Writing Life: insights, updates, and craft
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Catching Up
You (I) run fast through autumn and early December to get that time off at Christmas and New Year, trip up (get the lurgy, natch), sleep a lot and fall madly behind. It has, I realise, become a pattern. BUT! Waving a blazing torch of flaming, rejected, double-side printed scripts, I stride with gumption into…
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High Tide Winter Retreat
6 December already? How did that happen? Terrifying. So I’ll ignore it and pretend I will easily make the year-end deadlines I’ve given myself… Let’s deal with the Now instead. Am back a day or so from the excellent High Tide winter retreat in Halesworth, Suffolk. Sixteen brave scribes [wrighters, rather than writers, we hope]…
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Quickies
Oh, it’s the end-of-year madness, which, like all other things seasonal, comes early. First of all, a massive grins all round as Venue Magazine released its judgement on the year’s best bits, rating May’s 24 Hour Plays at Theatre Royal Bath, run by the great Shane Morgan at Roughhouse as 2nd best play of the…
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A voice is for….?
“Tale Man tell me what’s wrong with my life, am I only here to question? No, sir, you are undoubtedly here to cajole and make suggestions.” Julian Cope – “These Things I Know” – ‘Black Sheep’ album Excellent day yesterday at the Soho Theatre, where they held (yet another) great training session for writers, in…
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Catch
The thing is, too much thought and too little ability to translate that into a regular blog post… A few fragments, then…Fresh from reviewing “Jigsy” – a Les Dennis one-man show at the Tobacco Factory. Last night was the “world premier”, tonight’s the last show! This was great theatre. My review for whatsonstage.com is here.…
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Putting on work = growing as tale-tellers
Well, yes, being a writer is all very well, but you’ve gotta remember (and we can forget!) that it’s ultimately about getting the drama onto the stage. The work can be as beautifully crafted as you like, but audienceless, it’s meaninglessly mute. I spent yesterday afternoon (+ will spend today and tomorrow) with the great…
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Reviews: “Pills, Thrills and Bellyaching…” 2-4 Aug, Tobacco Factory, Bristol
“Overwhelmed by hyper-energetic, Ali Watts, performing as a hard living but happy “Glasgoburgh” soldier, home on leave, who among the convivial crowd in the theatre bar would guess that “Passion”was written by a woman, Gill Kirk?…The outpouring of the soldier’s passion is pure masculine. Ms Kirk must have observed the species very closely, and Watts…
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Eddie King & the Death of Rave – 2nd-4th Aug
Oooo, stuff from the surprise box is always great, isn’t it? Just agreed to join the merry crew taking part in Darkstuff Productions’ “Thrills Pills and Bellyaching – Eddie King and the Death of Rave” at Bristol’s Tobacco Factory on Aug 2-4th at 8-30pm. This is gonna be a great show! Here’s the spiel from…
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The Ustinov Writers’ Forum Moves to the Tobacco Factory
As you might have spotted if you read this blog regularly, I’ve been a member of a superb group of writers at the Ustinov. This group is now moving to the Tobacco Factory and this statement from the Forum explains the how and the why. If you would like to know more about what we’re…
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Theatrical Viagra / Talent Ahoy!
Ok, no, so we’re not talking about Nicole Kidman in The Blue Room. In case you were wondering. No. But I am fresh from having my full-production cherry merrily popped by Alison Farina’s Butterfly Psyche theatre company and the Rondo Theatre in Bath. Last Wednesday to Saturday was Water’s Not So Thick‘s first full-scale outing.…
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Reviews: ‘Water’s Not So Thick’
4 stars * * * * Venue Magazine “Acutely observed and sharp as tacks, [with] plenty of wit and humour … that soon gives way to a much bleaker portrait of dysfunction and dependence, and a plot which builds with the relentless momentum of tragedy.” “I wholeheartedly recommend that you go.” – Guide2Bath “Gill Kirk’s…
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