Continuing with the theme of "lessons learnt", I am aware that In The Name Of The Flesh (ITNOTF) is not for everybody -- with its extensive doses of nudity, phallic references and gay sexual content... plus – God forbid! – performance poetry and (undoubtedly the show’s most challenging content) material from the Eurovision Song Contest! If I were writing this during the second weekend of ITNOTF in Edinburgh (after experiencing distressful animosity from the local gay press and a couple of poorly attended nights), the tone would be totally despondent. I would be announcing the end of ITNOTF as a live piece and marking the last days of Ernesto Sarezale as a performer. Luckily, there was a shift on the Sunday night, which brought a good crowd, most of whom seemed to know what kind of show they were coming for and reacted warmly with extended applause. This shift was confirmed by the reassuringly well attended last two nights of he run.
Yes, I know there is an audience for ITNOTF. The difficulty is finding it. What now seems perfectly obvious to me is that... Edinburgh is not the place to look for it.
Realistically, if there is something that Ernesto has learnt from his Edinburgh run (partly prompted by the self-imposed exercise of keeping this blog) is something he has always known, really, namely, that his real vocation, his true, true vocation is: writing. His extroverted escapades in the last few years at clubs and venues like Kashpoint, Horse Meat Disco, Gutterslut, Caligula, Carpet Burn, Stunners, Vogue Fabrics or The Dalston Superstore (to mention just a few), being featured in BUTT or iD magazines and performing regularly at a wildly diverse range of events (poetry, cabaret, arts, nightclubs, stand up) in London and beyond (Brighton, Manchester, Glasgow, San Francisco, New York, Montreal, Barcelona, Madrid and, last August, his 11-day season at the Edinburgh Fringe) have been exhilarating experiences. However, something is telling him now that the time has come to rediscover his introverted self. The time has come for a more reflective Ernesto. An Ernesto more focused on his writing, less concerned with the live audiences, enjoying what he really enjoys the most: bringing out, through words, all those stories, those images, those universes, those characters, those crazy ideas bubbling inside him and demanding to be committed to the page (or the computer screen).
I’ve got the feeling that you will be seeing a lot less of Ernesto (and his average-sized talking penis) in the days to come.
[UPDATE (22/11/2010): I have just re-read this post. In spite of what he wrote above, Ernesto has already started working on new material for performance, you see...]
Yes, I know there is an audience for ITNOTF. The difficulty is finding it. What now seems perfectly obvious to me is that... Edinburgh is not the place to look for it.
Realistically, if there is something that Ernesto has learnt from his Edinburgh run (partly prompted by the self-imposed exercise of keeping this blog) is something he has always known, really, namely, that his real vocation, his true, true vocation is: writing. His extroverted escapades in the last few years at clubs and venues like Kashpoint, Horse Meat Disco, Gutterslut, Caligula, Carpet Burn, Stunners, Vogue Fabrics or The Dalston Superstore (to mention just a few), being featured in BUTT or iD magazines and performing regularly at a wildly diverse range of events (poetry, cabaret, arts, nightclubs, stand up) in London and beyond (Brighton, Manchester, Glasgow, San Francisco, New York, Montreal, Barcelona, Madrid and, last August, his 11-day season at the Edinburgh Fringe) have been exhilarating experiences. However, something is telling him now that the time has come to rediscover his introverted self. The time has come for a more reflective Ernesto. An Ernesto more focused on his writing, less concerned with the live audiences, enjoying what he really enjoys the most: bringing out, through words, all those stories, those images, those universes, those characters, those crazy ideas bubbling inside him and demanding to be committed to the page (or the computer screen).
I’ve got the feeling that you will be seeing a lot less of Ernesto (and his average-sized talking penis) in the days to come.
[UPDATE (22/11/2010): I have just re-read this post. In spite of what he wrote above, Ernesto has already started working on new material for performance, you see...]
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