Life in London

Yep, that's me - living and working in London for the past two and a half weeks.

I'm assisting the wonderful John Kachoyan on the new Ben Ellis play 'Unrestless', as part of the 'Civil Unrest' event taking place as part of the 'Coming Up' Season organised by IdeasTap/Old Vic New Voices. And yes, it really is that complicated. To steal a quote from the play, it's like onion rings: layer upon layer...

This isn't the first time I've lived and worked/trained in London, but it's still something of a culture shock. From dealing with a daily two-hour commute to and from my digs in Chiswick to London Bridge, where we are both rehearsing and performing, to the faster pace of life (I literally walk faster here). Also, the sheer number of people - it makes Bristol seem like a quaint town. Aptly enough, considering it's the country's capital city...But anyway.

Part of the reason for coming was to see whether I would/could/should make the move to London, and I've encountered varying opinions. London seems to be the place to be to make contacts, and there are - in theory - more opportunities here, but conversely it's potentially easier and cheaper to make theatre (and stand out) elsewhere. I think it's an ongoing dialogue I'm going to have to have with myself. In an ideal world I would be able to juggle locations, but that does sort of require money...

Anyhoo, my weeks of relative stability here are about to end as I will now be working in London and Bath *simultaneously*. Yes, I'm just that good. Ahem. Watch as I try to juggle three different events in the same week - you will mostly see me sitting on a train :-) Sadly, because of things like commuting, working full time and occasionally needing sleep, I haven't seen as much theatre as I would like while in London. I can heartily recommend 'Vernon God Little' at the Young Vic though, and - obviously - 'Unrestless' ;-).