Crikey! Update of the Year
Realised I haven't posted here in almost a year (which rhymes). Since June of last year a lot has happened, really, besides the fact that I'm now 20 and a half. So, in order:
1) Over the Fringe 2007 I acted in a show written by the director about Evariste Galois, the mathematician who gave us a form of algebra and got shot in his early 20s in the name of the French Revolution. Or something. It was rather good, I thought, and reviews were generally positive. It was on for 2 weeks and I enjoyed myself a great deal; I played an evil headmaster who hated Galois, an eccentric maths professor who frustrated Galois, a jailer who imprisoned Galois, and the bloke what shot Galois. Good fun.
2) Living in a flat was top notch, mainly thanks to my fab flatmates. At no point in the year did we ever have a bust up and nary so much as an argument. Woo!
3) Over the course of the academic year 2007/2008 I've written/directed two shows: a second Fairly Familiar Things sketch show, and The Penguin Play, a play broadly about a writer with no ideas who spends more time worrying about his future than about what's happening in the present. And it had a penguin in it. Lots of people enjoyed it and I got a fair review from one of the newspapers:
http://www.journal-online.co.uk/articles/show/2808
I also had some small character parts in a production of "Guards Guards!", a minor role in "Of Mice and Men", and played the male lead in David Hare's "Skylight" in which I got to stomp around a bit, shout, have sex, wear an open shirt and cry on stage. Very liberating. All student theatre, of course, but it passes the time and develops the ol' skills.
4) Throughout semester 1 I had a girlfriend. She was rather wonderful, for a while. Then she wasn't.
5) Still doing Classical Studies, and did very well in semester 1 (got an A in Ancient History, which pleased me) but I didn't enjoy the subjects given to me in semester 2. Still, my modules for next year look better: next semester I ought to be doing Ancient Biography, Early Greek Philosophy and Ancient Greek Women. I'll also only have lectures on Tuesdays and Thursdays, meaning I get 5 days off per week. Splendid.
For the future, aha:
- I have my own Edinburgh Fringe show this year! "How to be Horrid: A Sketch Show", on 11th-23rd August 2008 at the Roxburghe Hotel. I've got a fantastic, lovely cast and will be writing, directing and doing stand up bits inbetween the sketches. It'll be a hard but rewarding experience, we reckon.
- I've also got shows lined up for early in semester 1 already; The Penguin Play is getting a repeat performance in September, so I'll be directing that immediately after the fringe run finishes. And in October I'll be directing The Very Dead Show, a Halloween themed comedy with a cast of 20. I'll be writing it too so I ought to get that done in June while I've got spare time...
- Myself and a few other like minded types have the notion of breaking away from the student theatre for a while and attempting comedy gigs in some of the bars and clubs around the city during the next academic year. We'll give that a whirl and see what happens. Woo!
So, yes. By October 2008 I'll have written 6 shows and directed 7 (all comedy or comedy/drama) within the space of 2 years, which is pretty good going. I want to pick up the pace in the next few years, though, even I will be entering the difficult phase of my degree. I want to leave uni with genuine prospects of where to go with my writing and comedy nonsense, after all.
1) Over the Fringe 2007 I acted in a show written by the director about Evariste Galois, the mathematician who gave us a form of algebra and got shot in his early 20s in the name of the French Revolution. Or something. It was rather good, I thought, and reviews were generally positive. It was on for 2 weeks and I enjoyed myself a great deal; I played an evil headmaster who hated Galois, an eccentric maths professor who frustrated Galois, a jailer who imprisoned Galois, and the bloke what shot Galois. Good fun.
2) Living in a flat was top notch, mainly thanks to my fab flatmates. At no point in the year did we ever have a bust up and nary so much as an argument. Woo!
3) Over the course of the academic year 2007/2008 I've written/directed two shows: a second Fairly Familiar Things sketch show, and The Penguin Play, a play broadly about a writer with no ideas who spends more time worrying about his future than about what's happening in the present. And it had a penguin in it. Lots of people enjoyed it and I got a fair review from one of the newspapers:
http://www.journal-online.co.uk/articles/show/2808
I also had some small character parts in a production of "Guards Guards!", a minor role in "Of Mice and Men", and played the male lead in David Hare's "Skylight" in which I got to stomp around a bit, shout, have sex, wear an open shirt and cry on stage. Very liberating. All student theatre, of course, but it passes the time and develops the ol' skills.
4) Throughout semester 1 I had a girlfriend. She was rather wonderful, for a while. Then she wasn't.
5) Still doing Classical Studies, and did very well in semester 1 (got an A in Ancient History, which pleased me) but I didn't enjoy the subjects given to me in semester 2. Still, my modules for next year look better: next semester I ought to be doing Ancient Biography, Early Greek Philosophy and Ancient Greek Women. I'll also only have lectures on Tuesdays and Thursdays, meaning I get 5 days off per week. Splendid.
For the future, aha:
- I have my own Edinburgh Fringe show this year! "How to be Horrid: A Sketch Show", on 11th-23rd August 2008 at the Roxburghe Hotel. I've got a fantastic, lovely cast and will be writing, directing and doing stand up bits inbetween the sketches. It'll be a hard but rewarding experience, we reckon.
- I've also got shows lined up for early in semester 1 already; The Penguin Play is getting a repeat performance in September, so I'll be directing that immediately after the fringe run finishes. And in October I'll be directing The Very Dead Show, a Halloween themed comedy with a cast of 20. I'll be writing it too so I ought to get that done in June while I've got spare time...
- Myself and a few other like minded types have the notion of breaking away from the student theatre for a while and attempting comedy gigs in some of the bars and clubs around the city during the next academic year. We'll give that a whirl and see what happens. Woo!
So, yes. By October 2008 I'll have written 6 shows and directed 7 (all comedy or comedy/drama) within the space of 2 years, which is pretty good going. I want to pick up the pace in the next few years, though, even I will be entering the difficult phase of my degree. I want to leave uni with genuine prospects of where to go with my writing and comedy nonsense, after all.