Behind the scenes (in our flat)

When you are on the road, you have to improvise the best you can. Here I am sewing up some prop bags for the show. It's a cute little battery powered sewing machine we bought at Target before we left Milwaukee. Tonight, David will be creating a fake tongue! All in the comfort of our little flat on Lower Baggot Street.

It's amazing that so much great theatre happens in this town without many resources. There is only one theatrical supply store and they don't really carry much. We've only found one good fabric store. And while we can find tons of stuff we can't get in the states, we can't find some really basic things. One thing is craft supplies. For instance, we can't seem to find styrofoam balls (or any other styrofoam product). A hot glue gun costs about 15 Euro (about $18US). We need a fake bird for the show and I think we wore out about an inch of shoe leather looking for it.

One thing that the government has instituted is a mandatory fee for plastic bags to take your purchases home. Not a bad way to cut down litter. In fact, when you get money from an ATM you have to ask for a receipt. So many people were simply discarding them on the ground that it became a litter problem.

On the other hand, the fabrics that you CAN get here are fabulous! The wools are real and not blended and many different weights. The hardware you can get for your front door is great, too! Great knockers (no jokes), latches, hinges, knobs, etc. that are copies of Georgian era hardware. Not exactly cheap, but at least it is available here. Even Renovators Supply doesn't carry what we see every where. And keys! Who knew there were so many different types, sizes and styles of skeleton keys. Great props!

Almost any restaurant sells food to go (They call it "take away" over here). And the variety is extraordinary. Lots of Italian, Chinese, Japanese (Yes, we had sushi!), Thai, African, Persian, Polish, oh, and Irish. Yes, they have McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Burger King. They even have Quizno's! Panini's, perogi's and pretzels - you can get it all here.

Well, got to get back to work. Here's a shout out to Tim and the Krajec clan.

Deb