Life is a Minestrone

Sometimes you just have to sit back and wonder about this random path called life.

Is it all part of a greater plan? Or is it just random acts of randomness?

I've found myself in some interesting situations in the last few days. With some very interesting people.

I spent most of the weekend rehearsing for two shows. Yep, that's two shows. Its not very often as an actor that you're rehearsing for more than one show at a time. Unless you're super-famous-and-in-demand. Which I've never been.

Show #1 is another Short & Sweet play which is on at the Seymour Centre this week. Completely different to the S&S show I did a couple of weeks back which makes for a nice balance. The director of this one approached me about two weeks ago to do this one, so we've had limited rehearsal, but gosh its been fun. I'm working with two of the funniest, most entertaining actors I've ever worked with. And I spend at least half of the play wearing an eye mask. Those ones you get on long-haul plane trips. So my vision is limited which makes moving around the stage fun. Its very liberating.

Show #2 is a Sam Shepard piece called Action. Its on at the Cat & Fiddle (Crypt Theatre) from the end of March. I love Sam Shepard. I love that he likes to f**k with the heads of the actors and the audience.

For instance, the initial stage direction for my character is that she has her back fully to the audience for pretty much the entire play. My director wants me to cheat it out so she can see my face. I think Sam has his reasons for me having my back to the audience and I'm fighting her tooth & nail. I love that no one gets to see my expressions. They just have to listen to what I'm saying and try and judge my intentions from my back. Its a spin-out.

We also get to eat an entire roast turkey every night on stage. And one of the boys has to gut a fish every night. In case you're not familiar with the Crypt, its a 45 seat theatre about the size of the average living room. The combination of smells produced from a roast turkey and a fish being gutted is either going to make the audience ravenous or make them throw up.

Brilliant Sam. F***ing brilliant.

So yeah, rehearsing these shows. Lots of fun.

Then today I get a call from Bestie Lulu's brother who is a journo. He's doing a feature for the weekend paper on fashion and wanted yours truly to be the 30-something example. So I had a bit of a discussion with him about my views on the current trends (cos I'm such an expert... not) and my personal style (or lack thereof). Then about an hour ago a photographer came a-visitin to Chez Erko and took what felt like a million photos of me in a couple of my everyday outfits. The results will be in this Sunday's paper. I'll let you guess which one and comment accordingly.

Like the song says, life is a minestrone...

I've gotta go get ready for our dress rehearsal.

xo