Yesterday morning things were off to a bit of a rougher start. Both Natasha and I slept poorly in our new surroundings. I woke up feeling disoriented and lost. Where am I again? Oh yeah, Winnipeg. Natasha shook the sluggishness off faster than I did and even had breakfast with our billet while I debated such intellectually stimulating life choices as: Should I take a shower in the morning? Is today a shorts kind of day? Maybe I should just go back to bed? Do I really want yogurt for breakfast? You are all fascinated with the complexities of my life, I'm sure. I also realized that my face wash had somewhat exploded in my toiletries kit. This didn't bother me yesterday as it was easy enough to clean up... or so I thought. Apparently, some of that soapy goodness seeped into my contact lenses' case and I ended up spending half the day looking like I had been crying because Natasha says mean things to me in the middle of the night... which she totally doesn't! Nope, not like her at all... ;) Having put the pull-out couch away, going back to bed was not an option. So after a blog post, a shower, a skort, some coffee, and some breakfast, we were basking in the Manitoba sun on our way to the bus stop, ready for a busy day of postering. We were delighted to know that Winnipeg Transit offers weekly passes which now make it a breeze for us to get around.
When we were nearing the festival area, Natasha turned to me and said something that sent chills down my spine: "Did you bring the posters?"
Shit!
We checked our bus schedule and realized we had about 40 minutes before we could go back, so we went to sign in to the performer services area instead. Posters were already covering the vast majority of surfaces as we approached the Manitoba Theatre Centre and I ran into one of the first people I recognized: Jonny P from GRIMMER THAN GRIMM. He also introduced us to the people we would be having beers with later that night: Rob Gee (Fruitcake - Natasha, the Graphic Designer, adores his poster so it's definitely one not to miss!) and Chris Bange (More Bange For Your Buck!)
Being in a rush, we excused ourselves and hurried in to sign in with a very friendly volunteer. We got our beautiful program, our performer and company cards and then ran to catch the bus, waving madly at Dave Dawson (Jayson McDonald's Trashcan Duet which I didn't see in Ottawa last year, but will probably see now) on the way.
Finally, we had our posters and were on our way back downtown to check out our venue: Ragpickers Theatre. This is also where we were to meet our new stage manager, the lovely Anne Wyman (Jayson McDonald's The Last Goddamned Performance Piece).
It was here that I ran into an old acquaintance from London, ON, Jeff Culbert. He's involved with two shows: archy and mehitabel, directed by Jayson McDonald and Fall Fair in which he directed Jayson McDonald. For a guy who isn't even in town yet, Mr McDonald is proving to be very pervasive...
After a great lunchbreak/tech meeting at The Fyxx with Ms. Wyman, where we had the pleasure of meeting Jeremy Baumaung (Homeless - which Anne tells me is the greatest piece of theatre she's ever seen, ever!) and Ryan Paulson (Ryan Paulson: I'm Uncomfotable), we headed off, finally, to poster.
This is also where we ran into another Ottawa local: Ms. Amy Lester (Little White Lies).
Since we were tired from such a busy day of posters and password collecting (check out Emily Pearlman's Ottawa Fringe Festival blog post for the meaning of the password system), we headed over to the King's Head Pub where we ran into, well, pretty much everyone else we saw today, including some newcomers - the ladies from Inviting Desire, the gentlemen from Advanced DnD, and the producer of The Seven Lives of Louis Riel. This is also where we met Francis, the most awesome barkeep evah!
Wow, what a day, and the festival hasn't even started yet!
