Finally!

Finally!.

Finally!

I sit in the foyer of the West Yorkshire Playhouse, waiting. I play “spot the actor” for a while, to pass the time. At one point, a man in a WYP top walks over to me. “Are you Mark?” he asked. “No, sorry” I reply. I don’t know who Mark is, but I experience a brief, irrational buzz of pride, tinged with jealousy. I’ve been mistaken for someone attending a meeting at The Playhouse. Do I look like I belong here? Alan Bennett gazes out of a foyer poster, and I imagine what it’s like behind the scenes right now. Theatre goers arrive, meet and greet one another. I wonder who Mark is, and why he is here. Finally I think about why I’m here.

Emma and Donna arrive. We find comfortable seats, and I pass Emma my Leeds card; hoping to get a discount on our coffees.

Down to business.

“The files are at the printers. We’ll have the books by the 22nd, at the latest; but they could be here earlier than that”.

I try to let Emma’s words sink in, but it’s not working. Then she shows us a couple of low resolution pictures off her phone: a cover, a couple of pages, a barcode…my name. I just about manage to hold back the tears. A book…my name…together…finally!