Hello there you lot. Sandy here.
I like doing the website blog a lot of the time but I'll be honest, I worry we batter you lot with tons of information and are sometimes a bit 'meed-ja" (media) at you. This week and for the last month in fact, I've barely had time to talk to my nearest and dearest. I appear to be working so hard I am not present even when I'm physically present. It's all very exciting but it's not right. So. I say 'pah' to marketing. I say 'pah' to overwork. I say 'pah' to agreed standards of social media communication. Stuff the lot of it. Prepare for a very informal blog.
How are you all? Seriously? How are you doing? What are you doing? Are you having a good time? I hope you are all well out there in the world. And if any of you have life/work balance advice, well, I'm all ears because I'm making a rubbish job of it right now.
I thought, instead of information on the shows we're doing I would tell you a little about the folk who are making things happen on our projects in Scotland.
First up - Elaine and Christy: Production and Management
Unperturbed and laden with stuff in Glasgow Necropolis
AKA: The Blonde Ninjas
Do not be mislead by the friendly manner. These women will organise the living sh*t out of you.
Life/work balance: Ropey - tendency to believe there are 25 hours in a day and that they have three pairs of hands. For which I am grateful and which I both exploit and nag them about. How's that for passive/aggressive?
Relax by: Christy is a stand up (she has her first gig tonight - GO CHRISTY!!) Elaine seems to spend a lot of her time looking unbelievably glamorous for her photographer friends.
Next up - Matt and Allan: Actors
Sidey, our photographer is chanting 'serious, serious, serious'. It is having no effect.
AKA: The Giggle Twins
Never was the Director of a serious play more challenged. My rehearsal room is a constant circus of off-colour jokes, muttered asides and smothered snorting. I have been know to shout through at coffee break "What's so funny?" and the answer is always "Nuthin, nuthin, nuthin. We cannae tell you that ain".
Relax by: Allan's a stand-up comedian (yes another one!). I imagine that anything's relaxing compared to that. Matt relaxes by rewriting the world in his head so it is more amusing than real life then going off into paroxysm of giggling.
Life/work balance: Hmm. They both work and play hard. Making me feel old in the process.
Then there's Jeremiah - our Kelpie Understudy and NYC based Poorboy and me - Director
Both awake and in the same country/timezone - a rarity these days!
AKA: The Skype Addicts
Working different sides of the Atlantic whilst miraculously staying in step by means of Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp and the occasional comedy Viber phone call (with 10 second delay).
Relax by: Jeremiah runs marathons and cooks. I do neither of these things and will applaud/spectate/eat if asked.
Work/Life Balance: Jeremiah - admirable. Always very busy but never too rushed. Always has time to chat or cook dinner. Me - pretty lamentable. And that's a decent upgrade from last year which was around the 'cruising for exhaustion' mark. I am regularly dragged to the beach 90 seconds from my back door by my husband Jake for my daily dose of fresh air. I would have become some kind of scary mouse-like albino recluse without him.
Then there's Alex - Blood and Roses Composer/Co-Director and Sound Designer on Kelpie
Not actually an extra for '300' as the photo suggests...
AKA:" Time and Distance Mean Nada" Attwood
Sound wizard, composer and purveyor of fine music, father of the adorable Franklin and keeper of many chickens. Able to create art at the drop of a hat (of which he has many - I think the straw bunnet is my favourite).
Relaxes by: cooking, making music, looking after babies and chickens, building many amazing constructions out of wood of intimidating size, moving house.
Work/Life balance: Somewhere in the middle. I lose track of all the things he does but he always has time to fix a greenhouse. Slightly envy-making.
So that's us. We'll run some more blogs introducing folk like the wonder that is Sidey Clark (photographer) and our colleagues over the pond soon.
Take care you lot. And remember, if you have a secret recipe for the Life/Work balance? No-one needs it more than us!
I will escape from this paperwork prison and get on with the ART goddamit!