It's a real trip!

James and Carla left on Wednesday. We got together in the park under the castle on Prince St. in the afternoon and rehearsed the play as we would do it later that evening. That night, in front of five people, we announced to the audience what had happened, and what they were going to see. Pat and I took turns as Henry Goodbar in the bed. It was strange, but remember, for the audience seeing the show the first time, it's not so strange.

After the show we decided not to try the complicated staging and costume changes fro Pat. He said at one point he felt like he was in a skit on the Carol Burnett show, changing wigs and going back on as another character.

Thursday morning we got a warm review in the Scotsman. Three stars out of five, a comparison to the Wooster Group, and he said we performed with skill and verve. See the whole review at

http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/reviews.cfm?id=1759682005&sid=10450

We were all buoyed by the review and it brought up the energy a bit.

For Thursday's show, we laid Henry's hat and goggles on his bed. Pat read him from backstage, and I resumed my usual blocking. At show time, we had no audience. We waited until seven after, and then did the show anyway, for us, for James and Carla. It was surreal. I don't think I've ever done a show before when no one turned up.

After the show we decided that didn't work either. It was too weird. But we all agreed we wanted to do the last two shows. So today we found two actors and we will present it as a staged reading. We will all sit on stage and read the script. I think the text is strong enough.

Who knows if anyone will turn up? If they do, they will be treated to a bewildering text that I quite think will keep their interest.

At the Roxy this morning, I was invited to see Dark Root, a piece of physical theatre by the Mexart 2005 Dance and Theatre Collective. I was introduced to the director, Jorge. Turns out he and I both studied corporeal mime in Paris at the same school, at the same time, in 1986. One of the actors in the show, Ricardo, was also in Paris at that time, and we all studied at one time with Etienne Decroux and Daniel Stein.

I must admit I am tired; this has been a difficult time. The energy has been low the last few days. I am very proud of how we have dealt with all this. Everyone has done a great job and been very positive. The show must go on is a cliché, but for us it has been a reality.

Also, Kris left on Tuesday and I miss her. She was a big help to us.