After a much needed sleep at our first 'super 8 motel' (first of many along the way), we set off on our first daytime road trip - from Newport Vermont, to Waterville Valley in New Hampshire. A stunning drive towards the white mountains, incredibly lush countryside, and our convoy of four people movers seemingly the only ones on the highway. The sun shone, our spirits were high, and we were entertained by signage along the way warning us of moose and bears.
A little more confident driving now - our designated drivers are Emma, Heather, Phil, Emma Filby, Lillie, Justine and Craig, all braving the huge roads, the right hand drive and the satellite navigation systems that play alarming noises everytime one crosses a state border or a rest stop. Always a shock. In the small hours of last night, we crossed the border from Canada to USA. The border police seemed a little shocked to have been woken from their snoozing to a sea of yellow T shirts, excitable but tired faces and strange English accents trying to explain the purpose of our visit" "We've come to bring Shakespeare from England" - as we pressed our fingerprints into the security system devices. Luckily, and $120 later, they let us in. Relieved, particularly after our earlier scare at Montreal airport when we were all skipping towards our luggage to discover that Iaonnis (our resident Greek cast member) hadn't made it through - he'd been taken off for 'questioning', returning to us twenty minutes looking rather shaken. Ah well, glad we got him, and forgot the first aid box which is still circulating the carousel at the airport.
We arrived into the valley at lunchtime, agog with the breathtaking views of the mountains, lakes and streams - a ski resort in winter, and a outdoor pursuits holiday resort for new englanders in summer. Folk drive two hours up from Boston to stay in luxury condominiums, hike, swim, play golf, and take boats out on the lake. Picture perfect! With a population of under 400, this is smallsville, and the natural beauty is strangely coupled with a disney style purpose built town square - white mock tudor buildings, twee gift shops and ice cream parlors make it feel like toy town. We were met with exuberant welcome from our hosts here at 'Shakespeare in the Valley' - a summer long festival which has up until now featured a resident company of players (www.shakespeareinthevalley.com) run by Donna Devlin. They are therefore very excited to welcome their first international company, and once we do our turn on Tuesday and Wednesday night, we shall watch their latest production of 'All the World's a Grave'. !
And so, after a productive day of rehearsing down at the resort - perfect setting for the play - we rewarded ourselves with a meal at the Kyote Grill - great food, but like most things, all supersized. We feel like borrowers holding the double sized coke cans, and bags of potato chips.
And now, I sit here in our condo, listening to a raging electric storm, and watching Heather, Lucy, Jodie and Teoni slicing up hundreds of chicken pieces ready for our pre-show banquet. Jodie and Heather have stocked up from Walmart - I think we will contribute to the recovery of the credit crunch.
And now to bed - to pray for a dry day - our show is outdoors, and apparently today is the first day of sunshine in three weeks. So think of us for our first US show, at 4.30 tomorrow (US time!).
Bye y'all for now xx
