Going on about food
June 29, 2012
All of us are missing home a little. Stratford is lovely (I would quite like to live here) but there is no place like home. So it is natural to try and find some comfort in food.
Actors can go on about food ad nauseam. There are always a few foodie actors who pronounce whether the canteen food is acceptable today or how one should rustle up a salad dressing with a twig and some black pepper! Or what they have just picked up in the farmer's market etc.
When you are away from home, food becomes even more important. A taste of home. Comfort food. Most actors I know try and eat healthy on tour. They fail. But we can get away with it, because: ACTORS NEVER PUT ON WEIGHT WHEN PERFORMING. It is a freakish fact but true.
You can put any kind of rubbish into your body. You are almost certainly drinking more when performing than when you are not. Late night meals with Agents and Casting Directors. Yet somehow the Gods of theatre (Apollo, Dionysos and Bacchus, if you must know) allow you to stay almost the same shape.
There are some extremely fine physical specimens involved in our show. Just the thing to make you feel like you really should get down to the gym. But then one remembers that nice pickle you picked up yesterday and Barry the Butcher has some lovely pork chops that would go great with yesterdays leftover mashed potatoes and... sorry, was getting carried away there.
For the record, I try and stay away from heavy meals before the show. I stay away from dairy if I can help it. And I like to get a big carb load for energy. I have a penchant for fried foods so I try and keep those as treats.
Of course all of this goes out the window when a member of the Community Chorus tells us that her Mum is a cook and we can order some food. Damn. Now I have to fight the urge to eat some five minutes before going on stage. Terrible. Coming off stage and wondering whether I could have a little nibble before getting changed and going back on. Could I? Should I? I decide the answer to both is yes.
See you on the ice,
Andrew French
by Andrew French
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