See! I totally found Factory. Now I just need to do so again tomorrow!
Tomorrow is the first day of the SummerWorks Leadership Intensive Program aka SLIP and today was all about preparation.
I get really anxious in new situations, especially if I feel unprepared for them, so I knew I wanted to spend some time today getting myself ready for tomorrow: figuring out public transit from my friend’s house to Factory Theatre, from Factory to the LOT, and from the LOT back to my friend’s house. Armed with my weekly TTC pass, iPhone, and a sharpie-drawn map I began my journey. Now let me be clear – I am pretty bad with directions. It took me more than two years to figure out north, south, east and west in Vancouver, even when working in a venue that uses those four terms instead of upstage and downstage. I’m not holding out much hope for figuring out Toronto in the next two weeks.
My very first attempt to get out of the neighborhood, I got on the streetcar going the wrong way. I didn’t figure out that I was going the wrong way until I pulled up the maps app on my iPhone. Thankfully I was right near the end of the line and it turned around and I got going the way I needed to. Hooray! Factory Theatre: found. Again on my way to the LOT I found myself going the opposite direction from what I needed (once more due to my trusty iPhone map). Jump off the streetcar. Cross the street. Jump on the streetcar heading the correct direction. Breathe. Lower Ossington Theatre: found. SummerWorks seven show pass: acquired. Number of minor freak outs: only one.
Amanda and I at High Park, ready for some outdoor theatre!
To wrap up the day, my lovely friend and host Amanda and I made our way to High Park to see CanStage’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was certainly a very Toronto way to spend the evening, and it was delightful to open the program and learned that the show had been designed by a friend. As the sun set over the park I felt the temperature go down for what seemed the first time since I arrived in Toronto four days ago. Lovely.
Now it is getting late and I’m going over the mental check list for tomorrow.
Festival kit: check
iPad charged: in progress
iPhone charged: once the iPad is done
Notebook ready: yes, but if I get up early I’m going to go buy something special
Re-reading everything about tomorrow: done
All that’s left is to get some sleep and go into tomorrow ready for adventure. And hope I don’t get lost on public transit on my way there.
Getting on the streetcar going in the wrong direction definitely reminds me of the time we were taking the bus to the airport and I was relying on your knowledge of Vancouver and we got on the right bus, but went the wrong way haha.
Noting, of course, that I had lived in Vancouver for approximately 2 months and had taken the bus approximately 3 times. D’oh. Not one of my brighter moments, that’s for sure.