Tuesday, September 13, 2005

The Batman Dance

Relief from the weekend's traumas - the back-up copy I kept of the footage turns out to be of higher quality than I'd thought, and I'm able to construct a decent enough version of the DVD. It takes all day, but at least it's clawed back.

Meeting with Athina Fokidou - a freelance administrator who's keen to work with us. She's just started doing some fundraising for Stone Crabs on a commission-only basis, and is willing to do the same for us. Nothing to lose, I guess.

5pm and the phone goes. Henry Holmes from the Columbia Foundation in San Francisco, calling at 9am his time. It's the news I'd not been trying to hope for too much: they've agreed to fund Dis-Orientations with a big grant. This is fantastic on so many levels: for a start, it means that we know at this early stage the production will be happening. It means we don't have to rely solely on the Arts Council (though we'll ask them for a top-up); that we can make definite venue bookings rather than the usual "pencil tour" pending the ACE application; that I can go to China and put money on the table rather than tentative possibilities. Looking at the Columbia website (http://www.columbia.org/), I'm also very struck by the company we're in: usually these funds go to organisations like the National or the Almeida - so this is a big vote of confidence. I suppose it all goes back to Gary Thorne taking the initiative and bringing Henry to meet me at the office back in the spring. I owe Gary a serious drink.

When you run a company, the "highs" are quite few and far between - even though people tend to think they're the only reason anyone would want to work in the theatre. Opening nights are nice, a good review is pretty nice, and the moments in rehearsal when you really find something truthful are deeply fulfilling. But, for me, the moment when I find out that we will definitely do a project I've been working on for months is the one that has me doing the Batman Dance. So - I do it.

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