alien ambassador

In my dream I was an ambassador from an alien species. I landed near a school which was almost empty apart from a couple of adults whom I seemed to think were part of the government. I kept referring to each of them respectfully as the 'minister for -' ... 'is the minister for education such-and-such?' whatever I assumed their position was. Some guy kept taking me around the corridors, I wanted to see the right people and speak to them but he kept prevaricating by doing that. Inhabiting this character was interesting because he was very benevolent, I could tell that on his planet the government was really there to do for people, they really cared. He probably would have been very upset if he ever found out what it was like on earth. It was interesting feel that way or that that was even possible from as an anarchist.

I lead a second life in Edinburgh, does that not make me a Bunburyist?

Waking up on someone's couch during the fringe while working as a theatre critic, reviewers pass slung around neck, feels kind of like being a romanticised caricature of a romanticised caricature. 40 minute walk to first venue, then traversing the city in between shows for another day. Helloooooo Edinburgh Fringe, did I really say I need to get more exercise? Please don't put chicken samosas in a box that says vegetable samosas. I fear that after having sufficient to drink one might forget that they feel out of place... while the company becomes ever more aware! Thanks for being an awesome friend ♥ The Devil May Care! (but that doesn't mean I have to give a fuck.) Anyone in Edinburgh lend me 20 quid? pay you back on Tuesday or Wednesday. Wallet got nicked last nite. Damn I was really enjoying the Edinburgh fringe weather but seemingly the Hindus were right, and all things must pass. Why do theatre makers think we like resettings of classics in World War II? what exactly is giving of this bizarre signal that World War II is a compelling or original period to set Shakespeare or Sophocles in? Or anything for that matter? It's not! When they said: "Repent, Repent" : I wonder what they meant? The problem with ethics is that the only people really interested in learning about it are already good.

These are just some of the experiences one might have in August when in Edinburgh.

So I've been catching up on review writing today and it's been getting really fun now I'm in the swing of it. I don't always enjoy sitting down and getting started, but when I finish articles I'm often very pleased with my writing and the ways I've managed to get around my concerns of how to approach certain aspects of a production.

While I'm here I guess this would be as good a time as any to link you to the reviews I've written that have already been posted online, please enjoy :-)

The Improvised Musical @ C
Treasure Island @ C Too
Candida @ Assembly George Square
Suite Hope @ Dance Base
Kaya – Dream Interpreter @ Assembly George Square
Anybody Waitin’? @ Dance Base
Mod @ C ECA

Baloney

A harrowed businessman once came into his therapists’ office after being bothered again and again by a reoccurring dream. Even although he’d been under analysis for a couple of months he couldn’t really tell you that he’d fully engaged with the treatment if he was to be honest. Deep down he was convinced that even seeing a shrink was a load of old baloney that couldn’t really help him with any matters pertaining to the real world, but it was a good opportunity to vent his spleen to someone who would have to listen and give his undivided attention, because he was being paid to. Meanwhile his life was crashing in around him, and getting progressively worse, which only went to prove that psychoanalysis was dated nonsense believed only by socialist professors in ivory towers who had never even seen the reality of the rat race first hand.

“You think I got problems, Doc? Let me tell you, even my ulcers got ulcers! My business is about to hit the rocks, my wife has insisted on separation and won’t even take my calls! Soon I’ll be getting the divorce papers through, heck that’s all I need! If I can’t get the cash together, and soon, I’m going to have to declare bankruptcy and lose the house to boot! I swear to god I’ll end up in hospital with another bypass. ‘Course I got problems. What do you expect me to do?”

This dream, however… he found it so irksome to be bothered by it night after night that he found himself turning up with a new willingness to do just about whatever his Freudian friend might ask of him. The hell with it, he didn’t have that much further to fall after all.

“I’m interested in knowing how often you’ve been having this dream? Or variations on the same dream?”

“It’s the same dream Doc! And I have it every night! Almost every night without fail! The only night I think I didn’t have it was when I was staying over at my mistress’ place. Does that mean anything?”

“Hm, I don’t know. How is your relationship with your girlfriend these days? Better than with your wife I assume?” he added with a sardonic smile befitting an analyst.

“I dunno to be honest. I just don’t think I excite her the way I used to, if you know what I mean. It’s ok I guess. Just no real verve.”

“I see, and is there anything else going on? It seems there’s a little something else playing on your mind, maybe you could let me in on the full story.”

“What, are you a mind reader? Ok, I just keep on thinking about how unfair all this is on my son. He’s only 8 years old and he deserves a good father. With a good strong marriage, and a good strong business to go into. Or at least sell it if he likes. I want to be able to give him an education, you know? Everything I went without. He’s the innocent victim here that’s what really gets to me.”

“I understand. You feel bad for yourself, but you can handle that because so far as you see it you’re the one who made the mess. Same goes for your wife, she’s an adult woman after all. It’s your son you feel worried about because he didn’t have any hand in creating these problems. Right?”

“Yeah! Right! Exactly! You know what Doc? You ain’t too bad! What about my dream though?”

“I’m just coming to that. Let’s go over it again. You keep seeing these little symbols, almost like items in a computer game. One is a small pot of gold. One two short pieces of string. Then there are two hands, one thumb up, the other thumb down. There is also a broken walking stick with a snake for a head, an old, discarded baseball bat and ball, and an olive branch with only one olive and three leaves on it. Is that right?”

“You got it Doc! Can’t make heads or tails of it neither. What do you say?”

“Now look, usually I’d interpret the dream for you, but I want to take a different approach, let me know what you think…”

“So you ain’t gonna make sense of it at all?”

“I think this will be much more effective.”

“Lay it on me.”

“I’m going to write you a doctor’s note and I want you to cut your work hours down to a minimum this week. Especially Monday through Wednesday. Only take absolutely essential calls. Delegate everything else to your secretary, get another one if you have to. I want you to spend time at home, and I want you to spend as much as you can doing the following exercises, here write this down.” The doctor scrambled to hand him a pen and notepad.

“Monday: I want you to visualise at least three big pots of gold, spend as much of the day as you can recreating the dream in your head but this time with these great big pots of gold instead of the tiny one you originally saw.

Tuesday: I want you to keep seeing the dream as much as you can, all day, but replace the two short bits of string with a big long braid that stretches on into the distance. If you see gold also, make sure it’s still great big pots and not the small one you saw at first, and I want you to continue in this fashion.

On Wednesday, I want you to see two hands shaking.

On Thursday I want you to see  that walking stick good as new, in fact turn it into some fancy diamond-encrusted sceptre if you want, go nuts.

On Friday I’d like you to picture a full-sized baseball field, with lots of enthusiastic people playing on it and having a great time.

Finally on Saturday, spend the day visualising a great big thriving olive tree. Then on Sunday you can come back in and tell me how you got on.”

“Doc, you gotta be kidding me! I need your help here! Can’t you see my life is falling apart? How is cutting work to think of cute pictures gonna solve me any problems? I gotta work hard at this. Cut me some slack! All I want to know is what this crazy dream is all about, and you want me to sit back and do nothing but think of cartoons?”

“Listen, this is serious work, I want you to give it a real shot. Don’t deny yourself any important leisure activities, but spend as much time as possible doing as I’ve asked you. If you try this out and it doesn’t work then next week we can take a more active approach. But I want you to give it your everything. Agreed?”

“Alright I’ll give it a shot, but I got to tell you, I’m pretty sceptical.”

“Put your scepticism aside for me, just for this week. I want you to engage with the process fully. Don’t let either of us down now.”

“Alright, alright already! Jeez you sound just like my mother. I’ll see you next week, ma.”

“See you next week.”

And with that the business man left.

A week later he returned to therapy, visibly glowing. He looked five if not ten years younger and there was a slight spring in his step as he entered the office.

“Doc, I don't know what you've done or how you’ve done it but I really gotta hand it to ya, things are changing in my life big time! I did what you said and didn’t go into the office until Thursday, just worked from home, then I got the important phone call and I'm just about to sign this great deal with another company. This could really save my ass! I spoke to my wife on Wednesday night and she’s called off the divorce, we're actually speaking to each other properly for the first time in years and she wants to work things out. I was even going to lose my mistress, but I took her out Friday night and the sex was so incredible I didn't have the heart to break it off in the morning. I checked my blood pressure today and it’s all back in the green zone. But best of all, you gotta hear this! Yesterday, instead of going out to playing golf with my buddies, I played my son at baseball. I was inspired by the big pitch that cropped up in my dream. Like in the movie, huh? ‘If you build it they will come’? Did I mention that? That everything in the dream changed around like you said? Well, the boy and I, we had an amazing heart to heart and I got to be completely honest with him about everything that’s been going on, and my feelings and all that crap, y’know? He’s such a bright kid, he understood everything I said and let me know how he was feeling about everything too, I could hardly believe he’s only eight! Well I feel like we’re best friends now, not just family, what’s family huh? Having sex with each other was just about the last good turn my parents ever done me. So anyway, enough already, I came home and did your visualisations all evening until I fell asleep and I woke up this morning feeling great. There’s only one thing that’s still driving me crazy. What did all that stuff in the dream mean, and why all these pictures? You gotta tell me what you done Doc, you gotta tell me what it all means?”

The analyst took the liberty of a long pause to stroke his beard.

“Well…” he laboured, “To be honest I didn’t really do any of the work. You interpreted the dream for me yourself. You see, the tiny pot of gold represented your attitude towards money. You just couldn’t ever see there being enough of it. So I got you to imagine an abundance of gold. Then you saw two separate pieces of string, and I figured it matched your whole outlook on your marriage. So I simply got you to braid them together into a long enduring tie that stretched out into the future with three strands: one for you, one for your wife, and one for your son. Next you told me how worried you were about your business: you saw one thumb up and one thumb down. You couldn’t see your clients agreeing on deals, so I got you to replace the picture with a handshake to make closing deal possible in your minds eye. Then there was the broken stick. I don’t think we need to say anything about this broken stick, Freud would have a field day. The really rather pathetic olive branch in your dream represented your health, so I got you to replace it with a vibrant tree, and finally that left the old, discarded baseball bat and ball. You wanted to invest more in your relationship with your son, so I got you to visualise a whole baseball field complete with a spirited game in progress. So, my fine analysand. What do you think?”

“Doc,” the client responded with a sardonic smile befitting an analysand, “What a load of old baloney! I think you oughtta see a shrink!”

With that he left the office and the therapist never heard from him again.

(c) Antony Sammeroff,  21/07/12

The Dream that would Inspire "Like The Greeks"

I had the weirdest dream. I was going down these ancient rock stairs on some kind of field trip, they were at the side of a great precipice and I got vertigo and sat down but was to scared to get back up. Someone else on the trip refused to give me a hand back up. I ended up sliding down into an alcove and in there I got myself together to go the rest of the way. There were White heads carved into the wall like the old ones of Sophocles and Aristophanes etc. In fact the stairs lead down to Athens. Next thing I was in a modern concert hall like a theatre and who should be playing but Papa Roach?! They were playing some new stuff I wasn't familiar with, I text you: 'I'm in Athens! So now I can be a Greek like I always wanted!! Papa Roach are playing, I feel like it's meant to be!'
(Sent to Kerry Corbett, 04/07/11)

"lol that's a weird dream, also, I was listening to papa reach all day yesterday! Hmm what does it all.mean? :p"
(Received from Kerry Corbett, 04/07/11)

"I think the ancient greeks things symbolises my desire to have had an impact on the evolution of human thought like the Greeks, the great philosophers, poets, etc. Not sure. I thought it was nice that I text you it seemed like the 'realest' thing about it... sweet"
(Sent to Kerry Corbett, 04/07/11)

"I shall write a play called 'Like the Greeks' and it shall be the story of a struggling artist trying to come to terms with his role in the world while simultaneously alienating those around him. Cliched? I hope not too much so but it's more important to do something good than something original. xXx"
(Sent to Kerry Corbett, 05/07/11)



"I had a weird dream last night. I was walking down this ancient rock staircase at the edge of a great precipice on some sort of field trip, it was night. I got vertigo thinking of falling down the side and sat down, I was too scared to get back up again. Someone else on the trip i didn't know refused to give me a hand back up. After some time I ended up sliding down (eyes closed) into a little alcove where I was able to get myself together to go the rest of the way. There were white heads of ancient Greeks carved into the rock like the old ones of Sophocles, Aristophones, Socrates, Plato, etc. I think 3 of them, and in fact my trip down the stairs was a trip down to athens...
‎...which was a small ancient city at which the stairs were the path to in my dream. Next thing I was in a modern concert hall that looked a bit like a theatre and a rock band I used to listen to in my youth were playing an informal gig there, they were playing new songs I wasn't familiar with. I texted my ex girlfriend who I'm still close friends with, "I'm in Athens! So now I can be a Greek like I've always wanted!! Papa Roach are playing, I feel like it's meant to be!"
(Sent to Dimitri Halley, 04/07/11)

"We tend to inflate and ascend to heights often too high to be able to descend safely. The dream is telling you to come back down...Greece and the Greek in you stand for this more earthy feeling side."
(Received from Dimitri Halley, 04/07/11)
  
"Hey that's really interesting, I definately relate to the needing to come down bit.
Funnily enough I interpreted the greeks as my will to be a great man when the time for great men has passed, ie. there is no need for another Voltaire, Sartre, Beethoven, Wagner and even if you wrote poetry better than Byron no one would notice... but classic ego balancing act - yin yang - trying to interpret the way down as being puffed up the feeling of "earthyness" is more congruent with what I was feeling down in the concert hall, not very puffed up."
(Sent to Dimitri Halley, 05/07/11)

She took me out of the city and lay me down with her next to the shrubs close to a ravine in what I could only imagine was a deer skin. She made it clear with her reactions that I was not to speak, and nor did she, but very soon we began to communicate with one another in images and all was understood between us, even without words.

She taught me the language of the forest.

The ground spoke to me of ancient times when they were covered in snow, but they were happier then because the soil was alive and the ravens still sung. I learned of ancient healers and medicine men who used to walk the lands when they were brown in Autumn.

The next night we were closer, as she naked next to me my hands felt invited to explore her body, whch was pleasing to her and wonderful to me. When I reached her sex with my fingers it was warm and moist but I knew there was fear in my heart over whether we should make love and when I touched her clitoris she reacted negatively after a moment, but perhaps only as a consequence of my trepidation. I know we slept together but did not make love.

An Awesome Game conceived of in a most Interesting Dream

I had a dream last night that I was participating in a game. I guess you could say it was a role playing game. The game can take place in any area big enough, in my case it was a few buildings based on some of those of at my old high school and others created entirely by my unconscious like a castle tower. At a stretch you could maybe run it in a flat or house with several rooms, or you could expand it to a whole university campus or something like that if you were brave enough, didn't mind the walking, and wanted to make it a really big game. Naturally in these cases there will be all sorts of people who are "not playing" scattered through the game world, going about their business and most probably absolutely oblivious to what is going on with those participating. That helps add to the atmosphere. The game had a made up name which sounded Spanish, which I guess means the playing area represented the whole of Spain.

The premise of the game is that you and one other player are long lost brothers and need to search the game world for clues as to how to find the other, each of you follows the "treasure hunt" in the reverse order from one another and it's actually sort of a race or competition to see who gets most fastest and figures it out first, at which the time you both succeed when you meet. The clues are generally dispensed by other characters in the game in various locations, although the actions of characters and choices they make throughout the game may affect things such as where these characters will be found, whether they move to other locations or not, and their willingness to help one or each of these two players. 

The default location, order and nature of the clues, as well as the dispositions of those who deliver them, are randomised from game to game by means which were not explained by the dream. N.B. Only one game took place throughout the entire dream and it took hours to play!

The two "main characters" may bump into one another throughout the course of play - but the rub is it if their characters aren't aware that the other is their macguffin "in game" - it doesn't count at all! They may even interact with one another obliviously! (Although in my case we only passed in corridors.) This is supposed to add to the humour an quirkiness of the concept as well as the challenge. 

Towards the end of the dream when it was reaching a climax I remember getting very angry at the other player for watching which direction I went off in after we passed, which I claimed to be "cheating."


When I was explaining what happened in the dream to Suzy I suddenly went "fuck... I know what the dream was about..." ... "It's actually about finding myself, isn't it?"

Stuart Wilde speaks of a mirror world in which the inner you, associated with your feelings, resides. He claims that this in not a figure of speach or a metaphor as he and thousands of others have looked through into this mirror world and seen their authentic selves. This is the imprint of you which supposedly allows you to survive your death and transcend into whatever it is that comes next.

If my interpretation is right and that's what the "long lost brother" in the game represents then the people milling around who "weren't playing" represent those who have no interest in, or don't believe in spirituality. Those who dispensed clues? I don't know, guides or something?... And perhaps at the end, where the other player (whom I recognised as we both set off from one another at the beginning of the game but didn't really seem to know well in person) was watching where I went, it was perhaps because he already knew "in game" that I was who he was looking for, he'd beat me to the punch, but didn't say. In fact I don't remember him saying much if anything...

An Awesome Game conceived of in a most Interesting Dream

I had a dream last night that I was participating in a game. I guess you could say it was a role playing game. The game can take place in any area big enough, in my case it was a few buildings based on some of those of at my old high school and others created entirely by my unconscious like a castle tower. At a stretch you could maybe run it in a flat or house with several rooms, or you could expand it to a whole university campus or something like that if you were brave enough, didn't mind the walking, and wanted to make it a really big game. Natuarally in these cases there will be all sorts of people who are "not playing" scattered through the game world, going about their business and most probably absolutely oblivious to what is going on with those participating. That helps add to the atmosphere. The game had a made up name which sounded spanish, which I guess means the playing area reprisented the whole of Spain.
The premise of the game is that you and one other player are long lost brothers and need to search the game world for clues as to how to find the other, each of you follows the "treasure hunt" in the reverse order from one another and it's actually sort of a race or competition to see who gets most fastest and figures it out first, at which the time you both succeed when you meet. The clues are generally dispensed by other characters in the game in various locations, although the actions of characters and choices they make throughout the game may affect things such as where these characters will be found, whether they move to other locations or not, and their willingness to help one or each of these two players.
The default location, order and nature of the clues, as well as the dispositions of those who deliver them, are randomised from game to game by means which were not explained by the dream. N.B. Only one game took place throughout the entire dream and it took hours to play!
The two "main characters" may bump into one another throughout the course of play - but the rub is it if their characters aren't aware that the other is their macguffin "in game" - it doesn't count at all! They may even interact with one another obliviously! (Although in my case we only passed in corridors.) This is supposed to add to the humour an quirkiness of the concept as well as the challenge.
Towards the end of the dream when it was reaching a climax I remember getting very angry at the other player for watching which direction I went off in after we passed, which I claimed to be "cheating."


When I was explaining what happened in the dream to Suzy I suddenly went "fuck... I know what the dream was about..." ... "It's actually about finding myself, isn't it?"

Touching Heaven In Sleep (from my old Livejournal)

I had a weird experience in my dreams last night. I wouldn't call it a spiritual experience (and certainly not a religious experience) because I amn't permanently changed by it or anything but it was thought provoking.

I was dead and being a ghost in this upper realm type thing, and any time you're tired of being a ghost you can go upstairs and move on to the next world.

You know how when you're asleep your dreams can trigger off emotions the same way as life does?
Fear, Happiness, Sadness, Love... the full spectrum...

Well, when I finally went upstairs there was this bright light shining through the clouds and in a few seconds I was drifting towards it I felt TOTAL divinity run through my entire body, it was so euphoric and the closer I got the stronger it got like a light shining brighter, spreading through my entire body. All in about 3 seconds I was touching the Realm of the Lord.
As I was drifting (same 3 seconds) I looked down through the clouds at the world and I wondered what would happen if I went there instead of into the light and if I tried to see what it was like would I get another chance to go up later...

...I started falling, falling to the ground, through the ground and into the fiery pit, just for a second, then I woke up staring at the wall, I felt like Satan was behind me.

You know the expression "Get ye behind me Satan?"
I'd say it's the last place you want him to be, you can't see what mischief he's getting up to and you'll be too scared to look behind you and check.
Keep him where you can see him.

I have never been a believer in religion, and certainly not heaven or hell, however Steve, my band mate, likes the symbolism of Jesus as a saviour and Satan as he who tempts us to stray from a richeous path. I think my dream was merely symbolic, but I'd give anything to touch the realm of the Lord once again.