Well, the show finally happened.
It was cold and wet and dark and perfect for what was about to occur inside of The Duke of York theatre in Brighton.
After a lovely shoot and a MAMMOTH final editing session (22 delirious hours!!) the project was complete.
Letters to the Dead had finally wrapped and was ready to screen.
All in all, it was a great night. We managed about 50 tickets (of Brighton folk, sadly nobody from my circle could attend :(
We all waited in the lobby, drinking champaign to ease the nerves before showtime.
There was a photographer outside taking photo's of us all while we entered - glitzy stuff, being papped ;)
Once into the theatre itself, we took our seats and I decided to sink as deeply into mine as possible. Fortunately, due to my not living in Brighton, most of the crowd were oblivious to who I was which meant I could sit back and enjoy the buzz in the room.
It was Nick Hudson that had to handle all of the chatter, which he seemed to be revelling in.
The lights went down, at last, and the film started.
60 minutes later.
Silence...........
..........
...... Applause!!
And a great big applause at that. I felt great relief that the crowd not only seemed to understand the densely surreal narrative, but also that they all enjoyed it.
Suddenly, before I could take it all in, I was ushered on stage with Nick and selected members of the cast for an awkward Q&A session. Despite my jitters at being introduced to a room full of people that didn't recognise me, I enjoyed myself and remember having lots to say.
Before I knew what time it was, my phone rang informing me that my taxi had arrived to take me back to London. As I sat on the train home, holding on to the bunch of flowers I had been given, I thought of how lovely it was to see all of the cast members that gave up their time to help us creating this beast. I thought of the crowd that supported the film on it's opening night.
Most importantly of all, I thought of the film itself. I thought of how much I enjoyed it. How great it sounded.
How the narrative, however surreal, ties up beautifully by the end titles.
And above all else, I thought about how proud I was of the finished film.
Letters to the Dead - Trailer 2 Official from Chris Purdie on Vimeo.
