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History ensemble member Nick Asbury on making an impression...
Unforgettable
The flat I'm renting whilst in London overlooks The Roundhouse. Which is nice for the commute, but not so nice on Sunday when the first thing you see on your day off is your place of work. But, believe you me, I'm not complaining.
 To live so close when you have a Trilogy Day the next day after having performed in the evening is a godsend. Some are having to get on the Tube and train and bus to get home by midnight, and then get up at sparrow's fart to be in again for a fight call at 9.15.
Still, this morning I opened the curtains and saw a BBC transmission van outside the theatre, clicked on the telly and there was the set, my colleagues and friends in all their glory on BBC News 24. It's always weird when that happens. (Which reminds me of a time about 7 years ago when I was doing The Seagull at Stratford and was staying in the legendary Room No.6 in The Ferryhouse - a room on the top floor of the RSC accommodation house right by the Stratford ferry, overlooking the road and the river. I got up, stark naked, and went to the window, pulling back the curtains with gusto to reveal not only a glorious day but one of those open top tourist buses, stopped in traffic, crammed full of Japanese with their many cameras, looking straight at me at eye level. Well, not quite eye level, but you get what I mean. I stood there, Life of Brian-like for a stunned few seconds whilst they let out a series of exclamations and gasps. One reached for their camera. I took this as a cue to leave, and mustering all the dignity I could, flashed a smile, threw a devilish wave and hit the floor. I like to think they still talk of me from time to time. (God knows what's in their photo collection.)
But seeing my working life on the telly gave me a little frisson to start the day, which has only continued - through a friend ringing me up out of the blue whom I showed around the theatre - and the palpable air of excitement around, as there are cameras on set and there is 'live' transmission. Which of course means it's Press Night tonight. And tomorrow. But then that's par for the course for this crazy project. The fact that we do another Press Night/Day thingy in two weeks time with the Henry VIs and Richard III only adds to the silliness and wonder of it all.
I've written before about Press/Opening night and the slight heightening of senses. It seems quite silly now, after two years and 2 months to be 'opening' a show - ridiculous - but that's where we're at. Even so, there's still the familiar tingle and the faint whiff of glamour as cards, flowers and presents start arriving.
But it also seems very silly now. And it's great. We've been together so long and been through so much, that to worry about press reviews and all the like is just stupid. We have total faith in ourselves and each other to be able to do the best we possibly can. Not cockiness or arrogance. Just belief. And that's not just tonight but every performance we do. This project has abnegated the need for press approbiatiation. We just get on with it and it's very refreshing.
So whilst tonight and tomorrow will be special, so it will be every night. As, in fact, every night has been over the last two years of performing. The BBC and their cameras will leave and we can get on with lighting the imagination for that one moment in time that theatre can do. (Or opening the curtains on a second floor window in Stratford - which didn't leave anything to the imagination, but was a moment in time, I suppose). And as we draw towards the end of May and the end of our contract, so each night; each show; each drink in the bar afterwards, will be not just special, but unforgettable.
 Respond to Nick's blog
Watch extracts from the Histories
 View scenes from Henry V and behind the scenes in rehearsals.
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Latest blog posts
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About blogger Nick
Likes: Cricket and music. Fields and dark pubs with no music
Dislikes: Lager, crowded streets and light bars with music |
