My Favorite Year

Now’s the time of year to look forward. Tough. 2004 marked my first full year in the USA, so I wanted to share some of my experiences with you. Apologies in advance for the self-centered nature of this blog.

JANUARY: The year began with my first US TV interview. Boo Shepherd, host of Orangeburg Inside/Out, invited me to her studio. I did okay, but I couldn’t tell Boo what my favorite movie was. She might as well have asked a vampire about his best-loved blood type.

The Writers’ Studio was set up at Folly Beach, and the resulting scripts were performed by my drama students at Actors’ Theatre of South Carolina workshops. Most of the time the writers liked what the actors did with their work, fleshing out the dialogue and enabling the scribes to hear what they’d written. Mind you, one of the writers felt like slapping a couple of the actresses after a particularly languorous reading.

FEBRUARY: The Actors’ Theatre began filming and rehearsals for A Folly Twelfth Night. I directed many of the digital sequences that would be projected behind the actors, filling in details about the story and hinting at their dreams and imaginings. This is an element that we’d used in 2003 (for Breaker Morant) and would use again later in the year. I also played Duke Orsino and filled in as director for one of the run-throughs, as well as teacher for an advanced acting workshop.

MARCH: The Charleston City Paper held its Best Of Party at the Aquarium. Every year the paper culls votes on the best of everything we can think of – stores, people, events and activities. I hope to film a documentary at the Aquarium eventually. The Tides of March renaissance festival at Folly Beach featured the Twelfth Night show; the matinee confused me, because daylight streamed through the windows and I could see the audience’s faces. I’m used to being blinded by stage lights, so that I can’t see anybody scrutinizing me. Imagining the Mayor in his underwear didn’t help.

APRIL: At the end of a semester, my drama students usually have a showcase. It gives them something extra to work towards, and we invite friends, family, agents and producers to the event. The actors get feedback on their work, and we screen filmed scenes as well as presenting live segments. The first showcase of 2004 included variations on scenes from Thelma and Louise, Valmont, The Tenth Kingdom and Everwood. I was also busy that month signing copies of my first novel Milk Treading at Books-a-Million and I was interviewed on local radio, managing to squeeze in a plug for the Folly Felder Film Festival asking for entries.

MAY: Every year Charleston is beset by Spoletians, a unique race of tourists who attend a major arts festival in the city. Spoleto has its fringe festival, Piccolo, which included the first Film Festival. Preparing the festival took up a lot of my time, but I was also previewing and reviewing shows such as Horror Vacui for the City Paper and I even managed to squeeze in a couple of preproduction meetings on commercials for Summerville Sheriff Ray Nash’s re-election campaign (he won).

JUNE: The Film Festival took place, complete with red carpet and awards (The Perfect Proposal by Brandon McCormick and Randy McDowell won the Golden Palmetto). In Edisto I filmed segments for an Actors’ Theatre play called Mary Shelley: Creature of Fire, set in the Villa Diodati. I also took my first vacation in years, and visited my second United State (Georgia) and my third (Florida).

JULY: This month marked my family’s first Independence Day spent in America, and I began filming for South, a fancy Civil War-era play. I was co-director although my friends preferred to call me the assistant director, presumably because I’m so lazy.

AUGUST: While my wife Ros attended the Toledo Film Conference and rubbed shoulders with Easy Rider cinematographer Lazlo Kovaks, I continued rehearsals for South.

SEPTEMBER: South was performed at the Lucas Theatre in Savannah for a weekend. Yep, those few shows took up the whole month.

OCTOBER: South arrived at Charleston’s Sottile Theatre and the South Carolina Writers Workshop published Catfish Stew (I was one of the judges for entries). The Weird Sisters made an appearance at The Citadel in an adaptation of their scenes from the Scottish Play (I dare not write its name, you know the one I mean).

NOVEMBER: My 4-year-old son Sam collected a First Steps art award for best collage. He wasn’t content with his trophy, because another boy won two. The Lowcountry Senior Centre had its own acting showcase, and I reckon I grew a few years older myself trying to put together with extremely limited time and resources.

DECEMBER: While I lied to kids for a living playing Santa, preproduction began for Captain Felder’s Cannon, an ambitious feature-length project. The Kitty Killer Cult (my second novel) went to the printers and rehearsals began for Trainspotting.

All in all, a pretty quiet year. A happy new one to you all.