Hello. It has been a while since my last blog. No excuses really, except that days in Edinburgh seem to pass quicker than anywhere else! Lots of things have occurred. The most dramatic thing has happened in the past few hours. More of which later. Meanwhile, the festival is well and truly in full swing. Pubs where we happily sat with a smattering of other people are now so rammed it is like being stuck on a London underground platform in rush hour. Every restaurant worth eating in (and even those that are not) are fully booked with queues out of the door, and extra tables have been added to capitalize on the temporary increased volume of people so if you are lucky enough to find a table, you are likely to be rammed quite unceremoniously between several other parties. Not for the claustrophobic. When it rains (which is far too frequently for my liking) the city becomes awash with weird cape like anoraks, rain coats and umbrellas, and flyering becomes desperate and miserable as people are even more unwilling to accept a flyer when it is sodden and ink run. But saying that, the atmosphere is electric, the shows range from the sublime to the ridiculous and the alcohol is flowing. (it hits 6pm each day and I find I have a glass of wine in my hand…..)I am on the train back up after managing to escape to London for a few days, during which time I experienced what August should be like (ie, warm and sunny). Ah well. Sunshine is overrated. I also thought it would be good to have a short break from the daily drinking routine whilst away from Edinburgh. Not so. That glass of red wine appeared bang on cue, 6pm, as if from nowhere.
Back to today. I had just settled myself on the train when I got a phone call from Orla just after 9am. She asked if I had spoken to Caroline (DSM). I said no. She said that Caroline had just called to say that Harry (Charles Darwin) was in hospital with appendicitis and was being operated on later today. The show report yesterday said that Harry had been suffering from stomach ache, but everyone was convinced this was just a symptom of Edinburgh-itus (ie drinking too much, sleeping too little etc). It had apparently got worse last night and he took himself off to the Royal Infirmary, and called Caroline as soon as morning arrived. Poor Harry! So everything has kind of been thrown into the unknown while we await to hear how Harry is doing. It may be that he is out for a few days, or could be a few weeks. What this means for the show at the moment, we do not know. I have been on the phone and sending emails all morning, just to make sure everyone knows about this unexpected turn of events. Blimey. The good thing is that it has been caught early, I know it can get complicated if not spotted early on, so thank goodness Harry acted on it fast. We are all thinking of him and we will all be dropping in to find out how he is as soon as visiting hours allow.

Up to this point, Origins has been building a lovely momentum, and have had some great responses so far. Audiences have been very positive, we were ‘pick of the fringe’ on Saturday, a ‘must see’ in the Stage and have had a 4 star review in the Scotsman. Which is all pretty wonderful for us. We had a hairy few days getting settled in the King Dome, working out how on earth to get the set up and down in less than 20 minutes each side. All I can say is that the cast and crew work a small miracle every day-something that began as an epic undertaking, is now done with barely a second thought. It is quite magical to watch, as everyone now knows their jobs, and the set is efficiently and gracefully created. Even moments when 5 minutes after the house is due to open the sound isn’t working, or a monitor is refuses to switch on, there remains an air of calm as everyone pitches in to solve the problem. Everyone has put so much effort into making it all work and it has really paid off when the show reports say that every day the get in becomes quicker and quicker. Nice work team. Everyone works so hard at the Pleasance-6 or so shows all piling in one after the other, a single dressing room shared by everyone…..we are not going to know ourselves once we get to Shrewsbury, when actors will have a dressing room each!

Anyway. The day has been a long and eventful one. With Harry in hospital, and no show to do, I think everyone has felt a little bit in limbo. What we do have to concentrate on now, are our PIGS readings, which will happen on Monday. We will rehearse these over the next few days, so will report back soon. A hell of a lot seems to have been crammed into these past couple of weeks, the Questors in Ealing feels like another world away…….