BEST We drove through Transylvania North to Baia Mare, the city where we will be performing next. On the way I started THE HANDMAID'S TALE audiobook. I'm loving it so far. I'm almost halfway through. Claire Danes is an excellent narrator. WORST I didn't sleep AT ALL on the road again. Which is really unfortunate since we were up far too late last night celebrating our last night in Sibiu. WHAT I LEARNED Transylvania is very sparsely populated. It's mountains and sheep. Beautiful view, bumpy ride. one of the few small towns we passed NEW BUSINESS
Next show is tomorrow. BEST I decided to stick around the city, and I saw a great show from South Korea. It was a modern dance spectacle. The dancers were incredible. And they came to the festival party at night and danced with us. WORST I tried to see another dance show from Israel, but it was sold out and I didn't get in when I came looking for any extra seating. That was a bummer. Apparently, it was amazing. Also, that horrible monster demon was back in the square. Thankfully the second picture I tried to take of it has disappeared. WHAT I LEARNED There is one laundry service in Sibiu, and it was too far from my hotel. So I hand-washed my clothes. I don't know why, but I never imagined hand washing clothes worked very well. Turns out it works just fine. Yay clean laundry. Now I just hope it dries in time to leave tomorrow! NEW BUSINESS
I SAW BARYSHNIKOV. TWICE. BEST We performed our second show today at the Gong Theater. The show went really well. Sold out house. And from our performance Trap Door Theater has been invited to perform at other theaters across Europe on future tours. our poster is up all over the festival today! WORST I was SO SLEEPY today. I didn't really wake up until I took a quick cat nap right before the show. It's been non-stop movement it feels like. I'll need another rest day I think. WHAT I LEARNED There are salt water lakes around Sibiu. That's where the crew will go tomorrow for our artistic director Beata's birthday. Apparently the lakes are so salty, our bodies are extra buoyant in them. I haven't decided if I'm going, but sounds interesting. NEW BUSINESS
Baryshnikov is here!!!!!!!! BEST We had a free day today. So I slept in and walked around the city. It's beautiful. view from my hotel the old city a street the theater where we are playing tomorrow more of the city orthodox cathedral cathedral interior evangelical church the wall the wall park korean street theater WORST This terrible monster: nightmare demon from hell WHAT I LEARNED Sibiu has German roots. If I understand correctly, the city used to be called Hermanstadt (or something like that). So the city has a German theater and a German school, and flights to and from Germany are surprisingly frequent for such a small city. NEW BUSINESS I found a dinosaur in Sibiu hiding in the trees. It's shy. Look closely. clever girl
BEST The performance for the military academy was magical. The show went very well. The show was sold out (over 200 people in attendance). The playwright came to see, and he cried when we finished because he was so happy. The cadets surprised us all with gifts. It was awesome. the space at the academy gift WORST It was a long day of rehearsing and setting up the tech elements. I called it an early night tonight to be sure to rest. WHAT I LEARNED The playwright of our show is the kindest man. He took us out for drinks and food at the artist-only festival garden. NEW BUSINESS
We have a day off tomorrow. I think I'll take it easy. Maybe explore the city a bit. BEST We made it to Sibiu today. After a long road trip through the mountains. It's a beautiful city. I can't wait to see it in the day. We made it in time for the festival opening events. It included a parade of lights and fireworks. Also, there was a giant screen than showed video clips from each show in the festival. Our show appeared twice on the series! WORST The trip was long. Though the bus is nice, it's not very comfortable to travel for so long. Especially on very little sleep. WHAT I LEARNED When you get out of the city, Hungary looks like Ohio. NEW BUSINESS
We perform tomorrow night at a military academy. BEST WE PERFORMED TODAY! We rehearsed all morning, and then played to a sold-out house. The audience was with us the whole time. I forgot how much I enjoy performing this story. After the show, we packed up the set and costumes for the tour, and then went out to another garden pub. rehearsal reheasal beer garden beer garden beer garden beer garden WORST We leave Budapest tomorrow. I'm sad! I loved my visit here. I would come back in a heartbeat. WHAT I LEARNED Curtain call in European theater is very different from US theater. In the US, we try to get off the stage the stage as soon as possible. In Europe, you bow, and then false-exit to return and now again, and you keep doing that over and over until the audience is tired of clapping for you. We returned four times before they were done, and I think they stopped clapping because they pittied the confused American actors. NEW BUSINESS
I. Don't. Want. To. Pack. BEST We moved into the performance space. The theater is great. The stage hands were rock stars. We worked hard, and rehearsal felt good. The set looked beautiful. Apparently, it's put together like Legos, and it will be simple for transport on the rest of the tour. WORST it was a long day: we worked until after 10 pm, and we were scheduled to start again at 10 am. We got a free meal from another Hungarian director though. He invited us to his home and fed us a delicious home-cooked meal. WHAT I LEARNED I learned to take the cable tram. Simple enough. Here's Simina on the tram with me. NEW BUSINESS
i found a painted cow. I thought it might have been one of the painted Chicago cows that were all over Chicago a few years back. I remember going on a search trying to find as many as we could with Kalyna and Vuyko Andrij. It wasn't actually one of those cows, but it was a nice memory. BEST
Spending the day working the show with Zoltan at his theatre. It sits on a popular fountain square with cafes and restaurants. we rehearsed in the morning and afternoon, and then Zoltan took us to dinner. BEST It's a tie: I got to spend the morning in the city park. The city park is the site of one of the beautiful thermal baths. There is a castle in the park, and I sat in the sun on the moat. There was a Renfaire happening in the castle, and there were a lot of families around enjoying themselves. I also got to have Gulás TWICE. Yum! WORST The rehearsal space was VERY hot. WHAT I LEARNED There are two different servings of gulás: one is more like a soup. It's popular in the US. The other is thicker and served as a main dish. NEW BUSINESS
We meet with Zoltan in two days. Tomorrow is rehearsal again. And then we have the afternoon off. I'll do some laundry and stay in I think. |