Posterior Prayers

“Integrate what you believe in every single area of your life. Take your heart to work and ask the most and best of everybody else, too.”

For those of you who know me, you probably know who I’m quoting above. For those of you who don’t know me, it’s Meryl Streep. Wow, did it really take a whole two sentences for her name to be mentioned in this blog? I was expecting it to come out sooner.

Anyway, welcome to Perks of Being Devon, a series of blog posts centred around yours truly. Blech. What a horrible, horrible concept - blogs are such self-centred things, aren’t they? Luckily for you, I’m an endless well of entertainment, self-embarrassment, and humour so I assume you’ll be sticking around for a while. Also, I’m notorious for being misunderstood over the internet, so please don’t read into anything I say. Or maybe do, I’m a drama student and we’re really into reading into things that might not even be there.

So I’ve tried writing a blog before and it just ended up being on Russian phrases that I thought sounded nice (no jokes), so hopefully this one goes a little better. I’m headed to India in about nine hours to work with an Afghan theatre company to produce William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors for the Globe Theatre in London, England. The Globe is doing a pre-Olympics cultural celebration, producing all thirty-seven of Shakespeare’s plays in thirty-seven different languages. So I’m the “assistant director” or “director’s assistant” or “assistant to the director” (though the first sounds much more artistic). After rehearsing in and touring India for forty days, we head to England to perform at the Globe, the Sheldonian in Oxford, and at Hatfield House (Elizabeth I’s childhood home). And then we go to the Globe Theatre in Germany (who knew there was more than one?), ending at the beginning of summer.

The feelings I’m experiencing now, as the soon-to-be contents of my suitcase remain strewn over my living room floor, are a mix between excitement, nervousness, and oh-my-what-am-I-getting-myself-into-ness. There’s also the thought in the back of my mind that April is India’s hottest month and I am likely to melt. However, I did recently by some 110SPF sunscreen to help my whiteness.

I will post again in about a day after I have spent a lovely 13 hours flying to Dubai. This is what Emirates Airlines says about economy: “We designed our cabins in our Economy Class to create more space and comfort.” That’s all. Great. Vagueness is a great sign.

Anyway, looping back to Meryl Streep’s quote, what she says is basically what I’m going to try to embody during this adventure.

Please pray for the comfort of my buttocks as it traverses the Atlantic and onwards.