Our final show of this week was today. We only have one week left to go! I can't believe how fast the time is going. Today's show (The Property Known As Garland) went really well, and then Glenn was going to run lights and sound for 21A, so I got the afternoon off. I took two (free) classes through at Fringe Central. The first was 'How to Stay Motivated'. Very important for any actor. There's peaks and valleys in a career,and it's easy (so easy) to get discouraged. There was some information that's specific to the U.K., but it was all interesting and I was glad I attended. Then I asked politely if I could attend the puppeteering workshop, which started a few minutes after the other one ended. I did not have an official ticket for it, but a week ago, one lady at the Fringe told me to just show up and ask if they could fit another person in. They did! They fit me in! I'll have to post the name of the nice (and talented) fellow who taught the workshop later, but he had an excellent pedigree, in that he helped develop the horse puppets for the hit play (and subsequent film) 'Warhorse'. Handspring Puppet Company. He worked with two men called Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones. They have a TED talk on YouTube that I want to watch. Anyway.... the puppet workshop was fascinating. We did several group exercises, including breathing exercises. Where we worked on breathing together as a group, and in small groups. Lots of focus and concentration involved in several people manipulating one puppet. Those exercises culminated in groups of 3 people talking large sheets of brown paper and constructing simple puppets. We then animated the paper puppets. Had them breathe and do simple movements. It was fascinating. I'm so lucky they let me attend. I met some really nice people there too. Afterwards, I woke up Glenn at the flat and we ankled round to The Red Box, for some noodles with stuff in them. I chose rice noodles with ginger, bamboo shoots, garlic, broccoli, carrots, in a black bean sauce. Glenn chose a schezuan sauce for his egg noodles that was pretty spicy. (So, I only snitched a couple of his water chestnuts.) It was that hot!! We just had time to speed down to theSpace @ Jury's Inn for a show called 'Firebird'. They used puppets (and were really skilled at using them) and music, and storytelling, and the audience chooses cards to decide what the story will be each evening. It was very interesting and the 4 people performing it worked really well together. It was fun to see puppets in action since I'd just learned a bit about puppets today. I have to say though, the show was at 8:10 P.M. and when I sat down, it was really the first time today I could sit and be quiet. This is no reflection on the show at all..... but my eyes closed, and I started to drift off. I was just tired.
Bloody tired as they say in the U.K. Afterwards we strolled to The Auld Hoose for a pint of Hobgoblin, and we decided to catch a show called "Wrecked" which was at theSpace @ Surgeon's Hall, Theatre 1. It was a very well acted drama. Really excellent. A fair bit of violence and some intense themes. We've been able to catch several of the fireworks shows too, that they have EVERY NIGHT here at the Fringe. It's tough, because there's always something to do, so just sitting and relaxing seems a bit lazy. It seems that whatever play we're heading to, we only have a few minutes to get there and we're navigating packed sidewalks and constant traffic in order to get to the show(s) on time. Tonight when we were zipping up the avenue to get to the 'Firebird' show, Glenn was actually taking video of me walking. He claims it's impressive the way I dart between people and wend my way along the sidewalk. Tomorrow is Sunday, and we have no show. We may walk up Arthur's Seat, and we may catch a bus to Leith to look at the ocean, and we may have a 'lie in' if we feel like it. So many options! There's not many plays going on tomorrow, it's a day off for a lot of folks, so that takes the pressure off a bit. I get anxious when I hear people saying how many plays they've seen. The number 25 has been bandied about quite a bit. Not sure why that's a magic number, but it does sound impressive. I haven't counted the number of plays I've seen, but I've also concentrated on taking the occasional free classes (yoga, puppets, motivation, etc.) and exploring the occasional art gallery or museum. Balance....... but in excess.