Free William! (Also known as Shakespeare on the Lake: The Final Reflection)

What a difference a few weeks makes. No... scratch that. The only difference a few weeks makes is that we're no longer a few weeks out from the production. We are now a few DAYS out from the production, and things are travelling along pretty much as they should. Definitely. Absolutely. More or less. Don't get me wrong, the play is ready to roll, and it's going to be a lot of fun for all concerned; but the hurdles one has to jump to get a show over the line sometimes leave you gasping for artistic breath, as it were. Public liability, logistics, informing without patronising, organising but not controlling, wondering how people are going to know where the toilets are, wondering if they know what they're supposed to do once they get to the toilets- argh! Why do we do it to ourselves? That is (to quote some famous bloke) the question. The thing that has always struck me about putting on a production is that the drama that goes on around the production is often as engaging (or in some cases more engaging) as the drama within the production itself. Life, as we all know, can't help but get in the way. We've been very fortunate in that the cast we're going up with is exactly the same cast we started with, no mean feat in any production. However, we've also had our fair share of illness and bad luck. Someone in the cast said the M-word early on in the rehearsal process, so we're blaming it all on them. I know I've never felt this consistently tired in a long, long time. This is, however, largely my fault: In a fit of madness, I foolishly convinced myself that I could organise front of house operations, continue to run Upstart, and play the lead part in the production, whilst not taking any time off from EITHER of my jobs. AHAHAHAH! They said I was mad to attempt it. MAD! Well, I'll show them! I'LL SHOW THEM ALL! AHAHAHAHAHHHHH! Ahem. Anyway, we won't have much time this week to do much publicity, so it looks like it's time to step back and see if our fledgling flies. As such we were at the Woodlake Amphitheatre today handing out publicity material to attendees at a WASO concert. They do the occasional gig at the venue, to which a couple of hundred people usually show up. All very informal and relaxed, really. The heartening thing was that many of the people we approached had already heard about the production and were looking forward to it. Make rather than break? Fingers crossed. I'd like to encourage everyone to come down and see the show. It's a beautiful location and a fab production. I know we've hijacked other threads for our own ends, and have hyped the show shamelessly, but I can honestly say that this is one of the best productions I've had the privilege to work on. Why not let us share it with you? Thanks for reading along, and see you at the show! freddie the rocking jedi badger