Hiya -
Unusual for me to blog in the early evening - doesn't feel quite right. So its a good job this is simply an introduction to my guest blogger Tim Major. This is the second blog post he has written for me - and I am very grateful. Not least today as I reluctantly substituted my early blog time to finally finish the huge application for just under £200k. Procrastination and a poorly dad have been my betes noirs on this one. However now its finally gone, finito, out the window, skidaddled, left - Hurrah. We will of course be delighted if it comes back in a money sack. Watch this space.
So it is with great pleasure that I offer you the delights of Mr Major below. In all seriousness I was extremely pleased and touched to receive this by email today. Its Tim's thoughtful take on the whole cleaving-leaving continuum and chimes loudly for me - suspect it might for you too.
Following on from your last two days blogs ....
As a young person I was involved in a number of pantomimes at an arts centre in Aylesbury, Queens Park Centre.
As such the sets had to be ingeniously designed andbuilt to allow the complete magic of these shows come to life fully. Always as part of Malcolm's designs, the aforementioned cyc would have a relevant design painted on to it. From memory Malcolm had trained as a fine artist, certainly he can paint! These designs were works if art in their own right.
The shows were always magical and wonderful to do. One was always left with classic 'after show blues'. My memories of those shows are nothing but fond and the experience very formative.
The point here however is:
After the run of one of the shows had finished, and whilst in the midst of these after show blues, I found myself back at the centre ( we used it as a bit of a second home!) and I found Malcolm unceremoniously whitewashing his design painted on the cyc as part of the process of returning the space to a blank canvas.
The experience of the show had of course given me ownership of everything to do with it but even with the arrogance of youth I knew better than to berate him for ruining the work of art.
I did however suggest to him that it must be heart breaking for him to have to destroy his work. He paused to relight the roll up that was always perched between his lips and said matter of factly, 'not at all. It just means I can paint something new. '
I am certain this exchange meant nothing to Malcolm and was forgotten immediately. For me it was a profound lesson that I've tried to retain and implement.
It's not the sadness of what is over but the joy and excitement of what is to come.
Unusual for me to blog in the early evening - doesn't feel quite right. So its a good job this is simply an introduction to my guest blogger Tim Major. This is the second blog post he has written for me - and I am very grateful. Not least today as I reluctantly substituted my early blog time to finally finish the huge application for just under £200k. Procrastination and a poorly dad have been my betes noirs on this one. However now its finally gone, finito, out the window, skidaddled, left - Hurrah. We will of course be delighted if it comes back in a money sack. Watch this space.
So it is with great pleasure that I offer you the delights of Mr Major below. In all seriousness I was extremely pleased and touched to receive this by email today. Its Tim's thoughtful take on the whole cleaving-leaving continuum and chimes loudly for me - suspect it might for you too.
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| Tim complained last time that his photo was too old - so I thought I would google another one - see what I found! Sure he will be delighted! |
As a young person I was involved in a number of pantomimes at an arts centre in Aylesbury, Queens Park Centre.
They were amateur shows, by which I ean we were not paid to take part, but the standard was extremely high in terms of attitude and care about the product. The scenery and scenic art was created in house by the centre's then AD, Malcolm Thackeray, a man of great vision and talent.
The Limelight (the centre's theatre space) is a small venue. The centre itself is in a converted victorian school building and consequently the theatre space, the old school hall, is challenging. Indeed it only has a stage left wing and entrance from SR can only happen from behind the cyc upstage right. (cyclorama, in theatre, background device employed to cover the back and sometimes the sides of the stage and used with special lighting to create the illusion of sky, open space, or great distance at the rear of the stage setting. -Editor)
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| Best pic I could find of the Limelight Interior |
As such the sets had to be ingeniously designed andbuilt to allow the complete magic of these shows come to life fully. Always as part of Malcolm's designs, the aforementioned cyc would have a relevant design painted on to it. From memory Malcolm had trained as a fine artist, certainly he can paint! These designs were works if art in their own right.
The shows were always magical and wonderful to do. One was always left with classic 'after show blues'. My memories of those shows are nothing but fond and the experience very formative.
The point here however is:
After the run of one of the shows had finished, and whilst in the midst of these after show blues, I found myself back at the centre ( we used it as a bit of a second home!) and I found Malcolm unceremoniously whitewashing his design painted on the cyc as part of the process of returning the space to a blank canvas.
The experience of the show had of course given me ownership of everything to do with it but even with the arrogance of youth I knew better than to berate him for ruining the work of art.
I did however suggest to him that it must be heart breaking for him to have to destroy his work. He paused to relight the roll up that was always perched between his lips and said matter of factly, 'not at all. It just means I can paint something new. '
I am certain this exchange meant nothing to Malcolm and was forgotten immediately. For me it was a profound lesson that I've tried to retain and implement.
It's not the sadness of what is over but the joy and excitement of what is to come.
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| This isn't anyone I know |
Thanks for this Tim - and for getting me out of a hole for missing my blog today! You are rather a star.
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