Another month, another tour…

As soon as I arrived back in Kettering (after dropping off some holiday gifts), I was throwing clothes everywhere and re-packing my suitcase ready to go back to Crewe for rehearsals. Due to the amount of fun I had been having during my spell of unemployment, I had learned approximately half a page out of the 34 that made up the script. I hadn’t told the boss, as they had already had to cancel a week’s worth of shows because I was on holiday. I wasn’t meant to be doing the whole thing- the girl they had asked had to drop out so I was replacing her. As soon as I arrived I was asked how much of it I had learned, and I was totally honest with her. She didn’t look impressed but I knew I could learn it. They hadn’t told me however, that I would only have 3 days of rehearsal rather than the 4 I was told I was having. Hmmm. But rehearsals went well, and I stuck my head in my script for the two nights I was there and by Friday afternoon I was word-perfect. I told them they had nothing to worry about! The show was about World War 2, and evacuation. I had 5 different characters to play but the show was straightforward enough and I didn’t have to do any research to learn anything for it, so the next few weeks should have been a breeze!

And so on the Sunday, we made our way down to Somerset. I had stayed in the accommodation previously with a different company so I knew what to expect. I was back working with Eden again on this tour and he had plenty to moan about with the house. But we had a roof over our heads and it was warm so I wasn’t complaining. Well, I did a bit... but I only moaned about the weather! From the moment I left Kettering to the moment we left Somerset, it rained. And me being as sensible as I am, was still in holiday mode and had packed for beautiful summer weather. I didn’t even take a jacket! I was pretty miserable due to the weather and early mornings, until I managed to get some internet signal and decided to see where Adam was in the country. It turned out that on the Friday night he would only be an hour away from us! I immediately got on the phone to him and arranged to go and see the show. It was going to be a good end to the week!

We only had one show on the Friday in the morning so I had the afternoon to get excited about the show! I had never seen any outdoor theatre before! He was performing ‘The Taming of The Shrew’. I realised that the rain hadn’t stopped so I went shopping and bought a raincoat! And it was a good job that I did! It rained all the way driving there, throughout most of act one, and then it stopped. It stayed dry throughout the interval and half of act 2, then it started again. And then it got heavier and heavier until the clouds just burst and it was like someone had thrown a bucket of water over a load of ants. The show had to be stopped and Adam grabbed me and we ran inside. I felt so sorry for the actors, they were absolutely soaking and they hadn’t got anywhere proper to dry their clothes for the next day! One of the girls had been kind enough to lend me her waterproof coat at the start but even that was soaked through. Luckily I had taken some spare clothes with me in case of such an occasion but I was drenched! Eden had looked out of the window and decided that he wasn’t going to come and when I arrived home he looked very smug that he had been sitting in the dry all evening. But I didn’t care. I had got to see my man and he was marvellous!

I went home that weekend as I was running the ‘Race for Life’ with 11 others from Starlight, in Northampton. Although I had only been home the previous weekend, it was nice to relax after a week of rain and shows, and we had a good giggle. Some of us ran and some of us walked but we all raised a load of money for charity and had a good afternoon! Before it was time to back to Crewe!

The next week of shows were in the Crewe/Stoke area so we were staying back in the house that we were in when we rehearsed for The GCSE tour. The shows went well that week, the boss came to see it and we met up afterwards for notes(!). I also managed another visit to see Adam, thi time with Eden in tow. It was the same show and there was slightly less rain, but I got to see the end this time and had a jolly good evening! The drive home was less jolly as Eden had bought an audiobook on tape for the van. Normally I’d be up for listening to an audiobook, but this one was all about the plague and had people dying every few minutes. I rapidly developed the ability to turn my ears off and drift away into my own world! It also had the amazing power of sending me to sleep with its dull-ness, so that was a bonus!

As I had toured with the same company at the same time last year, I was recognising schools and being recognised myself by teachers and even a few students. That’s when you know you’ve been in a job for too long! I was really enjoying the show, it was relatively easy to do and went quite quickly. I was just getting into the routine of it all when... we had a week off! Which was actually quite nice! I didn’t realise how tired the show had made me. I had one more late night to contend with, in Birmingham. I went to see the second of Adam’s shows, ‘Cranford’. It was promising to be a lovely day, but as soon as I found Adam, and sat in the van with him, the rains came and didn’t stop. It rained all the way through the entire performance and although this time I was more prepared for the weather, I was still soaked! I didn’t let it get to me as I was staying the night in the same Travelodge as them, and I made my way to get warm to wait for Adam’s arrival. Despite having a sat-nav, I drove past it twice as it was appallingly signposted, but I got in and sat myself down with a glass of wine and waited. And waited.... and waited a bit more. I knew that it took them a while to take down their set but it was nearing midnight and there was no sign. I then received a text message saying that they were lost. I phoned him back and tried to give him directions but it was still almost another 4o minutes before he arrived. By that time I’d had even more wine and my plans for a romantic evening were well and truly scuppered!

It was lovely spending what little time we had together, but we had to go our separate ways; he to Wales and me to home for Lydia’s UK wedding reception, huzzah! It was another chance to put on my bridesmaid outfit, and this time the shoes stayed on for the whole night! Impressive!

I don’t remember much about my week off, I must have slept quite a lot, but before I knew it, I was back on the road and heading to Yorkshire. And what a place it was. Forget the house in Norfolk from the last tour, this house was amazing! I’m not going to describe it because words won’t do it justice but I loved it. I could imagine myself living there forever! We worked out our travel times for the week and Eden decided (not discussed and suggested, but decided) that we would be better off staying at his house for 2 nights that week to cut some travel time. I was gutted. I loved that house!! I also remembered that he said he had just got a new housemate, so I was preparing myself for sleeping on the lounge floor like Adam had to. I was not impressed. I got my own back though... As he hadn’t asked if it was ok with me to stay at his, and just thrust it upon me, I did nothing to help in the house. I didn’t offer to help with cooking or washing up, nothing. That may seem like a tiny thing, but in my head it was pure victory! Yesssssss!

It turned out that their new housemate wasn’t going to be there for the two days I was, so I ended up (unknown to her) sleeping in her bed, sharing it with bin bags full of her belongings! That made it slightly better that I actually had a bed but I was still really annoyed with him. I was so happy to get back to the pretty Yorkshire house, and I spent the next two nights there alone as Eden went home for the weekend to work. I was home alone in the middle of nowhere and it was bliss! It was so peaceful and the bed was so comfortable and I was so tired that I didn’t wake up on the Saturday until 1.30pm. Heaven! It was nice to be on my own but strangely I felt lonely. I had no friends around that I could visit, and Adam was in Ireland so it would have cost both of us a fortune to call. But after a melancholy Facebook status update from myself, I received an unexpected call from him! He was back in Northern Ireland, cheap calls! He phoned to see if I was ok, and we had a lovely chat and catch-up and I felt much better!

Sunday rolled around and we had another epic journey. I drove from the beautiful house over to Leeds to pick up Eden. I had to sit in his house for 3 hours while he was making a costume for the next weekend, and then we made our way right up to Cumbria, to Barrow-in-Furness. It was the final week and we were to spend it in a Bed and Breakfast. I didn’t mind it, I was there last year and had a very enjoyable stay, the place even had wifi! But of course some people are never happy, but I just smiled, thought of the money and how I’d soon be home! I visited many of the same schools as last year (again), and met up with a previous touring friend for afternoon drinks on my time off and thankfully the week went by beautifully. We spent our final night in a different B&B in Whitehaven which had beautiful views of the sea and en-suite bathrooms in every room. I was very content! With only one show on the last day in the afternoon, we took a quick trip into Whitehaven but didn’t find much of interest. The last show was in an infant school and was the same last school as the previous year. I remembered it being a complete letdown last year, and this year was no different. The kids were so young they didn’t know what was going on, they were talking and moving around the hall and just annoyed me! I have never packed away a set so quickly as I did that day!

I still had a 6 hour journey ahead of me but I had downloaded a Torchwood audio book to keep me entertained for some of it. I dropped Eden off at Manchester airport and began my long descent to home. I had money in my pocket, another credit on my CV, and a few nice memories to keep me going. Another tour, done.

Nxxx

Unemployment can be fun…

My days of unemployment after the tour were long and tedious! With all my friends with proper jobs being at work, and most of my Starlight friends being at college, I had no-one to play with. My only income was from a few hours of cleaning houses, and the always-handy Job Seekers Allowance (cheers!), and with no jobs on the horizon, I was feeling pretty poor!

I had my first audition of the year in Nottingham; I met the lady who was in charge of the theatre company and she was lovely, and a friend was also to be auditioning that day, but unfortunately I didn’t see him, and didn’t get the part! This was also to be the first of my auditions where I would get lost and flustered just in time to go into the audition! I arrived in plenty of time and found the right street. However, I could not find the venue anywhere. I walked up and down the street three times before asking staff from the train station. They didn’t know either. I even asked a clueless policeman, all to no avail. I didn’t want to ring the number I was given because auditions were already taking place, but with 5 minutes to go, I dialled the number. The phone rang twice and then I spotted it, I was standing right outside! Typical! I ran up the stairs as my call was being returned, and almost burst through the door. Not my finest hour I’ll admit. Needless to say, it wasn’t the greatest audition, and it was another job to add to the ‘fail’ list.

I didn’t worry too much, as a couple of days later I was asked if I could do a couple of weeks of a primary schools tour for the company I had just finished with. I said yes, of course! But first, there was fun to be had! And first on the fun list, a hen night! One of my longest-running friends needed a good send-off so off we went pole dancing(!) followed by Mexican food and cocktails in Birmingham, lovely! We all had a proper giggle, and despite gaining a big bruise on one arm, I came our relatively unscathed... So I thought.

The next day I was ridiculously excited as I was going up to Bury to see Adam for a whole 8 days! Woop! I tried my hardest to leap out of my bed until I realised that our pole dancing antics had almost left me paralysed! Every single muscle in my body ached, even ones I didn’t know I had! I had to endure 2 and a half hours of train journeying up to Manchester and then get the tram to Bury for another half an hour. Train and tram seats are not that comfortable at the best of times so the journey was less enjoyable than expected! But my excitement levels kept my spirits up, and when I finally saw Adam, it was worth it, despite the pain when I attempted to hug him!!

My week in Bury can be summed up in one word... Perfect! I know, I know, I sound like one of those gushing girls who I hate, talking about their men all the time, blah blah! But I hadn’t had a man in my life for so long that I don’t care! Adam’s mum was on holiday so we had the house to ourselves (and the dog!). Because we were both poor we didn’t really do much but it was lovely just getting away from everyone and everything and just relaxing. I also met his sister and her husband while I was there. Just as we were leaving the house to meet his sister, Adam told me that she hated his previous girlfriend so I was feeling quite nervous! But I had nothing to worry about, she was lovely! We even went to Primark together! We went bowling with them and out for drinks where I was introduced as ‘Adam’s girlfriend’!!! It was so strange hearing it but I was chuffed!

I helped him to learn some of his lines for his next tour, which would be taking him all over the country until September(!) and I didn’t know when I would be seeing him again. When it was time to go, yet again I cried like a loon because I didn’t want to go. He practically had to push me on the train to make me leave. But I’d had a good week and there were still more exciting moments to arrive...

Including my birthday party!! I had a joint party with the lovely Caroline from Starlight as our birthdays are only a week apart. We had it at Starlight Studios and of course we made it a themed party with fancy dress... Geeks! Everyone was so excited and went to town with their costumes! And I had the added bonus of getting loads of presents! Haha! It was brilliant! I got loads of nice new jewellery ready to take on holiday with me, bottles of wine, awesome! We played pass the parcel and pin the tail on the donkey! The feedback was immense, everyone loved it, people were saying it was the best party they had ever been to! (Obviously!!)

And then came the moment I had been waiting for for 3 years... SKIATHOS!! I was to be celebrating my birthday in the sun, sending Lydia off on her merry married way, and finally getting a proper tan! Oh, and what a week it was! We made new friends, rediscovered old friends, drank far too many cocktails, lost the memory of half an evening, went on a boat trip to the film locations of ‘Mamma Mia!’ and had the most amazing time! Nobody wanted to go home, and for a while we got our wish- our flight was delayed by two and a half hours! We got to have an extra Greek meal in the sunshine and had a relatively lovely time, as far as airports go! But it was back to England, back to reality, and back to rehearsals....

The immense blogging catch-up Part 2... Illness, steaks and broken vans

Monday rolled around again and Eden was still poorly. I normally get ill on week one of touring; my body isn’t used to getting up at ridiculous o’clock, I eat differently and work very hard after months of unemployment. But I get on with it, I’m there to do a job and I’ll do it. There’s no moaning, there’s no understudy! But Eden wasn’t just run down, his mystery illness was still a mystery. He came down for breakfast, didn’t eat anything and refused to go to work. We had to phone the boss. Thankfully the company is based quite close to where we were staying so Brian managed to get to us and fill in for Eden. The show was ‘An Inspector Calls’, and Eden was the main workshop leader in it. We made it to the school and set up, phone in hand awaiting Brian’s arrival. And he got stuck in traffic. The school were being really awkward when I asked if we could push the show back slightly while Brian was making his way but they were having none of it. He made it just in time, and we threw the Inspector costume at him, thrust a script in his hand and did one of the best thrown-together workshops we’ve ever done!

This routine carried on for the rest of the week for three out of the four shows. Adam and I would trundle off in the van with Brian meeting us at the schools and we managed to make our way through the week quite successfully. There was the occasional text from Eden demanding that we bought him tins of soup, but I quite enjoyed it. It brought me and Adam a lot closer together, although we had Brian performing with us, it was down to us two to keep things going as they had been and try not to let everything fall to pieces. By the time we got back on the Thursday evening, Eden was feeling much better and he said he was going to make it to Friday’s shows. Yvonne had said that either herself or Brian would be coming to watch the morning show as that was the only workshop they hadn’t seen in action from us yet. And so we woke up on Friday ready to go out as a team again, onl for Eden to say that he wasn’t going again. I phoned the bosses but got no response so I sent a text message and hoped for the best. I’d bought the York Notes books for each play that I used to use at school, and during the drive Adam was reading facts out to me and asking me questions, none of which I knew.

We rolled up at the school, set up again, and clock watched as the 9.30am start time crept closer and closer. There was no sign of either Brian or Yvonne. I started to panic. We had 2 shows of ‘Macbeth’ that day, and despite performing half of it, I didn’t really know it that well. Eden was the sole workshop leader in it as Adam and I were Macbeth and his Mrs. There wasn’t a lot of time for us to be workshopping. We remembered that Adam and Eden had a sword fight at the end when Macbeth dies, so I’d have to take the part on and learn the stage fight too! The clock ticked ever closer to 9.30, and suddenly as I popped my head around the curtain I saw Yvonne signing in at the reception desk. I frantically motioned her to get behind the curtain and she saw that Eden wasn’t there. Quick as a flash she put on one of the costumes and we were off into the workshop straight away. I don’t know how she did it but she was amazing! The shows were fabulous that day! Adam and I were on fire, we even got a round of applause after 2 different scenes!! We were so glad to get to the end of the week in one piece! We vowed to have a relaxing weekend, and after I’d taken him home again for another driving lesson, we did.

And then it was our final week in Northwich. Eden was back, the shows were rocking and we were happy. We spent a lovely evening with Marcus and Sarah on the Thursday before everyone went their separate ways. Eden, Marcus and Sarah all went to their homes but Adam and I were going to the next accommodation, down near Shrewsbury. We had to move out of the Northwich house on the Friday but the next accommodation wasn’t ready til the Saturday so we spent the night in Sarah’s cottage next door, Adam cooked me steak, and we had some cheese and some wine. Lovely!

After a long drive down, we arrived at the cutest cottage I’ve ever seen! We settled in, did a food shop and I supervised as I taught him how to make one of my amazing cheesecakes! I was slightly miffed that his was better than mine, but it was delicious and I almost ate the lot!

We settled down for the night and Adam insisted we watch one of the DVDs in the house- ‘A Room With a View’. I can’t say it was my thing- I fell asleep! But he’d made me another amazing steak that night so I couldn’t be mad at him! We didn’t get to spend very much time in the area that week as we had a full week of shows, but one evening I went for a walk around the village for Adam and we found our own little piece of paradise! :)

Our next stop was Norfolk, and we were very excited. Our accommodation had its own swimming pool! Our route took us past Kettering so I told Adam we would be stopping at my house to collect my swimming costume. We popped in quickly and he met my parents(!) and was a hit! We swung into town and I showed him around Starlight and he met Jacc and Craig and a couple of seniors (also a hit!), then we stopped off to buy some food for our evening meal when we arrived in Norfolk. Unfortunately we didn’t get that far. We were driving along the A14, and had only been going for about 5 minutes when the van felt really heavy and the power steering gave out. I managed to get it over to the side of the road just before it stopped completely. I found the breakdown information and called out the RAC who said there was a 2 hour wait. We weren’t impressed. I’d only managed to get the van onto the start of the slip road off the A14 so we got out of it and sat on the grass awaiting the big orange truck. After about an hour of sitting in the cold (despite Adam giving me his jumper :) ) a police car came along and had to push the van onto the grass verge as it was getting dark and dangerous to be where we were. We thankfully climbed back into the van and sat snuggling watching Gavin and Stacey on Adam’s phone. 2 hours had passed and there was no sign of the RAC. Adam tried to phone them back but got put through to a machine. Not long after that we got a phone call back saying that we would have to wait another hour. While fighting back tears I tried to assert myself and try to get us bumped up the list but to no avail. We would have to wait.

When we were rescued, we discovered that there was no way to get the van moving again so we would have to be towed, with me steering the thing! I’ve never been so nervous in all my life! But I managed it and 6 hours after leaving, we were back at my parents house after waving goodbye for the week. It was early to rise on Saturday, as I tried my best to get the van sorted. It was just lucky we were so close to home or we would have been ridiculously stuck. I managed to get it in a local garage and while they were looking at it I managed to get in a sneaky ballet lesson! It turned out to bad news for the van, something was drastically wrong, and I then had to source a hire van. With nowhere in Kettering to hire from, I found one in Wellingborough but had to get my dad to drive us there because they wouldn’t deliver it to me!! Then when I got to Wellingborough they almost didn’t gave me it because I didn’t have a utility bill to prove my address! I wanted to slap someone very hard by that point! We sped it back to Kettering and had to transfer all the costumes and set into the new van before the garage closed for the rest of the weekend.

I definitely needed a good drink after that day so I took Adam to experience the wonders of Kettering at night! After a very good night we finally made our way to Norfolk. And it was definitely worth the wait! Not too far from the local towns, it was a beautiful set of cottages with a huge kitchen, lovely lounge and a decent bathroom. Sadly, as with all touring accommodations, we weren’t there long enough to appreciate it fully, but I did manage one swim in the pool and said hello to the house chickens!

And then began the final week. We made our way back up to Leeds to stay at Eden’s house, this time Adam didn’t have to sleep in the lounge, we bunked in the spare room together! :) I was sad that the tour was coming to an end, I was looking forward to a break (and my ever-looming holiday!) but I was sad that I wouldn’t get to see Adam for a while, and I was scared he’d forget me! But we had a tour to finish and I couldn’t dwell too much on it, there were students that needed my help! The week flew by, much to my disappointment, and as usual, the final show was a huge anticlimax. The last day featured two shows of ‘Of Mice and Men’, but they didn’t want to see Curley’s wife’s death because ‘they know that happens’...?!? I didn’t even get to die!!!!!!!! So I just did one scene and that was it! Rubbish!

I was also faced with another epic journey. Despite staying in Leeds, the show was in Leicester (about an hour from my house). This meant my day would consist of driving from Leeds to Leicester, doing two rubbish shows, driving back up to Crewe to drop off the set, costumes and Adam, and then driving back down to Wellingborough to drop off the hire van to then find a way home. Until Adam had a brainwave! He lives not too far from Crewe so after we dropped off the set I dropped him off at home and stayed the night at his house! Bliss!

But all good things must come to an end, and I had to leave to get the van back. My goodbye was hard, and I cried for ages in the van, until I almost crashed because I couldn’t see through my tears and I had to stop! And that was it. Tour over. Would it be the last one? You’ll have to wait and see...

The immense blogging catch-up: Part 1-Mango chutney and moving forward…

Apologies for the delay in my blogging, I’ve been a very busy girl! Therefore I shall update in small chunks to try and get you back up to speed in where I am. Buckle up, there’s a long way to go!

So when I left you, it was half term. I don’t remember much of it to be honest, I’m going back a bit! Natalie’s acting workshops went down a treat at Starlight, and led to drama classes being held at the studio! Not by me though, I’m still driving around in a van! And of course there was Ladies Night. I’d never been to one before so I wasn’t sure what to expect but it didn’t disappoint! The booze was flowing, and there was a stripper. Job done! The only part of the night I wasn’t keen on was the drag queen(!) but I just closed my eyes and headed for the bar!!

And then it was back to the tour! I’d promised the boys that I would make them an amazing cheesecake, so off I went to Leeds to Eden’s house with the cheesecake strapped into the passenger seat in case of accidents! Nobody needs cheesecake over their windscreen when they’re driving up the motorway!

I was hoping that Adam would be there when I arrived but he got a later train than expected. I was slightly relieved though because I was nervous that he would have changed his mind about me over the half-term and we would have an awkward few weeks. But he arrived and gave me a cheeky smile and I felt immediately better.

We only had one show on the Monday and it was awful! We were performing ‘An Inspector Calls’ and it was just dire. We sped home as soon as we could! Oh dear. That evening (after lots of debating) Eden went out on a date! He’d asked me over and over if I thought he should go and of course I said yes, wanting to be alone in the house! ;) So eventually he went off and had a lovely time, dressed in an outfit that myself and Adam chose! And then we were alone! We polished of the remainder of the cheesecake, and had a nice cuddle on the sofa and have a very pleasant evening!

Tuesday brought two shows with it and a change of accommodation. Our morning show of ‘Of Mice and Men’ was a dangerous affair, we performed on the most narrow of stages and 5 steps! How we all managed to stay upright I’ll never know, especially when I was teetering around in heels! We had a nice long break over lunch so we packed up the van before our afternoon show which was ‘Macbeth’. When we drove up we immediately wanted to go home again. There were kids running about everywhere and people were just barging past us without any care for anyone else. We prepared ourselves for the worst. But we were wrong! Despite the show being aimed at GCSE students, we did it for year 7, and apart from giggling at the words ‘breasts’ and ‘sex’, they were amazing! So much better than the next time we went a couple of weeks later! So with a song in our hearts we went off to Northwich, which was to be our home for the next 3 weeks.

I’d been to the cottages before so I knew what to find, but this time we found new friends! Marcus and Sarah were also working for Arty-Fact doing a primary schools tour (which Eden and I would take over in June). Sarah came round that evening and we bonded over board games, the girl’s team being clear winners! But before we could have any fun, we had to clean the van. Sadly our jar of mango chutney didn’t make it the whole way, and it covered EVERYTHING! We were still finding it on things a month later!

After our immense drive on Tuesday, we had the next morning off. The show went well, and things between myself and Adam were going even better. We got caught kissing by Eden that night when I’d said I was going upstairs to unpack! He knew things were going on but I felt bad about him seeing us, and I learned a valuable lesson- shut the door!! Thursday was one of those days that TIE actors love- 2 shows in the same school. Bliss. The only downside to the day for the boys was having to clean the van again after finding even more chutney plastered everywhere. I just stood and watched from the window and took pictures!

We didn’t have the best time on Friday. We arrived at our afternoon school about 5 minutes late, only to find that we were at the wrong campus. This wasn’t our fault, we had the wrong address. After getting the correct postcode from the receptionist, we set off again. According to my completely trusted sat-nav, we were 5 minutes away when Eden exclaimed that he could see it- he saw the same sign as the previous campus. So off he went in again. After 5 minutes he came out again, wrong campus. Really??! Trust the sat-nav! We eventually found it, and somewhere to park, and then we had to take everything up 3 flights of stairs! I think we started the show about 45 minutes late (after much grovelling), and it turned out that there were only about 20 students in there, much older than GCSE age, and half of them left the room half way through. We just gave a sigh, packed away, and I dropped the boys at a train station and went home. My day didn’t stop there though, I still had a 3 hour rehearsal for the Starlight show! We did a run-through of the whole show which went quite well. Then it was back to Jacc’s for Chinese food and a viewing of Cake Boss. Some things are worth going home for!

Before I knew it I was driving back up to Northwich and very excited about seeing one of my castmates! We’d all been home for the weekend and had a lovely time, now it was the final few weeks and myself and Adam weren’t going home again. The shows that week flew by, we were getting great reviews and all was well. We woke up on the Saturday and tried to make plans to do something fun. Eden had planned on going home for the weekend but had come down with a mystery illness and decided to stay. I didn’t want to catch whatever it was so Adam and I went to Manchester for the day. We caught a matinee of ‘A Comedy of Errors’ at the Lowry- I’d never seen or read the play before so I didn’t know what to expect but it was amazing! I’d go as far as saying it’s the best Shakespeare I’ve seen done! Marvellous! After the play Adam showed me a few of the sights before we headed for something to eat in a nice posh bar. I felt a bit exposed but it was such a perfect day that I didn’t mind too much! By the time we got back it was pitch black and we fell into bed ridiculously tired but content! We spent most of Sunday together as a two too! He asked if I could drive him to his house so that he could have a driving lesson (of course I obliged), and I ended up meeting his mum and auntie Christine, took his dog for a walk and had a nice couple of hours finding out more about the guy I had fallen for. After the family meeting, I was whisked off to another house where I met one of his friends (whose name I can’t remember now) who he met on a previous Arty-Fact tour. He was lovely too and we had a nice chat discussing our plays and our ridiculous careers until it was time to go.

It seemed things were going better than I’d hoped!

End of part one!