I did amateur theatre for seven years, all sorts of stuff. Started in the workshop building and painting sets (my trompe l'oeil stone walls are unsurpassed) making and managing props, then moved to costumes and make-up. I've also done some script-writing, acted in minor roles and managed the finances for a year.
I'd love to get back into theatre, but not with the old crowd, because their productions are gargantuan.
One of my favourite aspects of theatre is the script, the lines, the language itself. Sometimes I prefer to read a play rather than to see it performed! Although it's always interesting to see how a play is put up. I usually go and see stuff that aren't depending so much on speech though - ballet, opera, cirque noveau. So I also like a good visual spectacle.
Favourite playwrights include Tom Stoppard, Henrik Ibsen, Samuel Beckett, August Strindberg. I also think Mats Ek (choreographer/director) is the best thing since ice cream, I recently saw his producton of The Merchant of Venice and it blew me away.
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