...WITH A SPECIAL STAR AS FAIRY
their make up done and transform into character among the rails of costumes packing the backstage area. The Big Buff Fairy gives me a pep talk before I concentrate on going over my lines. In such a small theatre we can hear the audience coming in and I feel surprisingly nervous.
The show goes on at 7pm and I’m vaguely aware it’s now 7pm and the rest of the cast have vanished. I realise I’m not entirely sure at what point I make my entrance. “Someone will get me when it’s time,” I think to myself.
Suddenly Grant, who is putting the finishing touches to his fabulous Queen Euphemia costume, notices me and says: “You’re meant to be on the stage.”
My next words are not fit for a family show and I bolt along the side of the audience, through the doors to the side of the stage and launch myself upstairs into the wings just in time to stride on next to the Big Buff Fairy. Did I mention I was laced into a corset?
I can hardly catch my breath but the audience is staring at me and I realise this is it – no time to waste. I’ll be honest, I milk it.
In rehearsal I said the lines and scarpered back off again. In the spotlight, I string it out as long as possible.
But I don’t want to overstay my welcome and suddenly it’s all over. I get to sit and watch the show while the rest of my temporary cast mates give it their all for the next two hours. Afterwards Grant holds a debrief with his cast, which they take very seriously – listening to feedback and working out how the next show can be better.
As for me, “Would you have me back?”
“Oh, yes I would,” Grant says. And he really seems to mean it.
uss In Boots runs on various dates at the Britannia Panopticon until Saturday, December 23 with a special adults only performance on December 15. For tickets see www.tickets-scotland.com