Oil on chips...

Clarisse (Zweite Dame) in the first act quintet "oh die zauberflote..."- Note Papageno bottom right hand corner

MF opens - puppets good, some rain

Opening night in Bregenz - the town is overrun with people in fancy frocks and straw sun hats. Blind Summit come to visit. The show goes well.The lipsynching of the puppets to the singing is beguiling and makes me wish they were in the show more. A round of applause for Pamina and Tamino disappearing into the lake holding the flute over their head. Very grand after show party, skinny dipping in the lake at dawn, then bed for a couple of hours before setting off to Zurich and back to London.


Things I heard this week: Acting is problem solving. In acting discomfort is the comfort. If you don't trust your director you might as well not work with a director (Robert DeNiro). Everything is political (Me).

Magic Flute dress rehearsal tonight

Go for a swim in the lake before breakfast. Stop at the Turkish shop on the way home to pick up milk, coffee, croissants. My job here is nearly done: tonight is the "generalprobe" on the Lake Stage. Our second audience. At Saturday's Orchestra and Piano we had 6000 teenagers as part of something called "Cross Culture Day". Audiences this size are strange. They don't really respond as one. They do Mexican waves. They come and go to the toilet. They film on their iphones. They laugh patchily. They did go quiet together at the beginning but then the coffin-lid which is supposed to close to start the opera, didn't. 

Shun-kin is on in New York in the Lincoln Festival. People seem to be enjoying it. They have sent me emails. 

And now I have to read some scripts for our "Puppet Monologues" project.