Scarborough ahoy

Well, I managed to leave my camera cable at home, so any updates with pictures will be missing from the blog till I get back on Saturday, but until then I can update with the sheer artistry of words, or similar sentiments. The town is lovely, the people friendly, and the atmosphere lively. I missed a great deal of the opening shebang due to the early slot for Bad House which has already garnered a crop of reviews in the Noises Off, the festival daily magazine, and has had more positive feedback from those who came to see it. The set which I had worried about coming together in quite the right way hit the right notes I feel for the venue, and has come under praise, so good news all round. What with Phaedra's love too, it was a mad dash to the finish line while I ran around town looking for pygmy light bulbs to put into some practicals on set. Much thanks to Grace, Ben and Amy, and the entire tech team for their know how, humour and expertise.
And Phaedra's love, which has already been gathering attention, helped partly by the fact that it has a 43 strong cast, and the inviting sign outside the front door of the venue: "Phaedra's Love contains strong language throughout, scenes of a violent nature, scenes of a sexual nature, and scenes of a violent sexual nature", which surely can't fail to attract, or repel, in the case of our one walker yesterday. On the whole, for our first two shows, the atmosphere has been, i mst say electric. The audience has laughed, gasped and retched at the action onstage, and the first drips of feedback are positive. When I go to get the Noises Off paper this morning, I will know for better. I hope to put up show pictures and set design pictures after the festival, as well as puppet pictures. The puppets have worked very well, and it is great for me to be operating onstage, which I am really enjoying. In the meantime, there aremany other great companies and visiting workshops here to indulge in, and all in all, the week seems to promise good things.

Hoping to update with more pictures and actual solid feedback in a day or two

M