... there was ME. This is my pic. Looking old and, yes, with a glass of red wine. And some 30 years after I came along, there was an idea for a theatre company. T'was 1992 and I'd been doing all sorts. Me and a mate Rob Vomit - the only actor I knew - did a one man version of Henry V wot I wrote. Called Henry V - Lion of England, we performed at the mac in Brum for 1 night. Another mate, Robb Williams, wrote an atmospheric soundtrack. Cost me fifty quid to hire the venue and I asked me family and mates along. Also present were Jasper Carrott's then managers and they took us to the Edinburgh Fringe which inspired me to start a company in
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Nice photo Nick, you're looking nearly as young and 'andsome as meself!!!
Ah, I remember that day when you phoned up to say you'd got a cunning idea for a play. After watching Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V" (with a cast of thousands) on the tele, you naturally thought; "Hey, that would make a great one man show!"..... O.k, so you'd missed the beginning of the film, but that wasn't gonna stop you... you made your own up, and thus began the tale of "Henry V - Lion of England".
I remember you originally planned to put some rather dubious musical links into the show using charts material, but in a moment of madness, I said I could put some music together for it (gulp!). You said you'd pop around to my flat in an hour or so, and when you arrived with your one time collaborator, Keith, I'd already created the signature theme for Henry.
From there things went ahead with a pace, and in what seemed no time at all, we were in rehearsals with Rob Vomit as Henry, and our trusty accomplice Tom Popley on lights. Next thing we knew we were doing the Hexagon theatre in the Midlands Arts Centre. Most of the audience were mates, there out of duty, fully expecting to be bored rigid before beating a hasty retreat to the bar. I think we surprised them! Next thing we knew, John Starkey (Jasper Carrot's manager) was expressing an interest in taking the show to Edinburgh.. which was nice..!
None of us made a fortune out of the show, but we did have some great times with it. I have fond memories of doing the Buxton Festival, sitting at the bar's piano, knocking out the Henry V "greatest hits" on it. I remember the rather unreal experience of the luxury apartment we had in Edinburgh for the festival. We thought such comfort was the norm, only to discover that other productions were staying in windswept cattle sheds in the middle of nowhere. We had good times with the other artistes sharing our venue like John Ottway, Hank Wangford and the lovely Sam Brown.
Other highlights included the long run at Stratford with a new actor, Michael, where Nick and I regularly sampled the fine ale at the Dirty Duck - once the formidable landlady Pam had accepted us as valid candidates for the late night lock-ins!
Another memorable long run was at the Birmingham Old Rep where we were joined by the invaluable Rock Jock God, Mr John Slater as stage manager. My last outing with the show was at the main house of the Birmingham Rep where Nick, directed by “good old boy” Glen Bayes, gamely took on the role.. complete with 20th century wrist watch.
I had a heck of a lot of fun doing "Henry" and am relishing the possibility of it being resurrected. It led to a lot of opportunities for me writing music for other productions and theatre companies, and gave me an intro into working as a composer.
Ooh, them were the days!
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