25th January, 2009 - 10 Things I Love About the Theatre #2

The second thing that I love about the theatre is the smell of newly sawn wood. The theatre largely relies on two skills – acting and carpentry. You can take just about everybody else out of the creative team, but if you don’t have (a) people who like cavorting in front of strangers in brightly coloured trousers, and (b) people who are handy with a woodwork kit, then you don’t have a show.

The smell of sawn wood is pleasant enough in itself, but it also reminds me of my dad’s garage, where there always seemed to be a bit of wood in a vice for some reason or another. In the theatre it’s the same – some door always needs planed.

It is a smell of action and work and happiness.