Diary of a flying pig: Danish Tour 10/30

Packing it up...

I arrived at the theatre this morning at 8:30 to help Andrew, Neils, and Jen, as well two girls from a local school, Stine & Lena, who are doing a kind of "work experience" week, and we started taking the set down! It was remarkably easy, and some big improvements were made, such as:
-The trees have pegs in the bottom, which then fit into the floor, so they're always in the same spot and stable
-All of the rigging is connected by its own, separate metal grid, which means you put it together on the floor, and then just fly the one piece , which has almost all of your rigging points attached to it.
-The back cyc is composed of fabric that's all the same size and is cut level, and the frame it's attached to is on extendable legs, so the entire thing can be tied on at ground level, and then raised.
-The stage is bigger pieces, so they hold square better and are all interchangeable
-all of the fly rails and stabilizers are built to attach directly to the set, so they are always in the same place and solid.

We'll see how it goes when we set it up!

The actors arrive around 11am to pack up props and costumes, and do a little backstage cleaning as we worked on the set.
After we struck, Lars, Malene, Oliver, Joan, Pia, and I went to the very fancy restaurant where Kamilla works for a traditional Danish meal of beer, schnapps, and Smørbrod- open faced sandwiches topped with a variety of meats, vegetables, sauces, and cheese, all beautfullt arranged on Danish rye bread. We realized early on the the presentation of the meal is just as important as the food itself, as is the act of eating it together. Michael M. said at one point that without meals eaten together, the Danish family structure would completely collapse. There's definitely something to be learned from this...

After the meal, which was spectacular, of course, Kamilla gave us a tour of the building, and then we went our spearate ways. I made it an early evening, as it was pouring rain out, so I spent the evening trying to decipher Danish television while packing for tour!

LESSONS FOR THE DAY
A nice big table and cozy meeting area makes meetings not feel like meetings.
Taking the extra 2 hours to make something exactly right is always preferable to spending 15 hours fixing it on the road!

WARNING! I'm not sure what the internet connection will be at our hotel in Haderslev, so it may not be until Friday, November 3 that you hear from me again!

On the road again...
PIG