The diary of the new girl.

5am pick up from hotel, drive, flight, flight, drive and finally we arrive at our air bnb for the week (the team checked if this would be ok with us, as no hotels close to the theatre were available and we leapt at the opportunity to be roomies for a week). Cory, Director of the Language Department, who picked us up, had brought us his favourite apples from an orchard nearby – they were easily the best apples I’ve ever had.

The house we are staying in is quintessentially American, a big blue chocolate box home with a wrap around porch and pumpkins decorating the stairs. Excitedly, we pick bedrooms and head out to the supermarket, the exhaustion from our travel day briefly replaced by the happy anticipation of a home cooked meal. The sun is setting and the leaves on the trees are orange and gold, are we in a film?

Once back at AFTLS Cottage, Sam put on some Velvet Underground (10/10 tunes) and begins chopping shallots, Anna reads in the living room, Waggy sits on the porch, Michael heads out again as he forgot the most important item from the shop – coffee, and I open a bottle of red wine. Heaven? I think so. We wolf down yummy dinners, and watch the great British bake off before heading to bed not dissimilarly to The Waltons.

Day 2 a few of us head out separately to run around the area, I discover a trail and briefly weep at the natural beauty. We visit the oldest independent book store in New York State and are given free rein to pick some merchandise for the show (an important gag) before heading to tech in the adorable local theatre. Henry, who runs the theatre & light boards is fab and we get through tech pretty painlessly before heading back to our lovely home.

Wednesday was filled with a little drama after I realised I’d been bitten by a tick and had to get to urgent care. I, (as embarrassed as I am to admit it) did panic quite considerably after googling ‘Lyme disease’, (let this be a reminder to NOT use google as a medical professional) but the rest of the company, true to form, had my back, calmed me down and helped me out. By the end of the day tic gate was over and we were in the lovely Colgate Inn splashing out on a fancy dinner. The fire roared behind us, we enjoyed curry, wings, burgers, steak, salad. Some live music after and we head home full of food & country tunes.

Our shows were fun, we tried new things & enjoyed the different audience vibes. The theatre even looked a bit like a ship, acoustics were good and we head to the local Bar Bar after each show to decompress and evaluate. The actor Matt Malloy who lives in Hamilton, came to see the show and loved it, invited us all to his house on the Sunday for sauna, a cold plunge in the lake, use of his hot tub and a home cooked breakfast. No one quite appreciates a home cooked breakfast like an actor on tour.

Other highlights from this week include sitting in the garden of the air bnb after a show doing some star gazing, dancing in the laundrette, watching bake off with our pre show meal and Matt’s lovely dog, Louis. Next week is our final week in the states, sunny Alabama awaits.

The diary of the new girl.

Was Winona Rider named after Winona Lake? We arrived Monday late afternoon, the other 4 went to the nearby Italian restaurant, Papa Vinos, for some pasta, I was so exhausted I opted for pot noodle in bed. Tuesday was rainy and chilly, but by the end of the day the sun was back out and we donned our gladrags to have dinner with the Grace team. The sun set over the lake through the windows of Cerulean as we enjoyed our cheese boards, wine, duck breast and crème brulee, we discussed favourite bands, books & food.

Back at the hotel, Michael introduced us all to the game, Ex Libris, and we played and laughed for a good couple of hours (would highly recommend this game post dinner). Wednesday we teched the little theatre, a sweet, shallow proscenium arch with an intimate, puppet show feel. We made a trip to sit by the lake in the sun for a bit, before exploring Walmart and then heading to Mad Anthony’s brewery in Warsaw.

The shows went well, we played the smaller space with a different energy, trying new things. We had to rethink the washing line moment and used the wings a little more as there was no space behind our chairs on stage, changing it up made it feel fresh and fun. Laughs landed in different places, we stayed on our toes and on the second night had to run back on to bow again.

Friday was a big day for all of us. Anna went Jean shopping (which anyone who’s ever been Jean shopping before will know, is practically a competitive sport) the trip ended in a successful purchase, a picture of the jeans will surely feature in an upcoming blog. Michael, having been a guest on Pat Loebs’ podcast that day, popped into his Block Party Post Show, where he met a man called Jared, who happened to be a custodian of THE Billy Sunday’s house, Michael then managed to sweet talk his way into a private tour of the house on Sunday.

The gang took me for my FIRST EVER drive through experience. Culvers did not disappoint- the woman who took our order through the strange microphone machine was in hysterical laughter, and even asked us “is this real?” (probably due to our English accents), so much so that her colleague had to take over the order, but by this time the car was already laughter infected, and we giggled the rest of the way home, enjoying our burgers, chips & cheese curds in the lobby.

On Saturday morning Sam & I ran around the lake as the sun rose (Sam hit an impressive 10k PB which needs a mention), and Waggy & Anna found proper coffee at the farmers market. Scot came to see the final show and we put the world to rights in the lobby (this lobby has never seen such excitement as it has this week). Sunday was Michael’s house tour, an experience he described as “suspended in time”. Much to the dismay of the hotel staff, the rest of us took chairs from the lobby and sat in the sun beaming down on the car park at the front of the hotel with some snacks I’d picked up from Walmart. Trust the British people to find any sliver of sun and make the most of it.

Once Michael was back, he drove us to Ledge View Brewery, where we sat in the beer garden (Waggy threw a double corn hole, if you don’t know what this is, just trust me – very impressive) until we were chased inside by a swarm of wasps. We tested all the hot sauces they had and rated them, we ate more sweet potato fries than you’d think is humanly possible, we discussed our dream music festivals, we got an early night before a 5am pick up. New York, watch out, five silly actors are coming your way.

The diary of the new girl.

Last Sunday the week ended with the lovely Deb Gasper taking us all for dinner, which ended in her presenting some vegan chocolate cheesecakes she’d bought for my birthday and I, embarrassingly, burst into tears (good tears, happy tears). The following day was my actual day of birth, and our travel day. Waggy (aka Trevor Travel) gallantly leading the way through South Bend airport and onto the first flight. My cast mates had managed to get the message to the pilot that it was my birthday and as we landed he made an announcement, and everyone on board clapped – I’m going to begin to demand this every year from now on. A flight, an announcement & some applause, please. Our layover in Dallas, and the cowboys cheerleaders merchandise avoided, we hopped on the next flight, knuckles white gripping the arm rest during the turbulence.

Arriving in San Antonio, Dr Kimberly Fonzo was there to greet us and take us to our hotel, the hairy Texan roads marginally more terrifying than the flight. With strict instructions to be downstairs, dressed to impressed by 19:15, I shimmied into a skirt and slapped on a red lip, meeting the gang by the pool. We had some beers and they told me we were going to McDonalds for my 30th (I would have loved this, they have the best fast food fries and I will die on that hill) and we set off in an uber, the Golden Arches approaching.

The McDonald’s act was in fact a joke, and we pulled up to Vegan Avenue, a gorgeous restaurant that did lovely cocktails and I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself crying AGAIN. The meal was fantastic and I felt so loved, and grateful to be surrounded by such beautiful, kind, generous friends on my birthday. The uber home was one of the funniest 10 minutes of my life after Anna and I got the giggles – the giggles being a big theme that continued this week.

We tech’ed the first theatre on the Tuesday, an acoustic heaven, and loved the Wednesday show. The audience was warm and engaged. The guitar Dr Fonzo had for me to use was iconic, I felt very rock & roll.

The theatre we tech’d on Thursday and played on Friday & Saturday was the Bueno Vista downtown theatre, a more traditional theatre space with lights around the dressing room mirrors and a massage chair in the green room. The Saturday show was a lesson in the fact that you can never tell what an audience is thinking and feeling. They were quiet (listening, attentive) we lost a few of the usual laughs and in the interval worriedly hoped it was all landing alright – we had nothing to worry about, however, as at the curtain call they cheered the loudest and longest of all the audiences so far, we had to go out for more bows!

On Sunday we had pancakes for brunch, listening to some (what can kindly be described as) bizarre live music, Sam beat me at bananagrams and then we explored the river walk a little more, ending up at a swanky restaurant that we nearly didn’t get into, but Crichlow managed to book us in last minute.

Now with Waggy leading the way with travel, Sam in his blazer looking far too cool to be going on a plane, Michael’s lost a wheel on his case but is happy with his super strong coffee, and Anna & I giggling behind them, we head back to Indiana.

The diary of the new girl.

It is our first week of public performances, and we all feel match fit – raring to go. We are ready to see where the laughs land or need work, figure out the acoustics with a full house, and get the full show rhythmically into our bodies.

Monday is Waggy’s birthday, we head for a big breakfast in Chicago (I’m talking eggs and hash and toast and pancakes big) then board the coolest looking train I’ve ever seen to head back to South Bend. A zoom with the professors for this weeks workshops, and we all plan a little bit before meeting in the Lobby to drive Waggy to a surprise destination (a fun games bar). Where we were met by Scott, Matthew and Cate and ordered tacos, pizzas, beers. The man running the music bingo that night recognised Sam, Anna, Cate and I from our incredible karaoke performances the previous week, and persuades us to join in the bingo. A faction of us break away to play pool, and the night ends with a basket ball toss competition (Waggy, the birthday boy, wins with 37 points in 45 seconds).

Tuesday is the start of workshops and we have our tech in the afternoon. Anna and Sam (tech 1 & 2), superbly set up and plot the whole show with Scott, Brian and Kadie-Sue. The rest of us arrive to cue-to-cue the show, run the storm in the new lighting state, go over some musical bits and finally, exhausted but satisfied, meet in the lobby to line run the whole play before stumbling to our rooms at 11pm ish.

We were all proud of our first public show on Wednesday, well paced, well received and well enjoyed by us – we felt like we were still figuring out some moments, but overall 5 happy actors readied themselves for the rest of the week. Thursday’s show was a bit slower, Michael mentioned the dreaded ‘second show syndrome’ and we were all being careful to not get complacent, putting clarity as a top priority, but as Anna wisely reminded us all – we need to trust the work we have done on clarity throughout this whole process and pick up the pace, a note that we all put into practise on Friday, and the show runs at a lick. Now we’re getting into the groove, we’re all sad to be leading South Bend; this feels like home now, but also excited to take our show to more places, and meet more people, tell our story to new audiences & to continue to play.

The diary of the new girl.

So much has happened since I last put pen to paper that I don’t really know where to begin. So, I’ll keep this blog like the perfect skirt, short enough to be fun and long enough to cover all the important bits.

Monday was full of admin and paperwork. We were all pretty jet lagged and only just managed to make it through an afternoon of rehearsals. We were taken out to a trivia night by some of the team, and although I felt like my eyes wouldn’t stay open at first, the energy in the group & the variety of questions kept us all on our toes. We knew all of the Irish music questions, and I slightly embarrassed myself by my confidence answering a question about Snow White. A lot of fun & beer was had.

The rest of the week was a whirlwind of being wide awake at 5am from jet lag and meeting the others in the hotel gym for a pre rehearsal sweat, figuring out how we make our storm more chaotic & enjoying the South Bend food scene (I had the best Mexican bowl & spicy margarita of my life). I took a trip to Trader Joe’s and immediately fell in love – can they come to the uk please?!

The theatre at Notre Dame is truly spectacular, great acoustics & a gorgeous playing space. By Thursday we’re having lots of fun & do another run through of the show, where we find new things, we play.

Peter & Scott watched our showing on Wednesday and their confidence in what we’ve come up with filled us all with joy. A few notes to work through on Thursday, we head out to the brewery and I experience my first (and definitely not last) beer flight.

Even starting to write about Friday leaves me feeling a little emotional. We did our first preview at Westville correctional facility, the floor was dusty & the stage is anti-raked, the acoustics were terrible – every word echoed, we knew we had to be on the top of our games. And we were, slowing down the language, articulating & making sure every thought was clear, it was a necessarily muscular show, in a 30° room with no air con, and it was two of the best hours of my life. We got a standing ovation, and the q&a with the prisoners afterwards showed how much they had understood, and taken away from the performance, their questions were intelligent and kind. The themes of freedom, power, love, revenge, forgiveness stayed in the air well past the final line.

I’ve always loved theatre, its magic & ability to transport the audience to another place, seeing a story that might resonate on a deep level, might make you feel something, change your way of thinking. When you become an actor, leave drama school & start working, there’s a trap you can easily fall into, where you forget about what theatre is truly about, and silly things become important (the ‘name’ attached the show, the theatre you’re playing, who’s at the press night blah blah blah) and this prison showing (in Sam’s brilliant words) was like when you recalibrate yourself on google maps. It brought us all back to the power of good story telling, keeping it simple & clear, the connection between the audience & the players. The words. The play. Each other.

We drove into Chicago, which made me nearly cry again, Scott took us for a delicious meal, which made me actually cry, and then we went to the house of blues for some live music. Sam managed to persuade Anna and I to finish the night with a pickle back – honestly disgusting, but also a highlight of my weekend. The other highlights included: the art institute, a Pilates class, vegan ramen, accidentally joining a half marathon that was taking place along Lake Michigan, the DuSable museum, Anna stamping on a wasp while we ate lunch on the river, swimming in Michigan lake, the architecture boat tour. Chicago has a piece of my heart. Now back to South Bend to continue the Tempest.