How might an 18 year old spend her final week as an 18 year old? 8 years ago I certainly wouldn’t have thought I’d be spending most of it at the theatre, I’ll tell you. But that is exactly what I went and did.
I started early on the weekend before the final day going to see ‘North’, Northern Stage’s degree company and their edgy devised show, which if I remember rightly was called Bring more paper. A load of us fellow Northern Stage loveys from Young Company managed to wangle some comps – nothing better than a free ticket! – and even got front row seats. Though this was actually a little scary, being sat in front of a fairly volatile cast. Volatile though they were, the show was very well staged and had a soundtrack worth paying good money for. Like any production it had its ups and downs but when the acting is good and the aesthetics are damn good you can’t complain at all. And for 6 weeks worth of devising in completely new company, they definitely deserve some high fives – and possibly a nice strong drink. Let’s just say I’m now thoroughly clued up on how to make a toxic beverage from fly paper….. Safe to say I made sure to buy a bottled drink from the bar afterwards!
Moving swiftly on, Tuesday night was girls night. Nibbles at Carluccio’s. Shakespeare at Theatre Royal. Get. In. And with a lovely lady for company too, not bad at all for a Tuesday evening. Carluccio’s only opened on Grey Street (voted the best street in the UK and potentially in Europe too if I’m not mistaken) a little while back so Darina and I decided it was time to test it out! I’ve been told the coffee is outstanding but when the theater is calling Red wine is a must.
Stained teeth or not…. We got focaccia, proper Greek olives (stupidly good), lovely but strange flour crisp things and some cheeky chocolate cake to finish us off.
Bee • yoo • ti • ful.
We may or may not have gotten carried away yaddering but I eyed my watch just in time to pay the bill and make a sharp exit, trying our very best to ignore the delectable cakes on display next to the door.
I swear we should get blinkers.
We speed walked in our heels and clip clopped our way into the foyer of the theatre, just in time to buy a program and catch our breath aaaannnnddddd relax in perfect seats in the Grand circle – birthdays call for birthday seating.
As always, the cast were already mulling about around the stalls and the stage in character in full Spanish attire, ready for their assault on the Comedy of Errors – Latino style – then it’s metaphorical curtain up and physical lights down, at which we were catapulted through the first half in fits of laughter and so much adrenalin I’m surprised the cast weren’t having simultaneous heart attacks. By the interval we were in need of some serious refuelling, my lungs were about to explode, but as we were paying for our drinks the sound of live music came floating up the stairs and I knew from seeing Propeller last year that they would be doing an interval-set to raise awareness for a charity. Quickly as I could, I dragged Darina to the best spot on the staircase as the cast assembled on the landing just below us – good timing or what?
We were then serenaded by our Spanish ensemble, who incredibly then had the energy to continue the rest of the play in an unbelievable blur of enthusiasm. And I swear to god I have never laughed and cried and hurt so much from laughing and crying in my whole life (testing my memory here). Edward Hall is a genius and Shakespeare is da bomb.
Hijacking a bike for a photo is also ‘da bomb’ it appears!
Hijacking bicycles always has to be followed by a classy end-of-the-night picture. Side note – I just LOVE these trousers. River Island for about £30 (I bought them in black too, they’re that good!), bag Kurt Geiger (similar), crop top Miss Selfridge and coat is a TK Maxx bargain hunt special! Darina’s blue top is from Zara and the incredible girl that she is, the rest of her outfit are bargains from Primark! I need to go shopping with this lady.
So guess what I did after a 10am-7pm rehearsal the day after? I went to see Propeller show No. 2. Too darn right, I did. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is probably the Shakespeare that I know best. Know too much if I’m honest. The production wasn’t as witty or as engaging as Comedy of Errors for me, but I can’t decide if that’s just because I did it to death in my first year of college and got a little bit sick of reciting the lines along with the cast or if it was so something to do with the production itself. But that feeling was only towards the first half, the second was rib-crackingly funny and so well performed I just couldn’t stop smiling. Hermia in particular (Dromeo from the night before) deserves a medal. Never have I seen a male actor dressed as an attractive woman sweat off his/her make up so spectacularly. Well done indeed. The interval set was also another wild success, nearly got myself a boogy with Puck but a girl a hell of a lot taller than me got there first – 5ft 3″ just can’t out-pace 5ft 5″ or above. Boo hoo.
For a wee break from the theatre, I enjoyed my pre-birthday dinner eating far too much tapas and spending time with my dearests in Loui’s, my favorite Tynemouth haunt. We chilled oot and smiled lots and continued the merriness all the way home for coffee.
I woke up a brand new age and sneaked into my mamas bed for a cuddle to try and pretended I hadn’t just turned a whole year older, again. My Jadey babes (her favorite affectionate term, I’ll have you know) came round with the best homemade chocolate cake ever so we had tea and death by chocolate and strawberries for brunch.
What a good way to start the day! Being a crazy jet setter I was then collected and chauffeured by my father and step-mum to another world! I.e. Manchester, which is ludicrously big to a little-city girl (who is actually from a town on the coast really). Newcastle is a village in comparison and North Shields is a dot. My Dad had booked us into a lovely apartment just on the edge of a really cool, cosmopolitan kind of area – who knows where – and we found the best little Mexican place called Almost Famous. You walk inside to moody lighting, great music and lots of nice people mulling about having a bevy, then if your up for it you head upstairs and wait for a table. Bubba will text you from his iPad when it’s ready if you want to wait downstairs – sweet eh?
The walls are full of quotes and the journey that created Almost Famous, basically lots of alcohol, lots of hot sauce and a long drive through the American dessert leading to Mexico. Sound exciting? Well put that onto a menu and into a restaurant and you get quite an experience. Service with a smile, food with an edge and atmosphere down to a T. Get a burrito please. Just please get a burrito. Please.
I had a recall audition the next day at Manchester School of Theatre which was lots of fun – if you have a recall there for the first time don’t stress! They’re lovely and it’s such a good workshop style audition, you do movement, voice and speeches; just be open to suggestion, imaginative, spontaneous and a good listener – then I went off for a mooch in the Trafford center and found my Dad and Emsy so we could get back on the road again.
I came home to this
More cards, surprise flowers from a special someone and some lovely gifts from my fiends at work – and CUPCAKES. But not just any cupcakes, my adopted-auntie Tracey’s CannyCupcakes4U cupcakes. Imagine that like a smooth M&S food advert, that’s how good they are.
I got some beautiful flowers and a to-die-for cheesecake from my work-auntie last week for my birthday too! The cheesecake was out of this world.
When you mix white chocolate with strawberries and a biscuit base how could it not be? The flowers had started wilting pretty badly by the time my birthday came around but the tiny white wispy ones (fabulous description, I know) were fresh as a daisy (ha!) so I added them to my new bouquet and spruced the vase up with some ribbon. If there is one sure way to make a girl smile it is through flowers.
Just before I started to settle back down into ordinary life, I had one more thing on the birthday agenda. Theatre tickets for Never Forget by Lee Mattinson at Live Theatre courtesy of the beautiful Katie and starring a friend of ours from doing extras work. Yet another hilarious play, but with some seriously heart wrenching moments and a man who is far to good at playing a woman. It was performed up in the studio theater which is just a nice size to have a good audience but small enough for the escaped gasp of one person to cause several others to turn around and giggle. Yes, that was me. But I had just figured it all out! What else was I supposed to do? It’s not very often that you find out the mans face who that woman has had transplanted onto her own because of a fire is actually the face of her husbands ex-lover/stalker, is it? I thought not. We caught up with our Director from Northern Stage afterwards then grabbed Adam to congratulate him on being such a good woman with a (“transplanted”) mans face. Of course it was then time to go home… After nipping into The Bridge for quick bevy… And then into Brew Dog for a quick beer (just about the only place I find a nice enough beer to drink- the papaya one is incredible) and then I attempted to jog up Grey Street in heels, this did not go very well, flew down the stairs to get the last metro and threw myself onto the carriage just as the doors were closing. Mission impossible completed.
Perfect way to celebrate being another year older. Now bring on the facial and body wrap from my Ma & Pa that I need to book and more celebrations in London Town on Bank Holiday weekend! Woo hoo!
P.s.
Just as I thought I was back in normality, this beautiful bunch got delivered to me at work; turns out being a nice customer when someone has caused a big problem is highly appreciated!
Tagged: 19, almost famous, audition, Birthday, burrito, cake, cards, carluccios, drink, family, fashion, flowers, food, friends, live theatre, louis, manchester, manchester school of theatre, mexican, newcastle, presents, propeller, recall, surprise, Theatre, theatre royal, tynemouth
