ALASDAIR SATCHEL’S WEBLOG

Fringe Lag 

5 August 2008

Our week at Glenkinchie ended very well, with lots of happy faces in the audience. I really enjoyed playing there, the dancing, particularly, seemed to be really popular. It was a really happy environment in which to perform.

We were made very welcome by the staff, so much so that when we left at the end, each of us were given a bottle of 12-year-old Glenkinchie! So thank you so much!

Saturday night was a good laugh. Everyone was in the mood for hi-jinks after our week in East Lothian, and so we roister-doistered until the crack of dawn. Needless to say, Dawn wasn't too happy about it…

Sunday was our day off. Needless to say no one was up particularly early. So we lounged around in the flat watching Battlestar Galactica until the rain stopped. Which it didn't, so we watched more. The day was rounded off for Mr Hawthorne, Annie and myself with a bout of Scotch and Rye. Not the alcoholic type, but the Rikki Fulton type.

It was just lovely to see Scotch and Rye again. For me it was New Year, round at my Gran’s with my cousins and family. It was a real treat to get to see it then, and now, too. Some of the sketches are remarkably un-PC, such as the alien called Kweeah, who Super Cop stops in the street, and some of them are just timeless, brilliant performances. 'Late Call' with the increasingly drunk vicar stands the test of time. “Lovely water. Hik, Baaaaarp” Fantastic.

And so to the Fringe. We're on at St Brides every day, except Sundays, at 10.45 in the evening. This means that by the time we get out the venue it's 12.45 or 1-ish. Oh my goodness, this is going to take some getting used to. Last night we ended up going to bed about 4.00. And in our bodies it felt like just around midnight. So for the purposes of the Fringe I'm going to be working in Azerbaijani time.

Our first house was a kick in the pants off being sold out, which is an awesome start. St Brides is an unusual space to play in the round theatre, but it kind of works. We'll learn a lot from playing here, I think it'll be quite different from the other venues we've played.

With fond regards from Edinburgh, in the suburbs of Baku.

© Alasdair Satchel, 2008

Links

• Mull Theatre
• Right Lines