This is a post I meant to do on Saturday, but due to internet issues and general business, I haven't been able to upload it all until now. But my friends and family have been asking about the job, so here you go Mom, Dad, and everyone else! This documents my day last Friday, specifically, though really it's all so surreal and awesome that it may as well be every day, and every day since has proven this to be true. (For example, today I passed by and spoke with Billy Boyd who played Pippin in Lord of the Rings and is currently at the Globe rehearsing for Macbeth, AND Joss Whedon was at work this morning being interviewed by the Globe about the new Much Ado film. See what I mean?)
I wake up each day and walk to the East Putney tube stop, and hop onto the District line directly to Mansion House stop, just north of the Thames.
From there, I cross Southwark Bridge and it's down onto the bankside to walk to the Globe. I cross past the front entrance and the riverside part of the theatre...
... to Stage Door, where I go in for work. :) It's so surreal to punch in the access code for the gate, walk into stage door, tap in with my pass, and head up to the theatre offices. It's also insane how many times I'm going to be using the word "surreal" in this post, but there's no other way to put it, so bare with me as I repeatedly use it.
During this first week I've mostly just gotten acquainted with all the different aspects of the job - gotten a tour, met everyone in the office (they're all so nice and incredibly fun), read through the union contracts for the people we hire so I can be familiar with them, read through the script of the new show, Gabriel, that will start rehearsal on Tuesday, downloaded the music for the show and burned CDs, done some photocopying, and learned how to make the tea in the office (maybe the most vital bit of information, that). I also had a chance to pop down into the theatre to see The Tempest Thursday afternoon. All I had to do was go downstairs into the courtyard, and walking into the yard of the theatre. With my work ID on, I was just able to walk right in and watch the show. It was weird and incredible and (here it is again) surreal.
Being American at work in England hasn't been too troublesome or made much difference except for little things. Prime example of a nationality difference making a play at work: I had
made copies of a script for a show that is soon to begin work, and
needed to hole punch them. I looked high and low and asked a few
coworkers where I might find a three hole punch, but to no avail. A few
hours later, towards the end of the day, I asked one more person, to
which her response was "is that an American thing?". I was a bit
stymied, and explained what I needed, and she kindly informed me that in
England they use a two hole punch and that there was one over there on
the desk in the middle of the room, in front of me the whole time.
Nobody had known what I was talking about asking for three hole
punches. Sigh.
After work on Friday (the day I took all these pictures), we had a work party in the office with the cast of Henry VI: Parts 1&2 who are set to go on tour in two weeks. There was beer, cider, Pimm's, and vast amounts of food in abundance, and it was really nice to sit back and chat with people.
**Note: Almost every other day there has been a new assortment of goodies on the table in the office, even for no reason. Monday was leftover bread and cheese and a new tray of chocolate biscuits, and today was scones with clotted cream and jam. Point is, between this and the food I get at the house I'm staying at, I'll likely be obese by the end of the month, but rich as I won't have had to buy any food.
Leaving work each day may be the most surreal part of the day, because I walk out to this view...
I'll never get over walking out of work to see St. Paul's Cathedral directly across the river, and Shakespeare's Globe right next to me.
Here you can see our office from the bankside...
I know I just got here last week. But, I don't want to leave... Ever. Cheesy as it may sound, I don't think my heart could take it. I'm in love with this place, and with my incredible job. Literally awesome, head-over-heels in love.
