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Today, for me at least, was very quiet and uneventful. Mirinda and Nicoline went for a walk in the glorious sunshine but, for me, it was a day of quiet. Probably the most exciting thing I did was to write my blog post first thing and then, at the other end of the day, make dinner.
On quiet days, I tend to reflect on the past. Yesterday, Mirinda told KSP that I was well experienced at workshopping theatre pieces; taking a vague idea and, as a group of actors, creating a theatre piece together. I remember creating a piece about the Epic of Gilgamesh in this way. It was creative and, most important, excellent fun.
This, in turn, turns my thoughts to our years touring the schools in outback New South Wales as nomad Repertory Theatre Company.
I well remember the first time we headed out west.
The plan was to meet at our rehearsal space in Leichhardt where our hired mini bus and trailer were prepared for departure. I had packed everything meticulously, ready for the journey. The load, especially on the trailer, had to be secure. It principally contained our set and props. Personal bits and pieces were in the bus.
One of the cast, Chris by name, was late. We were packed, seated and ready to head out when he decided to turn up. I can’t remember why he was late but I do remember him turning up, making excuses and jumping on board. What I hadn’t realised at the time was that he had just chucked his bag into one corner of the trailer.
Finally, we set off, heading out to the Great Western Highway and towards the Blue Mountains.
There was a brief hiccough when we were pulled over at a random breath testing station but Lyndon, our designated driver, was perfectly sober and we were sent on our way pretty quickly.
I think it was somewhere around Glenbrook that Lyndon suddenly said that something had come off the trailer. He could see things flying away in the rear vision mirror. He pulled over and some of us went to investigate.
Strewn along the highway was Chris’ luggage. Clothes, wash bag, all of his personal stuff, was in a line, heading back, towards Sydney. He was obviously upset but had no-one to blame but himself. We managed to collect his stuff and, eventually, continued our journey.
The schools we visited all enjoyed our performances, as did we. There was something exciting about turning up at a school and working out how to perform in a new space every day. There were always hurdles to overcome but, mostly, things went smoothly from opening to applause.
One memorable episode, which I often talk about, still makes me laugh.
We were performing The Removalists by David Williamson. I was playing Simmo, the corrupt copper and Lyndon was Ross, the naive new recruit. Near the end of the play, offstage, Ross beats up Kenny, played by Tai. Ross is worried he’s killed Kenny and pleads with Simmo to help him cover it up. Simmo starts to panic but then, Kenny manages to drag himself back onstage. There then begins a conversation to appease Kenny and cover up the violence.
Then, suddenly, Kenny dies and the play ends.
I loved playing Simmo. There is something about playing truly awful characters that is wicked fun.
Anyway, at one particular performance, Ross had just beaten Kenny up and we were panicking about fixing the issue to our advantage when Kenny returns to the stage. We three take seats to begin the process of bribery and corruption. Mid-sentence, Kenny just dies. There was still quite a few pages of dialogue and action to go.
The first thing that went through my mind was that Tai had really just died. Even so, I raced to the end of the play, dragging an equally bewildered Lyndon along with me. The curtains closed and I was more than relieved to see Tai stand up for the curtain call.
Backstage, I was told by Tai that the cast had been visited by a teacher who was worried about her students missing their bus home as it had just arrived. The teacher wondered if we could cut the play short by about ten minutes. I was on stage with Lyndon so it wasn’t like I knew anything about it. Tai and Lisa (she played his wife, Fiona) decided between them that the best thing to do was for Tai to die earlier than expected.
Given I was the tour boss (Mirinda was not with us) Lisa was worried about my reaction and was quick to defend their decision. After I heard what had happened, I just burst into laughter, saying they had done the right thing.
There were other instances of play cutting to fit in with school times but that was the only one mid-performance.
I loved our years spent on the road though, now, looking back, it feels like a different lifetime and a different Gary entirely.
I don’t have any photos here but this was the poster featuring me and Lyndon.
