In Manila Envelopes

Well, the UK visa office lived down to expectations on Monday morning. The whole enterprise has been privatised, and the office is in an office block in downtown Namdaemun, on the fifth floor. We trooped there first thing, having been joined now by Minatosan, who is in very high spirits, to find a neat waiting room with rows of empty chairs and two people waiting for custom. The electronic queuing system was registering 0 and 1 respectively for the two lines, and although the office had been open for an hour it seemed that we were their first customers. Any thought that this might make it a quick process was short-lived though. It turns out that the passports will all be sent to Manila, and the time it takes was now stretched to a possible 15 days, which takes us a week into Birmingham rehearsals. So we have a nervous wait. It is frustrating, because it is hard to see what possible threat this wonderful group of artists pose to our shores [MI5, if you are reading this please note] but of course that is not really the way these things work….

Judy arrived this afternoon though, to take on the job of worrying about all that. She had to hit the ground running rather, after 48 hours travelling from Truro via Tokyo. Without even time for a shower, she was in the first of two producer’s meetings. Mr Shimoyama is also here on his even more flying visit, and I had a meeting with him in the morning about the next Hanyong Project – a “Babydrama” project planned for 2011.

Because his visit was so short, the meeting concentrated on arrangements for Japan, which are interesting, because they are the opposite extreme from the Seoul venue we are rehearsing in, being very small and non-theatrical venues [in Tokyo, at least – the Okinawa venue is bigger]. The schedule is fixed, and particularly considering Judy’s schedule, the meeting was very productive, and as goes nowadays without saying was also wonderfully positive, amicable and enjoyable.

In the evening Mr Shimoyama hosted a special party to celebrate the fact that Byung Ho has been elected the Chair of ASSITEJ Korea, which is causing him to look very smart these days, always in a sharp suit, and to be even more busy than usual, always with a phone to his ear.
Oh yes, rehearsals. We did fit a whole afternoon in at least, between bureaucracy and celebration. In that time we tackled the legendary Brazil scene, which is really the big gap in the play at the moment. It is in a different style from the rest of the play, and will be significantly assisted by music and light, but we did a good deal of work this afternoon deciding things about it, mapping it out in effect, and it was a good job that it was such a satisfying session in view of the frustrations of the morning.

For me the day was lengthened by leaving my phone in the restaurant, only realising back in my hotel room, and having to walk back. It was closed, so I will go again in the morning, but it is a tribute to this city that I am not for a moment concerned that it will not turn up. I was in bed by 1.30…getting too old for this.