Not finished, just abandoned.

Storming final rehearsal last night...and tomorrow we open. And now, all the last-minute doubts and questions that I guess every director must have.

Will anybody come ? If they come, will anybody understand it ?  Is that bit too fast ? Is that bit too slow ?  Is the bit I think is really funny, like, really funny, or have I got a crap sense of humour ?  Have we got enough inflatable plastic hammers and leprechaun hats ?

Of course, no play is ever really finished...they just get to the point where you either abandon them, or go on and on and on as weeks turn into months turn into years obsessively tweaking the telephone answering machine message on page 20 or the handshake on page 42 while the actors quietly sneak off to get on with their lives. So it's good the day is finally here.

I found the final run last night powerful and moving, and I've now read/heard this play 743 times. It's been a real pleasure to work with John, James, Eimear, Jackie and Javier, and watch Dermot's mighty text evolve into...well, whatever it evolves into tomorrow night. Because that's the last link between football and theatre : anyone can talk a good game, but can you do it on the pitch ?

Final words from that great man of the theatre, Vicente del Bosque :

" Es un obviedad : el entrenador tiene su papel, proporciona herramientas, pero los autores de todo son los jugadores."

( It's a statement of the obvious : the coach has his role to play, he supplies the tools, but it's the players who make it all happen. )

Off to watch Atletí : )