So last week we finally were forced to take the decision to get rid of all our old sets. We’ve received a huge storage bill for the last year and have the promise of another in a couple of weeks – our first step has been to reduce our 2 containers down to 1 and then we have to find a way to take that to none! The only way to do this was to pile the last 10 years of theatre O history onto a huge bonfire.
It was a strange process – lovely because it reminded me of a lot of great moments both onstage and off, really sad because it shuts a door on some wonderful work that we had a lot of fun making and touring, and frustrating because it now feels like we hung onto it all for nothing! However, there is a sense of relief as well (or there will be when we get rid of the last container) as we move to a lighter form of existence!
I’m not sure that we’ll be there for the actual burning of it, but here’s a picture of me at the top of the pile…
I want to take this opportunity to say an enormous thanks to Dominic, Emma and Harriet who came with me to help close the door on this particular chapter of the ‘O’. We couldn’t have done it without you!
On a happier note, on Monday we move into Rehearsal Room 3 of the National Theatre for the first of our 2 weeks testing out some ideas for our new project ‘The Secret Agent – a simple tale’ – inspired by Joseph Conrad’s novel. But more on that in a separate post.
For now the flames, later the Phoenix.



