Extracurricular Activities

Although there are lots of opportunities for a good party here in Bermuda, I've tried to get involved with activities that don't require the drinking of "beverages".

Last April I signed up for intermediate tennis lessons with the continuing education program. It was excellent value for 8 weeks, and I got to meet quite a few people. Once that ended, beach volleyball started right up. Spending an evening with friends on a beach while getting some exercise was a pretty fun. It was a league night where they set up nets all along Horseshoe Bay and you moved up or down nets depending on your results from the previous week. Above is a panorama of all the nets.

However, my extra-curricular activities have involved some culture too. I joined the BMDS (the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society) a few months ago. It was mostly for the social aspect, as they have a bar that feels like a club-house — in that it's very relaxed, and you don't feel you have to go with anyone. In August, I decided that it was time to get involved with one of the plays, and so showed up to a production meeting. I was appointed as Assistant Stage Manager, or "ASM" (I didn't know what that was either), and was later told that I'd also be head of props. Suddenly I realized that I had my work cut out for me.

The play itself was called "Present Laughter" by Noel Coward, and we had a professional director over from England called Jane McCulloch. For a synopsis, check out the link, but to describe it in a nutshell, it's a comedy about a stage actor in the 1930's. My description doesn't really do it justice.

I attended all the rehearsals for a couple of weeks leading up to the opening. This included every day as well as weekends. I had a lot of work to do getting my head around every prop coming on and off stage, and where they needed to be. Also, I had to understand what I'd need to keep in supply (they went through a lot of whiskey – or apple juice – and cigarettes), and I made lots of lists of things to do each night so that others could follow.

Once the dress rehearsals started, I was to sit backstage and also take on the ASM role with a headset on. There was a new list of things that I needed to learn for this. However, once things got going, most of the work was over, and we settled into a routine. Setting up the props, getting all the actors to take their places, following the script, helping out where needed, and then finally cleaning up and resetting all the props for the next show.

The play went for 2 weeks and we were all there for every night (except I had 3 nights off while my guest was here). I learned so much and got to learn from some great people. However, I think my next role will be something a little lighter on the work load. After all, I've got to save some time for the beach.