Day of Play

Sunday, 5th April

Today has been a sea day. Its nice to have time to draw breath after a pretty hectic schedule in Saigon, Hong Kong and China....not complaining but I do need down time just to assimilate all the new experiences and the constant adjustments we must all make to different cultures, demands and expectations. Obviously none of us would have it any other way but its interesting how we do need space and time to reflect.

Today I made my first papier maché creation! It is a mask for the play The Persians. We have a wonderfully artistic and creative woman on board who is helping us, Jamie. She is another tag along like me. She taught us to rip up newspaper and soak it in a flour and water mixture and spread it over the cut-out mask she had drawn and cut out on heavy poster paper. I absolutely loved getting into a frightful mess and being responsible for what I would wear on stage. Jamie pressed the wet mask on my face so that it would fit, especially over my nose, and it has been drying in our cabin ever since. When it has dried completely we shall paint it. It has two slits for the eyes (of course!) and only covers half my face, so that my cheeks, mouth and chin are exposed. I plan to try and get some white make up in Kobe (a la Geisha) so that I look like the voice of doom I seem to be as Chorus number 6!

We had a line rehearsal at 1.30....just the Chorus which was quite fun as we did it in a supposedly empty dining room into which students kept trickling to study but ended up looking at us (spouting these heavy tragic over-the-top lines) with have they gone completely insane looks on their faces. I have been working very hard on my lines and felt a little better about them after realising that I was further ahead than a couple of others. My greatest fear at my great age is the sudden blanks which happen sometimes on stage....the stuff of nightmares. Hopefuly my mask will make it difficult to identify me!!

Tonight George and I organised a group of friends to get together to celebrate Theresa Muellers birthday two days ago. It was great fun and we had a lovely large cake (they really do us proud in these kitchens sometimes) but sadly I had to leave early to go to a rehearsal.

We are going to be out of contact for a few days while we are in Japan so although George and I will be staying on the ship overnight I may not be able to write a blog...so until after Kobe and Yokohama....good night.