09-Oct / THEATER AACHEN / 1 COMMENTS

Now that I am back home for some weeks from the great experience of working in Aachen, I think it’s time to put some not very social media type thoughts out there.

 

1. Work in a theater is so wonderfully addictive. The energy, the people, the huge operation working behind you, a packed hall, the sound of applause, the safe haven of the back stage- all fantastically satisfying.

 

2. Many moments you will find yourself feeling lonely. True, more times than not, you will come home after a day of rehearsals, and the only thing you’ll be fit for would be sleep- but there will be that odd day in which you really want that someone that you love to be there for you, ready with open arms for a hug.

 

3. Being in a new place can give the impression that you are starting over- that you now have to know everything about this place (city, theater, people, country). This is due to being far away from your own center, or every day, and the appearance that you now don’t have a life. Remember that it is just a feeling and not reality. You do have a life, full of friends, family, pets, and knowledge. All that exists, just further away for the time being.

 

4. Most of what you experience as a guest in a project is fleeting- and therefore glossier than reality. New professional relationships are formed fast under a production’s intense schedule. When the project will be over most of these new found friendships will dissolve. It’s not tragic, it’s just that everyone goes on to their next thing on the schedule, and people drift apart. These relationships have a time limit, and for some odd reason that makes them seem more precious. Since they will be short lived, we don’t demand many basic things from these relationships. Things that in normal situations might be our deal breakers.

 

5. Whatever you do, however well you managed things- left your cat in trusted good hands and all that, when you come home to a sick kitty, you feel like a bad kitty mama. There’s no way around that I guess. Just plow through.