It was opening night in a two days and we were about to have our tech run. I rode my bicycle over the bridge with an excited look on my face which I'm sure both confused and amused the traffic that caught a glimpse of me.
I stopped into the costume shop and picked up some, 'improper string' or "Silly String ™" for those name brand buyers, and then cycled up Harris Street to the hotel where I waited for the rest of my cast and crew. This was a joyous and exciting day, hence the excited face.
Then a few things went wrong.
First, the tech run had been poorly organised and we were competing against a massive delivery of alcohol and the fact that our play was being performed in a pub meant that the alcohol won and we were kicked out until 7 hours later in the evening.
Then, one of our leads turned up with a terrible cold and he couldn't speak. Our man with two large monologues was rendered speechless, not by any filthy or deprived act on my behalf but by a common cold.
These two issues, the eviction of our tech rehearsal and the phlegm of our actor, meant that we were on a non-stop collision path with Newtown Thai II. We drove to Newtown and made use of the $6.50 lunch special, full of chilli to fend off that cold.
We went inside and ordered our food, two Pad Kee Mau's for the healthy of the three and a chicken soup with extra chilli for our nasally impaired compatriot.
We took the food back to his place to rehearse and we dined on our foods, and I was pleasantly surprised by this cheap Thai foods ability to make me happy amidst a day full of horribly stressful events. read more