Another blast from the past! Unfortunately a lot of the footage for Regina V Cooper was lost, but myself and cameraman Matthew Farman have trawled through what we have and compiled what we’d like to call a trailer for the piece. And when I say ‘we‘ trawled, what I really mean is I gave Matt notes and he did all the hard work.
So here it is…
Katie’s Breakdown (not mentally, not this year) For 2010 In Writing Terms
Yes, it’s going to be one of those blog entries… I warn you that this will be one long list of lists so I have a record of what I’ve done this year, I tend to forget you see.
Plays I’ve Seen
The Priory, Royal Court Theatre
Lieutenant Of Inishmore, Barn Theatre, Welwyn
Early Bird, Finborough Theatre
Space Vixens, Barnet
The Factory Round 2, Electric Showroom
Bluebird, Landor Theatre
Ghosts, Duchess Theatre
The Yellow Wallpaper, Ye Olde Rose and Crown Pub Theatre
Off The Endz, Royal Court
Peter and Vandy, Theatre503
Playing Faustus, OVO
Little Shop Of Horrors, Abbey Theatre, St. Albans
A Day At The Racists, Finborough Theatre
Leopoldville Theatre, Tristan Bates Theatre
Posh, Royal Court Theatre
Whipping It Up, Bridewell Theatre
Mrs Reynolds And The Ruffian, Watford Palace Theatre
Little Gem, Bush Theatre
A Thousand Stars Explode In The Sky, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
Children Of Darkness, Leicester Square Theatre
Marine Parade, The Old Market, Brighton
OperaShots, Royal Opera House
66a Church Road, New Players Theatre
Sucker Punch, Royal Court Theatre (twice – took the ‘rents the second time)
Volpone, Old Town Hall, St. Albans
Money:Shunt, Bermondsey Street, London
Little Shop Of Horrors, St. Albans Amphitheatre
Spur Of The Moment, Royal Court Theatre
Show Of The Night, Lion & Unicorn Theatre
Traverse Live! Clapham Picturehouse
Ghost Stories, Duke Of York’s
Bunny, Watford Palace Theatre
Wanderlust, Royal Court Theatre
Cut Off, Theatre503
Clynbourne Park, Royal Court Theatre
The Big Fellah, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
Tribes, Royal Court Theatre
Wicked, Apollo Victoria Theatre
The Fool, Cock Tavern
Red Bud, Royal Court Theatre
Blasted, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
Kin, Royal Court Theatre
Hungry Ghosts, Orange Tree Theatre
Cut Off, Tristan Bates Theatre
Plays I’ve Had Performed
The White Room, Abbey Theatre, St. Albans
Regina V. Cooper, Old Town Hall, St. Albans
Shakesperience, Abbey Theatre, St. Albans
Love-Aged-Trilogy, The Book Club – Interrobang, London
Food For Thought – Cut Off, Tristan Bates Theatre, London
Schemes/Programmes/Opportunities
Writing for Radio, Fraser Grace, Menagerie Theatre Company, Cambridge
ICA Lab, for children’s TV series CIRCUS, London
The Fielding Programme, Kilcreggan, Glasgow
Royal Court Invitation Group, Royal Court Theatre, London
I also got published! I had my short story, “Providence”, published by Tonto Press in, “Even More Tonto Short Stories” and went along to the book launch up in Newcastle. Thank you to Caroline Smailes and Stuart Wheatman who selected my story as a winning one and went and published it. You made me a very happy giddy girl.
I also received my first proper London commission from Box Of Tricks theatre company. They liked my work and then asked me to write something for them which I will forever be eternally grateful for, because somewhere in my heart that makes me feel like a playwright. The first draft is currently sitting on their desk waiting to be read and when I’m further along the line with that particular project I will pester you all in coming to see it.
And talking of London I had a small debut with the one off performance of, “Love-Aged-Trilogy” and then I had my proper London debut with the five night run of, “Food For Thought” as part of “Cut Off” (both with fellow thespian conspirator Melissa Dunne). Equally exciting and terrifying they were, but I went and done them and now I can say that I’ve done it. It’s made me better.
And I met a whole lot of new Lovely people. I like them all (mostly) and maybe even secretly fancy some of them (Tom ‘Cake’ Hardy – okay, not so secret) but they’ve been a delight and a pleasure to know. There are too many of you to list here, but you’re Lovely so stay Lovely and spread the Lovely.
Y’see, I thought last year was extremely busy and pivotal for my career, but it seems this year has trumped that. I’ve gained a lot more understanding of what I want to do which is always handy, especially when I spend a lot of my time waiting to hear back on things. It’s not always been great I can’t deny that. There have been schemes that I’ve been shortlisted for but not obtained, there have been reserve lists for other schemes that I’ve not progressed from, there have been flat out rejections and there have also been angry tirades to particular companies… But all in all I have done a lot this year because I’ve put the hours/days/weeks/months in. And I have to say I’m extremely proud of what I’ve achieved. I can honestly look back at all the work I have produced this year (some scripts haven’t and probably won’t be performed at all) and conclude that I am a little bit closer to doing this properly.
So I hope this has been a productive blog for you to read… Who am I kidding, it’s just one big post-it note for me.
In all the kerfuffle of new projects springing up all over the place in the fertile place that is MY MIND I completely forgot to mention that there is a show happening next week that I’ve had a hand in.
Next week on the 29th and 30th October all the students involved with Theatrix Theatre Company will be performing for your pleasure with Shakespeare in mind. There’ll be singing, dancing, acting, talking and all manner of things Shakespeare. They’ll also be performing some modern adaptations of Shakespeare segments that I’ve been tinkering with which is nice.
(I promise you if you click on the picture it suddenly becomes readable.)
So if you want to see the new talent do their brilliant best and see what Theatrix Theatre Company can produce come along and see. I’ll be there (obviously).
Link to buy tickets is here: Abbey Theatre, St. Albans
So it’s all over. It was extreme amounts of fun and I have to thank the following people:
Stanley Walton
Nicole Ryan
Michael Keir
Dennis O’Connell-Baker
Suzy Duxbury
Rosemarie Partridge
Keith Davey
Chris Norton-Walker
Beverley Keech
Neil Fox
Amber Townsend
Sue Townsend
Carolyn Ryden
Roger Walton
Phil Littler
Matt Farman
Eamonn Keane
Hilary Davies
Margaret Baker
Joel Baillie-Lane
Tina Swain
Either these people were in it, directed it, were the jury members, filmed/photographed it, asked me to write it or played a part in making the day go swiftly.
Special amounts of Katie love going to you. When I’ve got some photos/filmlings then I’ll share the good times.
For ‘Regina V Cooper‘ you understand. And already I am already chin deep tying up the ends of another commission. But I thought I’d provide a delayed brief response to the one rehearsal I’ve been to. Y’know, the first one.
[And when I say "underestimated the actors" what I actually mean is that they did my work justice without me having to interject all the time and 'got' the script from the word go. Please send no hate mail, because if I'm honest I don't have time to open it.]
I jest, it was my attempt at a pun to do with costumes… Please don’t judge me for that.
Performance times have been confirmed:
Regina V Cooper [2010]
Written by Katie McCullough for STARTS
St. Albans Old Town Hall, St. Peters Street, St. Albans, AL3 5DJ
Saturday 18th September
The traditional courtroom will be open to the public as part of THE BIG PROJECT, a day of local creative happenings around each part of the town hall. There will be two performances on the day lasting 25mins:
12:30pm
and
3:30pm
And in other rooms there will be film screenings, art exhibitions, music, art classes and performance poetry.
THE PLAY
The courtroom will be open for the public to sit in the gallery as requested by the local council. This case will garner much attention from the press due to the horrific nature of the details and the ripples it has had on the local community. Called forward to testify will be the neighbour, the expert witness and the arresting officer. All to prove that the defendant is guilty of multiple murder.
“Rebecca Cooper stands in the dock on trial for the murders of eighteen gastropod molluscs – slugs. The defence is pursuing partial insanity and the prosecution is applying for thrill killing. You are charged that on the night of 16th September at Cell Barnes Lane, St. Albans, you murdered eighteen victims. How do you plead, guilty or not guilty?”
A court case with peculiar undertones condensed to 25 minutes including the verdict. This tense case will make you question your own morals and more importantly your own innocence. One woman pushed to the brink due to redundancies and insomnia and childhood memories that resurface in this tragicomic telling of one woman’s retribution on the garden slug. In this court of law murder is murder, no matter what creature you are.
THE PLAYWRIGHT
This site specific play written by local Katie McCullough was commissioned by STARTS. Katie is a graduate of Bournemouth Media School and the Royal Court Theatre, London. Her mentors have included established playwrights and poets – Leo Butler, Polly Clark, Fraser Grace and Simon Stephens. She’s received readings at the ICA and Theatre Royal Stratford East and been granted Arvon funding. She took part in the Vauxhall 48Hr Film Challenge as part of the Branchage Film Festival, Jersey by scriptwriting the winning film ‘Morning Mist’ and is also Theatrix’s playwright-in-residence. Katie has a short story featured in the ‘Even More Tonto Short Stories’ anthology which was released in book shops August 2010. Her website is www.katiemccullough.co.uk
*I realise like a numpty I said I can make more rehearsals than I said at the beginning of the sentence. Before anyone corrects me.
And here are some publicity photographs that the newspaper didn’t end up using but who knows, we might before the big day.
I’ve got some wonderful people involved who also happen to be close friends. It’s exciting times, especially as it’ll reach a wider audience with it being performed smack back in the town centre. When I know the performance times I’ll be sure to holler about it.
I’ve been approached by St. Albans Arts via Abbey Theatre to write a site specific piece for an their upcoming Big Project in September. The idea is that the Old Town Hall will be taken over by local talents ranging from filmmakers, writers, artists, musicians and each room will be fully utilised for maximum impact.
I’ve been given the challenge of writing a 20-25min piece specifically for the court room – a space that is magnificent as it is imposing. Awe-inspiring to say the least I got given a tour yesterday to go suss it out and I cannot wait to get my hands dirty with this piece. It’s often used by the BBC because of its authenticity and the fact that it has not been disrupted at all. The acoustics leave much to be desired (tall ceilings and endless bouncing) but using trained actors will help a great deal.
Presently I’m up to date with all the Shakespeare adaptations I’m doing for Theatrix so can give my full attention to this piece as it’s going to require a lot of research. Going to sort out sitting in on some court cases tomorrow at the Crown Court in St. Albans. So far I know what the premise is and I’ve cast a few of the parts but have yet to put pen to paper. That’s what my plan is to do for the rest of this week.
Eager, excited and equally terrified. I’m liking it.
Slinking into the background so to speak. I’ve been busy in a good way. In true Katie fashion I’ve been busy here, there and every place. I see a lot of theatre, it’s kinda how I do things.
The purple dots are deadlines for competitions and schemes and so far I’ve hit each one. The orange dots are pieces of theatre I’ve seen. So far I’ve seen a total of 22. That’s on average 4.4 shows a month. That’s the only appearance of maths you’ll see me do, minimal button pushing on any calculator. So there’s that, all the seeing (and unfortunately paying) of theatre that’s kept me busy. Then there’s the new pieces of work I’m crafting for new commissions.
I’m adapting Shakespeare for Theatrix’s big show at the end of October. Really need to pull my socks up with that one as the entire company is 150 kids which is split into two shows and then split into smaller segments. Really modernising again and making it a joint effort between the younger children and the older ones. Shortly I will be immersing myself in a tonne of Shakespeare which is never a bad thing but never to be taken lightly.
I’ve also been asked to write a site-specific piece for St. Albans Creative Council which is extremely nice of them. It’s for St. Albans old town hall, the court room to be specific. And the best thing? (Possibly at this stage also the worst…) Is that I can do whatever I wish and cast whomever I wish. And I can have 25mins to do that. Have yet to actually put pen down on paper for this because I’m too busy seeing other things and juggling the other jobs. But when I shall I sure will have fun with it.
Since coming back from Kilcreggan I’ve yet to have any more spare time to work on my new personal project. It’s still there sat waiting for me to churn some pages out but I have other priorities to concentrate on, y’know for other people. But safe in the knowledge it’s there waiting for me to pounce on. It’s about truckers and my Dad is showing a keen interest (seeing as he is a trucker and he’s the very reason I’m writing this play) so soon I’ll be going out on the road with him for research purposes. Just like I did when I was fourteen. Jeez, that was twelve years ago.
At the moment I’m feeling this nervous energy which I’m sure is to subside at some point. I’m rolling my eyes and gritting my teeth and seeing a lot of familiar names attached to things, which I cannot deny winds me up good and proper but I have to remind myself where I’ve come from and my achievements so far. It’s hard to push yourself when there’s only you to push but every now and again I realise my strengths and pummel through. Who knows what’s around the corner. I’d be fucked if I do. (But once in a blue moon it’d be nice to just know, y’know so I don’t think I’m utterly being ignored…)
NB. I also forgot to mention that I’ve been asked to be a judge for the 20th Annual TEN by TEN, a playwrighting competition in Houston, Texas. So I’ve been reading and marking (so far) 55 scripts. Another reason why I’ve been quiet.
So The White Room’s run is over. We’re not sure what’s next, let alone me. I’m tired and emotional for allsorts of reasons to do with production. I felt physically sick for the most of it and nervous when familiar faces turned up. The more I saw it the more I wanted to tweak and edit. The things I were worried about I needn’t have and the things I thought were fine needed work. But this is the game – trial by fire and do it again. I’m so tired so don’t want to dwell on this chapter too much as there’s still life in the project but it’s a waiting game at present. I can’t reveal too much because there’s not anything solid to reveal yet. I’ve already started the inklings of the next idea which wasn’t intended to be the next idea but hey the emails have been sent now. Again, I wait. And Glasgow is next week for The Fielding Programme where I start the initial workload for the next play (the planned one, the reason I’m going.)
I’ll leave you with a few odds and sods from The White Room and I probably won’t be around these parts for a while as I prepare mentally and pack a bag for Glasgow. I’m thinking of starting my video blog side of things once I’m there, seeing as I started it up there the first time round….
