O blog, how have I neglected you!
It’s been nearly a month since last I was here so apologies for radio silence. That said I was heartened to receive an alert on my phone yesterday applauding the amount of traffic on the site so whoever you are, thanks for popping by over the last few days. With things quieting down at work for the immediate future there should hopefully be plenty of opportunity to boost the amount of activity herein, though the theatrical world continues to be extraordinarily busy. I won’t wax lyrical about projects beyond The Matchbox but suffice to say that there is lots of action going on within the group as we put together our summer tribute to the Bard. With still no official title, more details will be available in the very near future but it promises to be an exciting and varied evening with something for everyone.
In the meantime, how’s about some nostalgia? With the positively Biblical storm going on outside ‘The Tempest’ would seem the obvious choice but we’ve done that already! So, what more apt at this time of year than a step back in time to December 2007 and our working of H.E. Bates’ ‘The Darling Buds of May’. Directed by Pat Williams this was another of those shows which drew upon a large amount of Matchbox talent, young and old, and for me was one of the standout shows of that period in its scale and reception. A lot of fun to work on, I do recall that there were some anxieties at the production end but to be honest I didn’t detect them at all. It was great playing Pop and sparring with Gill as Ma – though we were neither David Jason nor Pam Ferris which can be no bad thing. I had lots of fun acting with so many friends and getting such a great response from audiences. Little wonder that it was one of the plays revisited for our ‘Three decades of Dazzling Drama’ four years later. It is particularly striking looking at some of the ‘kids’ now and seeing how they have all grown up. Gosh, it makes a man feel old.
Memories of choking on a chip, tomato sauce flavoured iced buns, Gill’s knitting, cocktail making, hidden lines, passionate kisses and cravat maintenance all come flooding back to me, though I am sure that everyone involved has their own series of special moments. For me though it was one of those shows that had a real chemistry to it and at the end of the day was ‘Perfick! Absolutely perfick!’
Enjoy the pics and catch you soon.
M
The Matchblog 