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History ensemble member Nick Asbury on auditions and old faces...
Three and a half weeks
Three and a half weeks to go till the lights go out and the next day someone comes in with a huge angle grinder and cuts this set to pieces and sells it on for scrap metal. Which breaks my heart, quite frankly.
 And might be quite a good analogy for my career, who knows? Sigh. Still, my brother is a blacksmith, and lives in a tiny little village in Herefordshire where I grew up and is quite good at welding things back together again. Which could be another analogy for my career. Sigh again. In one of those strange quirks of things, Tom Hodgkins in the cast moved with his family to the neighbouring village a year or so ago. Tom's hit upon the idea of rescuing the steel plates that make up the floor of the stage and a couple of ladders, and getting my brother to make coffee tables out of them. (I'm sure there's another analogy about my career in there somewhere, but let's move on.) Which could be a nice idea. Who knows?
The talk all around the cast is of Casting Directors and Agents and auditions and scripts and who's in the audience, who's not, who's mare's dead. It's a shame but nevertheless inevitable. We face the future standing on brittle metal. There's always someone ready with an angle grinder. You may well say, and you would be right, that we have reached the RSC, one of the pinnacles of our profession; been involved with one of the greatest projects it has ever staged; lived, laughed and loved under the most secure roof any actor could wish for; become better as an actor, as a person; strived to be better. All of which is truer than I could possibly relate, but that makes the fear of leaving and of what will happen next, on occasion, somehow more extreme. Other times, it seems absolutely fine. As I have said, we can walk from here with our heads held high. But inevitably, given our chosen profession, the vagaries of employment are an important topic of conversation. Only two of us have a job come the end of May - and one of those is a day's filming on Little Dorrit....
But, onwards and upwards. In the bar after the show every night there are usually one or two agents hovering about with one of their clients having been in the show, accompanied by Casting Directors and the like. I never know who they are, or indeed what to say ("Er.... Give us a job?") but it's all a good sign. Last night, as well as a girl who broke my heart years ago, the place was teeming with them. It's always the mark of a 'London' show: people you haven't seen for ages suddenly start appearing.
But, businesswise, it's a sign that these shows are a great calling card. I'm inordinately proud of them and everybody in it: I will be very proud when they get jobs and I go see them in things. For the main thing is that, even though in three weeks time we shall be splitting up, we will always be a group. They can break my heart by cutting up the set. Girlfriends can too. But we can always say, 'We did this.' And wherever go, whatever we do, we will always be part of something, not parted. A band of brothers and sisters. With metal coffee tables. Made by my other brother. Tough on the heart this business.
 Respond to Nick's blog
Responses to Nick's blog
Any plans to put all these blogs together in a book?? They've been very enjoyable and made me feel a little bit a part of the amazing "Histories" (as well as making me want even more to give up my day job and go begging for backstage work at the RSC!)
I saw the "Staging History" weekend in Stratford. It was hard enough leaving after four days and returning to normal life - I can't imagine how you are all feeling. Now you have only the two complete runs left I guessed it was time to say how much I loved the shows, so THANK YOU. They truly were glorious moments I hope never to forget.
Best wishes to all of you - I'll be looking out for you all on future cast lists!
Emma
Watch extracts from the Histories
 View scenes from Henry V and behind the scenes in rehearsals.
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Latest blog posts
- Listen. Time passes. Listen.
- I feel alive
- Things happen to you
- Sleeping on ladders
- Battle of Barnet
- Buckets of blood
- Hamming
- Three and a half weeks
- Letting go
- Unforgettable
- Lighting grids
- A new stage
- Gloriously
- The men in black
- Really listening
- Making history
- Happy birthday!
- Bleeeuurghhh!
- Dead weight
- Card sharks
- Tomorrow I scalded myself with tea
- You stink
- Turning to slush
- The threshold point
- Holidays!
- All change
- Strange things in the bath
- Back to school
- Corpsing
Other blog posts
About blogger Nick
Likes: Cricket and music. Fields and dark pubs with no music
Dislikes: Lager, crowded streets and light bars with music |
