37 stories from Girl in the Dark
So.
There is an important little sentence that sometimes you just have to say out loud. And some people say it a lot, and some people hardly at all. It can be a tough thing to vocalize, an…
'So when are you due?' asked the young actor stood before me, politely. He was handsome and sweet and barely out of drama school. It was probably one of his first auditions, maybe his first …
Several years ago I was working as Deputy Stage Manager in a theatre where I cued the performance from a position within the auditorium. I was basically sat within the audience, which gave m…
There has been so much talk recently about the departure of Emma Rice from The Globe, and I simply had to wade in and express my thoughts via the internet. I mean, I'm a theatrical blogger a…
It is two o'clock in the morning.And I am wide awake.I'm lying on an alarmingly soft mattress underneath a wafer thin duvet, staring at the cracks in the ceiling and trying to place the era …
Touring is hard.One of the hardest things you'll ever do.And they don't tell you that in your interviews or auditions.On the first day of rehearsals for a tour, I can never help but stare ar…
I am boring.Seriously.Really, truly, fucking boring.Although I had been having suspicions about this prominent characteristic of mine for quite some time, it was only about a year and a half…
I'm not scared of ghosts.Not in the slightest.I don't think I really believe in them and when I lie alone in my bed in the darkest and stormiest nights, it is my tax bill and the Tories whic…
I love 'Back To The Future.'I do. We had it recorded off the telly onto a VHS (complete with 80's adverts) and I just watched it all the time. All the time. I don't think I was…
'Close your eyes, Jessica. Be a good girl and close your eyes. Just count to ten and close your eyes.'I closed my eyes obediently. I was very obedient in the hospital. More obedient than I e…
'Right here is where you start paying. In sweat.'I love the movie 'Fame'. I really do. However, I sometimes wish they showed more of the stage management department. You know, some harassed …
I published my last blog post, 'That's Not My Job', on Thursday morning not long after I had woken up. I guess it was around 8 o'clock in the morning. I had submitted the brief column to 'Th…
'That's not my job.'Yep, I've said it. Or mumbled it.Or maybe just thought it. There has been many a tech period when I have sighed, exasperated, at the fact that I am being asked to do some…
So now I'm in the second week of rehearsals for my next play. During Week One, the cast, director and DSM have mostly been sat around the table ripping the play to shreds. And I'm not speaki…
I'm starting rehearsals for my new play and I am actually pretty excited about it. Even though it means that I will have to get up at the ungodly hour of 7am again, it does mean that for fou…
Do you ever see people crying on the tube?I do. Lots.And I always try and catch their eye and offer some kind of encouraging smile. Because I know how it feels.I mean, we've all done i…
One night I sat up late in a B and B in Inverness. The day before, Friday, I had posted a status on Facebook joking about how there was only an hour left until you could ap…
Dear Nick Starr (Any relation to Ringo?)My name is Jess Gow and I would like to apply to be Nicholas Hytner's successor as Artistic Director at the National Theatre. I believe th…
Guys!!! Please click here and nominate my Blog for Best Lifetyle in the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2013. Would mean the world!A few days ago I stood, completely naked, in a stranger's bathroom…
I have arrived in my first digs. Me, my suitcase and my Lego shaped luggage tag (sock present) boarded the first train of many and I am now tapping this out from a lovely double bed in a lar…
Touring can be hard. You are away from your friends, your family and you end up spending pretty much all of your time with your colleagues. I live in London and when I do a show here I do so…
It's almost the end of the year. I have just enjoyed a particularly fabulous Christmas and rather hope that my readers and friends did too. If you are an actual acquaintance of mine I have n…
What have I learnt?This is a question I try and ask myself towards the end of every production. Being a stage manager can be an odd thing and the skill set required varies from job to job. D…
Sometimes, being a Stage Manager is pretty shit. There. I said it. It seems to me that admitting this fact or saying it out loud is slightly frowned upon. It's one of those thoughts which I …
Unemployment.I am currently unemployed.Bad news for my bank balance, my mental health and my general demeanour. Good news for next year's tax bill and my local off license.It also seem…
