06 July 2006

The Actor's Journal:
King Lear; a Sufi

Well, what an absolutely riveting few weeks it has been! My first professional stage production AND my first professional film shoot.

King Lear was an experience, but unfortunately, not a very good one. Despite everyone lauding it as far above the standard of jordanian theatre (or perhaps because of that), I was extremely dismayed by the whole experience. The cast was infested by people who have no business being in theatre; childish, selfish, uncommitted, dishonest, unprofessional liars and fools.

The production was plagued from the beginning by the cast's complete lack of conscience, as well as the director's terrible (and frankly often uncalled for) temper, and going back to the cast's unjustifiably large egoes.

The show was good on the first two nights, but struggled to regain any form of energy it had in later performance. I say this about everyone's performance, and especially my own. It was just a terrible play.

At the end of these three months of rehearsal, I have suffered cuts while fencing, amoebic dysentary, severe muscle cramps, stress headaches, and numerous sprains and other painful injuries.

I've two more performances to give at Jerash, then we're off to play at the Experimental Theatre Festival in Cairo in September. God knows, I don't want to mix it up with this bunch again. Ah, well.

No comments: