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Showing posts from November, 2018

That December Feeling.

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Readers of this blog, my column in The Stage, or either of my books will know that I once played a bear. It was in a version of Kipling's "The Jungle book" at the Arts Theatre in London way back in 1990. I doubled the roles of Kipling and Baloo the bear. Sadly I didn't get to put my tonsils around the "Bare Necessities" as the music was provided by Indo Jazz Fusion. I can only hope they've gone on to have a long and successful career. I haven't actually heard what they're up to. I do hope however that the costume designer for that particular show has never been allowed near a theatre since. Having done a considerable amount of movement work in the rehearsal period to establish the weight and lumbering gait of a bear, at my costume fitting I was presented with a lycra one-piece jumpsuit and a poncho made out of fisherman's netting onto which two tone brown ribbons had been hastily tacked. My response - "It doesn't exactly scream bea