Rising above...

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On Friday night after our performance in Ossett I was approached by a number of the audience who wanted to tell me how professional the black company are (they said other nice things too but they all commented on our professional approach …this happens whenever they perform and my response is always to say,” Well yes…” as what surprises them is simply what I expect…the conversation is always a little awkward as I do understated low key pride to their genuine surprise… In some ways I felt a little guilty on Friday as while others were complimenting my lovely actors I was remembering that about an hour ago I had been stood outside the hall reprimanding them for whispering…and whispering very quietly at that…I really am a perfectionist and for that I’m sorry…well a bit sorry…to be honest not that sorry… because it’s this strive for perfection that means our youth theatre’s reputation gets stronger with everything we do which means we get to challenge ourselves further and further…Our name has come to represent an organisation whose values are admired as much as our art…and that makes me very proud… So for all of those people who were there on Friday and who witnessed the opposite to professional behaviour by an arts practitioners (I’m not including details on here as it won’t help anything – however I imagine at some point it’ll get round to you all) that’s why after a momentary glint of rage I didn’t follow it up, didn’t challenge the disparaging comments and inappropriate behaviour…there’s no need to argue with someone who sadly has lost all grasp on what’s important in making performance with young people…I can just smile at them, confident in my young people and the work and community we’ve created and after that anything else is simply pettiness… There, rant done…thank you Black Company for being brilliant and good luck in the next two performances as we continue to build our reputation…and just as a whimsical aside Black Company I am ridiculously excited for the session on Thursday where we get to play with no performance deadline to hit!!! We shall have much fun devising all things Robin Hood…

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