Hardwood Floor

After yesterday’s photo of the work in progress, I thought I’d complete the story with a look at the finished floor. And whilst it certainly has the look of a solid wood floor, it is just printed vinyl glued to a plywood base. All the look, but with only a damp cloth needed for cleaning! Very pleased with it and it’s nice to enter 2022 with the house finally finished in terms of the interior decor.
Not that I’m getting much time to appreciate it at the moment as we head towards the first “proper” pantomime performance in two years. I say “proper”, because we did actually have an audience at last night’s dress rehearsal. Two people who had barely left the house in 23 months - certainly not for a night out at the theatre anyway - as one of them is severely immuno-compromised. As fans of our pantomime, they had asked if they could attend a rehearsal so they didn’t miss this years show. No problem, and they ensconced themselves in the middle of the auditorium, well away from anybody else.
It was quite a surprise to hear people laughing at some of the lines and bits of slapstick - we’d been doing them since June 2020 so had long since ceased to find them that amusing!
Let’s just hope we get the same reactions tonight. Not a full house, but there should be enough people in to be able to get some audience interaction. Though it will be strange to see them sitting there with masks on, especially when none of us have to wear them unless we actually venture in front of the proscenium. Weirdly, although it’s officially opening night, this will be the fifth time we have done a full run in costume and makeup this week. There have been a few tweaks to props, scenery and script during the week, but essentially we should all be seasoned professionals by now! Which is not to say there won’t be any cockups tonight. But at least with it being Panto, we can probably get away with it and hopefully raise a laugh at the same time.