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Being Melodramatic.

Yesterday, I started my second week in ‘Marry Me, or Be Evicted’, the comedy melodrama I’m performing at The Market Theatre all month.

It’s going well, despite the fact I'm still suffering from labyrinthitis. I hoped this might have passed by now, but it hasn't. It certainly adds an extra dimension to proceedings, spending the entire show feeling like I’m on a fairground rotor.

It’s not just my head that’s suffering. The audience turnout has been a little low. The theatre only has a capacity of sixty-five. Last night, we had just eight people in: enough to fill the front row, which is exactly what they did.

They were pretty responsive for an audience of their size, but it was still hard work. I imagine it must also have been a bit intimidating. A lot of the show is delivered out front – and, while we never pick on anyone, they must have felt like they were constantly under scrutiny.

The numbers will hopefully pick up over the next few weeks. The good weather probably hasn’t helped. It’s also a tough show to market. It’s one of the best that the Market Theatre has staged and always gets a great reaction, but it’s still hard to get people in in the first place. Who wants to go to a Victorian melodrama? Our target audience died out the best part of a century ago.

If it had been cast by a Simon-Cowell-fronted TV talent show it would be a different story.
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