2011 Festivals

Working as a steward at the Venice Biennale for the British Pavilion was a ball. From the craziness of the opening week – long days, uncomfortable concrete, thieving VIPS (you know who you are), and of course parties with copious amounts of free spritz – to the comfortable routine of early morning set up, half hourly post changes, and post-work spritz gatherings whilst dusting off the Turkish dust; it was an unforgettable journey. After what seemed like the fastest 5 weeks that have ever passed, I actually haven’t yet had time to go through all the interpretation leaflets I picked up, nor had time to digest all the pavilions I managed to squeeze into the last few days of the changeover. It’s all a blur, however I know I feel disappointed by the overall impression of the lame IllumiNATIONS theme, especially in the main Giardini building, however thankfully the Austrian pavilion soothed the pain so beautifully. There. Venice in one sentence.

And from Venice pretty much straight into the Edinburgh Art Festival which I am thoroughly enjoying, probably due to the fact that I am pacing myself this year. I did manage to have a wee break in between Venice and EAF, however this was spent rehearsing with Cagoule Productions at CCA, Glasgow, for our Scottish debut of the full lengthInhabitants performance as part of CCA’s Cryptic Nights programme. The performance was a fantastic opportunity for us to push the performance to new heights with lighting, set and experimenting with projection. Big thanks are due to the Cryptic team for making the show a success and getting us a full house!