Thursday 31st March 2022

Alarm at 0730. Dozed until 0830. Aki got up to prepare for a site visit to Balham. I got up and made coffee. Spent most of my morning trying to find the best way to play "Rain & The Wind" in the key of D, rather than in G that I had been using...Feste now wants to try it there to make his life easier on the guitar part...I'm trying to find a way of playing it in Open D tuning. Broke for lunch at 1300. Aki got back for her lunch at 1400. Transferred my attentions to trying to plot the song out in DADGAD tuning during the afternoon...slow going. Warmed up the leftover goulash for dinner, which we had with penne and pan fried aubergine slices. Drove to Stoke Newington in the snow! Only a light sprinkling, but it gone blown about a bit in a cold wind. Rehearsed in the theatre space this evening, which made a pleasant change. Worked on Act 2 Sc5, in which Sir Toby and his pals listen in on Malvolio reading the forged letter from Olivia...lots of comic business...it should be a hoot! Home by 2230 for bath and bed.

Wednesday 30th March 2022

Woke to alarm at 0730, and dozed in bed till 0830. Got up and made porridge. Spent the morning working on "The Wind & The Rain", our finale song...hard work! I think I'm just about there, though....just need to learn the lyrics by heart. Made a ham salad lunch, with toast, and Aki's freshly made hummus. Did some exercises after lunch, and worked on the scene we are due to rehearse this evening. Aki tested negative this afternoon, so we decided to go out for a walk, as she had been housebound for 10 days. Walked up to Crouch Hill and had coffee and cake in a little cafe that recently opened in the old ticket office at Crouch Hill station. Quite nicely done. Walked back home via Shaftesbury Road, and Aki baked trout for dinner, which we ate with potatoes and green beans. Had to wolf it down as I needed to get off to rehearsal. Traffic on the Seven Sisters Road terrible at present, due to on-going waterworks at Finsbury Park. But got to Stoke Newington just before 1900 and parked outside the theatre. Worked on the drunken party scene, Act 2 Sc3, this evening. It went well. Loads of comic detail already, which bodes well. Improvised a drunken sing-a-long around a fire on the beach, which saw us bellowing out Maggie May. Good fun. I had a vocal problem toward the end of the rehearsal...a sliver of black pepper from my dinner lodged itself on my vocal cord, and I had to stop and drink water...rather threw me off for the last 10 minutes of the rehearsal, but my voice seemed fine in the aftermath. Most of the gang went off to the pub round the corner, but I drove home. Got in around 2230. Bath and bed.

Tuesday 29th March 2022

Woke to alarm at 0730. Dozed until 0830. Aki got up to take a call from her Balham project client. I did some line learning in bed before getting up to make coffee. Pottered about trying, and failing, to work out some guitar chords as backing for a couple of the Twelfth Night songs. Fortunately, Tamara the composer sent fresh copy over with the chords on...just in time! Made some lunch, then popped out to do a bit of shopping...bough daikon at the Chinese shop round the corner, then went to Michael's greengrocers for aubergines, then on to Morrisons, and finally to Waitrose on the Holloway Road. Cooked a roast aubergine goulash for dinner...it was OK...not as meaty as a meat goulash, but then that was the point of the exercise. Aki downloaded a French film, "Le Famille Belier", made in 2015, and pinched by Hollywood to be re-made as "CODA", which one an Oscar or two last night. It was a pretty thin script, but had its' enjoyable moments, and the finale had us both snivelling into some tissue! 

Monday 28th March 2022

Woke to alarm at 0730...dozed until 0830, then did a bit of line learning in bed. Chocolate porridge for breakfast. Aki feeling better, but still testing positive. I downloaded a line learning app onto the iphone, and recorded my first scene...it's quite useful. It reminded me when I did my first amateur production in Basildon, I recorded all my scenes on a cassette recorder, leaving gaps for me to fill with my lines...as it was a five month rehearsal period, I knew everybody else's lines by the time we went up, as well as my own, which came in handy on a couple of occassions when the chap playing my butler jumped ahead a couple of pages...I was able to bring the scene back to where it needed to be! Fried some sardines for lunch, with potato, salad, and avocado toasts. Did a bit more line learning during the afternoon. Popped out to Poundland to get Aki some rubber gloves. Warmed up the mabo and rice for dinner, with pak choi and leeks. Spent a bit of time working through a couple of the songs for Twelfth Night. Tamara had sent me the dots, but I had to add the lyrics, working out which note to apply to which syllable by listening to the mp3 she'd made. It was a torturous process, and will be difficult for cast members to follow it, but I'm sure we'll get there, slowly! 

Sunday 27th March 2022

Woke at 0730...but as the clocks went forward last night, it's now 0830 already! Got up around 0900 and cooked breakfast, then abluted and trimmed my burgeoning beard. Took a LFT prior to heading off for rehearsals...proved negative. Aki holding back for the moment, planning to take a test tomorrow to see if she can honour her dental appointment next week. Drove over to Stoke Newington for afternoon rehearsals. Whole company was gathered this afternoon to do a bit of bonding through some impro games...got to learn everyone's names. Most left at 1600, and we rehearsed Act I Sc5 until 1815...I've only got four lines in it, but it requires some very drunk acting. Joel (Feste) and Ruth (Malvolia) both excellent in the scene...Sangita as Maria is shaping up very well...Sophie's Olivia needs a more sombre aspect in keeping with her mourning weeds, but hopefully that can be teased out of her as rehearsals progress. Decamped to Tamara's flat thereafter with Joel and Matthew. Tamara has composed some original music for the show, and Joel's guitar skills are top notch...really good. He's going to be terrific in the show. Gave Feiyang a lift to Finsbury Park, and got home around 2100. Aki still up and about...she doesn't look ill...hopefully she'll get a negative test result tomorrow and treat herself to some fresh air!

Saturday 26th March 2022

 

Got up around 0900 and cooked breakfast. Aki still coughing a bit, but otherwise seems OK. Still treating her as positive, but she's up and about. I took a walk up to the Farmer's Market at Yerbury School to buy a loaf of bread...wandered through Whittington Park on the way back, bumping into Dick Whittington's cat, Privet. Did a wee shop in Morrison's, but they didn't have any skimmed milk, so I walked up to the mini Tesco on Hornsey Road. Getting quite warm outside. Made cheese and tomato sandwiches for lunch. Spent the afternoon doing a bit of line learning before making dinner...did a pumpkin risotto with some vegetables on the side, followed by Aki's tiramisu with a dollop of yoghurt. Watched Stephen Graham in "Boiling Point"...filmed in one continuous shot, which gave it a dizzying feel to watch, as Graham's stressed out chef finally melts down. 

Friday 25th March 2022

Woke to alarm at 0730....dozed until 0900. Aki still testing positive, but feeling OK. Phoned ma to tell her to expect a delivery at lunchtime...she seemed pleased with her tits and boobies, and vowed to show them to the delivery man later when he brings her the tin of hot chocolate! (She'll do anything for a tin of hot chocolate, that woman!). Sounds as if their hob has died...they are surviving on grass and whatever's still growing in the greenhouse. I made a single contribution to top up my pension pot...needed to bang it in before the end of the tax year to benefit from the tax relief! Warmed up some mushroom and spinach quiche for lunch, and I made a sort of ploughman's on the side. Pottered about in the afternoon, before going for a short walk...had a decaf at The Green Room, then ambled over to Big Jo's to get Aki a slice of cake, as requested. They were packing up, and gave me a free pain au chocolat which we can have with our morning coffee tomorrow. Cooked a tofu mabo for dinner, with red rice rice on the side, and pak choi. The salted black beans I bought in the Chinese supermarket round the corner gave it a distinctive flavour. Watched MasterChef in the hope of garnering some inspiration for tomorrow. Early bath and bed...