New Writing

Regeneration: The work-in-progress showing in numbers

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SpikeLee001 B&W1 tea trolley during the tech (something of a first for all us, and something which is definitely going on our ongoing spreadsheet of the foodstuffs offered by venues we work in).

40 pieces of velcro keeping our drawing paper on the wall of the studio.

2 moments when Estelle, Charlie and I thought that, despite those bits of velcro, the paper was going to fall off during the performance.

2 uses of an expletive which made me acutely aware that there were a couple of under 13s in the audience.

1 visible scene list which proved that London audiences like a visible scene list equally as much as Exeter ones do.

New York B&W6 different cities where a scene of the play took place.

6 different areas in London where Myles’s character lived.

2 moments where Andy got to do “awkward flirting”.

3 variations of the name “Lucy”.

1 scene that took place on a ferris wheel.

1 scene in which Myles made Andy draw a horse, much to the audience’s amusement.

1 speech by Margaret Thatcher.

2 speeches by Boris Johnson, only one of which got a groan for one of Boris’s “funnies”.

1 speech by Spike Lee that caused a woman in the audience to exclaim “it’s exactly like that!”.

Lego0031 fact about ‘right to buy’ which made the audience audibly react.

1 joke which is only ever going to work for audiences in West Yorkshire.

1000s of pieces of Lego which were thrown across the stage during the final scene.

(11 audience members who stayed behind to help us clear up – and play with – the Lego)

(Co-)Writing and Directing Beneath the Albion Sky

This entry was posted in Beneath the Albion Sky On Tour Performance Write By Numbers Writing Diary and tagged Beneath the Albion Sky New Writing Now Writing theatre Theatre Blogs Write By Numbers Writing on by

Beneath the Albion Sky is the first piece of work that I have ever written (in this case co-written with Corinne) and then directed.

I must admit that there was a bit of fear in directing the show. Not least because I had written some of the words and maybe some of them were really precious to me and I hadn’t realised yet but also because I had lovingly crafted this script with Corinne. Now, Corinne is precious about certain lines and words. In some cases really rather precious. Far more than I am. Whereas I don’t have favourite lines to things I write I know that she does and that she did have special lines in Albion.  I knew that if I (or Andy) screwed up this line up, she would be disappointed. We would be getting one of her ‘It’s fine’ retorts that is so loaded with (potentially imagined by me) bile, hate and contempt that all you would be able to is say how sorry you are a million times over until you feel at least half way close to forgiveness. ‘It’s fine’ she would say… Over and over again.

But that’s enough about the fear of butchering the favourite line of Corinne Furness and my over the top imagination of how she might react. I had another fear in directing this piece in that I had written a bit of it myself. What if I shoehorned my writerly vision in to the piece at the expense of it? What if I couldn’t accept another reading of my words? What if any sort of ability I have to direct simply fades away as soon as we move from a line of Corinne’s to a line of mine? These were just some of the fears.

But it turns out – I was absolutely fine. I’m not being egotistical and saying that the directing is super awesome (you will have to come to The Yard, The Wardrobe or The BikeShed and decide that for yourself) but that I didn’t have a problem with directing something I wrote. I was delighted to find that I could take my writing hat off, put my directing hat on and just approach the play that was in front of me. Before I knew it, I was cutting lines, changing bits and seeing the play a-new. By the end of it all, I honestly couldn’t remember if I had written certain lines or if Corinne had.

I remember, back during my BA, Howard Barker came in to one of our Playwriting sessions. I was very excited (as I think Howard Barker is brilliant) and one of the things he said (amongst others) really stuck with me. He said something along the lines of ‘It is important to direct one’s own work because then you understand it better. You understand how it, and drama, work’. I can’t remember if that is exactly what he said but I remember the sentiment. I also remember the fear. I thought to myself ‘I can’t do that’, ‘I can’t direct’, ‘I’d end up blocking myself’, ‘Don’t try it you silly boy’ etc. Well, I finally had a go (admittedly with a piece I half wrote) and it was really rewarding.

I’m definitely going to try and direct my own work again (some, not all – let’s not be silly) and I would recommend that other people give it a try too.

Just please don’t blame me if, for you, it is the disaster we all fear. But I reckon there is a good chance it won’t be.

Charlie of WBN

 

And the Cold Writing theme is…

This entry was posted in Cold Writing Performance Theatre Theatre.Jar Write By Numbers and tagged Babble.Jar Cold Writing new New Writing theatre on by

As I type this, our latest batch of 6 Cold Writing writers are frantically writing a ten minute piece based upon a theme I sprang on them yesterday afternoon at Babble.Jar.

And that theme was ‘Watching You’.

If you want to see what our writers come up with, come along to Babble.Jar in ‘Stokey’ this Wednesday at 7.45pm.

Tickets are £5 on the door – £4 if you email tickets@writebynumbers.co.uk asking to be on the cheaplist.

See you then.

Charlie of WBN

Theatre.Jar: Cold Writing writers chosen for our first new writing event @ Babble.Jar

This entry was posted in Cold Writing Performance Theatre Theatre.Jar Write By Numbers and tagged Babble.Jar Cold Writing New Writing Performance theatre Theatre.Jar on by

May I have a drum roll please…

(hear this in your head as appropriate)

After scouring through a very high level of applications and much deliberating and pontificating, the chosen writers for Cold Writing @ Babble.Jar are:

Mike Carter
Matt Cunningham
Thanh Dang
Caro Dixey
Olivia Furber
and Felix O’Brien

I can’t wait to work with this fine bunch of writing talent. I will give them a theme in a workshop on Sunday 7th July. And then I will give them just 24 hours to use all their craft and guile (who says writers don’t have ‘guile’?) to make us an awesome short play.

And then we will put them on. On Wednesday 10th July at 7.45pm @ Babble.Jar

Fancy tickets for £4 instead of £5 on the door? Email tickets@writebynumbers.co.uk before Tuesday 9th July and get yourself on the cheap list. Numbers permitting. Obviously.

Charlie of WBN

WBN Presents…Theatre.Jar

This entry was posted in Cold Writing Theatre.Jar and tagged Babble.Jar Cold Writing New Writing Theatre.Jar on by

We’ve been keeping this under our hats (or, in my case, my headscarf) for a little bit but to demonstrate that we’re doing other things than just creating elaborate visual structure patterns of Beneath the Albion Sky whilst eating biscuits we’ve got some exciting news to announce…

*drum roll please*

On the 10th July we’ll be doing our pop-up theatre thing at Babble.Jar in Stoke Newington. Babble.Jar’s an awesome bar (look! at! the! cocktails!) who are supporting lots of artistic ventures and, because we’re always up for doing something we haven’t done before, we’re exploring what a regular writing-theatre-night (Write By Numbers style) might look like with them. It’s probably worth noting that for once Write By Numbers style doesn’t include sub-zero temperatures, carrying hundreds of chairs, or fixing a broken toilet. Babble.Jar have all of those things in order (also, they have board games and table tennis – literally WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT?).

We’ve christened the night Theatre.Jar (see what we did there?) and we’ll be launching in July with a specially commissioned version of our write-and-make-a-play-in-72-hours-without-collapsing-from-exhaustion strand Cold Writing. You can read our call out for writers here and, if you’re not panicked by over use of capitals and mild panic, you can also find out about what’s exactly involved with Cold Writing in our live blogs from Cold Writing: Reinvent and Cold Writing: The Forest.

Theatre.Jar will start at Babble.Jar at 7.45pm on Wednesday 10th July and you can find directions here. Tickets are £4 if, to borrow a phrase, your name’s on the list or £5 on the door. To get your name on that all important list send us an email to tickets@writebynumbers.co.uk

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