The party's (nearly) over

The last week in August is always tricky...

What shall we do next?

For most people, it means a return to work after the final bank holiday of the year and schoolkids have got used to seeing 'Back To School' signs ever since they broke up in mid-July. I used to have quantities of lesson planning, filling in names in mark books and the sheer anxiety of wondering whether I could stay up on the tightrope for the next academic year. I don't have to worry about that now, but like almost everyone in the cast I speak to, we're wondering: 'What am I going to do with all that time?' I ask my new friend, Julia, who's in the band as well as the cast, how hard it is to play a brass instrument. She's very encouraging and tells me of some beginners' classes she knows. I wonder about getting an allotment, starting yoga classes, joining a choir... what is going to fill the gap left by the Mystery Plays?

We have two shows left - tonight and tomorrow and already people are talking about how they'll feel when we do the very last show on Monday evening. It will be emotional knowing that each scene is unfolding for the last time - practical too. Our line of washerwomen has gone a bit wobbly lately - we need to hold up the bloodstained sheets at least twice to establish the symbolism of evil in the world. We arrange a quick early practice on Sunday before the show to make sure we get it right.

Maybe that's what's entered into us - a spirit of professionalism. Not being satisfied with 'nearly right' but determined to get it 'exactly right'. That's what's been drilled into us over the last weeks and months by our directors and stage crew and that's what's led to a stunning show, hailed by critics and by everyone who sees it. And everyone mentions the stunning nature of the crowd scenes. Charles Hutchinson, the Press critic, came again last week and saw the Carpenters this time. He said:
'it is as much the ensemble that will live in the memory. Especially the Flood, as a mass of humanity, little children included, shielded under umbrellas that turned into a raging, dark sea...
  The first half, from Stanley Spencer imagery for Creation to its ending with Agnus Dei and a solo euphonium, is the most memorable sequence of scenes this critic has ever experienced.'

Wow! The crits don't come much better than this!