New work!
As I left Gold Company yesterday I
re-realized that one of the excellent things about being a Youth Theatre
director is that you get the luxury of making new work all the time. As I type - in YTYT alone three brand
new pieces of theatre are in various states of readiness - all to be performed
in the coming months. On top of
that another new piece of theatre, that I wrote the script for, is in
rehearsals with a different company.
Making new work is exciting enough in
itself but making it in collaboration with such a creative, resourceful and
generous team of collaborators makes it the most joyous process. Every script I write has the input of
the actors of YTYT and that is how I keep writing at such a prolific rate,
enjoying every minute of it…
The most recently started new work is a
retelling of Hansel and Gretel – I started this last Monday with Sapphire
Company. It will eventually be
their Christmas show but before that we have to decide on a creative concept…devise
the play and then hone the script into something we can rehearse from September
to December. I have to admit by
the time I got to the workshop at the start of the week I was beginning to
regret my story choice. I really
wasn’t sure we could come up with something that would be creative, amusing and
inclusive enough from a story, which it’s raw form is so claustrophobic, dark
and twisty. As could have been
predicted within minutes of being set the challenge of devising the first scene,
Sapphire Company were throwing out such clever ideas I was no longer worried at
all. It’s going to be both
ridiculous and brilliant – so the usual combination of defining characteristics
of a Sapphire play.
On Thursday we were making Remember the
Oaks – oh my – this piece is a privilege to work on. It has been commissioned by the NUM to help raise money for
a national memorial to the victims of The Oaks mining disaster – there were
over 360 men who died at the mine in Barnsley in December 1866. Black company are working so hard to
make their play unforgettable and honest and I’m so excited about it’s
potential. We finished the opening
sequence this week and have mapped out the rest of the play – save the date of
the 24th of July so you can come to the Lamproom Theatre to see it!
Finally we are well on the way with our
production of Lit on the Lawn with Gold Company – just the last few pages to be
staged and then we can concentrate on getting the breakneck speed needed to do
this informative yet frivolous production justice. If you are at all interested in British literature and/or
entertaining open air theatre – look out for the imminent announcement of the
performance date!
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