Hello, Goodbye.

Well, what a month it's been. For 2 weeks I was working for an American University at Shakespeare's Globe in London. It must go down in history as a job with the longest interview period and the shortest actual period of work. I first interviewed for it 18 months ago and lasted 2 weeks in the position. It was not quite what I expected and I was not quite what they expected. I won't go into details yet. But there are some lovely and dedicated people working at Shakespeare's Globe and I hope I haven't inconvenienced them by quitting so soon. I'm not normally a quitter, but life is sometimes too short and it was bad timing on my part to start a demanding job with an American company at the same time as the Henry V - Lion of England tour starts - which it did this week. It coincides nicely with Maverick becoming a 'proper' Limited Company and marks the start of what I hope will be greater independence for the company.

Talking of Henry - Henry V - Lion of England kicked off its latest incarnation with two dates this week - a preview performance at Hall Green Little Theatre in Birmingham and its first tour date at the Leighton Buzzard Theatre in Beds.

Both productions have moments good and bad. I keep forgetting I've created something of a monster for all concerned. This play is the Grand National Beecher's Brook of productions and places incredible strains on not just the actor, but the technical crew too. The levels of skill needed to present 80 minutes of Henry with its hundreds of light, sound and effects cues are more akin to a major West End musical than a small scale traveling production. But we get by; Ed Actor, Louise Stage Manager, Robb Music, John Lights and Emma Set do themselves, Maverick and me proud. And both productions are imbued with audiences generally raving about how good it is. Not good enough for us yet, but it will be. And I have an eye on the bigger picture. Watch this space!

Ooo it's all gone a bit pear shaped in London, so I'm not working there anymore. Best for both of us, methinks. However...

ONE NIGHT ONLY!

Special Preview Peformance

Henry V - Lion of England.

Tuesday 18^th September, 2007at 8pm.

Hall Green Little Theatre

Pemberley Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham, B27 7RY Tickets £10 (concs available)
Tickets (0121) 707 1874. www.hglt.org.uk

Film star glamour!

But not if you don't like car parks! Check out purgatory on You Tube.

Ah, me!

Pass The Jellied Eels, guv'nor...!

After 50 years in Birmingham, I am now a Londoner. Until May 08 anyway. I'm now Resident Director for Rutgers University at Shakespeare’s Globe on the South Bank. What a place! And what a great bunch of people. So far, anyway!

This is a picture of my new office. Tales From My Riverbank will start soon enough, but the last few months have been 12 to 14 hour days and although the Maverick Theatre Henry V tour is calming down, nothing else is!

Better than boredom though, eh?

Oh, and if you're thinking of burgling my house, don't bother. My nephew, 'Killer' Matt is house sitting. He'd LOVE someone to try and break in. Not sure where his genes come from, but they're occasionally useful to point at bad people!

Blimey, look at the time!

Its August already! I've not written anything on here for nearly a month - which is the opposite of what I wanted to do. I wanted to relate my journey, as t'were! But it's indicative of how hectic the journey has become that I've not really had time to write anything. Wanna know what my day consists of? Check out this interview by freelance writer Angela Merideth. But I will tell you, as I mentioned on the Maverick Theatre blog, that I feel a bit like that bloke in the Magnificent Seven. First there was me and the play. Then I found Ed, our actor. That makes two of us. Now a Stage Manager. Three. And possibly a Deputy Stage Manager. Four. Tom is going to film the process. Five. John will do the lights. Six. And I'm nearly ready to jump on the Henry Hoss and ride triumphantly to a theatre near you soon!

We've finished the first 'chunk' of rehearsals. Ed the actor is now off for a month holidaying and filming. We all get together again in early September. So I should have more time to write. Hoorah for us all!

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!