We had been asked to be at the WYD offices by 8.30am and not one person was late. However, one of the cast forgot his shoes so we did not leave until 9.05am. Fortunately, when planning we accounted for something like that happening and we arrived at Dublin Airport as scheduled - 20mins late. Fortunately again, we were only 20mins late for checking in and we still made our flight. Once in London we went to our hostel to relieve ourselves of our luggage.

Later, when we had been well rested, fed and watered, we hiked 2km through the city center to the Royal National Theater. It was in the Royal National Theater, on the Olivier Stage, that we would be performing our play, The Pilgrimage, on the very next night. Why we were there on that night was to see two of the other plays that were taking part in the BT National Connections competition. The two shows impressed us but although we all agreed that the theater was huge and the shows were great we were not despondent or fearful of the next night. This was because we knew that our show kicked-ass and had more attitude than a constipated lion having a bad hair-day with a hot poker stuck in his side.

After the show we went downstairs to a party in the theater which ( due to all the free non-alcoholic drink and not the really crap DJ ) was very cool. After that we went back to our hostel for an early night in ( 2.30am ) , in preparation for our big day.

The next morning we were made get up terribly early because we had a lot to do. First thing ( even before breakfast ) we went to the theater. There we met the other group that would be performing after us on that night. They were nice and their play was good but they were not nearly as cool as us. We spent most of the day rehearsing for the night while our director almost had a nervous breakdown. In this way the time passed quickly and it wasn't long before the audience began to arrive and we were told to get off the stage. Then all we could do was wait. Backstage, five minutes before the show began, it was very quiet. Nobody was particularly nervous and everyone was confident there would be no mistakes because we had performed the show so many flawless times before. It was very warm backstage and when I look back at it, it seems like a dream - a very cool dream. Anyhow, we soon got the cue to start the show and so we started the show. From there it just got better and better. It was truly an amazing experience and, thanks be to God, nothing went wrong. Besides nothing going wrong a lot went right - the audience seemed to enjoy it and they responded to the jokes better than any audience we had ever had.

After that there was not much else left to do other than party all night and then go home to the land we all love - Erin.

by Mark Costine