The first weekend in the autumn term I was really good and really sober. Shock horror I have not kept this level of discipline up and last night reverted to a Friday night bottle of wine. Even though it doesn't start until 10am and is just down the road, I was feeling, and sweating, that bottle of wine today after six hours of intensive physical theatre training. How then, have I combated this tonight? By opening a bottle of champagne already to celebrate a fantastic day. What. A. Knob. There is actually no helping some people.
This led me to reminiscing about my final year at University. One of my best friends at Uni, Lynsey, and I, had chosen a module called '20th Century Practitioners' or something similar. We had to get into pairs and each pair had to present on a Practitioner on different weeks during the term. Lynsey and I had been given 'Meyerhold' and I must say that having studied and taught Drama on and off for about 20 years or so now I would still struggle to tell you very much about that chap. Needless to say Lynsey and I did NOTHING for a long time that term apart from bitching about the dullness or other groups' presentations. When we finally got around to preparing ours it was going to be absolutely epic and exciting.
So, we arrive at the evening before the morning of our 9am presentation. Nothing has been done. Nothing. Oh, and the library is now shut. We had exactly one book between us with about half a page on the not-so-infamous Meyerhold, 12 hours to prepare and a stack of 'emergency' unopened bottles of wine. To cut a long and pretty painful story short, we stayed up all night, drank all the wine and presented at 9am in our lecture, shitfaced. We started off by hiding behind a desk, giggling, and jumping out, maybe in mask? Anyhow, that was the high point and it went rapidly downhill from there. We got a bollocking from our tutor (who I had a bit of a crush on and I have a nasty memory of drunkenly winking 'alluringly' at him whilst he was telling us off). Even our peers, even our friends were embarrassed for us and the things that had seemed so hilarious at 4am were just drunken, inappropriate and lame at 9. It still amuses Lynsey and myself however 18 years on, particularly as we managed, somehow, to pass the module in the end.
I think I'm in a better place that that these days. I don't think, (never say never), that I would actually turn up drunk to my Masters degree sessions. I come out of the sessions full of a complete and total satisfaction with what I have taken part in and absolutely sure that my professional life is in the best place it could possibly be at the moment. Today, I went straight to pick Seb up from 'Top Hat'. It amused me therefore as I watched the last five minutes of his lesson through the door to think that he was doing pretty much the same as I had been doing about half an hour previously. Slightly more Disney focussed and less stylised but definitely the same ball-park. It's no wonder really that Sebi is the only person in my personal circle so far, (has also been tried out pissed on Stu, Shelley and Sam at various points), to appreciate my sharing of contemporary Indian dance moves. He just sat enraptured as he finished his chinese takeaway and I hunted imaginary tigers through the kitchen. Needless to say Stu and Zak had long since retired to the lounge with the rugby. Bring on tomorrow. Can't fucking wait.
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