Today was a classic 'me day'.
The big event was the preview I had booked in at The Actors' Temple on Warren Street; a preview I ended up having to cancel as I only had one person booked in. Some people can barely scrape an audience in double figures; I barely get more than just myself. To be fair, it's often the way with Edinburgh previews; there are so many going on that the market is saturated, and mine didn't have the intrigue of being part of a double bill that could draw in more than one fan base (I use the phrase 'fan base' very loosely).
I knew the state of the numbers earlier on the day, but went through the motions, in case they picked up. The biggest frustration was I had to find a way to carry all of the equipment I needed for it on the train by myself (my wife brought things with her as well when she joined me, but she couldn't leave for London until she finished work). It wasn't so much thaqt the equipment specific to the show that was the problem; more that I had to take sound equipment too, as the venue doesn't have a P.A.
Glyn's and my techie friend extraordinaire Paul had agreed to loan me a speaker to plumb the mic and the audio from the slideshow into, which he'd left on a trolley at The Sun Hotel for me to pick up, but when I went to collect it, I soon realised there was no way on God's Earth I'd be able to fit it into a taxi, let alone drag it along with everything else. So, in the end, I had no choice but to go to the local electronics shop and buy an emergency guitar amp to take in its place. Thankfully, I'm made of money.
(Spot the sarcasm.)
Though I didn't have a show, the evening wasn't wasted, expensive though it was. I did a run at the venue while my wife took a few notes (which I haven't heard yet: watch this space). It may have ended up being a costly and awkward-to-get-to rehearsal, but it was useful to do. I still think it would work better with an audience.