40 Dei - Monday March 9th

Until lunch I was scared. X wasn’t here just like Friday. Is he playing fool with us? Y’s girlfriend had felt some pains in the night, she’s pregnant, and he didn’t turn up till lunchtime.. Z’s voice has been sore for a week and a bit now and it’s really pulling the piece down as his voice has no volume or energy.. One of the newcomers whom we’ve given quite a big part to is not really going to get there in the time available. Everyone else seemed affected by all of this and the run through of the first 17 pages was just awful. Never has one of these bigger plays had a worse start. Jo went to see X.

He has an abscess and really is in pain . At least that eases the resentment some of us were feeling. So over lunch in the nutrition centre, (anyone in Port Vila reading this, we have excellent cheap nutritious lunches in our nutrition centre. 250vt for two salads and a bowl of soup!) I said to some actors I thought we should give it a week and if it doesn’t work, we should ditch it and revive Las Kad. Everyone returned from lunch fairly depressed. Over lunch the musicians had rigged up a basic PA and a couple of cordless mikes which gave such a boost to the songs and the preaching scenes that it was like a new beginning. The play was born again! Danny was electric as the drunken Ben , enraged by his reformed friend’s attempts to convert him. Still problems, but you could see that it might work. Some of us talked to the newcomer after rehearsals who took his switch to the chorus in very good spirit.

And back in the office Lauren a WSB project officer is photocopying the comments of his preacher on Sunday who in his sermon praised our recent film Las Kad, which was on TV last week, saying it showed the reality of Vanuatu today. As the preacher talked, Lauren said, he, Lauren, sat there looking around, basking in the preacher’s praise for the film. Vanity, Lauren! Lukaot!