The surprise in question coming when Roji walked in to the rehearsal; it seemed the charity he works for had paid for him to come up to London, and clever Roji had not only made sure this happened on a Wednesday, but also that he could have a shlrt time off “for a very important meeting”. The irony was that Hamed was late – he had gone to view a possible flat, but of course the landlord had turned up late. And the flat was dreadful.
But it did mean that we could all rehearse together. And actually, it was a little disappointing; as both Roji and Hamed were struggling with their words at times, which dragged things back. All the same, I am remaining positive. I have done this sort of thing enough times now to recognise that the path to performance is by no means a smooth upward trajectory. But I do think the piece has the potential to be very good indeed, so I will be disappointed if they do not do themselves justice.
