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And the upcoming Cold Writing theme is…

This entry was posted in Cold Writing Write By Numbers Writing Diary and tagged Cold Writing Empty Shops Projects New Writing Now Writing Write By Numbers Writing on by

Due to the wonders of scheduled blogging, this post will be reaching the the world whilst I am in the middle of leading the workshop with our fine Cold Writing writers.

The theme of the festival should just be settling in with our writers now and (right now) I will be leading exercises with them as they explore the possibilities of the theme.

So without any further ado, I give you:

COLD WRITING: REINVENT

Yes, our third Cold Writing festival is to have the theme of ‘Reinvent’.

To see what our writers come up with, don’t miss Cold Writing: Reinvent at Jill, the Community Hub on Thursday 21st March at 7.30pm and Saturday 23rd March at 12.30pm and 3.00pm.

Charlie

Things I rarely do (but have done this week)

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Hello blog world. Let me introduce myself. I am Estelle, the other member of WBN and as I am directing ‘Reasons For Listing’ this week i thought it would be appropriate for my first blog post to be a list, so…

Estelle’s list of things I rarely do (but have done in the last week)

1. Blogged. Well, that’s something I NEVER did til now

2. Watched a forum theatre show. I often use forum but rarely watch any to check if I’m doing it right!

3. Written a script at 8am. Both the activity & the time are unusual ( I usually leave that kind of behaviour up to Corinne & Charlie, but I’ve never seen either if them at it at 8am)

4. Watched boys with guitars (went to a gig) upstairs in a pub. This is something I used to do a lot (& I think Corinne would approve of) although it is a rare activity these days.

5. Said NO to some work. Ok that’s a lie. This is aspirational.

Real No 5. Did not do any work on a Sunday. This one IS true.

6. Danced the charleston on stage. I would like this to happen more often.

7. Went to the gym. Yes, seriously.

8. Went to Pilates. I actually felt energised & relaxed after. This can’t possibly last.

9. Got tempted by MacDonalds. See last two points. I need to compensate for 7 & 8.

10. Rehearsed ‘Reasons For Listing’ in a shop. Jill to be precise. Hurrah!

So, that’s it. You catch me in the midst of stuff I don’t normally do and it makes me happy.

Cold Writing: We have chosen our Writers!

This entry was posted in Cold Writing Write By Numbers Writing Diary and tagged Cold Writing Empty Shops Projects New Writing Now Writing Process Writing on by

So it has been a bit of a slog through, and it has probably been the hardest choice yet due to the quality of applications we received, but we have finally chosen four writers to be involved in the upcoming Cold Writing Festival at Jill, the Community Hub in Sydenham.

These writers are:

Ella Ashman
Kymberly Ashman
Judy Upton
and Richard Walls

I can’t wait to run the workshop next Monday with these four fine writers, I’m even more excited to see what work they produce in just 48 hours and, I can’t deny, I’m intrigued to find out if Ella and Kymberly are related – or if it is just a coincidence that 2 of our final  4 share the same surname!

Stay tuned to the blog for when we reveal what this festival’s Mystery Theme will be (which will be approximately 5 minutes after I inform the writers as to what it is)

And stick in your diary the festival itself:

Thursday 21st March at 7.30pm
Saturday 23rd March at 12.30pm & 3.00pm

Charlie of WBN

WBN News: We’ve got shows coming up!

This entry was posted in Cold Writing Reasons For Listing Write By Numbers and tagged Cold Writing Empty Shops Projects New Writing Now Writing Performance Reasons For Listing Workshops Write By Numbers on by

Write By Numbers are going to be busy bees in the next couple of months, so I thought I would just let you people who read blogs know about a couple of projects and shows that are happening soon:

Joseph Mills Presents…Reasons For Listing: 16 Facts and One Story About Things That Make Me Happy

Reasons for Listing is going to be popping up in a few places in the next couple of months. It is first going to be at Jill in Sydenham on the 16th and 17th March at 12.30pm, 2.00pm and 4.00pm.

The venue is part of the SEE3 Portas Pilot in Sydenham, Kirkdale and Forest Hill. The space is well worth a look, especially as such Portas Pilots might end being the future of our  High Streets… (I’ll let Corinne blog about that properly in the future as I’m sure she will have plenty to say about such things – especially as she has managed to get herself involved in this one.)

We are also excited that Reasons will be part of Scarborough Literary Festival, with Joseph doing his presentation in a Library for the first time (details here if you are in the North come the 11th April). It is great that Reasons is getting a run out in a Library. Way back, when Corinne and myself (with invaluable help from our friend Olly Hawes) started developing and working on Reasons, we always felt it would have a home in libraries so it is exciting that is starting to happen.

Cold Writing

We have also got another Cold Writing festival coming up. If you fancy applying to be a writer, you have just one day to get to it! If you fancy seeing what plays some lucky writers come up with (which I will maniacally direct in one day), then please come along to the performances. These will be happening at the Jill in Sydenham, just the week after Reasons is there, on 21st March at 7.30pm and on Saturday 23rd at 12.30pm and 3pm.

We gave got other coals in the fire as well which we will let everyone know about as and when. In the mean time, hopefully we will see you at one of the above!

Charlie @ Write By Numbers

What WBN Has Been Doing (whilst we haven’t been blogging) PART 2:

This entry was posted in Bloggery and tagged Blogging New Writing Write By Numbers on by
Important team building and research. Naturally.

Important team building and research. Naturally. See point 12.

Last time we hadn’t blogged in a while, we let everyone know exactly what was so important that we couldn’t write some words in a bloggy format. Well, we are in this junction once again so I have come up with another list so that you can see what we have been up to:

1. Writing. (Now Corinne and I are even writing TOGETHER – which hasn’t been the unmitigated disaster some may have predicted. By ‘some’, I mean Corinne and I)

2. Planning. So much planning.

3. Meetings. So many meetings. To do point 2.

4. Moving house. For me, this was my first time moving house in London. For Estelle it was move number 4 in London for the same period. For Corinne, it was move 576 in London in the same period. Here’s hoping Corinne can settle now.

5. Having pieces on in Walthamstow, Latitude and Exeter. What jet setters we are.

6. Getting ready for shows in Forest Hill and Sydenham (x2) and Scarborough.

7. Eating lots of Biscuits.

8. ALL OF US having Norovirus. At the same time (please note, this was not due to the biscuits).

9. Eating lots of ice lollies (this was a result of having Norovirus and the fragile nature of our tummies)

10. Working very hard on various projects (not all of them for WBN, we must admit)

11. Going on a Writers Retreat in Wales where we discovered wild ‘Sheep-Goats’.

12. Going to AltonTowers for my birthday (even though I had an Ear Infection, and crazy up and down rides are not great for balance. Especially, when said Ear Infection means you can’t stand upright at the best of times)

13. Realised that despite all the scary rides, the most frightening part for Corinne was being made to walk through the Aquarium. She is not a fish lover, suffice to say. Unless it is covered in battered and comes with chips (she is from Yorkshire, after all?)

14. Watching a hell of a lot of Doctor Who.

15. Estelle and Corinne putting up with me ‘singing’ along (singing is the wrong word here) to the Doctor Who theme tune. VERY LOUDLY.

16. I have started wearing less clothes with holes in, Estelle has branched out into new colours and even wears green whereas Corinne still gets stopped and asked questions whenever a vintage fashion fair is happening in London.

17. Me insisting that Estelle and Corinne try every ale that we come across.

18. Group hugs. Again, on my insistence.

19. Having strong reactions to most things in the news.

20. Really enjoying the Olympics and going to one of the Paralympics athletics sessions.

Back again soon.

WBN Charlie x

 

Theatre41 – To The Future

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Saturday marked the day which, when I curated Theatre41, envisaged would be our final day. I’ve much, much more to say about the month (and a little bit) that WBN have spent making theatre for Wood Street Market. But that shall have to wait because there’s something slightly more pressing at hand: we’ve been asked to extend our residency at Wood Street Market until the 16th June. That’s five more weeks.

So, just in case you’re not listening at the back: FIVE. MORE. WEEKS.

As CharlieWBN might say, CRUMBS.

In the next five weeks we’re going to do something a little different to how we’ve run the space until now. We’ve had our go at working out what a festival of new performance writing for Walthamstow might look like and now we’re looking for people who might want to use the space to test/ experiment/ make their own mildly crazy plans. We can offer Theatre41 for rehearsals, readings, scratches, workshops, get-togethers – and probably a few things that we don’t know the name of yet. Along with all the fixtures and fittings of Theatre41 (including lights and seating and a fully functioning, and attractively purple, kettle) we can offer various degrees of support in kind. Thanks to the support of Wood Street Indoor Market we can offer Theatre41 to you entirely free of charge.

You can see photos of Theatre41 here and there’s more information on Wood Street Market here.

We’ve got a variety of days still available between now and 16th June (including a couple of Saturdays and Thursday evenings where you can run performances if desired). I’m interested in hearing anything you might want to do with/ to the space but I’m particularly interested in helping projects/ ideas that are new and might not be able to find a home elsewhere (yet), things which support/ encourage new/ emerging theatre practioners of any discipline, anything that might come under the term ‘new performance writing’, projects that engage with empty shops and ideas which engage with the area/ community the shop is in. We’re also interested to hear from people who might be interested in running/ taking part in empty shop pop-ups in future (even if you can’t at this stage).

If you are interested please contact us at corinne@writebynumbers.co.uk.