18 April 2006

Stressful as they come...


I don't think of myself as an alarmist. I don't think of myself as a cry-baby...well, actually, I do. But I'm also proud of the fact that I have enough professionalism to keep such matters under wraps as might affect the flow of my work, especially in the theatre context. However, following the events of today, I am forced to wonder how far someone can be pushed before they snap completely.

I shall begin, as it is always best to begin, at the very beginning: The morning!

So, my car has been in the shop for two days now for what was supposed to be a four hour job (Giligan's island, anyone?). This meant that I had to catch a ride to work with my dad. Again. And this time, he was driving at an infuriatingly slow pace, not quite getting the idea that the long circumspect way we were going to get past all the traffic meant he could make better time if he went faster due to the lighter traffic. Anyway, I got to work about ten minutes late, but it was ok, because nobody else had bothered to do anything anyway. So I went on my merry way.

The morning show was an utter cunt, thanks to an audience of apathetics, arseholes, and one teacher's choice to march all her students out of the theatre mid-performance, then march them all back in three minutes later. Cheers, bitch! Also, a special Up Yours goes to the gentleman who kept jangling his keys throughout the play. When I went backstage, fuming, my supervisor admonished me for letting it get to me. Gee, thanks, fuck-face. And what exactly did you do to help today? Or any day for that matter? Twat!

Day went further downhill when the car got delayed AGAIN, and when I finally managed to make it to Marka to pick the damn thing up, it still wasn't ready. I took my dad's car back to Amman and made it to my dubbing job three minutes before my call... a decent margin by any standard. The people knew that i had a window of an hour and 45 minutes to finish four scenes, then be on my way to rehearsals till 11pm. So instead of going straight into the studio, they decided to wait around for half an hour, then go into the studio, then take my scene partner out and do a different scene. By the time I had got to my second scene, it was already 7pm, and we spent the next half hour with my two scene partners fucking up so much, that we covered half a page of script. I got really livid, because I had to be out in ten minutes, and they wanted to finish the episode today, so I ended up dubbing three whole scenes on a seperate track (which means the other actors will be recorded at a later date).

I ran like hell, got to rehearsal, and spent the next three hours being yelled at by the director, and badgered by this cunt of an excuse for a human being who claims to be an actor.

Now, about the aforementioned person, I'd just like to say why he gets on my tits: Firstly, he's always late, which means he has zero commitment. He waltzes in fifteen minutes after the rest of the cast without so much as a "I'm sorry I'm late", then spends the rest of the rehearsal changing stuff the director's put in, and telling people how to speak their lines. He's also off smoking a cigarette when he should be on stage, and is just a wanker to begin with. I have a strong feeling that I'll end up either yelling at him, or kicking his face in at some point in the near future.

I finally got home at 11.30 pm, and I'm writing this. I have to be at my first job at 9 am tomorrow, I have a rehearsal from 6-10pm, then I go on to myu dubbing job till about 12.30 am. In the meantime, I have an article to finish writing, a dozen scenes to prep, and a few shows to perform. Now, I'm not the sort of person who easily gets stressed out, but this has truly been a really bad day.

I think I need a drink....

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