Piano - Still practising two hands of my Bach Minuet
Cooking - um, made a vege and bean casserole that noone was interested in. I thought it was great. Just whacked a whole lot of veges and beans together and cooked it with stock. yum.
Book - Transferring the first draft to computer and editing as I go. Rewriting some chapters prior to transferring.
Salsa - goal abandoned.
The Audition - For those who want to know more
Having done my undergraduate and masters degrees in theatre performance and having worked professionally for many years, I do find it hard to let theatre go. I 'gave it up' around the time I turned 30. That is, I gave up the idea of auditions, of producing and directing and writing and starring in my own production, of applying for funding etc etc. I never gave up doing workshops, further formal learning, or teaching theatre. I have always kept my finger in the pie.
Every now and then the opportunity to audition for a role pops up - and I take it. This time, it was the opportunity to audition for a role as an ensemble performer in 'As You Like It', by Shakespeare. I attended an audition refresher course, I re read the play, I explored the text critically, rhythmically, physically, emotionally, vocally and probably existentially...all this took a couple of weeks.
When I turned up to the warehouse where the audition was to take place I saw many familiar faces including someone I had performed with a couple of years ago and someone I had directed this year. I didn't make the mistake of chatting and losing my character or ruining the long vocal warm up I had done that morning. I placed myself in a corner of the room and continued a vocal warm up, which involved 'picking peaches', 'pulling the barge' and 'bow and arrow'.
When I was called I was embraced by the director, who I know through the many and varied acting and directing courses that I take. I walked to the rear of the large stage in the enormous and empty warehouse space and projected to the director - making strong contact with the poor stage manager and following my Stanislavskian intentions to the letter.
The director didn't look at me but started leafing through the play. When I was done she asked me a few questions about my interpretation of the text and then directed me. Getting direction during an audition is usually considered a good thing, so I was pleased. About five lines through the director said, 'ok, thanks Susannah'.
there was silence.
'thankyou'. I said.
more silence. I left.
'that was good', said the girl whose job it was to lead the actors to the right room in the warehouse. I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. There's no need to talk about it, we both know how it goes.
I assumed that I didn't have a callback, where they audition you with more intensity, as I wasn't asked to come back at the audition. But you never know. Perhaps the fact that the director was auditioning four people every fifteen minutes and had sixty people to look at that day made her evaluate her callback decisions later. As the days passed, my hope waned.
Finally three days later I received my rejection email. It had a lovely personal message attached that congratulated me on how prepared I was and told me that I had definately been in the running for the part - but she'd cast a more experienced actor.
'That's a really shit industry', said my husband.
I remember again why I felt I didn't have the strength to keep going and going with acting as my career...... oh I do love it though.
I had wondered if I could delay my conception plans until after the play was finished, which would have been a delay of four months. I wondered and wavered until by the time I was ready to do the audition I was determined to accept the role if offered and delay having a baby, despite my steadily ageing eggs.
'I can have a baby then', I say sheepishly to my husband. He smiles. We both know it's not that easy.
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