Odd Thomas Odd Blog

...what's my line again? That's pretty much what last night was like, our first rehearsal on stage ... and what a difference to rehearsing at the church hall! Up until now, I was starting to get reasonably confident with my lines, only dropping the odd bit here and there, but last night it was like I'd just put the script down for the first time and was trying to remember what I'd read. I panicked. And when I panic, my mind goes blank. Completely. In that state, if you ask me my name, there is a good chance I wouldn't be able to tell you and all you would get is my goldfish impression!!! Thankfully, I wasn't the only one this was happening to and it is apparently expected when you first hit the stage: I just hope it doesn't happen when the audience turn up... By the time act two came around, I think I was a bit more in control and I didn't forget the lines, though the thought of having to be prompted still fills me with dread. Call me anal, but I don...

Several years ago, I was a member of a local amateur dramatics group, The Centralian Players . From the stories I had heard about other drama groups, I think I struck gold with this group as they were very friendly and inviting, and they weren't afraid to put a total newcomer on stage: not me, I hasten to add, but my mate Tim who did a great Councillor Mason in Curtain Call by Bettine Manktelow. Instead, I blew them away with my stage management :-) After stage managing one play, and appearing in two others (Gym & Tonic by John Godber and Deadly Nightcap by Francis Durbridge), I decided to leave the group as I was getting a job in High Wycombe and, with having to work late, it would be very difficult to make rehearsals. Apparently, I was the first person in the history of the group to hand in his notice! In the past, people just vanished and were never seen again... Anyway, the group's October production, Murder in Rehearsal by Angela Lanyon, opened last night at Henders...