Cian and Hannah and Zaki all left this morning, and I found myself with time to think about the fact that a new year has begun and already it seems like it's going to be a crazy one.
Just pottering around Shinjuku today I was struck by how very much I like living in Tokyo, and what an amazing and enormous year 2005 turned out to be.
This time last year my family had just left Japan after spending the holidays with me here, and I started the new year quite worn out - needless to say. So, I spent a lot of January in bed (ha ha!) and 2005 had an altogether different new beginning than any of the years that came before it... January was spent in grammar classes and rehearsals for Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and it was during that month that I made the acquaintance of several of my closest friends in Japan, both Japanese and from all over the world.
February brought Spring holidays, most of which I spent hanging out with Cortney and enjoying Tokyo with her and our various other crazy friends. I also spent the month really getting to know the Mexican, and listening to TONS of music. And not really doing very much. Though we did travel with supreme elegance to Atami to enjoy hot springs and appreciate the plum blossoms...
March was much like February, though it ended with a lovely trip home and then a fabulous, fabulous weekend break to Rome with Cian, Hannah and Roise. And the Pope died. Back in Tokyo in April, my life was taken over by Steel Magnolias. May was all about Ninagawa's Medea, June was Ninagawa's Modern Noh Plays and I also left for Greece, via London.
July was GREECE, which was marvellous as ever, and we had perhaps the best summer course ever. Although we always say that. This year, mind you, we had the lovely Alice Coghlan with us. And I was interviewed on Greek tv and published in a subversive Greek political magazine, in Greek ;)
August was back to Tokyo and into rehearsals for Arcadia, which consumed my life all the way into the middle of October. I did manage, in the midst of it all, to hunt down the remarkable Thelma Holt and have a chat with her, and thanks to her kindness FINALLY got through as far as the great man Ninagawa himself. I saw several rehearsals for "Tenpo Junen no Shakespeare" - read the book for more details! - and must say that the man is a lovely genius.
ARCADIA was wonderful. Enormously difficult, but wonderful. And my fabulous crew and cast deserve mention by name here but space is short. As soon as the show ended, I kinda wanted to disappear / sleep for a while. To the extent that the period from the show's finale to my flights to Hawaii in late November were something of a blur... Although I remember judging various drama competitions in Saitama, north of Tokyo, and reading a huge amount of Lorca and the Zohar, and studying lots for my paper. Hawaii was just wonderful - thank you to the Higa Family for their wonderful hospitality, and the people at Starbucks Oahu for keeping Cortney sane. After Hawaii came Prague, and Pavlina's conference on Greek drama, aka a lovely reunion in a gorgeous city for the weekend. Prague is filled with interesting sights and museums, many of which we passed on our way to numerous meals, coffees and drinking sessions. Favourite memory was drinking absinthe in a cafeteria opposite the national theatre, with some of my very favourite people - Aidan, Maria, Linnea and Petros - while the Gershwin songbook was played in the background. After Prague (and the missed Madonna concert in Tokyo with more of my favourite people) was Dublin (to see the REST of my favourite people!!) and then back to Tokyo in December right before Christmas, spent with Maria and Zaki in Setagaya. The 5th day of Christmas, however, brought not 5 gold rings but 2 real diamonds, and Cian and Hannah -I hope- had a wonderful visit here and ushered in the new year with me.
2005 was a year of rich, violent, painful, delicious, exciting and hilarious experiences. I fell in love, I fell out of love, I had crushes, I was crushed, I realised that sometimes I sound like an awful twat when I write online. I got inserted into Wikipedia. I didn't meet Madonna. I met some wonderful Madonna fans. I met Ninagawa many times. I saw some incredible theatre. I saw even more lousy films. I directed a gorgeous play. I wrote and then lost large portions of three different books. I lost other things too. I travelled well over 100,000km. I lost 20kg. (Talk about a year of positive losses!!)
And I can't wait to see where I'll be if and when I write something like this next year...
AND, for your listening pleasure, my songs of the year.
Hung Up - Madonna
Instant Gratification - Francesca Gramm
My Number One - Elena Paparizou
The Air That I Breathe - Judy Torres ft Collage
The Life of the Party - Idina Menzel
Is That All There Is - Peggy Lee
Rise & Fall - J
Lover Come Back - Dead or Alive
Love at First Sight - Kylie Minogue
You Got the Love - Candi Staton
