His Dark Materials Part One Dress Rehearsal

I left work at 4.30 p.m. while a staff meeting was still in progress. I must have done that before, after all, I have been at the school for 21 years now. However it felt strange - part of the growing sense of dislocation- that bit by bit I no longer belong- that the future and the Spring Term 2007 are no longer part of my horizon.
I was twitching in anticipation to be at the theatre and to get through the dress rehearsal of Part One. His Dark Materials is divided into two parts, each of about three hours duration if you count the interval. We were scheduled to be in the theatre at 6.45 p.m. and BBC South Today were scheduled to record a short piece for their entertainments in the area programme at 7.00 p.m. Most of us were there in time with the exception of two of the lads who co-incidentally had spent last week in New York. I have heard of jet lag but this struck me as exceptional and I suspect punctuality is just not a strong point. (However, later, I spoke to PD and he was a victim of the train service from Petersfield. This service is unreliable and will get worse as Christmas approaches and PD doesn't have his own transport). The TV recording went without a hitch because we started about 7.35 p.m. Movement around the theatre was restricted by the fact that Humdrum Voices were giving a concert performance in the gallery. They had to time their interval to coincide with two noisy battle scenes of ours. From what I heard of the choir, their voices providing a very strange soundtrack to the events unfolding on stage, their harmonies and arrangements of Christmas Carols was wonderful. In other circumstances I would like to have listened more carefully.
The rehearsal took place without David, who plays Lord Asriel. I had been with David (and Pete W) on the Saturday as the two of them brought a bland set alive. Part of this process involved David coating himself with paint and smacking a cloth soaked in blue and black paint against the walls of the set. The piece de resistance was David on his hands and knees having poured large dollops of blue and black paint on the floor swirling his cloth/rag to create a floor scape. If he wasn't ill before, that might have tipped him over the edge. He wasn't himself at Sunday's technical but then David always operates with great reserve during these events as he saves energy for the performances. However he is usually a source of keen if quiet humour - he wasn't on Sunday. Personally I think having a snogging scene with a leading lady who has just been ill might have been the cause. Still I would still have snogged Sally even if she had the plague so I can understand David's dilemma. Anyway, I have known David for about thirty years and these have been filled with many a theatrical endeavour so his absence through illness is a remarkable event - I have never known it happen before.
David's voice and presence on stage was provided by Jasper, our producer, who has obviously watched lots of rehearsals as the inflexions and emphases were uncannily accurate. Perhaps Jasper has been secretly understudying David all this time - and out of the chorus line to become the star overnight - perhaps the wine was poisoned - oh the feverish theatrical imagings on dress rehearsal night.
My bits went okay. I remembered the winding up of the spy fly and the delivery of the tin to Iorek. I was a bit put out to find the tin and spy fly being trampled during the escape from Bolvangor and felt it was necessary to do a bit of rescuing of my own. The bear fight which ends in my onstage death wasn't secure - Marcus and I hadn't rehearsed beforehand - and Marcus tends to lollop if unsure - and six foot four of large man lolloping can be hard to steer into the correct areas of the stage for subsequent parts of a fight. Anyway my death has always been one of those promised areas of action needed. All the bears are hampered by having a head in one hand and a gloved claw on the other. The stage seems full of effing bears when I am trying to fight Marcus but when my inert and supposedly dead body is being removed, with the exception of Liam, it is the three smallest bears who seem to be trying to remove me. Someone asked if I could die offstage! We need to rethink this as an emergency before first night. I have an idea regarding a blanket and the DSR corner for the death if I can remind Marcus to bring on said blanket during his appearance in the scene and if I can move him physically during the final grapple DSR while having my heart ripped out of my chest for subsequent triumphant devouring.
I mentioned the delightful Megan yesterday ( and dear Lord I must stop ogling - it is enough to make a happy man very old - these communal dressing rooms are not good for me - or rather they are too good for me - oh well I bet you know what I mean - and heartily disapprove of me) and said I would mention Sparkly Jo today. She has just wedded Mrs Coulter's monkey and a nicer wittier monkey you couldn't hope to meet. They make a lovely and loving couple. I am really impressed by Jo's Brummie accent as the Mayor of Trollesund and by her comic timing for "Put that beast in chains"! I do hope some of my readers get the chance to see His Dark Materials but as seven out of the ten performances are already sold out the chances are getting slimmer (although the chances of my having any readers at all are pretty slim as it is). Pretty and slim brings me back to Sparkly Jo. She took me by surprise as one of the Harpies as I didn't recognise her at all and spent much of the scene thinking, "Who the f*** is that?" I suppose it might be because in real life Jo is the extreme opposite of a Harpie - she is one of those people who bring a smile and a warmth of personality with her into a room or a conversation - and everyone feels a little better for her presence.
Ah well, back to the day job - a Lower Key Stage 2 class for my sixth remaining day- but my mind will be wandering back to the stage and the very small parts I have in Part Two and how am I going to fill the three hours back in the dressing room. There's always marking homework of course (for the very last time)!