Wimbledon

In Fair Verona Where We Lay Our Scene… Or, in this case: WIMBLEDON

Much like the proverbial womble, I get lost on the way to Cannizaro House and traipse the common with a quickening gait. When I finally discover our stage, it reminds me of a medieval jousting show I was taken to as a boy. Big-top roof-canvas and the audience assembled in an imposing wall of lime-green seats.

The camper-van rests high up in the black-box that is our theatre, and the first amendment is the fact that our ever-strengthening SM’s have had to remove two rows from our wooden stage. Space will be in demand. There is a strong sense of the music festival here, and it’s reassuring to learn that we have outsold Jason Donavon. Between the rostra and the stage there is a good twenty feet, and we worry that it could be a return to the dynamic of Hungary, where the distance from the audience disrupted the energy circuits of the play.

I hate not being able to see the faces of the audience because the lights are so bright. In any other style of play, audience anonymity would be a good thing. That said, I can just about pin down the giggles of Mamma Snowdon in the crowd, so I use that as a starting point. Why would she be giggling? Well, for a start, remember that I mentioned they’d removed two rows of our usual wooden stage and the playing space was quite cramped? In my Tybalt-rage at the end of the first scene I manage to strut SLAM into one of the black flats. The old adage about not walking into the scenery remains unheeded. Thankfully, still in a rage, I manage to react in, ahem, character, and jostle it back as if it had bumped into me. Later on Romeo catches my dagger after I stab Mercutio and it falls off the stage. I hop down hoping that it isn’t beyond my reach (otherwise I’d end up dueling Romeo with an erect finger). The gods smile down on me. The dagger returns to its master. Phew.

One night only, here at Cannizaro House. Which adds even more to the sly suspicion that we’re playing a rock concert. I hope Jason was watching.

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