Rehearsals: Day 1

Well, we have begun... rehearsals at least. Day one done. We've set up camp in The Factory in Dublin, a studio, rehearsal space founded by John Carney, Kirsten Sheridan, Lance Daly and others. It's a great space (if not a little chilly). Most of the cast gathered at 10am, started by chatting, getting to know new faces, and then got stuck into some conversations about the script, the character, the themes and tone there in.

We had some lunch, soup and sandwiches, warmed us up. Then back to it. We read the end of the script, sequence 18 is a long a complicated piece, so I wanted to hit it first. A little more discussion and then everyone but me, Michael and Brian stayed behind to work on their character's relationship, which is one of high intensity! Even though we only started we got stuck in and it felt good.

It's always fun to see it come to life and watch the choices actors make, changing, improving upon, bringing new meaning to what I've written - and making it real, making the project real.

There are a couple of hiccups that arose over the weekend that have yet to be sorted out. For some reason my insurers are not getting back to me, no idea why they're dragging their heals, usually insurence has never been a worry, it goes through in the first phone call! But I decided to try a different firm this time and I can safely say I wont be using them again, well, maybe at all if they don't get back to me tomorrow!

We will have insurance, we can't do without it, that simple, we wont be allowed on location without it! It's just annoying that I've been put in this situation and made doubtful while I should just be concentrating on the creative side of things. Hopefully it'll get sorted in the next day or two.

Another headache came when I got a call on Saturday even from Keith Ward, the actor playing Tone, and the stunt coordinator, telling me that he had to pull out, just two days before rehearsal! He's working on Asterix 3 in Waterford and the shoot got pushed back because of the weather. Stupid hurricane! I don't hold any grudge toward Keith, I know he was in a tight spot. It's frustrating alright, but these things happen all the time. Hopefully tomorrow we'll have a new Tone. It's going to be a big challenge for whatever actor takes it. He's got to learn a whole character and script in four days! When Keith had it for a year! So watch this space!

OK, that's all for today. More tomorrow. I need to sleep now!!!