Just in case you hadn’t heard me utter the words ‘excited’ and ‘ladybird’ in the same sentence…
It’s here.
It’s this week.
It opens tomorrow.
Book here…
#excitedladybird Post Number 7 (cast) August 10, 2011
Here we have Joseph Wilkins playing Will (Supervisor)
“I still get excited when I see… my niece and nephew”
#excitedladybird Post Number 4 August 5, 2011
And still the total gets higher!
You’ve still got a few days left to donate. And there’s also another video update of the rehearsals which is here…
#excitedladybird Post Number 3 August 1, 2011
GREAT GUBBINS! We’ve beat our WeFund target and there’s even still time to donate!
And there are some fantastic incentives on offer which you can see here at a quick glance…
And there’s also another #excitedladybird blog update as well. Aren’t we nice to you? Then again some of you have been super nice to part with some pennies and subsequent pounds. We’re all Lovely. There, that should do it…
#excitedladybird Post Number 2 July 26, 2011
As of now our WeFund total is looking like so:
And to keep you all up-to-date so far with the process, here’s a little video about the rehearsals so far…
I am getting extremely excited. Excited indeed. Feel free to spread the word or #excitedladybird and keep an eye out for all the updates.
#excitedladybird Post Number 1 July 20, 2011
So far through WeFund we’re up to:
And that’s just after being live for under a week. AMAZING. Click on our orange ball of donation goodness above to see our WeFund page and to donate if you so wish. I’ll be also taking the reins of the blog over there but I thought I’d do it here too. The first blog is up and it’s from my face…
My First Full Length Play At Theatre503 And You Can Help… July 15, 2011
… “I Still Get Excited When I See A Ladybird“. Yeah, that’s the one. It’s coming up this August and you can be in the audience. It’s the script I’ve blogged about a lot on here, the process of me writing it. That’s how much this is needling away in my brain. I’ve struggled to get into this position where I can show my work off, in front of an audience. It’s what I wanted all along. And now it’s going to happen I’m terrified. I’m being honest here, as I normally am. It’s at Theatre503 who are the smallest building to win an Olivier and who The Guardian quote as being, “Arguably the most important theatre in Britain today”. I feel like I’m swallowing large sickly apples.
But on the flip side it’s finally happening. There will be a cast, who will be directed, who will then perform in front of an audience. Exciting. Mega exciting. I’m sure I should be saying something far more intellectual and deep right now, but fuck it, I’m shouting from the bottom of my bank account because I want to. It could go tits up of course. I could invite all the important people and friends and family to come and see this and it could prove that I cannot write for shit and I shouldn’t waste my time. But at least I would have tried, at least I would have had the opportunity to show what I can or cannot do.
I’m sure that won’t happen. I hope that won’t happen.
So enough with the self-flagulation. This is where you guys come in. We’re going through the Lovely folks at WeFund who you and I know very well from my previous shoutouts (the insanely ace Box Of Tricks), and this time it’s even more personal. Because it’s to help fund my play, yes, my play. Even writing those two little words in this context makes me feel giddy.
Here’s the video that you’ll also see on our WeFund page (there’s a slight delay at present but it’ll be up there too very soon!) where we chat about the project and what’s in store. Click the WeFund icon to go to our donation page.
As you can see there are lots of incentives for you to plump for, but honestly, every little helps. I’m calling on all the people I have ever helped out whether it be reading your script/novel/work or helping you with your website or just emailed you advice. All I’m asking for is as much as you can offer. This project is a massive milestone for me and will (fingers crossed) lead to bigger things. And it’s not just about me, it’s for the cast and crew too. We want to make people sit up and take notice with this production and every donation will help go toward that goal. It is achievable. We will do it, yes I’m looking at you. If you cannot part with a donation but can buy a ticket I still love you. If you’re further a field and cannot do both, I still love you too. Just pass the word on. This is all about helping out emerging artists and plugging the plight of good theatre. Collaboration doesn’t stop within the rehearsal room, it extends its loving and interesting arm around the audience too. I’ll be documenting the process of page to stage as much as I can. I want you to be a part of this as much as anyone else. Next I’ll be blogging about the cast and crew and if you want to follow @papercuttheatre on Twitter and keep an eye out for the assigned hashtag #ExcitedLadybird please do.
The White Room – Industry ICA Lab May 30, 2011
I know, I know. It’s been a crazily long time since I’ve done one of these. A massive wild delay. I can only apologise profusely. I’ve been busy (I know that’s my usual excuse) but there have been deadlines for this, that and the other and plays to see and other jobs to do and meetings to have.
I digress.
I held another ICA Lab for my two-hander script, “The White Room”. But this time I did things a little differently. I invited an audience and essentially held an ‘open house’ reading for this script. The idea was that anyone who attended could either approach me for the script, or for me as a writer, or for the actors involved. So it was a good event for all of us to prepare for. We had headshot/bio pages for all the actors involved (same as the last time – the brilliant Susan Stanley and Joseph Wilkins with a new addition of Joanne Ferguson reading stage directions). And then after we had the bar hired privately to have drinks in (of which I provided) and generally chat.
And to be honest, I was so busy preparing for the day making sure that people were in the right place and giving people directions, that I didn’t really take it all in until I had to leave my own reading early to go set the drinks up. But I got a great response. I met people that I’d only had email contact with, I invited old collaboration partners and I also invited people who I had never contacted before. But do you know what? It worked. People turned up, it got people talking. It looked professional and smooth and it got my name out there.
I’ve got some good leads to follow up from this reading and time will tell if they’ll work out. But it doesn’t really matter. The fact is I decided to organise this the week before the first bank holiday (so essentially ultimate office down time), but it spurred me on AND it got people talking about me and my work. If I can arrange this smack bang BEFORE a double straddling of bank holidays in a room where we still had debris left over from a wedding before, and still have an engaged audience of industry folks… Imagine what I could do if I properly planned it ahead of time. It was hugely beneficial to do it because it made me realise how relatively easy it is to be proactive about these things. I now have made contact with several literary departments who can now put a name to a face and who know my work a bit better, because they’ve seen it on its feet.
So the following people came along for the reading, all of which I’m very grateful for:
Melissa Dunne (director)
Sarah Brocklehurst (producer)
Abigail Graham (director)
Maja Milatovic-Ovadia (director)
Cass Sigsgaard (producer)
Tess Morris (screenwriter)
Janice Okah (playwright)
Shenagh Govan (actor)
Paul Vates (actor)
Kathleen Martinelli (from Soho Theatre)
Bettina Fleischer (actor)
Matt Denison (support – Casarotto)
Rachel Davies (support)
Mel Cook (director)
The White Room – ICA Lab February 3, 2011
I recently had an ICA Lab to work on and develop my script, “The White Room“. I’ve always spoken fondly about the ICA Lab in the past and this time will be no different. It’s a fantastic opportunity to try work out, get it on its feet or at least off the page behind the safety of a closed door. It’s a chance to to explore a project and discuss it with all those involved, from the actors reading the scripts to the outside eye you’ve invited.
The piece is an intense and extremely intimate script so having few people in the room to watch heightened this. Susan Stanley and Joseph Wilkins had (incredibly) done a lot of work on the piece before the reading, which I admired. They had met several times to go through the script, read through a few times and act it out with props and build a background to the character’s history. What made this Lab even more worthwhile is that a lot was discovered about the story that I hadn’t addressed fully, but also how to twist the tension up higher to gain more effect from the entire piece. This is something I would not have stumbled upon if it hadn’t of been for the feedback I received from the people I had invited. Having two theatre directors, a playwright and actors in the room all felt extremely useful and what’s more, they had invested their time into watching, reading and talking about it.
I always bang on about collaboration, but it is key. Without it we’re running on the spot, and that’s something I’m keen to avoid.
So thank you to Mel Cook, Melissa Dunne, Joanne Ferguson, Janice Okah and of course Susan Stanley and Joseph Wilkins.
