Fame and fortune ...

Well, perhaps fortunate is the more accurate word, but makes for a less appealing headline.  Last Saturday I was fortunate to be part of the group of performers in a staged reading of a new play, as I reported in December, playing Man in Jakob Holder's "The Open Circuit", directed by the playwright himself and presented by the Finn-Brit players.

It was my first serious role, playing the rather unaware partner of a woman facing traumatic changes in her life, forced to decide whose side he was on. My wife was among the audience, a rather larger crowd than we were expecting, and was kind enought to say that she could tell the difference between the real me and my on-stage persona. Though clearly I was not convincing enough in telling my much younger leading lady that I loved her to cause any marital disharmony.

The play was also my first rehearsed reading. It's a little more than just reading the play as a group, as we were in costume, with props and using a staged area to perform before an audience. But we were still relying on scripts, as we had only four rehearsals before the big night. So, we had time to explore our characters, something we don't do in pantomime, to really get into the roles but without the stress of learning all the lines.

All in all, I think we did well. It was a fortunate distraction for me too, as this is normally the busiest time of our working year, leading up to a global trade show and associated announcements in Barcelona. I could not have committed to the rehearsals for the spring production of "Waiting for Godot", though I am looking forward to seeing my friends here in it. But this was a great way to whet my appetitite and a great idea to bring to our TOADS group back home. I'm hoping to be part of the next staged reading, Harold Pinter's "The Birthday Party", in March.

Oh, and the fame? Tonight I was hosting the monthly pub quiz organized by IESAF at Molly Malone's. One of the participants walked over and said "Hi, I saw you in the play on Saturday. You were really good." Modest though I am, I have to admit I enjoyed the moment. Famous in Helsinki? Well, it's a start.