Paris

For those of you who know us well, it will not surprise that this posting is a tad late. We got back from Paris in the middle of March. I (Ellen) last wrote to you from Warwick, where we were staying at the convention center adjacent to the University’s campus. “Tea and buns” was lovely as the folks in charge of the theatre were most welcoming.

Warwick provided me with a number of “firsts”. I don’t believe I had ever before overheard a conversation on a university campus that began, “What are you giving up for Lent this year?”, nor had I ever heard geese calling in the night, or experienced eggs in cream.

As I (Ken) wrote then, I didn’t go to Warwick. I flew to Paris and joined Ellen and the crew there.

We spent two weeks in Paris. Of course Ellen was working the first week. “Best Before” was chosen to open a new theatre complex, the Gaite Lyrique. It was a big deal in Paris and security was tight. A rehearsal was interrupted when they brought in the bomb-sniffing dog to check the theatre. The mayor was coming to the building’s opening night.

You couldn’t get into the theatre building without a ticket or an official badge. Since I had neither, I thought I might have to go through the official channels and get a ticket instead of just wandering in with the crew as I had done in all the other venues where Ellen performed. It turned out that it wasn’t a problem. Ellen just flashed her performer’s pass and told the guard at the gate that I was her manager. He waved me in.

Our second week allowed us to do some sightseeing. We did visit a couple of the museums but found that the half hour lineup just to get in and the crowds inside detracted from the pleasure of viewing the great art. Instead we had the most fun wandering through the markets and the neighbourhoods, especially around Montmartre.

We were staying at le 300 Hotel which is just around the block from the Bastille Opera House. We had a kitchenette and, since we were staying the extra week, we benefited from the food and beverage purchases that Ellen’s crewmates couldn’t consume before leaving. Imagine the impulse purchases from several tourists in Paris.

We were staying just a few blocks from the Place d’Aligre, a busy market with a flea market attached, where we shopped almost every day. A great discovery was le Baron Rouge, a wine bar where we could bring our bottles and have them refilled from the cask. Good wine at cheap prices. On Sunday the sidewalks there were crowded with people using car hoods and dumpsters as tables for their wine glasses and plates of oysters that were being shucked in front of the bar. This is life in Paris.


After 78 performances in 15 cities in 10 countries, it appears that the ride may be over. While there have been inquires about people’s availability through 2012 and rumors of potential runs in places as varied as Moscow and Seoul, the crew is off to other projects and it appears that the show may have run its course. But as our friend Marian said, “If I were a Buddhist, I would know why Ellen became a flagger.”

We wish to thank Rimini Protokoll for dreaming up the idea, PuSh for producing and promoting it, as well as treating both of us very well on the tour, Gabe for making it possible for me to follow along on the tour, and Penny for helping set up this blog. If this goes any further, you will be the first to know.

Warwick, England

Ellen is in Warwick now. I (Ken)will be joining her next week in Paris. She sent me the following message as an e-mail shortly after she arrived in England. I have edited it a bit. Those European keyboards are tricky for a touch typist like Ellen.

It's afternoon here and shortly we will be meeting with people to have tea
and buns(?). I can't wait to see what that means. The trip was pretty
uneventful with my usual lack of sleep on the plane despite having popped
two gravol. We had a two hour layover in Amsterdam which, by the way, is
quite a nice airport. KLM did not disappoint. Ron and I were in the same
row. All of us drank too much. I still didn't sleep.

Getting into the country was an interesting venture since they have added
scrutiny of passports and work visas to the mix so we were an hour and
fifteen minutes getting through customs. They were very nice about it, and
clearly not thrilled with having the extra work dumped on them. Ron and
Sean pulled out their instruments and played us all a tune or two, trying to find common ground between the guitar and the ukulele...not so
easy to do.

We all went out for something to eat once we got here and the place seems
well equipped with low priced eateries on campus. It turns out we are some
distance from Warwick, so bus rides will be involved if we are to see
anything but the campus. The theatre looks great, really comfy seats for
folks and quite vaulted so everyone will have good sight lines.

The weather is as expected with Thursday looking like the best for sun.
It is a little reminiscent of San Francisco when the fog rolls in. So far
no downpour. Good room with all the amenities and tonight I will make
really good use of the bed...last night was waking at 1am and not getting
back to sleep until 3:30, with a fire alarm wake up call just before nine.
Made it down for breakfast just in time.

Hope all is well there. Things are here.

Ellen in Italy

Ahhh, Italy. Ellen here. Ken was unable to join us on this leg of the tour so the report was left to me, the procrastinator. Fortunately, the memory lingers on.

Torino is a lovely city, with much of the downtown shopping district defeating the rain with covered stone sidewalks. I wondered how services to buildings could be installed or upgraded without damaging those beautiful sidewalks, and how power was distributed with no overhead wires. Then I discovered the grates in the sidewalks and streets, below which could be seen the water, sewer, gas, and electric lines running through well finished tunnels beneath the streets. 

The theatre, housed in a very old stable (think thick stone walls and soaring ceilings),  has a huge stage and an intriguing back stage area with squat toilets and wide stone staircases leading to the upper floors. Mounting a play with high tech features seemed somewhat incongruous, but the audience never noticed. They had FUN! So much fun that I was immediately reminded of audiences in Mexico.  And of course the food and grappa did not disappoint. Can you spell “frais du bois”? In October?

Udine is a real jewel of a city, with antiquities at every turn. Our hotel was close to the theatre, with coffee bars and small restaurants en route, to say nothing of tiny fruit and vegetable stands with fabulous displays of fall mushrooms (porcini and chanterelles to name a couple).

Before we opened the show, we had a fun, well attended press conference, with a wonderful woman doing simultaneous translation for us and for the Italian speakers. Now that’s talent! Once again, the theatre was packed and audiences most enthusiastic. One day three of us headed to the smaller, ancient nearby city  of Cividale where pursuit of food and drink took precendent over sightseeing. The train ride there and back and the bus trip from Torino to Udine were the only daytime surface trips we had on this leg of the tour. Nice to see some of the countryside and enjoy the amazing roadside facilities on offer.

All too soon it was off to the Venice airport (we were able to see the skyline in the very dim early light) and home. Unfortunately, the joy of Air Canada replaced the real pleasure of Lufthansa to bring us back to Vancouver via Calgary, where the spirit of the Olympics still lingers, represented by red clad greeters at the airport.