Ola Baby!

I've never been very good at holidays. And it's NOT a good thing. Possibly because since the age of about 22 I've never had a 'proper' job with holidays and, more importantly, holiday pay. But it's also to do with feeling guilty at working and guilty at not working. And during the Maverick years holidays were not a luxury I could afford anyway. So it was feckin' great going to Spain for four days with some mates last weekend. We also saw the Rolling Stones as part of their Bigger Bang tour. I wasn't a huge Stones fan, although they are almost a mainstay for my radio station, The Arrow, but having seen this gig, I am now!

It's enough to make you weep!

I've spent most of the day scanning production photos to upload to the Maverick web site. It's been strangely moving. Looking back at 13 years of actors, directors and technicians, all working for very little money in the upstairs room of a pub that no one had heard of.
The one picture I find particularly moving is a photograph of the original PALS cast. It's not a set up, but a photo that was taken at the end of an actual show. And the tears are real. Every night, without fail, the cast were crying for real. It was dynamite. In the small upstairs room of the Billesley Pub there was a unique, raw collective outpouring of grief and emotion from every audience. PALS is about 4 kids growing up in Birmingham. I won't give the end of the play away, because it's obvious we've got to do it again. The only time I've experienced that collective power has been at the end of Les Misereables and maybe Blood Brothers by Willy Russell. Good bed fellows for PALS, me thinks!

Kind of makes all the aggro worthwhile, dunnit!

Sob!

Can You Hear Me Mother?

Things have been a bit busy. I've been Mr Radio for the last 2 weeks on The Arrow, filling in for Dave Hickman on the afternoon show. Holiday relief. The money's a bit of a relief, I can tell you. Every little helps...

I interviewed Black Sabbath this week - or at least the reincarnation of the band, post Ozzy, 'Heaven and Hell', with Ronnie James Dio and Tony Iomi. I felt I did badly, but the guys were great. I'd not prepared enough. Like, have I just spelled their names correctly! The lack of preparation was not completely my fault, but I'm the one at the sharp end, so no excuses Hennegan.

Chastened by the experience, I made sure I was more on the ball with my second interview this week, with the band Ash. Much better, Nick. And although Tim Wheeler and Mark Hamilton are now living in New York and Richard McMurray, the drummer, is now living in Edinburgh, they're good mates with U2 and I can report that music from the wonderful island of Ireland is in very good hands.

I had some very friendly phone calls from Arrow listeners throughout the UK and although it curtailed my time on Maverick, I have to say its been quite enjoyable.

And we are advertising on the website for the new 'Henry V' team. Although the website is still not finished, I think I shall let people know of its existence. Start the ball rolling if only slowly!

Rock On!

Hoorah for the New Maverick!

Apart from actors and directors, only myself and John Slater have worked in any way 'full time' on Maverick. The lovely Carol Edwards did our books for a short time before her job got in the way and there have been numerous and very wonderful volunteers taking various roles, but long term there has only been Slates and me. And now there's only me, mainly because of the crippling economics of presenting truly accessible, intimate and AFFORDABLE theatre - and paying everyone a living wage. Maverick never really paid a living wage. We just tried to do the best we could, balancing, as I misquote Hamlet, 'delight and dole' and hoping that one day the funding bodies would get what we were trying to do and rush to the financial rescue. Sadly, although vocally supportive, they never really did and although occasional drunken vitriol at the injustice of it all would grab us on a night down the Billesley after rave reviews, I commit almost heresy here when I say I can't really blame them. The arts after all, is your money. Public funds. They have to be very careful with it. And we - or at least I - just were not smart enough to get our concept over to the funders in terms they might understand.

Which means I'm personally a bit pissed off by the Govt raiding the lottery for the Olympics. But that's another story.

I hope the New Maverick (blimey, I'm sounding a bit like the Government meeself!) will change its fortunes soon. Watch this space.

Happy Birthday, Sir Ed.

It's again been a busy few weeks. I'm bashing away at the new Maverick website - find it at http://www.mavericktheatre.co.uk/ And we may have Maverick's first full-time, part-time administrator. Watch this space.


I did a couple of extra radio shows this week too - filling in for Ian Danter. Best Seat In The House is an hour of live music at 11pm tonight and Rock with Laughter is a mix of comedy and music at 11pm on Saturday night. The sort of 'different' radio that gives The Arrow and DAB a good name!

I've also started a 'retail' bit on the website, called The Shakespeare Shop, with some great gift ideas and collectors items. It's been onerous, but quite good fun, finding stuff in shops and off t'interweb to sell on the site. And any profits will go to the theatre company. Warm glow all round! And it's tied up with pay pal, which is a great way to pay! Give it a go. Gooo onnn, you KNOW you want that Globe Theatre First Day Cover!

And it's Elgar's 150th Birthday this week. He's well tied up with the Midlands and interestingly, he went to London to try and make his fortune - but he failed and came back to Worcestershire with his tail between his legs. No comment.

I had the professional rights to produce the play 'Journey's End', by RC Sheriff a few years ago. I felt it was ripe for a production. But the size of the cast put me off. Not the size, but the cost! It had a very successful run in the West End not long ago. The production and the play are all tied up with Birmingham through a fairly convoluted route that involves Birmingham Old Rep theatre - the first Rep Theatre in the world! And the whole point of this rant is that we were planning on using Elgar's Nimrod at the end of the production. Glenn Bayes, a local actor who had obvious directorial skills, had worked out a lovely end to the piece. I won't say what it was, because I think we're going to use it in Henry V - Lion of England! But it was good.

Glenn is a Brummy Boy, who, unlike Elgar, went to London ten years ago and hasn't come back to Birmingham. In fact, thinking about it, many of the early Maverick talent is now down the smoke. Glenn's gone, Rebs ran and no more hangin' in Kingstandin' for our Andy.

I'd like to buy Sir Ed a pint. But he's 150. I think I might go to London.






An early amateur production of 'Brighton Beach Memoirs' at Hall Green Little Theatre, Birmingham, in about 1991 ish. Of the seven people pictured, four would be directly involved in Maverick Theatre. Three are now living in London. (Photo: Haydn Thomas)

Strewth Mate! What a tragedy!

Hot News. Funding crises in the Arts? The Olympics might actually bring some benefit to those OUTSIDE London? No. Worse. THE BBC ARE TO STOP SHOWING NEIGHBOURS! Yes it's BBC Curtains for the Aussie Soap!

It's some sort of bidding war, but they know not what they do, poor fools. For years presenting plays, mainly at the Billesley Pub in South Birmingham, myself and many of my fellow artistes would regail each other with tales of our regular breakfast television treat. It was a treasured routine for us pub thesps! Show, Beer, Curry, bed at 4 or 5am, then up with a spring in the step for our Breakfast Television - The 1 o'clock news on the BBC and then Neighbours. Real life like!

Sadly, with the current pressure of re-starting the Maverick, I now find myself getting up in the middle of the night... 9am, a ridiculous time, I know. But the old habit dies hard and I retire with a cup of tea and a marmalade sandwich come 1.40pm each day to luxuriate with my daily dose of Aussie bimbo's and blokeo's, laughable plots and vacuous characters.

So it looks like it'll be Neighbours with commercial breaks! BBC. Why oh why oh why! I am a license payer! And what about the health service. And immigration. The fabric of the country. And the youth of today! The worlds gone mad, I tell you...

Could be some exciting stuff goin' down...!

...but I can't really announce it to the world yet. It's not me being mysterious, it's just that it's not good to count your chickens before they've hatched, etc. And my eggs may have only just been fertilized, if you get my meaning...!

But here's a pictoral clue!


Well, slap my thigh and call me Roger, sirrah! T'is a Theatre most Globe-ish. And most Shakespearean.

And talking of London theatrical buildings, if you ever went to the Webber Douglas Academy, prepare for a shock. For now, in the best traditions of photo-journalism, here's a trail of pictures.

The Scene of the Crime! Clareville Street.


Bloody hell! Someone's nicked the Webber Douglas and left a skip outside in its place!




Yep, the hole in the ground behind the black gates is all that is left of a nearly hundred year old drama institution. Shame, innit. And I didn't even go there!

Elsewhere this week, I'm still working on the new website. I haven't advertised it anywhere yet as I'm still finding content and stuff. You can take a sneak peak at www.mavericktheatre.co.uk . I'd appreciate any comments. And the old website still lives, here.


Off to the City of Birmingham tomorrow to see if I can get any support for my Brave New Maverick World. Mmm. Watch this space!