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First guest blog - Hannah one of the cast of Party at the End of the World

I’ve woken up this morning with Nostell withdrawal. I didn’t know what to do with myself; I’ve exhausted tumblr, visited my grandad and cleaned bathrooms I’ve been that bored. I was going to re-watch Downton Abbey to try and stay in the Nostell spirit but series 2 arrived before series 1 so I couldn’t. So mad with Amazon. And I’ve got withdrawal because Nostell was so good, The Party at the End of the World was great and it’s always good to spend a week in the company of brilliant people. And aside from Tuesday when it was torrentially raining the weather was really good as well. Actually the weather was a bit TOO hot sometimes and I ended up with a headache on Friday from squinting because it was so bright (I promise I’d drunk loads of water and it wasn’t dehydration).
The week got off to a good start as we walked through the script. It was really nice to see and hear it because I wasn’t at the read through and I’d only hurriedly read it on Sunday night when I got back from holiday so I didn’t really know who was which character or anything. In the afternoon we played that’s out and I was really confused for a bit because I didn’t do Nostell last year and there were loads of new celebrations, like getting married at 9 catches. But it was great, apart from when I stood on a bee. Good one Hannah. Stood on sharp plastic when we were doing group juggling as well and sliced my thumb on a spoon. Apparently I attract accidents…
I’ve really enjoyed this Nostell because it’s been so different to the others, as it was set in 1914 and we got to dress up in period costume. But also because acting for that period is really different to being in something that’s set now: you have to stand properly and speak properly and if you stop thinking about it then you don’t do it. And also because the play was based on real life events, so you feel like you really need to do it justice and even the characters that weren’t based on real people were brilliant characters. Some of my favourite moments were the camaraderie between the maids, the moment Teresa and Harold made up, and Edith telling off Lillian. Everyone’s characters were just brilliant and it was great to see people doing Nostell for the first time and really going for it. That might, possibly, have been my last Nostell (I hope not) but if it was, what a Nostell to end on. I got to be philosophical, got to the speech celebration on that’s out and caught a ball in that’s out for the first time ever in my yew tree career (bit embarrassing considering how long I’ve been going). Thanks for a great week guys, it’s been a blast x

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