Archive | February, 2010

Disturbing Angels looking for Evita

28 Feb
A trip to Recoleta Cemetery today in blazing hot sun – avoiding the crowds who were there to take photos of Eva Peron’s tomb. But I swear I saw this Madonna turn her head as the woman with the blue bag came into view…

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Empty streets full of the dead.
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Weird to think that the great and the good outdoing each other both in life and after it too. I wonder in our digital footprint world with the immense ecological impact for land and resources we will ever see the like of these places again, where it was felt important to show and be seen in grandeur after your time on this earth

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Things I have learned in Argentina – part 1

28 Feb

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1) When your host offers you kidneys. intestines, blood sausage from his parilla or barbecue you eat it all, and realise it is unbelievably delicious. 

2) The Beef that follows has taken 2 hours to cook and melts in your mouth. 

3) Traffic never stops for you on zebra crossings. I am using Jedi mind powers now when I cross the road. So far – so good

4) On the subway somebody will come and put something on your knee at the start of one station and take it off at the next, or you keep it and give them money – so far I have a packet of tissues and a geometry set, but not the LED book light

5) Directing a show in Spanish and then English is effectively working on two texts and takes twice the time as there are two shows to direct

6) There is the same baby girl being carried by a series of older girls begging on Subway Line D all day. This small child is on the underground for 12 hours at a time. This worries me. A lot. 

7) If you want to know what something costs in pounds sterling, divide by 6. My 6 times table has come on leaps and bounds

8) Everyone here owns at least 2 pairs of Converse All Stars

9) It is impossible to be a vegetarian here – well almost

10) The Subway stops at 11pm for safety reasons. Which meant I had a 60 minute walk home and no LED book light to guide me

11) Everyone loves the Talking Carl iphone app here, especially as he appears to speak perfect Spanish now.

12) Eveybody here is familiar with the ‘hand of God’ football incident

13) There is a justice for war veterans camp in the Centre of the City

14) Carlos is an excellent cook

15) People here are very stylish, beautiful and friendly

16) It takes two to Tango

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Google Earth shows the Chile Earthquake tremor sites

27 Feb

Here in Buenos Aires we have just been finding out some information about the earthquake across the border in Chile. Some of the actors have colleagues and friends in Santiago and we are waiting for news.
On Google Earth already there are postings going up about specific sites and areas where the events are unfolding. Here is a screen grab of the latest tremor sites.

and a link to the BBC site which has the latest news http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8540289.stm

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In rehearsal this morning at the theatre

27 Feb
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We had a full run through with Cynthia Fridman who will be recording the voice for the Principal in the New Business Transactions piece. We ran the piece in both Spanish and for the first time in English which was great to hear.

80,000 telephones at the Coldplay gig

27 Feb
Last night I was at the River Plate Stadium to see Coldplay perform to in excess of 80,000 fans. At one point the whole crowd did an ‘Argentinian’ wave revealing their lit phone screens right around the three tiered football ground. It was , of course, the 21st Century version of the ‘lighter in the air moment’ but the sight of that many people standing and waving their phones in a succession was a real event. It was an impressive set with highlights for me that included a stunning AV and laser section during ‘Fix You’ and an encore of ‘The Scientist’ which has meant I am rediscovering ‘A rush of blood to the head’ this morning on my walk into work.
If you check the previous blog post there are some more pictures of the stadium and the event in storyboard form. Alos I have an audioboo of my thoughts and some clips which I will uplooad later onto here as the 3G won’t let me here in the apartment and there is no wifi, so it is hardwired on my mac til later.
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Busy day today as we have to work a new cast  member into the first piece as she will be the voice we are recording to relay during the show in both Spanish and English  – and there are 53 cues to sort out in each language. So off to walk in with an old album rediscovered is ringing in my ears – ‘clocks’ means I have to go now
adios mis amigos
Mx

 

 

Viva La Vida and the Butterflies

27 Feb

My adventures last night at The River Plate Stadium…X&Y mark the spot… of course!

A story in 4 pictures –

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Who ate all the empanadas?

26 Feb

A quick lunch break as we have just finished working on the second piece, the ‘Che Guevara’ play by Gabriel Fernandez Chapo, only to be faced with a box of ’empanadas’ like mini cornish pasties actually filled with beef or chicken or cheese and ham, and before you ask, it wasn’t me that ate them all. Not today anyway…

Not least as certainly Julian and Celeste had their share too – it may be a slow afternoon now as we can all hardly move

If you are interested here is a recipe of how to make your own empanadas that will also stop you working on Friday afternoons too

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empanada

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Coldplay are live in Buenos Aires Tonight

26 Feb
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Am trying to go with our AV designer Pato to see if we can crash the River Plate Stadium gig and see if we can get through the maze of ticket sellers and barriers

http://www.coldplay.com/exhib.php?id=101

Sites on my walk to work – not the real Chrysler Building

26 Feb

The walk to work is a brisk 40 minutes up the Avenue Cabildo to Nunez or a 3 stop Subte or underground ride. You can get the Subte from Juan Hernandez station and travel to the terminus of the Green line D, or walk. Walking for me is the preferable choice every time. You miss out on so much if you don’t walk in a city.So yesterday it was there and back for me, with a cafe solo from a great coffee shop in hand it was my opportunity to take in the sites and the people and generally get the feel of the neighbourhood. One of the landmarks I have to use is ‘Bingo Belgrano’ to turn right opposite. A clearly memorable landmark

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On the way there I was also taken by what is a truncated version of the Chrysler Building in New York and made of large lego pieces that have not withstood the weather very well.

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Again landmarks, tastes and flavours of my journey to and from work.

AudioBoo / Buenos Aires Rehearsal

25 Feb