Part of the eye is still occluded although there seems to be a slight improvement, or is that wishful thinking? The dragon hasn’t made a reappearance. As the last time he appeared he looked like a bright pink plastic handbag he probably fled back to his cave in the corner in shame and embarrassment. Being white, red or black is okay, but pink? Do me a favour! Could have been one of Colleen’s ten thousand pound handbags of course. Shame, I really mustn’t go on taking the mick out of that poor girl. She can’t help being a celeb and a footballer’s wife with all that entails. Life must be hard enough for her as it is.
Met up yesterday afternoon with the group who wish to pursue their theatrical ambitions and an enjoyable meeting it was. Naturally before the meeting I went over various possible scenarios none of which actually came into effect so needn’t have bothered. For some reason I had taken from the bookshelf Harold Clurman’s “On Directing” (published 1974) which I must have read many years ago and forgotten about. Now I am a wee bit embarrassed as I think I wrote in the autobiography – if I didn’t and I am not going to check it out - “Did anyone ask Eugene O’Neill where the spines were in his plays?” Or words to that effect. Po po po! This “spine” theory may not have been invented by the Americans but Mister Clurman if no one else, apart from my director in Pittsburgh, certainly took it to heart and yes, he did in production give Mr O’Neill’s plays a spine. Not only that but each character was given a spine as well and, as far as I can make out it all added up to a pig’s fart in a brass band to quote a line from a Glyn Jones play and as far as the end result was concerned. Still, Mister Clurman was a very famous theatre director and if the spine theory worked for him who am I to argue about it? It’s like arguing about Colleen’s sense of taste. Oops! There I go again.
“A Touch Of The poet” by Eugene O’Neill – spine of the play: to make a place for themselves. The character of Con: Spine - To retain his sense of himself. Sara: Spine - To win her place. Does any of that really help the actors? Somehow I very much doubt it.
The meeting took place in a large house in what the Baxter children refer to as “Upper Plaka Garden City!” It had been some time since I had been in that neck of the woods and, although I knew about it, I was nevertheless still taken by surprise by the amount of building that has gone on since my last visit. I am beginning to wonder if there are more ex-pats in Apokoronas than Cretans.
Some time or other I’ll take a look at “Generations” and try to find the spines. If I can’t actually find them I’m sure I could invent them or is that being too cynical?