Everything else is on hold this week as the production I have been directing arrives to sold out Houses at the local theatre. One hundred and eighty-five seats for five nights – sold out! That’s a brilliant thing. A rural, small theatre that produces five shows a year can sell out midweek when the weather is shitty and the roads treacherous. The show is a comedy version of ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ and my direction owes as much to Carry On films as it does to Conan Doyle but the audiences seem to like it. There are only three actors in the cast and the energy they expend is magnificent as they all swap roles and charge about. Sometimes, in rehearsal, I felt somewhat cruel making them rehearse particularly physical scenes again and again but if you’re going to get comedy right it has to be perfectly timed and run like clockwork so as to appear spontaneous. And anyway I’m a sadist. None of the actors knew each other before November and now they are as thick as thieves, yet still holding down full-time jobs during the day, such is the lure of the stage.
And this is happening up and the country. I urge you to go and see some local theatre. Some will be average but some will be extraordinary and they should, along with a live music scene, be at the heart of every community. The Arts are always squeezed during times of economic hardship so resist, resist, resist!
Saw a wonderful new video from Eels this week and have also been exploring some more Scandi Americana this time coming up with the artist Olav Larsen, give him a listen. Wonderful. [Hmmmm…. Ed]. The radio show finds me in the bath and is a ‘live’ set this week with live tracks from the likes of Ryan Adams, The Jayhawks, Wilco, Tom Petty, Phil Cook and much more all linked by applause and introductions.
