Edinburgh Day 0 (7/28)
It’s been a busy week, and finally it feels like there’s a moment to breathe. Of course, part of that is the fact that I’ve arrived at the airport and gotten through security and to the gate a full three hours before my flight departs.
At least the interval allows me plenty of time to figure out and write this journal entry, the first of what I am hope to be daily records of my thoughts and experiences while I attend and perform in the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Even sitting here, in the terminal with boarding pass in hand, it doesn’t feel quite real.
It also feels a bit like it crept up on me all-of-a-sudden, even though plans have been in place for months now. The rehearsals and performances for the Cap Fringe run (where we won Best Musical [again, nbd]) were familiar, and felt more-or-less like other runs, in no small part because we had the same venue and fair amount of overlap in personnel with last year’s show, Bell Wringer (another Best Musical winner ;-). The gap week between closing the Cap Fringe run and leaving for Edinburgh, however, was…nuts.
Between July 20th and today, July 28th, my original schedule included the final 2 shows for Cap Fringe, interspersed with 3 wrestling matches. Plenty to do, but with a winding down to-do list at the day job it didn’t seem particularly daunting. Then, I got a call from a co-worker, who also happens to be a playwright, among other things, inviting me to do join a quick-hit project and do some on-camera host work. Now, on top of the shows and matches, I had something like 20 hours of on-set time to fit into this gap week, and I went from going into the office once to every day in this final week. Needless to say, I haven’t had a lot of time in the last week to ponder and prepare for the Edinburgh trip.
Nevertheless, it’s happening, and it’s here! Sadly I’ve just seen in our production group chat that several cast mates have been hit with travel challenges. Here’s hoping that they get resolved smoothly and we all arrive safe, sound, and energized in Scotland!
