notes from night #6 + bus + Brooke!
The bus, I doth hate it. I left the house this afternoon in plenty of time to make a certain run of the 80. It’s a 25-minute walk. I get to the stop, and there’s someone waiting (usually a good sign). Five minutes becomes ten becomes twenty, and at a certain point I come to the conclusion that no matter that I was a few minutes early, the bus was probably even earlier, and I missed it. The GoTime system was no help, citing departures in 20, 8, and then again 20 minutes.
Finally, 40 minutes after I get to the stop, a bus comes - one of those awful New Flyer D40LF (fleet number 1015) with the sideways-facing seats that extend all the way to the back doors (the new D40LF with the new paint scheme and the front bicycle racks have more forward-facing bench seats, as do all the MetroLink D40LF).
So as you might imagine, this bus was jam packed, because, as it turns out, the 80 before it had a breakdown and didn’t even leave Sackville. What? Anyway, at some point along Bayer’s Road I was finally able to get a seat, but this in itself wasn’t enough to cheer me up because the driver specifically let the 17 (which directly serves Saint Mary’s) pull around us and vanish. The only low-floor busses in MetroTransit with rear windows are the Nova LFS, so I had no idea it was creeping up behind us, else I would have disembarked and transferred. And to add insult to injury, it was a beautiful New Look - one of those grand, high-floor busses with the cushy blue seats that we purchased second-hand from Victoria BC (fleet numbers in the 500-range).
Anyway, no harm done - I came to the theatre and had plenty of time to get myself ready, thanks in no small part to everyone else being better organized! =)
We had a great show; probably the best one so far. I had a merely acceptable finish, but this time the jail scene worked well, and the unveiling scene was smoking. This show oozed quality from start to finish. Full A! I can’t quite give it A+, but boy, it comes close!
I also got some interesting new feedback tonight - one person suggested that I was part of a good show, but that I was stiff. Hmm! Something to think about, there are no doubt some parts where I play things a bit jerky-like. Memo to self: I am playing Malvolio, not Will Matheson. =) Another friend also suggested that the short returning-the-ring-to-Viola scene worked well. I’m relived to hear that; I’m always worried about that scene, because I have to communicate my irritation to both Viola and the audience, even though the blocking is set up so that we’re at the same point downstage centre.
And, wouldn’t you know it, Brooke and Nyron came by to see the play tonight! They’re down from Toronto for two weeks for family visits and touring, and this was a happy, lucky coincidence. We drove back to Bedford and hit Dr. Sharp’s Route 2 Roadhouse. After talking about the play (they’re both English majors), we had a great chat about Toronto (to the point that I’m tempted to ask my cousin Ruth-Ann if I can stay with her for a few weeks sometime later on this Spring so that I can pound the streets looking for work).
They drove me home, which I greatly appreciated. Amusingly, when I got in the house I noticed that it was only midnight. If I’d taken the 80 and walked up to the house, I would still be walking, and I’d arrive at about 12:20am.
So, in the time it takes to get home on the bus, I can:
- Have an out-of-towner drive us from the South End to Bedford
- Find a place to drink in Bedford (the driver’s not drinking, of course)
- Park
- Have the drinks (5-10 minutes in my case)
- Chat for another 30 minutes
- Get driven home
Man alive. This bussing it is for the birds, at least from where I live. Sackville is much better served by transit, even though it is farther away from Halifax proper - at least partly because the highway links are much better, and they can leverage Dartmouth and the Harbour bridges.
This post was supposed to be 70% play and 30% bus. Ha-ha.
Finally, 40 minutes after I get to the stop, a bus comes - one of those awful New Flyer D40LF (fleet number 1015) with the sideways-facing seats that extend all the way to the back doors (the new D40LF with the new paint scheme and the front bicycle racks have more forward-facing bench seats, as do all the MetroLink D40LF).
So as you might imagine, this bus was jam packed, because, as it turns out, the 80 before it had a breakdown and didn’t even leave Sackville. What? Anyway, at some point along Bayer’s Road I was finally able to get a seat, but this in itself wasn’t enough to cheer me up because the driver specifically let the 17 (which directly serves Saint Mary’s) pull around us and vanish. The only low-floor busses in MetroTransit with rear windows are the Nova LFS, so I had no idea it was creeping up behind us, else I would have disembarked and transferred. And to add insult to injury, it was a beautiful New Look - one of those grand, high-floor busses with the cushy blue seats that we purchased second-hand from Victoria BC (fleet numbers in the 500-range).
Anyway, no harm done - I came to the theatre and had plenty of time to get myself ready, thanks in no small part to everyone else being better organized! =)
We had a great show; probably the best one so far. I had a merely acceptable finish, but this time the jail scene worked well, and the unveiling scene was smoking. This show oozed quality from start to finish. Full A! I can’t quite give it A+, but boy, it comes close!
I also got some interesting new feedback tonight - one person suggested that I was part of a good show, but that I was stiff. Hmm! Something to think about, there are no doubt some parts where I play things a bit jerky-like. Memo to self: I am playing Malvolio, not Will Matheson. =) Another friend also suggested that the short returning-the-ring-to-Viola scene worked well. I’m relived to hear that; I’m always worried about that scene, because I have to communicate my irritation to both Viola and the audience, even though the blocking is set up so that we’re at the same point downstage centre.
And, wouldn’t you know it, Brooke and Nyron came by to see the play tonight! They’re down from Toronto for two weeks for family visits and touring, and this was a happy, lucky coincidence. We drove back to Bedford and hit Dr. Sharp’s Route 2 Roadhouse. After talking about the play (they’re both English majors), we had a great chat about Toronto (to the point that I’m tempted to ask my cousin Ruth-Ann if I can stay with her for a few weeks sometime later on this Spring so that I can pound the streets looking for work).
They drove me home, which I greatly appreciated. Amusingly, when I got in the house I noticed that it was only midnight. If I’d taken the 80 and walked up to the house, I would still be walking, and I’d arrive at about 12:20am.
So, in the time it takes to get home on the bus, I can:
- Have an out-of-towner drive us from the South End to Bedford
- Find a place to drink in Bedford (the driver’s not drinking, of course)
- Park
- Have the drinks (5-10 minutes in my case)
- Chat for another 30 minutes
- Get driven home
Man alive. This bussing it is for the birds, at least from where I live. Sackville is much better served by transit, even though it is farther away from Halifax proper - at least partly because the highway links are much better, and they can leverage Dartmouth and the Harbour bridges.
This post was supposed to be 70% play and 30% bus. Ha-ha.