Saturday 21st, before Pinter workshop

Was ill again yesterday. Constant stomach cramps. Tried to bulldoze my way through it last night. Fernando was going out for drinks with Ana, his girlfriend and some other friends. I drank beer and ate milanesa (a thin steak in breadcrumbs), with chips, but my effort was a failure and had to admit defeat, leaving early. At midnight. Long night of stomach cramps and mosquito attacks and feeing rough and dispirited followed. That, after a long day of much the same. The good bit of the day was the bit in the middle, between 7 and 10.30, when we worked on 1. Every time Fernando thinks he’s got it, he discovers there’s another level he needs to integrate. Which fries his brain, but that’s his process. Yesterday he arrived full of relish for the fight, and then had to discover the times when he masks JR’s relish, pretending to be disinterested, unable to give too much away. Still, we made progress, actors starting to take control of the scene. Am off to give my second workshop now. Slightly apprehensive, given my poor health, but have to trust am getting better, just taking time.

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