Monday, 5 August 2013

Weekend of Auditions Part 1

Friday, August 2nd (again sorry for the delayed posting) began with another lovely brunch at Red Café. I can’t afford for this to a routine trip, but oh how I wish I could. Caitie, Gillian, Patrick and I wandered down High Street to the café around 8 AM. Unfortunately, most things in Grahamstown don’t open until at least 8:30. Worth the wait.

The moment the door opened we climbed the stairs to our beloved eatery. Patrick and I shared a pot of Rooibos chai tea – pretty much tasted like regular chai. When Mary arrived later she got a rooibos shake, though, which was to die for.

I had promised Elri I would help her with a rehearsal for Red (an upcoming show in the dept. Are we sensing a theme?) at 10:30, so at 10 or so we begrudgingly left the café.

BUT when I got to the theater, Elri was nowhere to be found. There are a lot of venues for rehearsal and the like in the department building, so I tried the ones I knew of. By 10:40 though I was starting to second guess myself, and of course, I didn’t have Elri’s number. Naturally, I wandered around looking bewildered and lost – a skill I have been fine tuning since I arrived. My wonderful friend, Keegan, who is actually in Red, said he would message Elri for me and let me know what she responded. To kill time until Elri responded I resumed my aimless bewildered wandering. I eventually ran into my friend Sandi next to the bulletin boards that adorn the halls of the department. Somehow (I suspect witchcraft was used) she convinced me to sign up for Theatre in Motion auditions that were taking place the following day.

Let me make this very clear…I don’t dance. I did one hip hop class with my Girl Scout troupe many years ago and nearly a year of synchronized swimming in 3rd grade and I don’t even think that counts. I don’t dance. Theatre in Motion is the final performance for the Honours Choreography course….aka….DANCING. Interesting life choice, Rachel.

I decided to return to my res after not hearing anything from Elri. On my way home, she called me to apologize for forgetting to tell me the rehearsal had been cancelled, and that was the end of that.
A couple hours later, though, I was back at the Drama department for auditions for the Drama 3 Directors prac. As part of their grade this term, the directors for this prac are responsible for choosing, casting, directing, and presenting a 5 minute scene, I believe from an absurdist piece of their choosing.

 The experience was nerve racking. We had to perform one-minute monologues in front of the 11 directors and all the other people auditioning. I think I was well received (?)…there were a lot of really great performances. I spent the rest of the day floating from the residual high that I get after I audition for anything. Gillian and I speculated and gossiped about the process and our anxiety over whether or not we’d be chosen. Time will tell.

Next up: Laundry! I successfully did a glamorous load of laundry in my res, using powder detergent for the first time. Come at me!!

In the evening, a bunch of us went to the rugby game at the great field. They blasted American pop songs throughout the entire game. The atmosphere was so exciting even if I still don’t understand the game.
Afterwards, Caitie, Gillian and I, went to a Japanese (?) restaurant called Twing for cocktail hour and some udon noodles. We sat in the upper part of the restaurant that looked over the parking lot for the shopping center. The giant letters of KFC shone brightly below us. We had some super girl drinks and a lot of super girly girl talk. I love those girls <3


It was long day full of things I could never have imagined myself doing just a few months ago. 

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