where I know everyone and meet friends on the street.
Tomorrow we are going to Warwick.
We had a small but enthusiastic audience and had a chat with them after the show about what we could do in Peterborough, how we should do it, where we should go and who we should talk to.
There were people from 4 different organisations in Peterborough who all had different suggestions.
Afterwards we all went to a bar on a boat to celebrate Tom's 30th birthday. I thought that day would never come, but here it is: Tomas Mechacek has finally joined the 30something brigade.
After the boat we went to a pub where karaoke was being sung badly, and where they had pool tables. So we played a few rounds. I met a man called Sean who was intimidated by my hair and said I had some 'crazy shit' going on. He wondered if it had electricity in it. He hung around for a while and made us laugh a lot. But I guess it's time for a haircut... Only I fear no European haircut will be as good as my Chinese one.
Another part of the things I got used to while living in London and then got unused to again after moving away is food in England. At the risk of offending a nation: when it comes to food, there is something rotten in the state of England. On tour we generally have to eat out. And eating out in England is not easy. That is to say, not easy if you want something fresh and healthy. In some of the places we've been to the only options have been burgers and chips, jacket potatoes or sandwiches that look like they died a few years ago.
After 4 days of that, I had a dream that I was having an affair with Nigella Lawson. Which was quite shocking but it makes things very clear: something had to give. So I went to the supermarket to get some salads and fruit.
Because that is something I will readily admit: supermarkets in England are probably the best in Europe. Only takeaway or sit-in food doesn't reach those standards by far.
Today we have a day off in Peterborough. Peterborough is not very big, so when I went out to go to the supermarket, I first bumped into Nils Petter and 5 minutes later Iva walked by.
I like it when that happens. It's like a coincidence that isn't a coincidence at all. And for the briefest of moments, I have the feeling I live in a small town where I know everyone and meet friends on the street.
Tomorrow we are going to Warwick.
Saturday, 21 February 2009
Colchester in the East
On Friday morning we drove from Leeds to Colchester to play at the Lakeside theatre. We'd never played there before, so we didn't know what we would find. The Lakeside Theatre is part of the university and is on the university grounds near Wivenhoe. It's a lot of big buildings in what looks like a big park. The theatre itself is very nice. As we hadn't played there before, we didn't really know what to expect, so we were pleasantly surprised when more than 100 people showed up to see the show, and they were all very enthusiastic.
The hotel we were staying in was also in the university grounds. It was a beautiful old building with many corridors.
The hotel we were staying in was also in the university grounds. It was a beautiful old building with many corridors.
Getting ready to go to Peterborough
Friday, 20 February 2009
Leeds in the North
The gps made me aware of the fact that there seem to be two cities called Leeds in the UK. We went to the one in North Yorkshire.
After we'd all arrived (after a lot of confusion in the one way systems in the centre of Leeds), we went for a drink to discuss the tour. On this trip we have two cars: the van and a family car. We'll be driving up and down England for two weeks, in the traditional UK touring pinball machine way.
We all knew Leeds Met from before, we've always enjoyed playing there because we get very nice audience and it is a tiny but really cosy space.
During rehearsal the glass cake dish broke. It just kind of fell off the little table it was on. The little table itself has gone through a variety of repairs that clearly don't really hold it together any more, so all of a sudden we were without cake dish and without suitable cake table. So I went on a mission in Leeds to find a glass bowl with a lid.
Mission impossible, it seemed. So I got something else, that was ugly and wrong, but we had to have something to put the cake in.
The shows in Leeds were very nice. We were forced to be very sensitive about sound and movement, as the space was so small, so the show was suddenly a lot lighter than when we last played in the huge theatre in Parma. We all agreed that it was good to go back to a very small space every now and then.
Leeds struck me as quite rough. I saw a man standing on the street with blood gushing down his face and a crowd just watching him. The next afternoon I saw three seemingly homeless men with dogs nearly get into a very nasty fight.
I've lived in the UK for 4 years and got used to a lot of things. Now I've been gone for 3,5 years and got unused to some of those things. Like the dress code of young women in winter in England. I realise it's not exactly freezing anymore, but still, I would say it's too cold to dress in a few strips of fabric.
Then again, maybe that's just me.
After we'd all arrived (after a lot of confusion in the one way systems in the centre of Leeds), we went for a drink to discuss the tour. On this trip we have two cars: the van and a family car. We'll be driving up and down England for two weeks, in the traditional UK touring pinball machine way.
We all knew Leeds Met from before, we've always enjoyed playing there because we get very nice audience and it is a tiny but really cosy space.
During rehearsal the glass cake dish broke. It just kind of fell off the little table it was on. The little table itself has gone through a variety of repairs that clearly don't really hold it together any more, so all of a sudden we were without cake dish and without suitable cake table. So I went on a mission in Leeds to find a glass bowl with a lid.
Mission impossible, it seemed. So I got something else, that was ugly and wrong, but we had to have something to put the cake in.
The shows in Leeds were very nice. We were forced to be very sensitive about sound and movement, as the space was so small, so the show was suddenly a lot lighter than when we last played in the huge theatre in Parma. We all agreed that it was good to go back to a very small space every now and then.
Leeds struck me as quite rough. I saw a man standing on the street with blood gushing down his face and a crowd just watching him. The next afternoon I saw three seemingly homeless men with dogs nearly get into a very nasty fight.
I've lived in the UK for 4 years and got used to a lot of things. Now I've been gone for 3,5 years and got unused to some of those things. Like the dress code of young women in winter in England. I realise it's not exactly freezing anymore, but still, I would say it's too cold to dress in a few strips of fabric.
Then again, maybe that's just me.
Saturday, 31 January 2009
NIE in Italy
So here we are at last: after so many years of never touring any of the Mediterranean countries, we finally arrived in Parma. The theatre is in the middle of a park, which is very nice. On Thursday we did the get-in and rehearsed with the subtitles. Flavia and Marina from the theatre were there to check if it was all ok, whether the titles weren't going to fast, whether there were any mistakes in them, and so on. It all went well.
In the evening we went to a restaurant recommended to us by Flavia. It was amazing. We had antipasti of all sorts of ham (Parma ham), then moved on to the primi piatti, and stopped before we got hit by the secundi piatti - we already felt we'd eaten enough.
But we'd all left some space for the desert, as we'd been watching the desert trolleys all evening and we all knew we'd have to try at least one of them.
Tom went for the zuppa inglese and ended up very tipsy.
Friday morning we played for 250 Italian teenagers and it was great. From their laughter I would assume that their English was ok - they laughed at the spoken gags, not the projected translations. Afterwards we had a post show discussion with them.
In between both shows I drove to Parma airport to pick up Anna. A thick mist was setting over the city, and as a result her flight was diverted. When I went back to the airport two hours later (when she finally arrived), the mist had become denser, and the whole of Parma had become almost invisible.
In the evening a lot of the audience was delayed because of the mist, so we waited. The show went well and the audience enjoyed it. Iva recorded the show with the Italian subtitles, because maybe that way we can come back to Italy and tour around the country...
In the evening we went to a restaurant recommended to us by Flavia. It was amazing. We had antipasti of all sorts of ham (Parma ham), then moved on to the primi piatti, and stopped before we got hit by the secundi piatti - we already felt we'd eaten enough.
But we'd all left some space for the desert, as we'd been watching the desert trolleys all evening and we all knew we'd have to try at least one of them.
Tom went for the zuppa inglese and ended up very tipsy.
Friday morning we played for 250 Italian teenagers and it was great. From their laughter I would assume that their English was ok - they laughed at the spoken gags, not the projected translations. Afterwards we had a post show discussion with them.
In between both shows I drove to Parma airport to pick up Anna. A thick mist was setting over the city, and as a result her flight was diverted. When I went back to the airport two hours later (when she finally arrived), the mist had become denser, and the whole of Parma had become almost invisible.
In the evening a lot of the audience was delayed because of the mist, so we waited. The show went well and the audience enjoyed it. Iva recorded the show with the Italian subtitles, because maybe that way we can come back to Italy and tour around the country...
Thursday, 11 December 2008
Christmas Break
After a very long journey we are now all back home, and this is the start of our Christmas break. On Sunday we played our last show and packed up our set, and Ray delivered our goods... He will never be forgotten now.
Getting back to the hotel, there were some stalls with food on the corner of our street, and Tom and some chicken and vegetables for 40p.
We all went to get some beers to have a last night drinks to celebrate a very long and great autumn season. Iva bought cashews to make us all 'new men'. It didn't really work. At least for me, it didn't.
On Monday morning, we started our journey at 7.30am (Shanghai time). Ray brought us to the airport and we said goodbye. Once we were all through security, the new airport game started again. And now that we all had the new Jianzi's Ray bought us, we had to start all over again, because they're different: better, but harder to play.
During our 11 hour flight to Helsinki, we passed over the Gobi desert.
And over Siberia. It was daytime throughout the flight, so there were some amazing views - only it wasn't that easy to photograph them through the tiny windows of the plane.
In Helsinki, we had very little time to transfer to our next flight (to London), but Iva and the kids still found space and time to get some more practise with the Jianzi.
By then, the sun had finally set. We went 6 hours back in time, and were about to go back 2 hours more.
In London, our paths diverged: the Moberg family went straight onto a next plane to Oslo, and the Mechacek family, Dave and I were driven to a Travelodge to spend the night so we could get on our home flights the morning after.
Technically this is the end of our season. But next week Kjell and Alex will come to Berlin to start some work on the show they will make in Stuttgart next spring, and between Christmas and New Year I will drive to Cambridge to pick up the set for Everything Falls Apart. And of course we're all preparing for the festival week we've planned in Oslo in January.
One last thing: for anyone expecting anything: I did not send any postcards from China. Sorry.
All that is left now is to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Getting back to the hotel, there were some stalls with food on the corner of our street, and Tom and some chicken and vegetables for 40p.
We all went to get some beers to have a last night drinks to celebrate a very long and great autumn season. Iva bought cashews to make us all 'new men'. It didn't really work. At least for me, it didn't.
On Monday morning, we started our journey at 7.30am (Shanghai time). Ray brought us to the airport and we said goodbye. Once we were all through security, the new airport game started again. And now that we all had the new Jianzi's Ray bought us, we had to start all over again, because they're different: better, but harder to play.
During our 11 hour flight to Helsinki, we passed over the Gobi desert.
And over Siberia. It was daytime throughout the flight, so there were some amazing views - only it wasn't that easy to photograph them through the tiny windows of the plane.
In Helsinki, we had very little time to transfer to our next flight (to London), but Iva and the kids still found space and time to get some more practise with the Jianzi.
By then, the sun had finally set. We went 6 hours back in time, and were about to go back 2 hours more.
In London, our paths diverged: the Moberg family went straight onto a next plane to Oslo, and the Mechacek family, Dave and I were driven to a Travelodge to spend the night so we could get on our home flights the morning after.
Technically this is the end of our season. But next week Kjell and Alex will come to Berlin to start some work on the show they will make in Stuttgart next spring, and between Christmas and New Year I will drive to Cambridge to pick up the set for Everything Falls Apart. And of course we're all preparing for the festival week we've planned in Oslo in January.
One last thing: for anyone expecting anything: I did not send any postcards from China. Sorry.
All that is left now is to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Sunday, 7 December 2008
Backtracking
This post will be a bit of a chaotic one, where I will put the pictures others have told me to post, and some video I didn't have a chance to upload before today.
First of all, how about hundreds of teddy bears instead of a shedding tree?
Today is our last day in Shanghai, so a perfect day for looking back.
This is the game people were playing all over parks in Beijing. Tom bought a couple of them and we decided to give it a go. As you can see, it's not that easy (in other words we were rubbish at it).
In the meanwhile we've been practising and we did get a lot better at it. I will film another session tonight, before our very last show here in China, and then post it so you can see how much better we are now.
This video is the pancake Dave and I had last week in Beijing. We were in a shopping area and there were loads of tiny food shops. We went for the one with the biggest queue, and this is what we ended up eating. It was very good.
On Friday we went for lunch with the people from the theatre. As usual, an enormous amount of food appeared and we tried and failed to eat it all.
This is the beginning - when we thought there was too much food on the table. As time went by, more and more food came. It may not look like there was space for more, but somehow there was.
At the end of the meal, the people from the Dramatic Arts Centre gave us a glass sculpture with the name of the show in Chinese.
This is how we left it: lots of food left. We felt a bit better about it when we saw Ray (our Shanghai producer) put most of it in boxes to take back to his office.
Today I decided to go up in the Jinmao tower. The Mobergs had already been and were very impressed, so I wanted to see it for myself. Coming out of the subway station I was immediately overwhelmed by the monster towers all around. And the fact that a lot more are being built. They're getting ready for the World Expo in 2010, and I'm sure that by that time Shanghai will look even more futuristic.
This is the one I went up. The 88th floor, 340m high.
This picture has a slight reflection from the window, but other than that the haze is the Shanghai smog. Don't let them fool you buy calling it fog. It's not.
This one reminds me of one of my homes: Berlin's TV Tower is similar to this building.
The river and the boats.
These guys are clearly not afraid of heights. They were at 340m and going up.
From the 54th floor up this building is a hotel. Reception is on the 54th floor and the top rooms are on the 88th floor (which doesn't make sense because that's where the lookout platform is, but since they have different sets of lifts, it's hard to decide whose numbers are correct). I went up to two 88th floors and they were definitely at different heights.
Looking from the top down on reception (with nothing but a wooden balustrade to keep you from tumbling down), you can see all the floors in between floor 88 and 54). It's a dazzling sight.
So, last show tonight. China has been great: we've had good audiences and they all seemed to really enjoy the show. We met some fascinating people and saw some amazing things.
At the moment I'm quite curious to see whether our man Ray has managed to source the 70 football shuttlecocks (I looked it up on the internet and they're apparently called Jianzi) we asked him to get for us. If he has, he'll be the man of the day.
First of all, how about hundreds of teddy bears instead of a shedding tree?
Today is our last day in Shanghai, so a perfect day for looking back.
This is the game people were playing all over parks in Beijing. Tom bought a couple of them and we decided to give it a go. As you can see, it's not that easy (in other words we were rubbish at it).
In the meanwhile we've been practising and we did get a lot better at it. I will film another session tonight, before our very last show here in China, and then post it so you can see how much better we are now.
This video is the pancake Dave and I had last week in Beijing. We were in a shopping area and there were loads of tiny food shops. We went for the one with the biggest queue, and this is what we ended up eating. It was very good.
On Friday we went for lunch with the people from the theatre. As usual, an enormous amount of food appeared and we tried and failed to eat it all.
This is the beginning - when we thought there was too much food on the table. As time went by, more and more food came. It may not look like there was space for more, but somehow there was.
At the end of the meal, the people from the Dramatic Arts Centre gave us a glass sculpture with the name of the show in Chinese.
This is how we left it: lots of food left. We felt a bit better about it when we saw Ray (our Shanghai producer) put most of it in boxes to take back to his office.
Today I decided to go up in the Jinmao tower. The Mobergs had already been and were very impressed, so I wanted to see it for myself. Coming out of the subway station I was immediately overwhelmed by the monster towers all around. And the fact that a lot more are being built. They're getting ready for the World Expo in 2010, and I'm sure that by that time Shanghai will look even more futuristic.
This is the one I went up. The 88th floor, 340m high.
This picture has a slight reflection from the window, but other than that the haze is the Shanghai smog. Don't let them fool you buy calling it fog. It's not.
This one reminds me of one of my homes: Berlin's TV Tower is similar to this building.
The river and the boats.
These guys are clearly not afraid of heights. They were at 340m and going up.
From the 54th floor up this building is a hotel. Reception is on the 54th floor and the top rooms are on the 88th floor (which doesn't make sense because that's where the lookout platform is, but since they have different sets of lifts, it's hard to decide whose numbers are correct). I went up to two 88th floors and they were definitely at different heights.
Looking from the top down on reception (with nothing but a wooden balustrade to keep you from tumbling down), you can see all the floors in between floor 88 and 54). It's a dazzling sight.
So, last show tonight. China has been great: we've had good audiences and they all seemed to really enjoy the show. We met some fascinating people and saw some amazing things.
At the moment I'm quite curious to see whether our man Ray has managed to source the 70 football shuttlecocks (I looked it up on the internet and they're apparently called Jianzi) we asked him to get for us. If he has, he'll be the man of the day.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
First show in Shanghai
This is a daylight version of the nightshot I posted a few days ago. It was early afternoon - the time of day is sometimes very confusing because the pollution filters the sunlight which makes it look like early evening.
Iva was released from hospital today and is feeling a lot better, so we performed tonight.
These are some pictures from our get-in yesterday.
After getting in, we went to a fantastic tepanyaki restaurant next door to the hotel.
Today David and I went to the Science Museum (which was quite disappointing). The view was almost futuristic because of the smog and all the buildings that have been built in the last 10 years.
Some things we've learnt in China:
Iva was released from hospital today and is feeling a lot better, so we performed tonight.
These are some pictures from our get-in yesterday.
The boys putting the wardrobe together
Working on the subtitles with Sky, our subtitle man. We had an interesting discussion about the differences between English humour and Chinese humour.
After getting in, we went to a fantastic tepanyaki restaurant next door to the hotel.
This was our chef for the night, who cooked what we ordered at our table.
Bara's very interesting soup. DYI.
Our table and the table behind us.
Today David and I went to the Science Museum (which was quite disappointing). The view was almost futuristic because of the smog and all the buildings that have been built in the last 10 years.
Some things we've learnt in China:
- chopstick skills - we were rubbish on the first day and now we're a lot better. I wouldn't say masters, but still - there has been a clear improvement.
- haggling - again, in the beginning we were quite soft, but now we're all quite tough at bartering. We probably still pay too much, but we are definitely very close to Chinese prices (I think).
- crossing roads. In Beijing the issue was the very wide boulevards, in Shanghai the challenge is that traffic lights don't seem to matter at all and there are thousands of scooters and bikes in addition to millions of cars.
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Getting in in Shanghai
The get-in in Shanghai was quite unusual. I was introduced first to the technical manager, then to the stage manager, and then to the lighting designer of the theatre, a very trendy looking man whose English name I forgot. But he was the one who'd be doing lights with me. He went through the lighting plan with me and then said he would get the workers to move some lights.
So three little old men appeared with a talloscope and a ladder and they moved some lights.
Then I wanted to get on with focusing lights, but apparently first the projector had to be installed by the three men. They rigged it (one on the talloscope, two moving it around at the bottom). Then another man focused it and wired it up.
Finally it was time for lights. The trendy man was nowhere to be seen, but the stage manager and a woman sat behind the lighting desk. The woman was also the translator.
I was one stage, asking for various lighting channels, the light would come on and the three little men moved the ladder and focused. They didn't speak English, though, so whatever I wanted went through the woman, who translated it to the stage manager, who told the three men what to do. And they carried on telling each other.
So there were constantly 5 people talking to each other in Chinese, and I would talk through them, into the darkness of the auditorium, hoping the woman could hear me. More often than not she did, and what I asked for happened, almost miraculously. Sometimes she didn't, and then I would just wait until I knew for sure that she hadn't heard me, and try again.
It might not seem like it, but it did actually go quite fast. And only once did I ask for something again when they had heard me, but where discussing what it was I asked for.
After a while I thought I'd understood what 'smaller' was in Chinese, so I tried it out, but it didn't work. It's clearly not as easy as that.
Today Iva got very ill and we had to cancel the show. She's in hospital with a stomach infection and we all hope she'll be better soon. The rest of us are fine, so we can't work out what it was she ate.
They offered the audience tickets for another night, so we hope everyone can still see the show later this week.
So three little old men appeared with a talloscope and a ladder and they moved some lights.
Then I wanted to get on with focusing lights, but apparently first the projector had to be installed by the three men. They rigged it (one on the talloscope, two moving it around at the bottom). Then another man focused it and wired it up.
Finally it was time for lights. The trendy man was nowhere to be seen, but the stage manager and a woman sat behind the lighting desk. The woman was also the translator.
I was one stage, asking for various lighting channels, the light would come on and the three little men moved the ladder and focused. They didn't speak English, though, so whatever I wanted went through the woman, who translated it to the stage manager, who told the three men what to do. And they carried on telling each other.
So there were constantly 5 people talking to each other in Chinese, and I would talk through them, into the darkness of the auditorium, hoping the woman could hear me. More often than not she did, and what I asked for happened, almost miraculously. Sometimes she didn't, and then I would just wait until I knew for sure that she hadn't heard me, and try again.
It might not seem like it, but it did actually go quite fast. And only once did I ask for something again when they had heard me, but where discussing what it was I asked for.
After a while I thought I'd understood what 'smaller' was in Chinese, so I tried it out, but it didn't work. It's clearly not as easy as that.
Today Iva got very ill and we had to cancel the show. She's in hospital with a stomach infection and we all hope she'll be better soon. The rest of us are fine, so we can't work out what it was she ate.
They offered the audience tickets for another night, so we hope everyone can still see the show later this week.
Monday, 1 December 2008
He's in Denmark, we're in Shanghai
Today we flew from Beijing to Shanghai. Shanghai is warmer than Beijing, and totally different. It almost feels like being in a different country.
It all started at 9am this morning, when they came to pick up our set, and the set of TNT, who also played in Beijing and were on the same plane to Shanghai.
Luckily, this was not how they transported the set to the airport. There was a bus at the end of the road to transport set and people.
At the airport, we had just enough people to push the trolleys we needed to get all of our stuff to the check-in desk.
In Shanghai, we were picked up by Ray and Tracy. (I should probably tell you that most of the Chinese people we've been meeting have English names as well as Chinese names - I think they do it to help us out - so Ray and Tracy are Chinese, and work for the Dramatic Arts Centre in Beijing). The space looks great and has a very nice bar on the 6th floor overlooking Shanghai.
After we checked in at the hotel, we went for a meal and afterwards Bob and I went for a walk to see Shanghai by night.
Shanghai has tree-lined streets and is a mix of old and new, but in a different way from Beijing. The new is very new, very American, and probably tacky and cheap. But very lively. Beijing is more serious, has incredibly wide avenues and feels more like a city you really need to know in order to know where to go. Shanghai seems easier. It's been compared to NY and Vegas, but I think that's not entirely right. It's much more a mix of the most unlikely combination of Europe, Asia and America. NY is a more likely mix. If that makes any sense at all.
It all started at 9am this morning, when they came to pick up our set, and the set of TNT, who also played in Beijing and were on the same plane to Shanghai.
Luckily, this was not how they transported the set to the airport. There was a bus at the end of the road to transport set and people.
At the airport, we had just enough people to push the trolleys we needed to get all of our stuff to the check-in desk.
In Shanghai, we were picked up by Ray and Tracy. (I should probably tell you that most of the Chinese people we've been meeting have English names as well as Chinese names - I think they do it to help us out - so Ray and Tracy are Chinese, and work for the Dramatic Arts Centre in Beijing). The space looks great and has a very nice bar on the 6th floor overlooking Shanghai.
After we checked in at the hotel, we went for a meal and afterwards Bob and I went for a walk to see Shanghai by night.
Shanghai has tree-lined streets and is a mix of old and new, but in a different way from Beijing. The new is very new, very American, and probably tacky and cheap. But very lively. Beijing is more serious, has incredibly wide avenues and feels more like a city you really need to know in order to know where to go. Shanghai seems easier. It's been compared to NY and Vegas, but I think that's not entirely right. It's much more a mix of the most unlikely combination of Europe, Asia and America. NY is a more likely mix. If that makes any sense at all.
Sunday, 30 November 2008
They are in China, I am in Denmark
While the rest of the group are in China, I was working on a project in Denmark. This was the first workshop weekend for a show that I will make next year based on Charles Dickens book Hard Time. These are some pictures from the rehearsal room.
Saturday, 29 November 2008
The wall
Yesterday we went to see the Great Wall of China. It is great.
How it all happened was: Iva arranged for a minibus and struck a deal with the man who runs the company (Kevin) to get us all there for 700RMB. A bargain.
First of all, the minibus was almost half an hour late, also it was not the vehicle Kevin had shown Iva AND it didn't have seatbelts even though she specifically asked for them. The answer was: "we're not going very fast anyway, so it's ok".
Then the guide said she would take us to a jade gallery first, but as we needed to be back in time to get some rest before the show, we all said we wanted to go straight to the wall.
Big problem. We HAD to go to the gallery. So Bob phoned Kevin and was very firm with him, explaining that unless they took us straight to the wall, we'd all get off the bus and go with another company.
The phone got handed back and forth between Bob and Sophie (our guide), and eventually the deal was that if we didn't want to go to this gallery (for which they obviously got a commission or something), we'd have to pay 200RMB more.
So we stopped the bus and all got off.
More phone calls resulted in an extra 80RMB to go straight to the wall. Sophie kept saying 'more or less', and we kept saying 'no, not more or less, 80 exactly'.
Anyway, we got to the wall in the end.
After the trip, we got back into the bus and started driving. Sophie seemed to have a plan to take us to a restaurant somewhere, but as soon as we said we wanted to go back to the hotel, she stopped talking. Then, as the driver was about to get on the motorway, she shouted something at him, he stopped and reversed and took another route. Tom asked Sophie why we weren't going on the motorway, and we all got back into revolt-mode. So she said: "we will in a few minutes". She shouted something else at the driver and 5 minutes later we were on the motorway (which has tollbooths). But not after there was another moment of stopping in the middle of the road and reversing back onto the tollbooth lanes.
When we arrived back into the city, we decided to get off because traffic was horrible and it would be faster by underground. Sophie then tried to raise the fee again, claiming we had to pay for parking and the toll road and god knows what else.
Bob and Iva are very strict negotiators though, so I think this time they didn't manage to pull a huge tourist scam.
After the show last night we were introduced to some young directors from Beijing. One of them explained to us that in the whole of Beijing, there were only 20 young emerging artist (in theatre, that is). The strange thing is that he used the term 'emerging artist' as an official title, which I guess could very well be the case. The difference about them was that they are the ones who want to make theatre their own way, possibly influenced by western theatre, but definitely not following the rules of traditional theatre.
It was a very interesting evening, and I asked them a lot of questions about what they thought about all 4 Edinburgh shows that have passed through Beijing in the past 4 weeks.
We met about 8 of these emerging artists, and they each have their own style and don't necessarily have very much in common other than these organised events.
One of them invited us to a party tonight, where there will be live music and young Beijing artists or art students.
Today David and I went shopping, and stumbled on a street full of shopping centres. Yes, not a street full of shops, but a street full of 8 floor shopping arcades. One of them was incredible: a maze of tiny stalls selling pretty much anything you might want or need. With ample opportunity to haggle.
For lunch we had a very special crepe, and joined the Chinese who were having their lunch sitting on a wall.
My feet hurt.
How it all happened was: Iva arranged for a minibus and struck a deal with the man who runs the company (Kevin) to get us all there for 700RMB. A bargain.
First of all, the minibus was almost half an hour late, also it was not the vehicle Kevin had shown Iva AND it didn't have seatbelts even though she specifically asked for them. The answer was: "we're not going very fast anyway, so it's ok".
Then the guide said she would take us to a jade gallery first, but as we needed to be back in time to get some rest before the show, we all said we wanted to go straight to the wall.
Big problem. We HAD to go to the gallery. So Bob phoned Kevin and was very firm with him, explaining that unless they took us straight to the wall, we'd all get off the bus and go with another company.
The phone got handed back and forth between Bob and Sophie (our guide), and eventually the deal was that if we didn't want to go to this gallery (for which they obviously got a commission or something), we'd have to pay 200RMB more.
So we stopped the bus and all got off.
More phone calls resulted in an extra 80RMB to go straight to the wall. Sophie kept saying 'more or less', and we kept saying 'no, not more or less, 80 exactly'.
Anyway, we got to the wall in the end.
On the bus.
Arrival at the wall.
Going up to the cablecar.
In the cable car. Great wall in the background.
And there it is, in all its glory. It is the most spectacular sight.
Sasha thought it was like a dream.
After the trip, we got back into the bus and started driving. Sophie seemed to have a plan to take us to a restaurant somewhere, but as soon as we said we wanted to go back to the hotel, she stopped talking. Then, as the driver was about to get on the motorway, she shouted something at him, he stopped and reversed and took another route. Tom asked Sophie why we weren't going on the motorway, and we all got back into revolt-mode. So she said: "we will in a few minutes". She shouted something else at the driver and 5 minutes later we were on the motorway (which has tollbooths). But not after there was another moment of stopping in the middle of the road and reversing back onto the tollbooth lanes.
When we arrived back into the city, we decided to get off because traffic was horrible and it would be faster by underground. Sophie then tried to raise the fee again, claiming we had to pay for parking and the toll road and god knows what else.
Bob and Iva are very strict negotiators though, so I think this time they didn't manage to pull a huge tourist scam.
After the show last night we were introduced to some young directors from Beijing. One of them explained to us that in the whole of Beijing, there were only 20 young emerging artist (in theatre, that is). The strange thing is that he used the term 'emerging artist' as an official title, which I guess could very well be the case. The difference about them was that they are the ones who want to make theatre their own way, possibly influenced by western theatre, but definitely not following the rules of traditional theatre.
It was a very interesting evening, and I asked them a lot of questions about what they thought about all 4 Edinburgh shows that have passed through Beijing in the past 4 weeks.
We met about 8 of these emerging artists, and they each have their own style and don't necessarily have very much in common other than these organised events.
One of them invited us to a party tonight, where there will be live music and young Beijing artists or art students.
Today David and I went shopping, and stumbled on a street full of shopping centres. Yes, not a street full of shops, but a street full of 8 floor shopping arcades. One of them was incredible: a maze of tiny stalls selling pretty much anything you might want or need. With ample opportunity to haggle.
For lunch we had a very special crepe, and joined the Chinese who were having their lunch sitting on a wall.
My feet hurt.
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