But I was.”

Yet another quote from the play that has come true during these 3 weeks.  In this case, I was holding my breath about The Stage review.  We’ve had great reviews and brilliant audience reactions, but this one meant everything.  I knew the top critic, Natasha Tripney, had been in.  I had stalked her shamelessly on Twitter asking her to review.  She never replied and I assumed it was not going to happen.  I found out a couple of hours before Tuesday’s show that she was going to review.  Per the pact, I didn’t say anything to George and Kirsten, but I was nervous.  The audience was perhaps the worst we have ever had.  It was small, only around 15 and they were silent.  No reaction, whatsoever!  We finished up and our tech, Jack, had to start the applause – never a good sign.  Our anonymous man, Martin, said, “God you guys had to work hard tonight”.  But bizarrely, we were all happy with our performance.  What happened onstage was pretty damn perfect.  We seemed to crack the build up of tension in scene one and George was so in my face in scene 6, I struggled not to show any fear.  So, how does that play out?  You have a critic who is judging your performance.  Where does the audience fit into that?  I was expecting the worst and I knew it was going to hurt.  Not only was she someone I respected, but she was also the only female critic who had reviewed the show.  Guys like this show, but women really like it.  I wanted a female critic to review it.  Careful what you wish for…

I found a lovely garden today, unexpectedly, just off the Royal Mile – Dunbar’s Close Garden.  A lovely wee oasis to escape the craziness and the crowds.  I was there at 2.15pm and I checked our Facebook page.  I saw a glorious 3 Star review from The Stage praising the show, the writing and the acting.  I’m not ashamed to say that I sat there and cried – tears of joy, but mostly relief.  I hadn’t realised I was holding my breath, but I had been, waiting for a moment of validation.  The play wasn’t shit. She liked it.  She described it as, “an engagingly twisty piece”.  Her criticisms were few, but fair and I’ll address them.

But for now, I’m breathing…”great big gulps of life”.