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February 29 2008 - Roland Rat
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A million apologies for my longer than usual silence; apart from another quick visit to London to solve the still ongoing saga of the visa situation which still requires another visit in April - hopefully the last - life in the bush is so unpredictable that planning anything seems risible. I'm also finding sleep a little elusive. This is because of a new addition to my household. I'm convinced it's Rowland Rat, Arthur says it's Mickey Mouse. He says that large mice often look like small rats, but I've seen this mother, and believe me it's a large rat. When I go to bed, Rowland starts his endeavours to gain admittance to my cabin. The scrabbling noise is enough to wake the dead, but Candy and Snooze snore their oblivious way through this assault, and only wake when Rowland finally appears in the cabin. They then leap into life, and barking ferociously launch a combined attack. As they are on the ground and Rowland - no fool this boy - on top of a cupboard their efforts to capture and kill are inevitably frustrated. Rowland then darts behind the back of the cupboard and Candy launches a full-on attack via the open door snarling and growling like a member of the 'Hounds of the Baskervilles'. As they are separated by the back of the cupboard, Rowland still has the upper hand, and all the items stored in the cupboard are hurled onto my floor by Candy, backed up by Snooze and chaos soon reigns. Rowland then decides to make a quick get-a-way, Candy and Snooze retreat from the cupboard attempting to appear victorious and smug, and we finally retire - again - for the remainder of the night. Twenty minutes later... And so it continues until dawn. All three of us face the day wreaked from lack of sleep, and I trust the same can be said of Rowland. How this nightly confrontation will resolve itself I cannot predict, but I sincerely hope it's SOON! While I was in London, I met up with Matthew Westwood and Gary Amers, to read some scenes from the now final script of Fuschia. Matthew has made a decision to direct the play himself; an extremely wise one in my opinion: he wrote it and knows how he wishes it to be played. His agent is in the process of finding a suitable theatre in which to stage it, and once that is in place, we're off! Matthew hopes to begin rehearsals in August and play September/October, so finally this play is about to see the light of day. I think that this play is the only reason that I could justify being away from the Sanctuary for so long. When I'm here, I forget about acting and my previous life as an actress and commit myself totally to my life in the bush, and believe me when I say that the contrast between those two life styles is vast! But I do recognise that they feed each other. I have grown as a woman since living in Africa, and that growth will be reflected in my work as an actress. I was aware of it when I was reading through the script with Matthew and Gary, and honouring both my theatrical, extroverted side, and my solitary, introverted side is necessary and extremely productive. So right now, at this advanced stage in my life, I'm a very happy bunny. I trust that the same can be said for all of you, and I send big love and monkey hugs to you all. x
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