A part of something big

Hi again!
Since I last spoke, one of the first things I got up to wasn't as interesting as I'd normally tell you about but it was with a nap. Driving for two hours in pretty difficult conditions is by no means an easy or enviable task. However it felt really good to be able to relax and calm myself and just forget the world for a little while. Especially due to the cold abrasive wind that had been tearing down on my car (Which, fun fact, Natasha has named Noah now due to an NOH in the numberplate!) on the expansive journey back to University. But after rising from my slumber, I had just over an hour before my second Fiddler on the Roof rehearsal, and I was excited for this because it would be the first time I would be able to act as my character of Mendel.

Now, I'm not by any means a die hard fan of this musical. I'm not too acquainted with it in the first place but I know the bare bones now. The co-directors are really good, they're both students but have a really keen eye on what would be good on stage, as well as commanding a relatively professional atmosphere in rehearsals while maintaining a really friendly aura about them. The schedule that we had for today required me to be there for an hour from 7pm and then for another hour from 9pm, covering two separate scenes. So this was going to be interesting seeing as I had quite a bit of time to kill in between.

We were rehearsing in a hall which was situated in a building I'd never actually ventured to in my time in university. It has a relatively modern feel about it despite the classic brick design to the outside and is set back from the road where the other university buildings are, so much so that it's not immediately noticeable and almost withholding an air of mystery about the place. Due to me not having been there before and not particularly being able to remember where it was, I set off in order to get there early, just for some wiggle room in case I were to get delayed or anything. There's quite a nice feeling walking through the area at night I think. The streets were almost deserted and it suddenly felt like I was the only person in the world. The area that I'm currently in has really low crime rates to the point where it is one of the safest areas in the UK if I recall correctly, so it's really easy to walk around at night and be completely safe. Wrapped up in layers, I took my time and really captured the absence of people for the brief while it was apparent.

When the others had arrived we got into the first scene we were looking at. It was only small so we didn't really need the full hour but we went over it a lot and it gave us a chance to develop our characters somewhat. The brief I had for my character was that I'm basically condescending and almost full of myself, so after a few jokes of how that won't be hard, I got it to the point where everyone was happy and I got excited for being able to potentially make an audience laugh while on stage. I don't want to get into the rehearsal in too much detail but I'm really looking forward to it and being able to tell you about it. It feels really good to be a part of something big.

Me and a friend who was in the other scene with me decided to pass time over the hour by getting dinner from a local takeaway and bringing it back to watch the progress of the others and how well they were doing until it was our turn again. Moving around really made you forget about the cold aura you got from the room and it was definitely a really good way to spend a Sunday. Since then I've braved the cold one final time, saying goodbye to the others and braving my way back to my nice and heated room. Tomorrow should be a fairly relaxed affair as the only thing apart from revision for my last final exam for the semester is a hockey training and haircut in the evening, which no doubt will be interesting!

I'll be sure to catch up with you tomorrow as always. Thank you for taking the time again, it really means a lot to me. Speak to you tomorrow.

Cheers
Tim