This week NewUni has their two show rep going into tech, not final tech, just tech before Thanksgiving, because there's a week off for that and it's pretty much assumed no one's coming back with with any desire to do a lot of work.
It's a two show rep of the playwright's thesis shows. They used to get a single slot, but in an effort to cut back on the work involved, they "eliminated" a show from the season by combining the two thesis shows.
However, this did not actually mean less work. It meant twice as much work in the same amount of time because they're trying to create just as big a show as the thesis shows used to get, but on a percentage of the budget and with less time.
As if that's not bad enough, this past week they've been spending all their extra time setting up for a touring dance show that the community arts council said the department would be hosting without, oh, asking anyone first.
I've been hanging out in the theatre a lot this past week in case they need a hand. It's been fun getting to move soft goods (hanging curtains), and use screw guns and such. I haven't done that since my sophomore year in college.
Tonight I'm sitting around watching the tech rehearsal. Mostly because the alternative is to go home and putter, whereas here I might possibly be of use in some way.
Dancers are weird. I knew this, but I sort of forgot about it. This is a jazz group, so there's a lot of stuff that barely qualifies as dance. There's a solo number that looks like a guy running around miming throwing balls in the air. I happened to hear them refer to it as "the beach," but at the end the dancer sings something about having been on the moon. That would definately explain the strange gravity whatever he's throwing appears to be under, but all things considered, it's like watching a ballet where the choreogapher dropped their notes.
In other news, I've started playing the old Hitchhikers Guide game that Doulgas Adams wrote back in the 80's. It's a text version of the books, and I've managed to allow the Vogons to blow up the planet every single time, but I'm trying to do it without cheating.
And now I'm going to see if I can manage to get the peanuts from the barman this time.