10th August, 2009 - Shifting Gear

I am planning next year’s shows for the theatre company just now. It’s not an altogether unpleasant task. Organising things in the Arts seems largely to consist of having three hour meetings over several cups of coffee followed by a leisurely exchange of e-mails. These might, or might not, constitute a contract – but who needs one of those anyway – we’re all nice guys anyway aren’t we? Plus we all recognise that the chance of ever making any real money in the theatre is vanishingly small, so there seems little point in committing any sort of agreement to writing. It is better to make contacts, and spend long and happy hours in the slightly seedy bars where theatre people hang out.

This lackadaisical approach is in rather stark contrast to the day job, where most of my day is spent frantically dealing with huge piles of paper – reading them, filing them, responding to them. I need to mentally shift gear as I move from one world to the other: from handshakes and contacts; to copperplate and contracts I guess.