Ironing clothes with El Cid on my mind – Self motivation is the key

Tomorrow we’re off to Lyon, France. For our first performance of BREXIT. The first performance is always a killer, at least for me it always has been. After almost 100 performances of the same show you tend to take things for granted after a long pause. You lose focus, you get lazy. It’s like cranking up the engine of a car that has been parked for months. Everything feels kind of rusty.

So it’s easy to forget lines, leave props behind. Theatre is like boxing… doesn’t matter how good you think you are if you let your guard down for a sec a punch is will hit you straight in the face. And it takes a single punch sometimes to knock you down to the floor. So, to be in a slight state of tension is always a good thing, because that makes you alert. Another thing that I find very helpful is to do something just a bit outside of my confort zone, to get moving, create momentum.

What you see below is the statue of El Cid in Burgos, Spain. We’re supposed to perform there in May 2020. I’ve never performed in Spain before and on top of that… performing in English in Spain. That’s the horizon that will keep me moving forward. Just two days ago I was there speaking with Ana Beatriz (a charming Spanish lady) and inspecting the theatre where we are supposed to play Brexit. 4 shows in 2 days inside a 330 seat theatre. All sold-out. It sounds exciting.

Burgos - Tom Corradini

And this is my ironing board as I’m packing my clothes for our performance in Lyon tomorrow. It looks lonely. 

Ironing board

It is a lonely life at times and quite a demanding one, at least emotionally. Being an actor-producer for the stage is a lonely path. If you don’t have self-motivation I strongly advice not to pursue it. It can get dull, especially when fighting against a Primark shirt with your iron.

Fortunately enough I have the statue of El Cid on my mind.

Olè!