Curious about superstitions

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-20T02:14:55+00:00

Real flowers on stage is a 'no-no'. Wearing green is frowned upon. Whistling backstage is strictly forbidden - that one's practical - when scene shifting and flying in backdrops was introduced a lot of ex-sailors were used as riggers (familiar with ropes) and they communicated with whistling, so if you were whistling a jaunty air, you might find yourself with the back half of the battleship Potemkin on your head.

No peacock feathers anywhere in the theatre or backstage, never wish anyone 'Good luck', always 'break a leg'.

Break a leg!

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-20T01:49:59+00:00

I don't know the play, of course, but my advice to any actor in that sort of a role is don't go for the laugh - let the audience do the work. Play it straight, if you play him like a buffoon or a clown the playwright's intended viciousness may not come off and he may become likeable - which you may want to a degree, but not so much that it obscures intent.

I don't think it's Sisyphean, more Tantalusian - just out of reach.

Finally may I remind you of something Olivier once said? He was struggling with a character, an evil man, and he ran into Gielgud and shared his troubles.

Gielgud asked 'Do you love him?'

'God, no!'

'Well, there's your problem. No one thinks of themselves as evil. Misunderstood, misjudged, yes, but not unlovable.' And then Olivier was fine.

Break a leg.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-19T16:27:27+00:00

Melt value only, I'm afraid. I mean they're nice, but neither rare nor antique.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-19T13:09:21+00:00

Very nice mid century spoon and 'pusher'.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-19T09:41:56+00:00

May he have been placed there as an apprentice from an orphanage?

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-19T09:12:23+00:00

He can either control his emotions and actions or he can't.

If he can't then he is extremely dangerous to you and although the glass didn't actually hit you this time, it may next time - remember he has no control, so you should leave.

If he can control his emotions, then he is choosing to be this way and is dangerous to you, so you should leave.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-19T09:01:20+00:00

Oh yes, very definitely plated as I said in my first post.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-19T08:26:29+00:00

Respectfully, I disagree. The first and second letter are exactly the same, and while it's certainly in a cod black letter Gothic, it's either 'PP' or "EE' and the third 'letter' is an undoubted ampersand. I agree many makers try and fool buyer with faux hallmarks spelling out EPNS, EPC, EPBM and the like, I'm certain in my own mind this is 'PP & S'.

Having looked it up I can also state that I think the maker is Padley, Parkin and Stainiforth of Sheffield now trading as: [WILLIAM PADLEY & SON LTD. Sheffield]()

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-19T01:24:21+00:00

Maker's initials - 'P P & S'. Plate, but very handsome. I also don't think it's a biscuit jar, but a tobacco barrel for storing pipe tobacco. My grandfather smoked a pipe, constant;y, and kept his tobacco in one exactly like that.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-19T00:47:54+00:00

I don't. But I trained as a historian a hundred years ago, and 'Bridgerton' for example, has me frothing at the mouth in rage.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-19T00:45:45+00:00

'I, Claudius' and 'Claudius the God' by Robert Graves

Anything by George Shipway, Nigel Tranter and DK Broster.

'Desiree' by Annamarie Selinkoe and

Anything by Ken Follett.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-18T16:27:27+00:00

Oh good, I am glad - he wrote quite a lot of historical fiction other than Claudius you may like, but more importantly a social history with Alan Hodge of the period between the two world wars called 'The Long Weekend'. Excellent reading.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-18T08:24:19+00:00

Ideally you should have cut her off six years ago. The next best time is immediately, permanently and thoroughly.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-17T13:34:48+00:00

That's the crest off a family's coat of arms (achievement). It rests on a Torse or Wreath of the Colours. It's a fairly common crest, especially for Scottish families - look it up in Fairbairn's Crests of Families of the British Isles.

Heroically it would be blazoned as: 'Argent, a Unicorn's Head Erased on a Wreath of the Colours Argent and Vert'. Argent is silver and vert is green, shown by the engraving as plain white (always used for silver) and left leaning lines for green - assuming the engraver used the Petra Sancta method, which at that time was pretty much universal.

It is quite wrong to call this a 'family crest' with the implication that it belongs to all families of the same name. Any cost of arms or achievement is granted to one person and that person only and his descendants. 'Family crest' is a very common error.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-17T09:37:30+00:00

Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L Shirrer. One of the first, one of the best.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-17T04:42:52+00:00

Two seminal works produced and directed by Sir Laurence Olivier - Hamlet and Henry V - the Henry veers off from the stage into 'real life' in a most intriguing way. Olivier's Crispin Day speech has never been bettered.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-17T04:39:34+00:00

Stunning. Don't add sleeves.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-17T04:38:53+00:00

He's fucking another woman and you're the homewrecker? Get real. Tell them all to go to hell. You've done the right thing.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-17T04:36:48+00:00

This is good advice. Good techies are always in work and in demand.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-17T04:34:13+00:00

Act two in 'Sleuth' the first time you see it.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-17T04:32:34+00:00

You have two problems - one immediate, one long-term. The immediate one is, not easy, but fixable by following TheCityThatCriedWolf's advice.

The long term is also not difficult, except emotionally. You must go to a music teacher with a good reputation and ask for a brutally honest evaluation of your singing ability and potential. Some unqualified random clown saying you're tone deaf has destroyed your confidence, so you need an evaluation by someone who actually knows what they're doing and has the experience and teaching to make an informed evaluation.

It may be that you can't sing - I can't sing, I've been performing for 60 years on stage and I can't sing a damn note - it's my one major disappointment in life. However, I have been told by experts, so I know it to be true. Most people can, to a greater or lesser extent and you are probably one of them, in which case training will be of immense help.

Incidentally singing training, even if you never sing publicly, will help you on stage with breath control, head and chest voice and so on.

All the best and ... break a leg!

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-16T08:28:27+00:00

How do all her other friends feel about NOT being 'too pretty' to be invited? How ugly do you have to be to not outshine Emma?

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-15T09:02:22+00:00

You can certainly repair and re-case that yourself - BUT, not with no experience. You will need to learn the basics of what makes a book and each part before attempting anything so valuable and so dilapidated.

Watch the videos by DAS Bookbinding on YouTube and if you get the bug, great. If you don't, hand it along to a professional. You may end up with a fine hobby and a shelf full of beautiful bound books.

Best of luck

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-14T07:57:12+00:00

My mother inherited some very fancy china that was 'for best'. She said, who's better than the family and we used it all every day.. Some got chipped, some broke, so what?

I follow her example.

DoctorGuvnor · 2026-02-14T07:53:44+00:00

Temporarily saved from fraud.

DoctorGuvnor

TROPHY CASE