Back in Leicester

Well, so much for blogging everyday about the Fringe! I just didn't have time in the end. It was so busy and - I don't know - frenetic, and I completely over-stimulated myself. Learned how truly unfit I was when almost passing out after climbing up some stone stairs leading off the Royal Mile. But had a brilliant time.

The shows that I saw:

Broken Holmes (twice)
Icarus 2.0
Over the Threshold (see review in previous post)
The Big Comedy Breakfast (pretty funny, and still quoting "past life related" from Sarah Pearce's routine with my friends!)
A Stroke of Genius (really inventive staging and use of props and multimedia, genuinely made me laugh and the lead actress was amazingly good - reminded me of Shirley Henderson).
Orphans - great dialogue and acting, slightly disappointing plot (flaws of logic in the main premise and the first act a little dull).
Perfect Pitch presents...(free showcase of some of the new musicals on at the Fringe)
The World's Wife (Excellent one-woman show performing Carol Ann Duffy's work of the same name)
The Great British Soap Opera The Musical (really well structured show, catchy songs, great acting, although one of the actresses seemed to have a problem with her belt - that's her singing, not her accessorises!)
Baby (Cambridge Uni version of the musical - a couple of the male actors playing it up for the crowd, but generally really good).
The Rap Guide to Evolution (this was funny, but not a parody. Really explained the theory, but also put it into everyday context and related it to rap music. Great lyrics and beats).
A-Team the musical (really funny silliness, though the songs - and singing - were poor).
Ophelia (Drowning) (bizarre yet beautiful play staged in a swimming pool. Got splashed quite a bit, acting good from the "Ophelia" and the "Gertrude" but I would have cast Gertrude as older, without the Claire's accessories tiara, and the bloke in it was just a bit weird).
Plus a seminar on "How to Sell a Show at the Fringe" and a quick visit to the Museum on the Mound.

I also watched a bit of a terrible free comedian at one of the Laughing Horse venues quite late at night, but we left when we realised that this guy clearly had no friends to tell him "hey, you're not funny".

My favourite shows of the bunch (Broken Holmes aside of course), were The World's Wife, A Stroke of Genius, The Great British Soap Opera (not because I found out that I guy I know wrote it, but for the fact that I still have one of the songs in my head now - 4 days later) and the Rap Guide to Evolution (which, for the month of August you can download for free here. Funny and educational - do it!).

It was really great seeing loads of uni friends, old school friends and meeting new people too. It did make me want to write a play again, but at the same time, the question kept coming to me - do I have the energy anymore to do all that promotional work, all that press liaison, all that flyering, etc for three straight weeks? Morph is looking to take a play next year, to continue on the "Semper Theatre" name. Guess I'll have to find some energy from somewhere before then!

So for me now, post Edinburgh, it's back to the writing. More Inter Vivos, and I think I'm going to start my next novel a little earlier than planned. I was saving it for NaNoWriMo, but after what happened with Dorcas Grubb (where I basically had run my inspiration dry by waiting too long to actually write it) I'm a bit scared to leave it much longer.

So short term goals are currently: lose the extra inch I've gained in Edinburgh whilst surviving on a diet of nachos and fried breakfasts; finish off Inter Vivos in the next two weeks; start something new.

Edinburgh and Broken Holmes

Am now in Edinburgh, tired already, but it is great to be back. We're staying in Edinburgh uni accommodation, and our room is really nice - double bed, TV, views of holyrood park. Much swankier than the student digs I've known.
I went to see Broken Holmes last night, and I really enjoyed it. I love Robin's writing; his quirky combination of elegant Wilde-like (Wildean?) wit and the cruder parlance of today is seamless, and in BH, every line is a zinger. As a rule, I don't like farce, but this play is farce without the extreme silliness, as found in Orton and Fo (though there is silliness there; a green snake sock puppet comes to mind).
Not only is it elegant farce, but it is also farce with a heart. The characters of Holmes and Watson aren't merely stock 2 dimensional caricatures, but fully functional disfunctional individuals. Robin has built on our conceptions of these characters and given them a believable reinterpretation, raising Holmes to true antihero status and giving the whole story a refreshing 21st century shake up. Watson is a giant of a man, quite capable, one feels, of knocking the abusive Holmes to kingdom come with a single punch, had Holmes not already demasculinised him. The show is on for 3 weeks at venue 45, so if you are in Edinburgh or are going to be coming up, I recommend that you try and see it. It was a really nice way to end a busy day.

Hagging It Up!

I wrote the following last night when I was out and about, and was going to post this to my blog then, but I couldn't get signal for my BlackBerry! Anyway, here it is:

I am presently sitting in Starbucks - since when did they become so ethnic? African drummers on loop on the CD player, and prints of Kenyan elephants and Antigua on the wall. Last time I was in here, I distinctly remember them playing Christina Aguilera. Oh well. Times they are a-changing.

Speaking of which, all seems to be going well with my Semper buddies. Broken Holmes is into its rehearsal period, Phil's book is now available from Amazon (plug, plug), and Hannah is taking over the internet, one tweet at a time. I sincerely hope that I have some news soon, but unfortunately right now all I can report is that I'm writing. It takes so long!

In other news, I have a small project in the works at the minute, more news to follow, but hopefully it will take off and be grand!


So that's it! One more thing I wanted to add to that was, I think I may have found the perfect job! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8138665.stm

Edinburgh Here I Come!

Before I start: Congrats Phil for your "Experiment" at the Accidental Festival. Hope it went well!

Am bored of Twitter already. I just don't have anything to say that anyone would be interested to read. "Brushing my hair", "At work", "Sneezing due to hayfever" - hardly makes riveting reading, right? Plus, I still don't get it. I mean, at least with the status update on Facebook you can reply to it, and have a bit of a conversation. But Twitter, well it's just micro-blogging, but without the feedback, right? Oh, I guess there's that "@" thing, but they don't show up unless you manage to catch them on your home page before they disappear into infinity. It's not like Facebook, where they get saved nice and neatly under the original posting. Perhaps I'm using it wrong. I don't know. Maybe someone with more "Twitter" knowledge will clue me in.

Oh, I'm such a luddite!

I've had a nice long break from writing, but I think I'm in the right mind set to actually enjoy it again. It's been bloody torture these past months - I've had to resort to crude similes just to get the bastard text out. It's not good, funny or clever, but I'm hoping in the edit that'll all get sorted out.

Off to Edinburgh at the beginning of August to see Robin's show. We're definitely going now, as we're booking our accommodation tonight. It's a little bit expensive, but I thought it would be; it's peak time, and normal hotels around the country are £40-70 a night at off-peak times, so paying £50 a night during the Fringe is actually a bargain. Yeah, it's standard student accommodation, but it's ensuite and comes with breakfast, so can't complain. We're going from 6th - 12th, as that's the only time we can have off work. Will try to blog each day whilst I'm there and fill you in on the happenings!

Right, off to the library now to do some real work...

Pirates and Procrastination

Over the weekend, I managed to do no writing whatsoever; however I did renounce Satan and become a Godmother, so I wasn't being a total layabout. It was quite nice to take time off, even though I did get grilled by everyone at the baptism about when am I planning on having kids. Aaargh!

Hannah, Robin and Phil are all doing really well at the moment with their separate creative endeavours. It's nice to be inspired by people that I actually know. I'm hoping to go up to Edinburgh to see Broken Holmes, if I can get the time off. It's going to be great.

My mind is buzzing with all the different stuff that I started working on, which isn't good, because I don't have time to do all of them, and really need to crack on with IV. I've been working on the plot for my pirate story; basically, an upper class English woman is kidnapped by pirates on her way through the Caribbean to be married. She is captured by Fat Red, a grotesque female pirate captain, and gradually becomes submerged in her world. A little bit like a sinister "Desperately Seeking Susan" - no on second thoughts, nothing like that at all! The mood and feel to the story is more grungy-rock than 80s pop.

What else? I have half a plot for my space story, and the beginning and end of my monster story. Does anyone else find middles hard?

I'm going to have to forget about the stories for the time being, as I do need to finish IV, else it's never going to get done, and I'm never going to be able to write anything else. Single-minded obsession is what is needed; no more of this multi-tasking nonsense.

*pic from Ophelia's Art: http://www.cafepress.com/opheliasart.153104524

More Time Needed!

I've become a bit lazy again, in terms of the writing, and so it's time to kick myself up the arse and get motivated. Because I'm doing this rewrite of the Inter Vivos novel (am terribly embarrassed by how bad the first two chapters are, after putting it away for a while and now re-reading it!), it means that I've had to put other writing projects on hold. So my Tabitha story is on pause at the moment (though it was a nice stop-gap project), and I'm itching to do a rewrite of my Hoodies play, and also a radio edit of both Hoodies and High Street Aphrodite. But no, I need to focus.

The day job is getting more involved, which has meant that I'm working more hours and feeling too exhausted when I get home to do anything other than read or watch TV. I still have my second job too, although I don't work that often any more, so it's not going too badly.

Morph had an idea ages ago for our Semper group to do another night like 'Semper Sumo', only this time independent of LadyFest. It would be great to put on another little showcase, but if Morph ends up putting on his own production in October/November, and what with Mekon deciding he doesn't write anymore, Dec generally being uncontactable, Robin in Scotland and Sabrina 'spawning' (hee hee), then it doesn't look like it'll be happening any time soon.

Though I guess it would just be a distraction anyway, and I need to focus on IV!

Disaster

Well, I'm up to 13,059 words of my NaNoWriMo novel, and I think it's all just awful. Last night I wrote the worst 400 words of my entire life. Absolutely terrible prose. And the story is cliche and on the verge of boring me. But I can't give in, because I have to reach 50,000! I miss Inter Vivos. So I'm just going to moan about my new novel on here for a while. There are some good bits in it, and some good bits coming up that I've yet to write, but on the whole it's just bad. I have a whole immigration sub-plot that I'm looking forward to writing, so much so in fact that my actual main character is just moving from place to place to get me up to the part I'm excited to write. Perhaps I should have a coup and kill off my main character in favour of the supporting character? That's a thought worth thinking about.

Anyway, despite the appauling state of my NaNo novel, I've also been having lots of ideas about other things to write about (sure enough, if you're working on one idea, ten more will pop into your head). I've come up with a new character, called Dorcas, who I've yet to find a story for, but I think she may end up in a children's book. I have ideas for plays that include music and dancing, and I'm loving the 1940s and 50s right now, so may find some inspiration there. I especially like the 40s/50s pin-up posters (see above for an example), so may have to write that in somewhere.

Had a meeting with Sabrina last night to make a crack at the Arts Council Grants form for our Semper project. Basically, we're going to try to organise our own theatre festival in Leicester. I realised as we were filling in the form, that I've actually got quite a lot of experience! It's always good to remind my inner critics that I'm not completely hopeless!

NaNoWriMo Eve

I think everyone should have a group of aspiring writer-friends who, whenever you meet up with them, leave you with a filthy hangover. Whenever our Semper group gets together, that's exactly the state I am left in the next day, although this weekend I was extremely worse for wear and couldn't really enjoy Morph's hallowe'en party properly (ie with alcholic beverages).
Now having fully recovered from hangover and back on solids again, I am trying to mentally prepare myself for tomorrow and the big kick off of NaNoWriMo 2007. Whoop! So tonight, I am going to do all of my washing up (strenuous in itself), tidy around my desk, and then compile all the notes I've made about this forthcoming novel into one handy word document. I'm going to give it my best go this year, and with no theatre to distract me, I'm hoping that I can really get into it. I have a slight concern in the fact that I don't really have a plot as yet, but I'll worry about that in December. The countdown for midnight has begun...
Happy Hallowe'en everyone. Tonight I shall be making treacle toffee and indulging in a little candle magic in celebration (after doing the washing up of course!).

Sumo review

Well, the thing on Saturday at Sumo went quite well I thought, though I'm not sure how much money they must have raised, as everyone seemed to be there for free. Oh well.

My mono seemed to go well - the whole room was silent listening, so I took that as a good sign. Cat, my actress, was really good too - I'm going to have to write more stuff for her, as she's great! Drank too much and spent a small fortune; I must learn to manage my money better. Still, we were there for 7 hours, so it was a bit inevitable that we would drink too much. We all went for Japanese afterwards, which was the perfect end to a pretty successful evening.

I won a book on the raffle about feminisim during the first world war (how random?!), and have taken it as a sign that I should really get to work on my 'Munitionettes' story, which is about ... feminism during the first world war.

However, need to get Inter Vivos out of the way first. Going to go work on it now, like a good girl.

Shameless Plug

If anyone out there isn't busy on Saturday (1st September 2007) and are in the Leicester area, feel free to come down to Sumo for the Ladyfest fundraiser that I'm involved with. There's going to be readings and short sketches and extracts from plays and specially written ten-minute performances, as well as live music from a number of different bands, from 4:30pm onwards. An actress friend of mine is going to be performing Lupus for me, which should be good (fingers crossed!). I think she's just about gotten over the fact that it's 'rude'...
Anyway, it costs £4 to get in.

Back online again

After my holiday from work and the bank holiday weekend, this is my first day back at a computer with an internet connection, and after going through the 57 emails I had received since Wednesday (most of which were spam), I've just gotten around to posting on my blog. It's been a busy few days. I'll try to recap here what I've been up to.

Wednesday: Awoke with acne (I'm 26 for Pete's sake!). Had to catch an early train to Beeston, to get to Nottingham University for the first day of the Momentum Festival. I attended a workshop by some people attached to the Royal Court, which was ok - basically there was a Court writer there called Alex and we had to read a couple of scenes from her published play and then write our own version. This struck me as a bit egotistical on her part and a bit embarrassing on mine (what if she was outraged by what I had done to her play?). Anyway, that was all ok. And then there was some lunch (thank God for Boots) and then there was the 'Script Slam' session where everyone got about ten minutes with the director and two pro-actors and they basically performed the extract of your play for you. Mine seemed to go well; the director was really good, and the actors kept saying they liked the extract (the male actor kept reading lines from my script at inappropriate moments saying he liked the language, which I found a bit embarrassing, though I guess it was a compliment). Then I even got to act in Sabrina's play, because she needed three actors and the director designated me the 'confident person' to do it. That was weird, receiving professional direction whilst being pulled about by two actors. So all in all the Script Slam was great. I have more of an idea of what to do with Hoodies now. I knew before that I needed to rewrite the Naomi and Jase scenes, and the Mouse=wood glue thing is so cliche it's ridiculous. But now I also need to figure out what happens to Brick and Sandie too, and what their journey is. After that, it was time to jump on a train back to Leicester, and then into a cab (with the world's slowest cabbie who didn't know where Fosse Park was) to go to the Short Story awards thing, where I received a 'commended' certificate and met loads of cool people (including my secret blog idol). I was a bit disappointed about not winning, seeing as it would have meant I could paid off some credit card and afford to have a haircut (finally), but I didn't really expect that I would win. Glad I didn't have to read my story out though, as it's quite rude.

Thursday was a bit less manic, and acne had mysteriously cleared up over night. I attended a presentation about the development of a short film, led by EM Media, which was really interesting. I've never really thought about getting into film before, but the process of pitch to finished product was really inspiring. There was also a session on promenade, or site specific theatre, which again was really good, as it's sort of like the opposite of regular theatre writing, and you're really encouraged to think big. So I spent the afternoon setting the myth of Echo and Narcissus in the grounds of University of Nottingham, which was good (though I think I was a little too bossy, sorry Alex!).

Friday: Early start again, but only because we felt guilty for skivving the 'Bottomless Coffee' session on Thursday. Attended a session held by the Gob Squad about performance art and installations and about generating ideas, which was good, and then a really excellent session by Jack Bradley about how to structure a play and about finding your story and the elements of a play you should really consider. I think this session is going to help loads when I come to redraft Hoodies. Also went to see Dec's play, which had a professional performance in the main theatre, and it was really good, so much better than the first draft. Well done!

My weekend was pretty lazy. I met up with Cat to talk about the event at Sumo (she will be performing the story I wrote for the Short Story awards at the Ladyfest fundraiser event at Sumo on Sat 1st Sept), and had barbeque, and made some really lovely double chocolate chip cookies which I'm now wishing I had bought to work to munch on this afternoon.

Rehearsals for Witches of Eastwick are going well. I'm a bit nervous because we're running act two on Wednesday, and we've not practiced my solo bit in the gospel number and so I'll be doing it for the first time in performance-like conditions, and I'm not really sure what note it starts on!

So that's about it really. As you can see, I've also figure out how to do that link thing in my blog, so you can reference anything I've written about. Well, I think it's cool anyway, but I have a feeling I'm easily pleased!

Busy

Well, I've decided that the only way to get stuff done is to give myself 'Daily Writing Goals' so that I actually do something every day and don't get overwhelmed by things.
So this lunchtime, I'm going to figure out what the Hell I'm going to do for Sumo, as not only is the deadline looming and the others are all wanting to know what I'm up to, but my actress is also apparently getting a bit arsey over the fact that she's not seen a script yet. If she's going to go off on one, I might just do it myself. But I'd rather not, obviously.
On my train to rehearsal, I've set myself the goal of planning what is going to happen in the chapter I'm trying to write for Inter Vivos, as I think that's what's putting me off actually putting pen to paper. So I shall plan it on the train, ready to write tomorrow.
It's the awards thing on Wednesday for the Short Story comp, and I'm not sure what to wear. I know that's a really dumb thing to worry about, but I'm going straight there from Momentum (where an extract of my play is being workshopped with a couple of pro-actors), and I don't want to turn up in soggy jeans and a jumper when everyone else is wearing ballgowns and dripping in diamonds. I don't really have any options, but I'm taking Alex with me, so at least I won't be the scruffiest there! (only joking, honey!). I'm sure it's not a black tie event, but even so, it'd be nice to make a good first impression and not look like I've literally been dragged through a hedge backwards. Oh well.

Writer's Block

It's confirmation and Clearing at the moment, so I'm completely swamped, and sick of looking at UCAS forms (I work in University Admissions). Because there's so much on the go here at work, it feels like I'm busy in all aspects of my life, which means that I'm not actually getting anything done (except cleaning my kitchen, which is going well).

I read in another blog about a writer who claimed to have written his book in two weeks, writing from 11pm - 2am every night, whilst also doing a full-time job. At first I was all envious and thinking "well, maybe I can do that too", but then I started to think realistically. No way could I write like that, 1) because going from work (8:30am -5:30pm) to rehearsal (6:00pm - 11:20pm) to writing (11:20pm-2am) for two weeks would be a complete nightmare and 2) because if I don't get at least 8 hours sleep, I get grumpy (right now I'm functioning on about 7). This also sounds like a bit of a stereotypical 'bloke' way to go about things, you know, to compartmentalise everything thus. I tend to do fifty things at once, so I would be writing whilst doing the washing up (wash til water goes dirty, write until dishes have drained), or write whilst eating lunch at work. To spend a whole 3 hours doing nothing but staring at a computer screen/blank piece of paper seems very daunting in comparison. So I've decided to try the much more watered-down version of "writing for an hour a day", which I've not actually managed to do yet, but am starting tonight.

I'm in a phase at the moment (possibly spurned on by the A-Level results and admissions cycle) where I feel like I have to do something with my life to get it going in the direction I want. I've been looking into creative writing courses (which I can't afford) and thinking about doing my PGCE again (which I don't quite qualify for just yet), and about moving to new and exciting cities and things like that. I know that I just need to KEEP WRITING, but I think I'm having a block or something right now, as I just can't seem to make myself sit down to do anything.

Have a new idea (which I kind of wrote about earlier) called 'Gloria, the Dog and Me' about a 20something newly-single woman who befriends an eccentric bohemian woman called Gloria, who's in her 50s, and lives down the street from her. Going to publish it online, but have to write the first two chapters first!

Also, the thing at Sumo is getting closer and closer, and I have 2 pages of dialogue that isn't going anywhere, and I'm getting quite stressed. I think this weekend I'm going to start going through my old stuff and see if there's anything I can recycle from that. I just don't know what's wrong with me at the minute!

Sorry...

...that it's been a while since my last post. You all missed me, I'm sure! Since I've been "gone", I've read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows twice and so have not been able to write anything, in fear that it would be tainted by that wonderful book that seems to have infiltrated even my dreams at the moment. So I haven't got a lot done.

I've been trying to think of a subject for my monologue for the event we are putting on at Sumo bar on (I think) 1st September, but at the minute, I just can't think of anything. I also need to write a monologue for an actor friend of mine, which I might, in exchange for writing it, get her to perform at Ladyfest for me, that is, if I get it done in time.

But I don't want to leave Harry Potter just yet! Still waiting for my Hogwarts letter. Might go and re-read it a third time now.

The Fear

I think I officially have 'The Fear'. I know exactly how I want my play to go, but I'm terrified of writing it, in case (it's crap). Logically I know that's silly, because if it is crap, then I can just re-write it, re-draft it, or start something new, but I'm not able to communicate that down to the creative side of me that does all the writing. I want to send Amanda a first draft of my play (or at least a couple of scenes) before the next Momentum session on Tuesday, so I have a week to get my arse into gear.

My friend's play was performed for the Comedy Festival last week, and I'm so pleased for him, as I think it went really well. It has made me want to put on one of my plays (of course, that means actually completing one, but we can skim over that minute detail for now). In the pub we were talking about creating our own 'new writing' theatre production company, and I still think that's a good idea. Very time consumming, but worth thinking about nonetheless.

Rant

I don't want to write about the environment, the war in Iraq, the political system of Zimbabwe or Nigeria or any other country for that matter. As an avid theatre-goer, I also don't want to sit through the testimonials of an aslyum seeker or political prisoners, or sit through a thinly-disguised political satire about soldiers in Bosnia. I don't want a play that has visual or digital arts thrown in to try to make it appeal to the younger 'cooler' generation. I'm sorry if this might offend any artisitc directors out there, but frankly, if I wanted to know about the war in Iraq, I would read a newspaper. If I wanted to know about the war in Iraq from the point of view of a civilian caught in the struggle - I'd also read a newspaper (The Guardian in particular has done numerous features in this vain). I don't want to sit for two hours watching how some writer has incorporated the recorded testimonials of an elderly Iraqi lady and a British soldier into a two-hour 'play'. Now, don't get me wrong. I have nothing against political theatre. But I get a bit narked off when every single producing theatre in London (it seems) is putting on this kind of stuff (and all written in the same style). And it makes me wonder, maybe this is the reason there are more musicals than plays on in the West End at the minute - perhaps it's what the audiences want?
I want to be representative of my generation, sure, but I also don't want to be defined by it. I want to help create it. Yes, UK domestic and foreign policy affects everyone's lives in some way at the moment. But it is not the be-all and end-all of our daily existence. We still think, and feel, and love, and shit, and hate, and all that stuff. I think there are emotions that are synonymous with the world in which we live today - like paranoia for example - that can be taken and placed in a different context completely. It's those characteristics that will ultimately come to define the noughties, just like it defined the 50s with the witch-hunts that took place.
Where are this generation's 'Angry Young Men' or 'In-Yer-Face' crowd? Hopefully stewing in Leicester, believe it or not. Watch this space...