If you don't want to see the play, at least come for the ties!

As you can see in the photo, I have made good progress on the Chinese dragon painting for the restaurant scene in Glengarry. I still have to put in the scales along the dragon’s body and do a bit more on the background before I can call it finished. Then I just have to do another one! I hope I’ll get time on Friday as I don’t want to work this weekend, because my lovely daughter is coming home from London and I want to make the most of seeing her. Yesterday I went over to Liverpool to see the set builders and to go back to the place where I found the grey desks. I met up with Chris, who was driving the van and we loaded up the desks and the other things, then rummaged around for more office paraphernalia, such as box files, hole punchers and notice boards. We drove a hard bargain with the proprietor, mainly because Chris and I turned out our pockets and it was obvious by the time we had finished, that we had not a penny left! I think we still need more lever arch and box type files to fill up all the shelves but the budget has now gone into the red. If anyone reading this has any unwanted files, just drop them off at the stage door!

The set is going on well and the painter has started work, which is good news since we are due to collect it on Thursday! I am always very particular about the colour matching and paint finishes on my set, some would call it control freakery! I think that the quality of painting makes all the difference between a good set and an indifferent one. I hope that the workshop will deliver a paint job that I am really pleased with. I’m including a photo of progress so far. Liz and I went out costume shopping again today and we have found almost all we need. We may still have to buy one or two ties, but we plan to have a good search through our massive stock of striped, patterned and plain ties first. I love our tie boxes! We have big patterned ties from the 50’s, thin ties from the 60’s, wide ties from the 70’s, knitted ties, checked ties, regimental ties; four boxes packed full of colour and texture, just waiting to perfectly finish off an outfit for one of our actors! There are many things I really love about this job and picking out the ties is up there with the best! Even if you are not sure about the play (which is going to be fantastic), come and enjoy the ties!