The End

Well my attempt at getting back to regular blogging didn't work and I know why. It's because this show just sweeps you up and carries you along without you realising it. Time passed by in a whirlwind of shows, each one rewarding in its own way. Before you know it another week has gone and all those things that were on the to do list have still not been ticked off.

Today is the very end of this Bogus Woman journey and what a journey it has been.

If you had told me when we first discussed doing the tour again in August last year that is would have been this successful I would never have believed it! 

I knew it was an amazing play and I knew how powerful it was but I don't think anyone could have predicted quite how timely it would be.

The amount of refugees in the world right now is so huge and ever growing and I hope this play has opened up some eyes and humanised this crisis. These are people, individuals who all have a story. Something has to be done to help them. Locking people up because they are seeking shelter and safety is not the answer. 

I don't know how I will get through his last play today. Even thinking about it makes me want to cry.

I have loved every single second of this process (well almost!!) and I feel like a huge chunk of my life will be missing.

Of course none of this would have been possible without the amazing producer Sophie Curtis (Curtis Productions) who I am lucky enough to call my friend. Her dedication to this project has been absolute. No corner cut and no detail missed. She has been utterly outstanding in her first outing as a producer and I hope that one day in the future she will produce again (Bogus tour 2 anyone?!!).

Also my lovely director lady Zoë Waterman! People often ask me "how do you do it" one of the answers is with a good director... 

No matter how skilled I am, there is absolutely no way in hell I would have be able to have done this myself. With Zoë's vision and skill she has managed to get a performance from me which far outweighs anything I have ever done before. We have such a special relationship that only comes from working on a piece like this! In some ways we are so very different but in other ways we are hilariously the same. In rehearsals my favourite parts would be where our brains would need a little break so we would talk about anything and everything. I know so much more about Zoë than any other director I've worked with! She is super special and I have no doubt the she will be going on to great things in the future. I'm just honoured that The Bogus Woman 2008 was her first proffessional production. What a way to kick off a career eh?!

Here a pic of Sophie me and Zoë being especially proffessional after opening night! 

Then there is the lovely Kate my stage manager extraordinaire. I say stage manager but whilst on tour she is also the technical manager, sound and lighting controller, van driver, general sorting out of any problemer, actor calmer, note taker etc. She basically has to do everything! Being on the road with just one person for so long could have been a horrific experience but luckily me and Kate get on like a house on fire. With just the right mix of seriousness and silliness and two Welsh Ben's between us we have had an amazing time touring up and down the country. She's taught me about light and sound and I've taught her... Not very much. It's been perfect! 

Bingo night in Jersey!! 

And then of course there is Theatre by the Lake. Where would we be without  them?! It is only because of the play being programmed in the 2008 Summer season that any of this has happened and for that I am forever grateful.

Then there is the support the have given us by co producing the tour with Curtis Productions. Because of this we have had the lovely Matt (TBTL's head of production) as our production manager/sound designer as well as Maura "fuzz" Guthrie doing her bit sound wise! There's also the help from the TBTL press and marketing team which has helped make this the success it has been.

We also managed to get the original designer (Sophia Lovell Smith) and lighting designer (Jo Dawson) which made for a pretty tight team! 

I am sure I've missed of lots of people who have been part of this journey and I'm sorry!! There are just so many people who have helped in different ways. 

When I am on stage people only see me. They don't see all the people behind me and it's them that truly need the praise...

So from me to them - thank you all for giving me the best experience of my life. I am so pleased to have been given this chance and I will never ever forget it!! 

I love you all.

Now I had better go because I need to get ready for one last show! 

Xx

Seeing the audience!

So tonight I will be performing the show for the last time in London and the audience will include around 30 people I know.

The theatre only holds 92 people so pretty much every third face I look at will be familiar to me! 

It's funny, people always ask me, what is it like when you have to talk to the audience? Well I'll be honest, it's strange. So much theatre is played with the audience being the "4th Wall" meaning the actors don't acknowledge they are there. I quite enjoy that. The stage is your own little world and the audience are there to watch.

The minute you break this 4th wall the audience become part of the story. I feel for the Bogus Woman this is particularly effective. By including them and sharing the story - they are drawn in and in someway even more shocked by what happens in the 80 mins of being on stage.

When it comes to looking someone in the eye and sharing a line to them - it takes a bit of getting used to. When you look at that someone and it's someone you know it adds a whole new dimension to it. It is difficult to describe but as I share parts of the play with the audience I start noticing who is there. "oh look there's X I forgot they were coming! oh they've brought Y with them, how lovely"  

I'm looking forward to tonight not just because of all the people I know in the audience but also because for me it kind of marks the end of the touring element of this journey. Yes I still have 10 shows in Keswick but it almost feels like the end! No more travelling in a van day in day out. No more one night in each theatre. We take The Bogus Woman back to where we originally found her and in exactly two weeks we finish.

I feel like crying just writing that.

Wow. 

Can't blog wont blog!

Well hello there,

It's been so long since my last blog I've forgotten how to do it.  What to write, what to say!

I am currently sat in my dressing room in Berwick on Tweed - the furthest north you can get whilst remaining in England.  I am hoping to go to Scotland tomorrow morning before we journey down to Newcastle.  It's only 6 min drive away from our Travelodge according to our trusty friend the sat nav!!

This is the last Travelodge of the tour and I have to admit I will miss them. There is something so simple about a Travelodge (or premier Inn).  Its that familiarity. The layout is the same, the light switches are always in the same place and you know exactly what you are getting.  Although I will never stop being infuriated that there is not a plug by the bed so I can charge my phone.  Why oh WHY must they always be on the other side of the room! Who decided this?

With only 4 more venues left after this one we are really on the last leg of the tour now.  Newcastle tomorrow, South Shields on Monday, London from Wednesday - Sat and then it will be time to take The Bogus Woman and me back to our spiritual home of Keswick.  I honestly can't believe it is all finishing so soon.  If I could do another month on the tour I would.  I don't want it to finish....

That being said, I honestly feel like I will be doing the play again.  It might not be straight away, it might even be another 7 years but I am convinced this is not the end.  I love it too much and sadly I think it will be relevant for a very long time.

Its been 10 days since I last did the play so I am going over my lines (although I have taken a quick break to write this blog!).  There are the occasional times where I have to think about what I say next but usually if I just stop thinking about it the words will just come out!  I wonder how long it will take for them to fade away when we finish the play?

I don't want to think about "the end" but its hard not to.  When its over I will be officially "resting" again, which is fine but the last time I was "resting" I knew I had this coming up!  I find resting is a completely different experience when you have something "in the pipeline" as they say.

What ever happens I know I'll be fine.  For now, I am going to keep living in the moment and enjoying every second of this amazing experience,  That includes actually writing a blog more than once a month!!

So, I will write again soon my lovelies - probably something a bit more put together than this one but I had to get back into somehow!!

Until then

xxx