Bags are really personal things. Depending on who you are, where you're going and what you're doing, their contents can vary drastically. So this month, I decided to see what was in my bag on a show day at The Unicorn Theatre and share it with you.
The Essentials
Let's start with what almost everyone has in their bag: phone, purse, keys. Whenever I'm about to leave the house, I repeat these three words like a mantra. With these three things I know I can get wherever I need to go, contact whoever I need to contact and get into my home.
I'll also add my phone charger onto the essentials list. Even if I don't realistically need it, packing my charger has become an ingrained habit. Lastly, my reusable water bottle would be in this category. However, I actually left it at home on this particular day, so I had to buy a bottle on the way to the theatre.
Personal Grooming and Hygiene
This category is relatively short compared to what other people may have in their bags. Firstly, I have a small bottle of hand gel, a left over from the hight of Covid that I still use occasionally. I also have a bottle of hand cream, for when my hands are feeling dry (obviously). My lip balm is particularly important for the show I'm in at the moment, as it's quite difficult to whistle with dry lips.
As someone who doesn't wear makeup on the daily, I don't need to bring anything to touch up. I tend to carry more hair things in my bag. I always have my pick comb. I rarely use it, but it's useful if I need to fluff out my hair to give it more volume. Another must-have (if I'm not wearing it) is a silk scrunchie to whip my hair up and out of the way.
Lastly, something that I have at the moment but don't usually have in my bag is my satin bonnet. This is actually something I sleep in to protect my hair. But I've started bringing my bonnet to the theatre with me to stop static from the jumper in my costume frizzing up my hair.
Stationery
If you don't know me, I am a stationery fiend. Is it a little irrational? Probably. But in fairness, when you're an actor and writer you never know when you'll need to take notes.
Top of this list is my Bullet Journal. I never travel without it. It's my diary, calendar, tracker and gratitude journal all rolled into one. I write my Bullet Journal in Spanish, so it's also a great way to maintain my language skills. Next is my pencil case; I'm really picky about the pens I use so I always make sure I have it with me.
I also brought three extra notebooks with me on this particular day, because I have no chill. For some reason I have my Spanish notebook with me; seemingly I was under the illusion that I'd have time to do some hardcore studying in between shows (I didn't). Notebook number 2 is my general writing notebook, which I use for freewriting and other creative writing exercises. And lastly I have my Morning Pages notebook. I'm re-reading/re-doing "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron (also in my bag today) and a big part of the course is writing morning pages every morning. I didn't have time to do them before I left, so here the notebook is.
Finally for this section, I also have a ton of highlighters. This isn't on purpose; I just happen to have them in the front pocket of my backpack. I'm not sure why they're in there to be honest...
Work Necessities
As the show I'm in is up and running, there's not a lot in this section. The main thing is my script. This could be left in the dressing room, in all honesty, but I tend to keep my scripts in my bag until I finish a job.
The other thing that I'd put in this category is my glasses. It's not really a necessity, but wearing my glasses for reading does stop my eyes from becoming too tired and, as an actor, reading is kind of essential.
Miscellaneous
Finally, there's all the random stuff that doesn't fit neatly into a category but, nevertheless, is there. First is my headphone carrier bag. Why not the headphones? Because I wear them to listen to the Easy Spanish podcast on the way to the theatre.
And last but not least, I have a tourist map of the area around the theatre. There's a lot of attractions near by and the theatre Green Room had tourist leaflets so I decided to pick one up in case I fancy having a wonder at some point.
So that is everything currently in my bag at the time of writing this post. What's in yours?