Best part of the day came at 4 pm, when I met the Sports Club members in the Staffroom. It used to be Aparna’s space, as a base for extra-curricular activities (of which she is the co-ordinator), but in recent months it has been designated as a staff room (or sometimes staff sleeping area.) However, come four o’clock, most of the staff leave, and it reverts to being her fiefdom. And on this particular day – I hadn’t seen them previously – it was the gathering place for the Sports Club committee.
I thought I had already met them all – the three boys who had been so busy designing the poster, but there were loads, a dozen or so, including, encouragingly, lots of girls. Though none in positions of authority, it would seem. Hmm.
This was to be my team, apparently, taking on all sorts of organisational, administrative, and sheer dogsbody tasks, like shifting chairs; the ones I had generally done myself, in the past. I have never had such assistance in the past, generally doing everything myself. And in this I am not alone, I once attended a talk by the great Joan Littlewood, eminent theatre director, who wore a London Borough of Newham street cleaner’s donkey jacket, because, she said, “I have been shovelling shit all my life.”
There were, in truth, rather too many of them for the tasks we had to manage, at least until we get to the performances, and I told them so. A few are planning to audition tomorrow, which will help in two respects: slightly fewer helpers with not enough to do, and more potential actors. But one girl, Nimes, we asked to take on a role which I had not thought of previously, that of assistant director: attending every rehearsal, taking notes, assisting with the ongoing translation (she has very good English), and even takng rehearsals when I am not there. It is a big ask, but she seemed pleased, and I gave her time to think about it.
As more and more people drifted out, we were left with a core group, and it was pleasant to sit with them, laughing and joking (mostly them laughing and me joking.) Aparna ordered tea and noodles for us from the canteen, both of them very welcome.
