Devoted to D-boy

A nice short post for a change (say I now)... to add some images to this little blog of mine. These you can see here were all taken on our holiday up north, to Stanley, and were all a planned attempt to rectify the situation whereby Dav spends far too much time behind the camera, and I have far too few photos of him, comparatively speaking! There's Dav in front of the Nut, the big outcrop at which Stanley sits at the base; D-boy sitting in the window of the old convict barracks outside Highfield house; Dav and I on the beach at Crayfish creek; and Dav surreptitiously (hah!) crossing the Penguin Crossing just outside Stanley (very cute! Ah, the elusive fairy penguin... :) These are just a couple, and all both rare photos of Dav, and some of my first attempts at photography (given I've never owned a camera). Dav is inspiring me to come up with what I like in the composition of a good photo (and not just holiday snaps). I love that he inspires me to branch out creatively in new and exciting ways!

Life here in Strahan skips and jumps along... although not fast enough. D-boy is in Rockhampton as I type, debriefing after his first day of auditions for West Side Story. I've just finished playing Porter with John for the first time (he really doesn't give any eye-contact whatsoever! Still, a very 'consistent' show), and am now wishing that I was up in the sun / warmth with my boy... 9 sleeps till D-day though, am counting down again!

My voice has been strained since coming back from the break last week, and doesn't seem to be recovering too quickly. I've also got a pretty non-stop run of work until I fly out next Monday. Luckily tomorrow I'm only doing the play; and I have a day-time period off next Saturday as well. I'll need the break by the time it comes - not that it'll be too much of a break, with packing Dav up, catching up with everyone, and doing a Fight Choreo certificate!!

Also just got off phone to Nigel, and one thing he said sticks with me - u can't be lazy with this job. You really have to put your heart into it as if it's the first time all over again every time you do it, or it just dies. Nigel is a real contradiction - pointing out all the downers of the job, and yet he really did put his heart and soul into it. An inspiration point for me. I have yet to really hit a 'wall' with the work, and am hoping that, as I'm still enjoying it, it won't happen as such - although I am aware that Porter is still much more of a strain for me than Shires, a character whom I've really started to find and to have fun with. Am very much looking forward to Dav coming down, not only for the obvious reasons, but also for the fresh outlook it will give ME on the work, helping him to train up.

But for every hard day on this job, there are the golden days, like today, when the weather is just serene and the water is like glass... or the days when one or two visitors are like little shining stars in the sea of faces - like the little family the other day who obviously recognised me from the play, and stayed out on deck as the boat left after the tour to call out my name and wave at me... then ran into me again at the mill where 'mum' asked for the 2 girls to have a photo with me. Having these ppl recognise me and call me by name feels special (as opposed to retail work, where it was just a reminder that you wore a badge and the customer did not), as it feels like I've really shared something with them, connected with total strangers and communicated in stories and experiences with them - and it makes me realise that here, in this little town, I'm finally starting see the results of doing what made me so passionate about theatre - communicating on an experiential leval, and change others' days or lives, even in a little way - to share something with them on a 'greater' or deeper level.

Hmm, this post has already become longer than I'd intended - but it's helped me realise what it is that I love about this job so much (apart from the fact that I get to go on a cruise every day, and work in the fresh air, and act all day long!). Some days, I'll even have people asking me to sign their copies of souvenir booklets, or "Sarah Island Conspiracies". That feels quite strange, especially as Richard is the real celebrity here - but it is a little taste of 'celebrity-ness' that is so unfamiliar it is amusing. Still, it's these, and the appreciation of most people I tour with in particular (as the tour gives you more of a chance to really share something with people, as well as entertain them; and often these people attend the play as well!) that will, I think, inspire me to keep on putting my heart and soul into this work, and doing my best with it. I have reached the stage now where I'm pretty much trained up; but I do have to be careful that I don't get lazy with it, even in so far as finding new ways to play the characters, and different things to try out along the way... I notice that I have said this a couple of times, in different ways, but have yet to really enact it...

But for the next week and a half, my extra concentration is to go into preparing an audition piece for Complete Works, who are holding auditions while I'm back in Melbourne. Part of me is resisting putting the time aside to prepare; but I know that this audition will be good for me, whether it gets me work or not. Particularly the 3 minute storytelling exercise (eek!). Speaking of which, better get back to it now... (!!)