Hi all,
I think it's safe to see we've all dipped over the past few days - we've hit our Edinburgh wall, and we're all getting incredibly tired.
If you could see us every morning when we wake up, you'd notice the difference when we wake up - from being all bright and cheery during the first week, we're now getting more lethargic and less talkative when waking. Doing shows every day, with no day off, is getting incredibly tiring - and when you factor in the flyering and trying to see other shows, you find free time to relax is hard to fine.
Still, we're getting on with the show - and having hit our stride, we're still pulling it out of the bag. This morning's show was great - we had a really lovely audience in, and they seemed to love the show. The fantastic thing about theatre being a live medium is that you're immediately aware of what the audience may be thinking - and if they're laughing, smiling and clearly enjoying themselves, then you find it makes the performers more confident in what they do on stage. With a show that's so visual and that doesn't take itself too seriously, there's often no harm in pushing things even further if that day's audience are responding in the right ways - but you need to judge it each day, as audiences will change and will react differently with each show.
Myself, Lisa, Liza and Max finally went along to see The River People in the afternoon, to see 'The Terrible Tales of the Midnight Chorus'; we're glad we went - the show was great, and it was fantastic to see such a confident and talented company set a standard for the rest of us to strive to achieve. The delivery of their stories was supported by some fantastic live music, and having seen previous shows of theirs I had a real sense that 'The Terrible Tales...' represented them doing something bigger - presenting a range of stories alongside the actual characters of the Midnight Chorus themselves meant that there were a number of narratives, but the company switched between them with such consumate ease that it flowed wonderfully. 'The Ordinaries' - a snapshot of their debut production - is a particular highlight, being incredibly affecting and sensitively handled, whilst never comprimising the aesthetic of their work. You really should all go and see the show, to be able to witness a company who will continue their upward trajectory in the years to come.
This evening, I've been indulging my more geeky qualities by making some tweaks to the website - if you visit www.emptyboxtheatre.com, you'll see that the design now reflects that of the 'Norman Shadowboxer' flyer. I did that, I did. As an advocate of digital and new technologies as a way of promoting your work, I've really tried to increase and maintain the company's online presence during the festival (hence this blog, and the increased number of 'Tweets' promoting the show) - so I hope it's working! If you guys think there's anything else we can do to let you all know what we're doing, then please tell us!
Off to bed, before a day of seeing LOTS of shows tomorrow...
- Dan
