Keeping up with Jake in January

Happy New Year!

Here are two scenes from the last few months of my life: Oct-Dec ’22. I finish a three-month stint of rehearsal and performance of The Jungle and the Sea with Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney.

I land in Wellington and I’m not feeling well. I phone my wife and ask her not to pick me up from the airport; to leave the back door open and prepare a room for isolation. Sure enough, I test positive for COVID. Christmas day is me and my dog, alone in the house, with a very unsatisfying ham sandwich.

Jan ’23. I finish a two-week stint of rehearsal and performance of Indian Ink’s Paradise or the Impermanence of Ice Cream at the Sydney Festival. I land in Wellington and turn on my phone. There are 32 missed calls. I’m pretty sure somebody must’ve died. But, thankfully, no.

They’re all messages SHOUTING that The Jungle and the Sea has picked up Best Mainstage Production, Best Ensemble, Best Original Score and Best New Australian Work at the Sydney Theatre Awards. There’s also a message from the Director of the Darwin Festival. She saw, loved and wants Paradise.

I get home at midnight, pat the dog and make myself a very satisfying ham sandwich.

 

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