tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44772338353337730582012-02-03T08:38:19.306Zsteve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.comBlogger2321100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-52744958401857925762012-02-02T00:12:00.002Z2012-02-02T23:34:59.779Z

So on Monday "Equus" started rehearsal again with a partially new cast. With only a week it's going to be a tall order (for "Abigail's Party" in 2008 we rehearsed for three weeks) but with Fiz, Jo and Stuart largely off book already, things are looking very positive. Recasting these roles was always going to be a challenge, and none more so than the stallion Nugget. Whereas Aidan was dance

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-75883397233499433592012-01-13T22:58:00.000Z2012-01-13T22:58:15.231Z

I had a meeting today in town - not exactly an audition, more a discussion about a possible project - and the text under consideration is "Still Life" by Noel Coward. And it's sort of polite to read it before you go, I find. Now, I have three Coward collections and several single plays, but with tedious inevitability I find I don't have this one. Since, though, I live in a village with a very

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-74071042143464526992012-01-10T00:43:00.000Z2012-01-10T00:43:35.660Z

Did that last post seemed odd? I'm always left with some oddball photos at the end of a tour, things which have caught my eye which, in the cold light of a month's furlough, don't seem quite so compelling as they were.  Anyway, if you visit often - welcome back after the break; and if you're reading this for the first time, then errr....welcome! I've been writing this blog on and off since Spring

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-28125513883569921292012-01-08T21:39:00.000Z2012-01-08T21:39:06.499Z

I don't know whether this is common, but whenever I'm involved with a project my surroundings seem to go all relevant on me. By which I mean I see coincidence everywhere. Like, I went for an audition for "The Importance of Being Earnest" once years ago, and on the way I saw a billboard for a property company called Merriman - which was the part I was up for. An obvious signal that the part was in

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-70676903129043633962011-11-11T17:50:00.001Z2011-11-11T23:27:34.801Z

Buxton, meanwhile, is an old friend. I spent a week here in 2005 staying in the house of a woman whose mood swings were so extreme she must have been on HRT. Because there's so much to see, I've been trying to spend more than a few hours here ever since, without success, but at least this time we're here for two nights. It does seems to be the land of oddball landladies, though. I'm staying with

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-80690474659023405892011-11-05T09:02:00.001Z2011-11-09T09:46:09.471Z

Ilfracombe is - like Huddersfield, Worthing and a few others on our roster - not a place I've not visited before and of course I have preconceptions about it. I'm expecting Weston-Super-Mare but instead I'm delighted to find Padstow without Rick Stein - working harbour, clifftop walks and an absolutely typical and very slightly down-at-heel hotel called the Carlton. There's nothing conventional

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-72329191794146858152011-11-04T09:00:00.001Z2011-11-09T09:02:07.593Z

Jamie's back at nearly full fitness. Our audience will therefore be split into those who saw Big Horse and those who saw the version post-injury-pre-recovery. Like Jeremy Northam taking over from Daniel Day-Lewis in "Hamlet", both good but different. The opinion of the cast is pretty united, although our chorus habits (which had developed during the absence) have needed more adjustment than

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-71760431150728364442011-10-10T10:32:00.001+01:002011-10-12T10:59:36.411+01:00

We had a public online review yesterday which remarked that the actors "wander on at the beginning, looking bored and chatting" or words to that effect. It was very positive, mind you, and clearly thought that the preamble was deliberately contrived like that to provide a counterpoint to the rather serious subject matter of the drama. Like kids, punters tend to cut to the chase with their

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-3883304610256571612011-10-06T00:33:00.003+01:002011-10-12T11:00:18.130+01:00

Last time I was in Oldham I was smooching it up as Pato Dooley, acting opposite the lovely Carol Dance, who plays Hester in "Equus". Back then they had closed the rail station (hilariously called The Mumps, I have no idea why) and there was all sorts of civil engineering and regeneration going on. And guess what? There still is. There's little discernible improvement in three years, and if the

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-67109462981232713472011-09-30T12:04:00.001+01:002011-10-07T16:38:17.946+01:00

It's a bloody long drive from Hereford to Worthing, but the Indian Summer which seems to have arrived with us makes it worthwhile. Like the Berwick Maltings and the Lawrence Batley, the Connaught is a new venue for me; although it's the slightly faded grandeur of the Chatsworth Hotel which I find more arresting at first. Not your normal digs... Although we (well, Kate and Aidan really) cobbled

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-59753773576674577962011-09-29T17:12:00.018+01:002011-10-06T18:14:15.078+01:00

It happens in the middle of the night, and the hospital are shocked to discover that it happened when he was stone-cold sober. As, I have to confess, are some of the cast, but then we are a cynical lot. Mercifully, Malcolm hears Jamie's calls and goes to his rescue (well, after Jamie has had an opportunity to struggle into some underwear). The ambulance arrives when they are still in what used to

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-15156297353082849552011-09-28T00:19:00.001+01:002011-10-06T17:11:14.568+01:00

After a while, touring gets a bit like the series "Friends" - places become "The One Where Alice Got A Really Bad Baked Potato" or "The One Where Amy Insulted The Irish Nation In Tesco". My only memory of Hereford from 2008 is it being "The One Where Our House Buyer Tried To Rip Us Off By £8,000", so it's very nice to rediscover this lovely cathedral town. Next to the cathedralitself,as if to

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-66872078552437119442011-09-24T09:36:00.001+01:002011-09-30T10:11:58.064+01:00

I'm on my way to Huddersfield Art Gallery when I see a crowd watching some Morris dancing in the town square. Now I normally think it's vaguely unsettling, that style of English folk dancing. I mean, it's not exactly flamenco, is it? It has a kind of preciousness about it, too, not helped by the fact that most of the people who do it seem to be middle class solicitors and accountants - and their

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-83781128359472322262011-09-23T01:02:00.002+01:002011-09-30T01:42:38.014+01:00

I'm sure there are many remarkable things about Huddersfield, but for me the stand-out one is the discovery of a high-street Wimpy restaurant - a brand I thought had gone out of business years ago. I wouldn't have exactly mourned it's passing if it had, but when I was 11 and touring with "Every Good Boy..." I ate a dessert called a Brown Derby in the Bath Wimpy with my chaperone, Evelyn Maddock,

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-22768942410558145062011-09-18T14:12:00.001+01:002011-09-23T14:36:58.847+01:00

When I visited Coleraine in 2008, for some inexplicable reason we thought that going to a shopping mall was a better use of our time than visiting the Giant's Causeway. This is a decision I've always regretted, but despite being fully aware of this I am on the cusp of doing it again when Lindisfarne is mooted. I realise that the root of that choice was probably the same as this time; a jaded head

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-47938930332940490872011-09-14T13:00:00.002+01:002011-09-14T15:18:48.550+01:00

It's always a bit depressing to play to a small crowd, especially in a theatre of nearly 500. In Kirkcaldy this is probably not that unusual; it doesn't have a regular theatre crowd and it looks as though the publicity drive hasn't quite hit its mark. However, the first night in the Adam Smith frees us to try new things without the added stress of a packed house. Anna (aka Kirkie, who regular

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-53605364527418492912011-09-11T10:15:00.002+01:002011-09-11T17:39:47.173+01:00

The British Stammering Association started their conference on Friday morning at Collingwood halls, where we're staying. By this morning everyone had registered, ho ho.

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-36362768474154633532011-09-10T00:28:00.003+01:002011-09-11T17:38:06.059+01:00

Alan (Matt) embraces Nugget (Aidan). Photo copyright Sheila Burnett

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-3694898070184459572011-09-09T10:44:00.000+01:002011-09-09T10:44:59.463+01:00

It was a great opening. Everything worked beautifully - the protagonists held the audience breathless, the chorus moved with an easy fluidity and confident assurance, the lighting knit the show together with subtlety and grace. On the surface it all went swimmingly, anyway, but in the bar afterwards we all gradually 'fess up to our personal purgatories and near-catastrophies. Like Matt (Alan)

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0Durham, County Durham, UK54.7786923 -1.559605099999998954.7436238 -1.5968245999999988 54.813760800000004 -1.522385599999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-10696390212913128892011-09-07T00:13:00.001+01:002011-09-07T23:53:41.518+01:00

It's been an awfully long time since I did a show which took a whole day to rehearse for technical - that is, to run through the sound and lighting cues and get them perfectly matched to the action. Most of the shows I've done lately have been fairly naturalistic and take place in a single environment. "Vertigo" was an exception, but since we were touring all the lighting it couldn't be

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-92217623537708845102011-08-24T08:01:00.000+01:002011-08-24T08:01:04.927+01:00

Everyone knows "Equus". At least, everyone knows that Daniel Radcliffe took off all his clothes in it at the Nash in 2007. Men of my vintage tend to remember the fact that Jenny Agutter removed hers in the 1972 film, sometime after she mislaid them in "Walkabout" and before they eluded her again in "Logan's Run". So the play is in the general consciousness for odd reasons, a bit like "Abigail's

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-39344272520055482332011-07-13T23:19:00.011+01:002011-08-25T07:55:14.037+01:00

I don't just lounge around on a chaise longue dabbing my temples with a damp flannel when I'm not working. Oh no. As anyone will tell you, an actor must be constantly in a state of coiled, tensed readiness - as a rubber band on a balsa wood plane or an overwound cuckoo clock. Do not be deceived by the casual emptying of the dishwasher or the languid sorting of dirty washing; the playful nappy

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-52214065146236121132011-07-11T23:57:00.002+01:002011-08-15T23:33:17.325+01:00

I'm sorry I haven't been about for a bit. Blame my acting career. It nearly died - the doctors despaired of it for a while, and it reached the stage where it could breathe unaided no longer and had to be supported by artificial respiration (or "teaching" as it is better known). But five months and one week (plus many confused kids) later the wheels begin to turn and the juggernaut rumbles on. Oh

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-7421001717427205642011-02-04T13:56:00.001Z2011-02-18T10:43:59.487Z

Just another day at the office. Less than 24 hour's notice to learn alternative words for Alice Cooper's sensational 80's rock classic "Poison" and then a trip to London to sing it acapella to camera whilst pretending to drive a car. What could go wrong? But no, 'tis not to be. The odd thing is, I actually drive a VW Passat.

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-65327875722794187852011-01-13T14:05:00.054Z2011-02-25T13:33:56.755Z

It's a mystery, how I managed to get a general casting for Jill Freud's Summer Rep company. Nothing to do with my agent, and I'm fairly sure they don't just work their way through Spotlight. They did Abigail's Party last year, though, and for a moment I delude myself that my portrayal of Laurence was so definitive that they somehow decided to see me because they heard about that. I then reject

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-49755501603389267672010-12-17T13:49:00.002Z2011-02-18T10:42:17.655Z

In one of those rotten twists of the great cosmic plan, shortly before I mentioned her in that last post, my lovely friend Jo died unexpectedly. I met her when I was training - in fact she worked in the Student's Union as the permanent secretary. She was an unexpected choice - a bit off-the-wall and apparently rather ditsy, but this concealed a sharp intellect and keen sense of humour, together

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-92142697269296385142010-11-19T12:49:00.000Z2010-11-19T12:49:53.931Z

"Abigail's Party" was on telly the other night, and I watched a goodly chunk of it. It's odd - before, all I could see were the faults and the things we did differently, but fresh eyes are a great thing. I mean, there is some howlingly hammy acting - the bit where Laurence comes back in, realises he's forgotten the light ales and exits again was straight out of Norman Wisdom, but otherwise it's

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-74803214386072311702010-11-05T23:22:00.001Z2010-11-09T10:18:58.617Z

 Pete, Sophia, self and Dan, all in protective get-in gear the day before the tour started. Adieu "Vertigo", and thanks for all the good times x

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-23097312961878999272010-11-03T14:19:00.000Z2010-11-17T23:46:12.790Z

One thing today's venue, Carterton, has in common with the JR is that it's a venue OTC haven't visited before, and last week it was reported that it wasn't selling very well. Which strikes fear into you for a last night - I mean, a bang not a whimper, not the other way around, right? But Vertigo isn't destined to close under a cloud. Despite many potential drawbacks (including the news that there

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-84552697066460052572010-11-01T23:46:00.002Z2010-11-08T23:21:50.690Z

The last time I was in the John Radcliffe Hospital my grandmother was very ill. The time before, my missus gave birth to Molly; when I was a teenager I was treated for what I self-diagnosed as a brain tumour but which was more accurately discovered to be bewilderment and angst. So to say it feels odd to be doing a show here, let alone one with the subject matter we're tackling, is an

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-74933476445002325462010-10-26T10:48:00.003+01:002010-11-03T18:02:46.636Z

If ever there was a mid-scale touring venue which inspires love and hate in equal measure, it's Hemel's Old Town Hall. The plus side is that it's within reasonable reach of London so your agent/casting director/family and friends/famous celebrity chum (in Peter's case) might come. The minus is that the get-in's a monster. Just ghastly. There's a spiral staircase for God's sake. Madness. The other

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-13775469259854194402010-10-25T14:54:00.005+01:002010-11-03T10:45:20.296Z

I sometimes wonder what our promoters make of us. They're usually there to welcome us and sometimes they stay for the get-in and out, and it's then that we slip into a sort of theatre slang generally centred around the shortcomings of our set. Manfrotto stands become Man Fridays and then morph into Frangipanis, we'll audibly hunt around for the Stage Right Flappy Thing, The Piece of Wood That

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-39189643979024696002010-10-24T15:14:00.005+01:002010-11-01T00:02:47.887Z

Leadenham is not a prepossessing name for a village, and the place looks asleep when we arrive - a feeling reinforced by the sophorific atmosphere in the pub. However, at the hall we get the warmest welcome yet, along with tea half-hourly, and the most fantastic smells coming from the kitchen. Here they've chosen to add a buffet to the beginning of the evening and consequently it's a sell-out,

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-46486751941276273552010-10-23T10:55:00.000+01:002010-10-23T10:56:00.067+01:00

It's two nights in a Travelodge for us here in Nottingham, and there's a pub next door which opens for breakfast. Colin and Dan are already there when I show up, and are tucking into the maximum possible breakfast available. We're all losing a bit of weight because the tour's so physical, but there's something about Stage Managers and their metabolism - I mean, Colin ate seven KitKats the other

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-89256758002977049982010-10-21T23:59:00.002+01:002010-10-22T13:15:15.452+01:00

Both Sophia and Dan have London auditions this morning (for Shrek, Avenue Q and Journey's End), so it's a depleted van which departs for Nottingham. I did check my voicemail for messages from Trevor Nunn and Steven Spielberg, but they're probably still making their minds up. Me or Colin Farrell - tough choice. Anyway, Grange Hall is the polar opposite of yesterday in terms of capacity, and it's a

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-77567473933082334512010-10-21T01:21:00.003+01:002010-10-22T11:59:17.321+01:00

We have some trouble finding East and Botolph Claydon, and when we finally arrive and set up, the stage totally dominates the hall. They're sold out, too, so the audience is only a few feet away from the front of the stage. The performance which follows is necessarily detailed and intimate - more that ever before, I think. Our confusions with directions means that by the time we leave we're

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-23696190466190067452010-10-16T12:20:00.001+01:002010-10-18T12:52:28.921+01:00

After a while, tours get into a routine. We always have a tea break after we've constructed the floor and before we erect the set; Pete and I are always forced to shave and smooth our hair in the public loos just as the audience arrive; Sophia and Dan always manage to squeeze in a cigarette milliseconds before the half is called and Colin always manages to get himself trapped behind something

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-26109948725450119272010-10-15T13:14:00.000+01:002010-10-15T13:14:39.603+01:00

"Have you ever seen this before?" The past catches up with Renee...

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-30751227521549427592010-10-15T13:05:00.000+01:002010-10-15T13:05:19.594+01:00

The most charming man greets us at Marchington, which is the first of our two Staffordshire dates this week. He's not the contact name on our list, but after a heavily deviated journey the tea he makes go down well. When our contact Julia does arrive, she reveals that he's on day release from the local open prison at Sudbury. Whatever he was in for, it wasn't because he couldn't put a brew

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-32118016433486049982010-10-15T03:03:00.001+01:002010-10-15T03:04:09.598+01:00

We played Church Lawford last night to a sell-out crowd, and we're in a Travelodge overnight - this one's not in an industrial estate next to a Little Chef, though. It's next to the Lady Godiva statue in Coventry city centre. I've blogged before about the crimes which have been visited on Coventry, but this unexpected visit sort of distils the joys. The Travelodge staff are hugely friendly, and

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-81411867169380962042010-10-07T10:48:00.022+01:002010-10-13T09:17:47.720+01:00

Apparently last night was a triumph - OTC had a bunch of movers and shakers in, all of whom seem to have been favourably impressed. That won't make any difference to where we're going today, Robertsbridge being out-of-county and one of a growing number of national dates on the roster. It's pretty brave programming when you consider that lots of Oxfordshire venues thought the show too

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-32662909039458329652010-10-06T20:45:00.001+01:002010-10-11T22:48:33.832+01:00

There's a palpable thrill in the van today, because it's Chipping Norton and the last theatre proper for a while. I saw LCT's "Beauty Queen" here shortly before I was asked to take over, and also their "Caretaker" earlier this year, so it's almost my local theatre. I'd forgotten the bizarrely high stage, though, which means that even on the deck you're at least two metres higher than the eyeline

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-53997709150556944352010-10-05T20:26:00.003+01:002010-10-11T20:45:23.286+01:00

It's the first of our school dates, and the first of a four-day run which is both exhilarating and worrying, because even with Karen helping us out on Saturday we were four hours get-in and two hours get-out. Just too long. At Wheatley Park we can't really set up until after school finishes, and comically there's PE going on in the harsh, echoey hall anyway. However, once the set's up it's truly

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-13535768880305595552010-10-04T22:30:00.000+01:002010-10-04T22:30:26.431+01:00

Yikes. It gets away from you all too easily! So we opened on the 25th in Didcot, played our second show three days later in Henley and then a third in Botley, Oxford on Saturday last, the 2nd October. Didcot's Cornerstone is a great new venue, only a couple of years old, and a superb place to open. Good crowd, big studio (if anything a little too big for our set) and we responded well to the

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-10814873984502518042010-09-23T11:52:00.000+01:002010-09-23T11:52:12.722+01:00

It's Thursday of tech week, and this is really the first chance I've had to sit down and write anything. When the show's as busy as ours, with such rich soundscapes and visual effects, the technical rehearsals take some time. And we're taking advantage of this to repeatedly run sections of the action in costume and usually at full performance pitch, so it's pretty draining. It's a delight to see

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-12143075006086080462010-09-17T22:49:00.000+01:002010-09-19T22:49:45.280+01:00

Ilmo visits again this morning with his therapist partner Hazel, and this coincides with us running the last quarter of the play.This means that the first thing they see is the illustrative movement for Roger/Renee's physical relationship. It's a wee bit toe-curling in front of people in the psychoanalytic dodge. The rest of the act bowls along reasonably well, though, and they're very insightful

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-31305666426507727902010-09-16T22:50:00.004+01:002010-09-19T14:45:05.831+01:00

...is an area where I've never been truly happy - I don't so much dance as check all my limbs are in working order (as someone once observed of Ricky Martin). The presence of a great choreographer will ease the troubled birth of movement even for me, though, and Heather Douglas has been wafted in from dance paradise to fill this role. Now, if you're over 30 you probably walked into a lamppost

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-87260234837873674212010-09-16T13:54:00.049+01:002010-09-19T07:51:33.372+01:00

When I did "Abigail's Party" I remember there was a big conflab about whether we should employ 1970's CPR or contemporary CPR for maximum realism. With the hypnosis in "Vertigo" we have a similar dilemma about hypnotic technique, so we were very interested in what Ilmo, an experimental psychologist working at the University, would have to say about it. It's rare that the input of experts changes

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-12300559692127183942010-09-15T09:59:00.002+01:002010-09-16T00:20:08.201+01:00

We're very much at the "build it up, smash it down, recycle it" stage of rehearsing, where stuff which seems to be polished and ready gets scrutinised in the light of changes elsewhere and comes up wanting. Sometimes this results in favourite moments being lost, more often it's awkward or eggy moments that get ironed out. The Roger/Renee relationship came under some heavy artillery today.

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-25750795352736315422010-09-12T23:58:00.000+01:002010-09-12T23:58:08.224+01:00

I've just found this quote about Roger that I jotted down ages ago - "One of those people who hate mediocrity without being able to scale the heights". Ha ha!

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-90027319810647999522010-09-10T21:34:00.000+01:002010-09-10T21:34:39.797+01:00

Today, after reworking the scenes with Roger and Gevigne, we go throught the rest of Act I - which we haven't really looked at for a week. And a very foreign country it feels, too. Some of it has been visited briefly with Heather, our choreographer - for example, she and Karen have reworked the climax where characters climb to the top of a church tower and the rescue from the Seine - but chunks

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-10855333586265925532010-09-10T00:38:00.000+01:002010-09-10T00:38:56.399+01:00

God - the days are just tearing by. Which is why I find myself sitting at the kitchen table writing a post at midnight whilst lovely partner and MiniDineens are in the land of nod. My call's at 9.30am so this will have to be quick. Spent a lot of time with my trousers round my ankles today, trying to perfect the art of clumsily dressing under a towel. I manage to do this with adequate clumsiness 

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-63421646586912549722010-09-03T23:49:00.003+01:002010-09-05T12:55:43.775+01:00

We had rather a disjointed day. An hour's work on blocking this morning followed by a visit by the author, Jonathan Holloway, who heard a read-through (with minor changes) before lunch. Then costume fittings for most of us including a marathon for Sophia of about six separate outfits. Then an hour or so of blocking before end-of-day. Very interesting talk with Jonathan after lunch. He has various

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-18914252147737721372010-09-02T22:50:00.025+01:002010-09-05T16:49:36.043+01:00

After a day and a half of the atmosphere on stage being soggy with testosterone, we finally get to Madeleine's first speaking entrance. This coincides with the off-stage dunking in the Seine I mentioned a few days ago, and the vexed question of her subsequent state of undress has been very sensitively handled. Downstage side of the hospital screen, however, there is nowhere to hide, and poor old

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-29844519978055948632010-08-31T23:17:00.000+01:002010-08-31T23:17:20.008+01:00

I thought I knew this play (and the originating novel) well, but I spent large tracts of today wearing the expression of a man who has just set light to his trousers. There are so many layers of reality, and there are so many characters being disingenuous that it's often difficult to keep track. I mean, at one stage Dan Copeland's character - Nurse Gratin - steps into Roger's imagined scene in a

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-16332166031738904052010-08-23T00:00:00.000+01:002010-08-23T00:00:35.187+01:00

Hell's teeth, that was a really quiet month. One casting for a bank training film and a couple of film castings - I'm not going to get fat on that. Which is just as well, because the hard copy of the script arrived a while ago and there's a moment in the action when Madeleine and Roger get absolutely sodden when he retrieves her from the Seine. Now, in the rosy tint of my mind's eye, a damp and

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-63992362811455007712010-07-21T22:09:00.000+01:002010-07-21T22:09:30.633+01:00

Except possibly courtrooms, there are few settings more inherently dramatic than the hospital, and of these surely the most unpredictable and intense is the psychiatric clinic. The basic premise of Vertigo is that Roger Flavieres is hypnotically regressed in Ballard's clinic to demonstrate his phobias and their causes, so the story is told in highly animated flashback - but with the added spice

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-60439374796104377922010-07-19T14:27:00.003+01:002010-07-23T11:14:35.439+01:00

I had the most peculiar dream last night. I was hosting a week-end garden party - all very Noel Coward - and my agent was staying. This unlikely scenario was compounded by his having bright red hair (he doesn't), and his refusal to talk to anyone whilst he wrote down notes (unlikely, he's very charming and gregarious), and his complaining that there was no clean towel in his room (sadly all too

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-49412220701587386362010-07-13T14:46:00.002+01:002010-07-13T22:04:01.028+01:00

There's a moment in the Hitchcock film when Jimmy Stewart complains to Miss Ellie from Dallas that his "damned acrophobia" prevents him from even climbing kitchen steps - I've never noticed this exchange before. Not for the first time, it turns out that I've been labouring under a mistake - acrophobia is the term for a fear of heights, not vertigo - that's the sensation of dizziness or spinning

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-67094228088032887742010-07-05T22:32:00.001+01:002010-07-21T14:28:53.298+01:00

My script for "Vertigo" arrived last week, so I've spent a happy few days leafing through it. I watched the film and read the novel (clumsily titled above) as preparation, and I was very keen to see whether there'd been any easing of the rather unpalatable Flavieres character for this adaptation (as Hitchcock clearly felt was necessary for Hollywood). If anything, Roger's situation in the play

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-35732865021522624192010-06-19T00:15:00.001+01:002010-06-23T00:14:23.084+01:00

Corporate video - the first one I did was for M&S when I worked there in about 2001; a spoof of various films which would probably have prompted a hefty lawsuit or two if it'd been more widely seen. It's possible I now own the sole surviving copy of my recreations of Hannibal Lecter and Renton in "Trainspotting", and trust me, that's a good thing. By contrast, the PriceWaterhouseCoopers vid I

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-82333112343281046452010-06-09T21:36:00.001+01:002010-06-12T08:02:33.860+01:00

Not everyone does recalls, but most do. Captain Cabot does them, but he doesn't expect actors to perform in front of each other (for which he is devoutly adored). A similar approach happened at a casting I went to for "Actors of Dionysus", but there the unlucky ones were surgically excised during the day, so the parts went to the last men standing. Strangely invigorating though. Plently of

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-42611335842829897892010-05-21T07:10:00.001+01:002010-06-12T08:03:05.705+01:00

Despite my best efforts to the contrary (like very obviously forgetting one of the audition panel's names on the way out) I'm up aganst the big guns on June 9th.

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-76854870332902333932010-05-19T06:48:00.001+01:002010-06-12T07:04:10.493+01:00

I'm not famous for my abilities as a self-promoter - this much is known. However, when "Loving April" came to my local venue even I realised that calling the Artistic Director and seeing if we could meet would be a good idea. I was seen for "The Firebird" at OTTC some years ago and also Chris Wallis (of Watershed) suggested her as a contact - so the lines of potential contact were established.

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-14509034402014807952010-05-02T13:11:00.002+01:002010-05-03T14:59:21.038+01:00

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-45701793222543298582010-04-25T13:02:00.002+01:002010-04-26T14:14:28.228+01:00

Richard Talbot, who died last week, was the first person I met when I joined the Arena agency in 2004. He interviewed me in the manner of Frankie Howerd, and of course, won me over instantly.He was a brilliant conversationalist with a mine of stories about celebs which you were never quite sure were really his - until he'd send you a photo of himself with Judi Dench, that is. He was criminally

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-44971268112806061882010-04-17T14:07:00.002+01:002010-05-01T22:35:19.358+01:00

So that's it - the ad is in the can. All told it's been a pretty civilised shoot, and it was very entertaining having penguins knocking about all day today - they've been greenscreening them into the set and having stuffed ones making eye contact with us and what not(I've no idea what the live penguins make of their upholstered friends - they don't give anything away). I've never seen animals

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-25390366002799227122010-04-16T22:43:00.001+01:002010-05-01T22:34:35.337+01:00

I think Nicola, my make-up artist, is in love with the footballer...

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-54887002957498185662010-04-16T22:24:00.002+01:002010-05-01T22:34:23.595+01:00

Because of the nature of this ad - "Amazing HD" - extraordinary things have to happen to us on the set. I mean, it's not just us sitting around talking about soap powder or whatever - if a footballer does a scissor kick in the front room, they actually get him to do it in front of us for reference (even though they get the shot itself on green screen). We've had them all - WWII soldiers under

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-90110847844623479542010-04-16T15:35:00.003+01:002010-05-01T22:34:06.049+01:00

One of the games we play on set (Mel, Michael and I) is trying to work out who's who - not the crew, that's obvious, but the agency and client people, of whom there are an awful lot.It's a little disconcerting, especially when quiet words are had with the director and new notes emerge, or you're asked to do something completely differently as a result of a huddle. Fair enough, though - it's their

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-74825902128372875882010-04-15T15:22:00.003+01:002010-05-01T22:33:52.646+01:00

Lily Allen is apparently shooting a pop promo in the stage next to ours - the thundering bass gives it away. Luckily there's no dialogue on our shoot being recorded today, or I imagine Howie, our sound man, would not be quite so good-natured.She's sighted at lunchtime though, in the big canteen which stages 1 and 2 share, and I, like everyone else, do a wee double-take whilst in the (enormous)

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-15608082300205164502010-04-14T14:52:00.002+01:002010-05-01T22:33:39.550+01:00

As the below suggests, it's a while since I've done an ad and I've kind of forgotten how they work. The last one was for Ford Focus (see posts passim) and when it was released I was all but invisible in the final cut. No, rewind that -I was invisible - not even I could identify myself in it. This didn't stop them buying me out to show it in Dubai, the Far East and all sorts of other territories,

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-53337327719066192022010-04-13T22:33:00.002+01:002010-05-02T14:07:58.864+01:00

Ads are so different from the normal run of things that they seem almost alien. Take wardrobe for example. I mean, I've been lucky enough to do some great theatre work with great costume designers, but at no stage do they help you into your clothes during your fitting, like the wardrobe assistant will do for a commercial. Similarly details like transportation. I'm on the phone to Tod about

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-88177448953917655552010-04-11T11:27:00.003+01:002010-05-01T22:32:59.734+01:00

...will occasionally, if you have been very good, pat you on the bum and say "well done Stevie". Although when this happens don't tell anyone, because she is just as likely to put her cheque book back in her little fairy pocket and decide the concept was all wrong/you are now all wrong/the timing is all wrong and not make the ad with you, if at all. So you'll get your BSF and nowt else. You see,

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-25194336882551822172010-04-06T21:01:00.003+01:002010-04-06T21:38:43.036+01:00

Has anyone had this Damien Hirst-ish thought before? It's a funny old thing, 'ain't it, and I'm not sure I'm any better at dealing with it at 43 than I was at 23. It seems to be a kind of cushion, being in work, which smothers your facility to anticipate being out-of-work.I've never been famous (leaving aside my brief experience in Musselburgh, of course) but I understand you can similarly

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-53688316402830731092010-03-22T23:17:00.003Z2010-03-24T21:11:12.631Z

Whenever casting directors or whoever ask me what I've seen at the theatre lately, I usually cough in a mildly embarrassed fashion and apologetically mumble "...well, it's difficult to find time when you're on stage so much yourself, but..." and then trot out my prepared answer.Last week however, to my lovely wife's delight, I absented myself at bath-time to see THREE shows."Beauty Queen" was, of

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-68470713782081383672010-03-04T12:07:00.001Z2010-04-25T11:46:30.778+01:00

My grandma died today. It's not really an appropriate subject for this journal, but I mention it because she was an enthusiastic performer herself.Because I was a "late entrant to the profession" as they say, by the time I was working in the West End she was very old and had already succumbed to Alzheimer's. So sadly, she never saw me there, or on TV or film, or on tour with LCT, or anywhere

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-91641018218125420072010-02-27T00:43:00.002Z2010-02-27T01:04:02.920Z

I'm driving back from London today, listening illegally to my mp3 player in the car when Josh Rouse starts up and I'm transported, instantly, to Perth Theatre and the first few shows of "Abigail's Party". Extraordinary, to mis-quote Noel Coward, how potent house music is. And how enduring.Even a run as short as "Beauty Queen" leaves its mark - I can't watch that bloody Thomson holidays ad without

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-77729847872046993262010-02-20T15:07:00.005Z2010-02-24T20:22:12.599Z

Josh is cooking lunch (even though he's the sound designer), Flo (sound recordist) is reading yet another Viking romance, costume designer Ilishio is repairing 1st AD Raz's jacket. And Amin, Loveday and I are trying to come up with the dialogue for the final scene.It seems bizarre that the closing seconds are still up in the air, but it's rather consistent with the whole process, this

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-71612969566356199502010-02-19T11:46:00.003Z2010-02-19T19:26:34.330Z

Mercifully there's been no exteriors on this film - that last thing you would want in February is to be outside in the snow on, say, Worlebury encampment in Weston-Super-Mare. You know who you are...Instead we've been variously shooting in toilets (better than it sounds), hospital wards and corridors and now, for the domestic scenes, in a very plush converted barn. Very nice.What's setting this

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-36936172882521491022010-02-05T11:06:00.000Z2010-02-12T11:18:52.308Z

It was the holy trinity of castings - a corporate, a theatre job (understudy - boo) and a film. And I got the film. Exit Steve Dineen, unemployed actor and handyman bitch...enter John (surname to be decided), consultant heart specialist, breezy charmer and control freak.Come to think of it. it's all film at the moment. I've just been sent a script for a completely top secret feature that I'm not

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-22859450490360854442010-02-02T14:33:00.003Z2010-02-02T15:41:36.439Z

Last week my agent got me three castings.I just want to let that sentence hang delightfully in the air for a moment...My everyday opinion of Andy and Tod is that of one who flings himself under Shiva's juggernaut; on weeks like this, though, I truly wish to immolate myself on their flaming pyres. The death of all three of us would halt my career pretty sharpish, though, so I'll just confine

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-52506895819321757982010-01-15T00:36:00.003Z2010-01-20T11:44:12.231Z

The Work - as Christopher Wren modestly called St Paul's - is a workshop on Voice which I've been asked to run with a local AmDram group in Wantage; and I have committed about the same time and effort to this enterprise as I did to both my degrees combined.I ran one of these puppies last year for the Oxfordshire Drama Network - a sort of support group for AmDram companies throughout the county -

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-80593769296816702352010-01-14T12:17:00.004Z2010-01-15T17:56:25.357Z

"There is no more sombre obstacle to great art than the pram in the hallway"Cyril Connolly

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-48768077020904690862010-01-14T12:15:00.002Z2010-01-19T14:41:45.059Z

In the pantheon of auditions, it was somewhere in the middle. No-one said "Wow, you just blew the others AWAY! That's it! I've found my Hamlet!!", but then no-one stopped the audition to call security or Equity.It was certainly not in the same ball park as the one where I was invited to "...express yourself physically, like a...well, just...express yourself physically, you know?" or the one where

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-47297350041264150282010-01-14T00:11:00.001Z2010-01-14T00:16:43.746Z

Good God, I need to go to a few more auditions.

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-55484525236982958902010-01-12T23:54:00.005Z2010-01-14T00:11:24.127Z

I've just laid down the script to "A Village Life", a show I'm being seen for tomorrow. I wouldn't normally dream of posting before the event (out of superstition, I suppose) and the puritan in me has guilt about not staying up late to read, re-read and make notes on the script, but I'm not twenty any more. Suffice to say that I've read it plenty, researched the company and the director and I'm

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-71986592057524496062010-01-08T19:48:00.005Z2010-01-14T00:10:15.178Z

I see that Toby Stephens is playing Henry in The Real Thing next year at the Donmar. Normally the vicissitudes of who-gets-cast-in-what don't bother me too much, but I confess this news fills my head with scorpions - and not cuddly scorpions, either.You see, Henry is the role in which I first acted - I mean properly acted. There's a line in the play where he talks about something responding "...

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-36921692274725115042010-01-02T15:41:00.003Z2010-01-06T14:39:10.382Z

To Birmingham to see my chum Alex - who's also also Jake's godfather - in "The Gruffalo", which I think he's been touring on and off for about three years. He and I worked together on Midnight in 2005 and found a mutual love of Daily Mail Quizwords and sabotaging stage props - which he would then have to find or repair in time for the show. Only fun for me really, then.I saw this show before in

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-39720041651319087412009-12-22T07:43:00.003Z2009-12-22T12:41:25.430Z

The vexing thing about a touring blog is that you don't tend to write much when you're at home - it feels a touch meretricious, I suppose. And there's the niggling voice of Noel Coward, who famously asserted that you were only an actor when actually acting - he didn't favour us with what you were supposed to be the rest of the time, but as a raconteur, playwright, diarist, librettist, composer

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-83478204902366778052009-12-22T07:09:00.004Z2009-12-22T12:22:53.218Z

My bit of Oxfordshire has finally succumbed to the weather, and we have a sprinkling of snow on the ground. This is in contrast to most other places, which seem to have a mini ice-age - Facebook is littered with stories of 6-mile journeys taking 6 hours and the like.Touring is an odd experience for many reasons, but the changing seasons is one of the oddest because it's the backdrop for a largely

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-68155419101701417742009-12-06T00:37:00.003Z2009-12-09T20:07:03.739Z

I mentioned tangled webs a while ago. I've been sorting out my study (and the Dineen Archive - the sort of thing you can get down to when you're not in gainful employ) and I came up with the following Odd Coincidences:Paul Fields (emergency replacement for Michael Magnet in Wolverhampton Rep 2008) was in a graduate show I saw at the Jermyn St Theatre in 2002. The actor I was actually there to see

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-15944935103910689062009-12-06T00:18:00.003Z2009-12-06T14:59:32.789Z

Ever since "Chop" wrapped (and post-production finished, and the premiere happened, which I'm shocked to realise I didn't post about) I've been cast in their next short. In fact, I was asked to do it on the night of the press showing by Barrie, who wrote the script.The "Beauty Queen" situation knackered the original shoot schedule, and it's been rescheduled for January, which is what I thought he

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-22879219864208004672009-11-28T19:21:00.002Z2009-12-06T00:18:01.527Z

Last nights are odd on tour. On single-venue shows there's generally a massive knees-up; I guess that last night party thing is to mark the fact that the show couldn't possibly have been properly explored in 4 weeks - that the surface has only just been scratched; and, of course, that the very intense friendships you have made are about to abruptly end. If you've been raised on a diet of that

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-87535615145832425032009-11-25T14:59:00.001Z2009-11-26T18:26:12.938Z

We get to our Travelodge tonight to discover that no rooms have been booked for us. Well, Carol Dance and Ben Sherratt are welcome to stay, but there are no reservations for Alan, Alice and me. It's turning into another Abigail's Party Buxton Incident (when we were all booked in for the day after the show...) when suddenly the receptionist mentions there is a room booked for a Mr R Dooley. We

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-48685946795480381512009-11-22T10:50:00.002Z2009-11-26T15:10:05.446Z

There are two kinds of tours, really. The ones where you drink a couple of nights a weeks to oil the wheels of sociability - businesslike and, to be honest, a bit dull. And the other kind, where you behave as though you were on holiday all the time, as though the money is just to be spent on the here and now, and as though there are no such things as matinees. This is one of the latter

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-57336292153220118122009-11-19T21:16:00.002Z2009-11-19T21:27:47.840Z

The unthinkable has happened. I just got an exit round after my monologue. I am finally Irish. Well, Irish-ish.

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-16658164906435078082009-11-19T17:16:00.003Z2009-11-19T17:30:59.417Z

I forgot to mention that when I was in Edinburgh years ago, I saw "The Elephant Man" where an actress in Victorian dress had to strip off completely. As the final vestiges of modesty were cast aside and John Merrick gazed upon the first and last naked woman he ever saw, the silence was only broken by someone saying "Yum, yum!"

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-38830092249667693922009-11-19T16:50:00.002Z2009-11-19T17:15:28.344Z

Coventry has two famous references in any dictionary of phrases. To be "sent to Coventry" - the origin of which is not certain; and the tale about Lady Godiva riding through the streets of the town as a bargain to secure the building of a Bendictine monastery from her husband Leofric. Now that's what I call a dare.Riding around the streets in the buff is one thing - at least she had her long hair

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477233835333773058.post-6117893121888709282009-11-18T19:02:00.002Z2009-11-18T19:21:08.746Z

The cracks have begun to appear - the illusion is collapsing. I was sitting in the rocking chair yesterday whilst Michael and Ben "I need some help with my Latin vocab" Sherratt did the lights, when I noticed that the 'phone has been RECYCLED from the Abigail's Party set. What a swizz! It's one of those phones that I grew up with, from the days when they were permanently attached to the wall, so

steve dineenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14250192026360023883noreply@blogger.com0