By Conor Whelan
Wherever you wonderful people end up
good luck to the lot of you.
Part of me can’t wait to see what you’ll do,
where you’ll be – I know right now
the thought of life is terrifying
but we’ve survived this weekend, it’s easy now on.
Teachers actors directors writers managers producers
and a bunch of completely different things
it’ll be a good mix.
Right now it’s hard to see the upside though,
as I don’t want to lose you guys
especially now that at the final sprint
we’ve crossed the line together
urging each other on.
It’s strange, but I’ve fucking loved it
the pizza parties, carrying shit, working late,
sitting and laughing at nothing until it hurts
or at Georgia Murphy’s white cup incident
or Stocko’s greasy chicken wing attack
We’ve pulled through, dragged by Lee
past mysteriously deleted lights, broken doors and other fuckups
and made some damn good work
there’s no point lying –
pieces that made people cry and think and tense and laugh
and now the whole lot of it comes flooding back
the wine receptions, the cups of tea on Mark’s sofa
the lucky buggers who got to give Tim a hug
the weekend we found our captain, Griff
before he fucked off
and the workshop when he kicked a wall.
The things we’ve learned:
mixing tomato ketchup and brown sauce to make fake blood is pretty rank
rape is only funny if done with vegetables
chalk is not original
and too much from “I have never ever.”
A thought for absent gorgeous girls
who couldn’t be here because they were in “different countries”
but we’ll be back to see theirs, right?
Advice for second years: listen to Lee!
You’re not as shit as you think you are,
things will fuck up, but you should do your best, but they will fuckup,
get your friends in as early as you can because they are bloody awesome
don’t try to be in 6 at once –
but of course they’ll ignore it all and learn it for themselves
because lessons from late rehearsals
while working with people you love, even when they’re being cocks
and nicking your space or leaving that cable in the wrong place –
those lessons are worth more than what they mean
because they were discovered with friends
as delirious as yourself –
the best kind, the ones
you have achieved and gone insane with
but kept going and survived.
I’m going to miss you guys.