Really Rather Too Much Excitement

It was to be a quiet day in the office, which is in our house.

There was, unusually, only me: we'd decided there was too much snow to drag anyone else in and I was sure I'd manage, as this is the quietest time of the year in the actors' agency.

So I planned a day of work - - but at-my-own-pace work, going through the office inbox, and doing various other little jobs in preparation for the agency's monthly meeting, which is on Sunday.

I was wearing my scruffiest jeans, because nobody was going to see me, and a plain black T-shirt, and an old jumper.

And then, at half past ten, the phone rang.

There was an actor missing at a crucial roleplay, elsewhere in Leeds. The first roleplay was at ten past eleven. There should have been two actors and the one who was there rang me: where was the other one?

I traced it back and realised that there had been a mix-up: everyone, including me, thought that somebody else was doing the roleplay - - - and in fact, nobody was.

Now this kind of thing is very rare - we've been doing this roleplay for about ten years at about seven hundred actor-days of it a year, and there's only ever been a problem like this three or four times.

But it was crucial: the roleplay is part of the assessment for the candidates' careers, and hence really important.

I looked at the actors' board and there was nobody available. And gradually - - well, rather fast, actually - I realised who was going to do it, and that it was me.

Now, although I've done lots and lots and lots of medical roleplay, I haven't done corporate roleplay before. And although I've organised this particular batch of roleplay for about ten years, I have never actually done one, because my job is to be in the office organising it, and not out there doing it.

But I didn't know the brief for this one, and it was now twenty-five to eleven. So I asked the other actor who was there to get me a copy of the brief, and then I changed at lightning speed from Scruffy Jeans to Smart Skirt and Fairly Smart Jumper (hoping nobody would notice Fairly Old Black T-Shirt) and then I dashed out to the car, and drove through Leeds as fast as was possible, bearing in mind that there's still lots of snow.

So I got there just before eleven o'clock, and the other roleplayer kindly met me, and we ran through the snow to the correct building whilst he shouted to me the main issues in the brief.

(A roleplay, in case you don't know, is where the candidate is himself or herself, and the roleplayer plays a character having a discussion with them, so as to test the candidate's communication and management skills - that's a very concise description of course! The interaction is improvised from a detailed brief, and an assessor watches and marks the candidate).

Then he gave me the brief, and I had five minutes before I was needed.

I've always been a fast reader and I have done a lot of things at the last moment - I used to be a supply teacher - and sometimes I think I work best when put on my mettle like that. So I just read it through and hoped I'd managed to take in all the information.

I didn't have time to be frightened. I did my utmost to radiate calm to the assessor, who didn't know the mad rush that had led up to my arrival at the door of the room.

I did the roleplay four times for different candidates, each one lasting about twenty minutes, and at the time, I loved it. I found it fascinating to see how the candidates showed their strengths and weaknesses, just as with the medical roleplay that I do, and the assessors, fortunately, seemed happy with me and said I'd be very welcome back to do it again on future occasions.

Then we had lunch - - and then I went back to the office, to find that - luckily - nothing crucial had happened there in my absence. It was strange to see an email half-written on the screen, because I'd been typing it when the phone rang three and a half hours earlier.

Then I thought - - oh, my goodness, that was really rather scary! And I felt a bit shaky. I like a challenge, but I think that was really rather too much excitement for a Thursday morning. Phew.