Hello, London.

Oi. What a crazy experience. I actually felt like I was doing poorly, it's always so hard to tell. Can't get much worse than having your sound go up at the beginning of the show. We actually got a new CD player to cover for the other two (ours and WBS's) that weren't working well ... only we never really played with it before the show started. I handled it rather calmly, I thought. First time for everything. We ended up using one of the less favorable - though working - players.

Which is emphasizing the negative. Which is dumb. Everything went very well. Great house, lovely people - we attracted 31 audience members. My apologies to Kristen, it just so happens the people she was in touch with were the folks from Southampton. And some of them were from France - and New Zealand. It was the most international audience I'd ever played to.

The opening question of the Q&A almost did me in, however. I can't get it exactly right, but the gist was, "Why would you still do this play so many years after the event ... aren't you over it?" She was baiting me - not in some manipulative way, she was asking the question, I believe, so many have asked her, so many years after the loss of her child. After some of my experiences recently (with Long Island, with Akron) I was wondering if I hadn't just ruined some people's evening. Couldn't be farther from the truth, that was the laucnhing pad into a Q&A that was much more like a conversation than a discussion.

Obviously there were a lot of parents of loss in the house. The folks from SANDS were lovely, we're going to meet next week, hopefully, to discuss future projects. And I think Claire was pleased, it certainly had the turnout we hoped for, and the board members and other WBS dignitaries in attendance also thought it was a great evening.

And then there was the family. Joanna's not even related, but it's like she is, we're having a great time here in the house. She had some extremely kind words following the perf. And it was delightful to have Lydia in the front row - I was worried she might think my impression of her as a six year-old might hurt her feelings (remember, this is the first time she'd ever seen or heard it - she's used to the divine Betsy Hogg playing her on radio) but I think she was more amused by it than anyone else.

And there was Henrik. I think the uncomfortable stuff is over. Funny, it never came up in the Q&A the way it usually does - "has this play been difficult for your family?" That wasn't asked. What was asked was whether or not Toni found it troubling.

And I said, "No ... you may have noticed ... my family finds it hard to express emotion." (Laughter.) And I went on to explain how Toni made it possible for me to connect with my grief in a way that would have been impossible before.

photo: Big hit - ketchup and chicken sandwiches.

She also made it possible to do the show tonight, staying home with the kids. I'll make it up to her - my vacation begins now.

I'm just hoping Father David isn't pissed I didn't put the lighting back exactly the way I found it.

Crikey!

UPDATE 5.05pm GMT - Now with photos!

photo: Claire and I, figuring out the tech ...

Just a word (no time) - went over tech this morning with Claire, she's lovely, and so is her six year-old boy Edward ... there will be pictures eventually. Hated to swamp her with all the cues in one day, but she's obviously going to do a great job. Still and all - Kelly, I miss you!

Actually, the real reason we're really missing Kelly right now is that jet-lag has kicked in hideously and I was up until past two with a screaming Orson, but now I am really digressing.

photo: The charming Edward.

Reservations are up to 28 ... 30 is a sell-out, no kidding, we may be SRO. Lots of people important to the WBS are coming, there is a continegncy from SANDS driving ninety minutes from Southampton ... oh, and Kritsen? None of your peeps have made reservations, Claire says she knows everyone who is coming. Hmn. Could be quite a crowd in a tiny room.

Anyway, anyway, the words ...

(Wait for it ...)

WHO KNEW GERBER BABY FOOD DOESN'T EXIST IN ENGLAND?

It's the big laugh of the show, the big release, and everyone on this little island had Heinz as children (Heinz baby food? Does it all taste like ketchup?) Still working on what to say instead, it won't be the same. Suggestions?

And Toni dissuaded me from changing up any of the words - they know what fries are, for goodness sake. But apparently not Popsicles (a registered trademark, don't you know.) So I either say ice lollies, or get a blank stare. Hmn. Hmn again. What else am I missing, I don't use the word pants, do I?

Gotta run. Still don't know how the slides are going to be projected, and the CD player skips. Brenda has generously offered to read the slides, which worked fine on radio (and my first public read-through) but gives me the hives just thinking about it. I didn't want this perf to be so odd.

Really gotta run, Henrik's made cheese on toast. Cheers.

Scan for Alien Tech

Crazy. I got a "fringe" listing in Time Out London. I don't know if it will make any difference, the brief description of the show is a one-sentence conflation of the two-sentence blurb I usually use, which states flatly that this show is about "the year following his son's birth." I don't think I'd see a show like that if you'd threatened me with violence.

Still and all, it tickled me to see this listing. I had offered to assist with the promotion, and the response I received was, I thought, a polite way of putting me off.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a little schizo about promotion. I actually hate doing it, I got a rep in town for being good at it, but that's like being good at shoveling poop, everyone's so glad you're doing it. But when promo ops are missed, I just get crazy.

When I heard there were only six reservations (this was about ten days ago) I just went a little loopy and filled out TO's automatic "listings submission" form on their website. Never even received a reply, and lo and behold, there it is.

We currently have reservations for 25, which is plenty. I don't imagine any of them came from the magazine. Apparently some of them came from Kristen & Phil (thanks, guys!) and the recommendations of some who heard the radio show on Monday.

It's just as well. Henrik and I had an adventure today. He borrowed a great, old video projector (remember, it's old) to which we were to hook up Brenda's new laptop - that's for projecting the slides. The only truly necessary technical bits of the show are the slides and the sound.

We met Father David at St. Vincent DePaul's, and he showed us the room I will be performing in tomorrow night. It's dimensions are almost exactly those of the little room I performed in at the NY Fringe. It's even got a piano in it, but at least we can move that. I don't think we can seat more than 30 if we wanted to.

However, our trips to find cable to link the laptop to the projector were fruitless. We took the train the Tottenham Road, where you cannot swing a cat without hitting a tech store. The first place we went to, a Panasonic joint, actually told us there was no way to connect these two items (the projector is simply incompatible, too old) but if we were, there was only one store where we could find the necessary cables - MAPLIN. That was a few more blocks down the road ... and that was a bust, too.

Apparently we will simply use a computer monitor, as was done in NYC, for the purposes of this performance. The projector would have been nice.

But at least I got out of the house a little bit. The kids, and Toni are indulging in taking their time adjusting to the time change. That's another great part about staying here for two weeks. They'll be doing some out and about things tomorrow while Claire and I work on the show. I don't have it in me to be nervous yet. That's for tomorrow.