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Tuesday, 12 February 2013
Maverick News
Sunday, 23 December 2012
Maverick News
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A Literary 2012, literally!
Well, what a year 2012 has been. The Silver Jubilee, the Olympics and more importantly (to us anyway) the launch of the London Literary Pub Crawl. It's because we are a not-for-profit charity with no budget that the critical and audience acclaim we've received early on has been so important and so crucial... and so moving. Partly inspired by the Olympics coming to London, I felt a desire - perhaps a passion - to share what I'd found out about the struggle some of the worlds most famous writers went through in their early lives in the capital city. And it's so gratifying to realise there are others who share this passion. So far it's cost everybody involved with this project. The actors, the writers, me - none of us have received a fee and we've turned up and rehearsed at our own cost. But we're doing it because we want to try and avoid the financial hardship the likes of Dylan Thomas, Charles Dickens & Samuel Johnson went through. If we can find an audience we might be able, one day, to give local actors and writers a leg up.
It's very early days for our London tour. But I REALLY want to thank you. As mentioned outside the Soho Theatre, your interest and willingness to buy a ticket for our tour will, literally one day change the literary world!
And that's not a bad thing now, is it...!
X
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Why the London 2012 Olympic Games legacy is truly Heroic.
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| London Olympic rings. |
However
some in London and the UK were perhaps understandably cynical of the games. The
huge cost and disruption to infrastructure were going to leave a legacy of
debt, something most Olympic hosts know only too well.
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| Rule Britannia |
I
have to declare a vested interest here - I now live in London and this is the
first Olympic city I have ever lived in - or probably ever will. So it's
difficult to be properly objective about the effect the games has had outside
of the capital.
The
failure of the commercial company G4S to supply a sufficient number of security
staff just a few weeks before the Olympics kicked off elicited a cry of 'Told
you so' from the naysayers. Miles of roads in one of the most congested cities
in the world were going to be blocked off or restricted as Olympic routes. Zill
lanes, as they were disparagingly referred to, making reference to the Soviet
habit of reserving lanes on major roads for a privileged political few. There
was something decidedly un-British about allowing others to go first without
asking!
But
then as we got closer to the games attitudes seemed to change. We were waiting
for a disaster but it never came. Instead we had the sight of mega-countries
like Team USA training in Birmingham. And the sport itself was truly memorable.
The whole country - maybe the world - stopped for the ten seconds of Usain
Bolt's 100 meters final. Mo Farrah, a refugee to these shores,
has become a national hero in the UK with an affectionate nickname - the
MoBot. Cyclist Sir Chis Hoy, no stranger to Gold Medal Winning, moved himself
and the nation to tears with his emotions on the podium. And Danny Boyle's
opening ceremony, whilst sharing the slight bizarreness of all Olympic
Openings, was actually rather good.
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| Jesica Ennis in action. |
Practically,
as London Mayor Boris Jonson mentioned in his speech during the celebration
parade, this Olympics has been the first time ever strangers have felt able to
converse with each other on the tube - the London Underground - about matters
other than complaining about treading on each others toes. The Olympic traffic
flowed as it should. The security survived flawlessly. The Olympic volunteers -
the Games-Makers - smiled and could be seen all over London just being happy
and helpful.
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| How moving was Saudi's first woman athlete |
But
chiefly there was the impact of other non-superstar sportsmen and women. We witnessed in-yer-face grit and
determination from people who participate in sport for good old fashioned
reasons. To take part. To achieve for the sake of achievement itself. We're
used to seeing multi-millionaire footballers on our TVs but who could fail to
be moved by the sight of Saudi Arabia's first ever women athlete, hopelessly
out-classed, cross the finishing line in last place and receive a huge standing
ovation from a packed Olympic stadium. The super humans of the Paralympics also
proved that sport and achievement is its own success. Years of sacrifice to be
the best had nothing to do with direct financial reward. In a world dominated by talk of
unbridled capitalism, greedy bankers and financial strife, the real legacy of
the London 2012 Olympics is that for the month or so of the games, we were all
reminded globally that in spite of colour, creed, religion or belief we are all
human. And when some of us strive to be great, to be heroic, we support each
other and we all benefit.
The real
legacy of the London Olympic games is that it has reminded us how beautifully
human we all can still be.
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Loving Literature, boozers and partners...
I've not been here for a while and it's the old thang about Twitter and Facebook et al, against 'old fashioned' blogging. I also now have an iPad and for some reason it doesn't seem to want to let me upload images to Blogger. Any idea how I get round that? Anyhow, the sun has finally arrived with the Olympics and we have launched the first London Literary Pub Crawl. I want this to work and if I can get it right it might change the fortunes of both me and Maverick Theatre. The one lesson I have learned over the last few years of running Maverick is that you can't do it on your own. John Slater and I were able to sustain a huge amount of work together; far greater than the sum of our parts. I now realise I need collaborators and partners, not just for any social reason, but because there are many people much smarter than I who are prepared to sign up for a concept and try and get it off the ground. So I might blog the process of this. Possibly for my own well being. When you find yourself working on your own, it's great to have at least a blog to replace your work colleagues. And like many people in 'proper' jobs, I can take me iPad down the pub on a Friday night after work and talk about what the Blog is going on. Let's see if this blog works first. The first written on my iPad. Down the pub, as it happens...!
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Back to the Future...?
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Rob Stanson, our first 'Henry V - Lion of England' |
It's a bit depressing realising that I'm going back 20 years. Next year it will be 20 years since I presented 'Teechers' and 'Henry V - Lion of England' at the mac in Birmingham. I booked three nights but didn't have the guts to put my Henry on for all three nights so my mate directed the Godber classic. And now I'm doing it again, but this time in London.
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| Us, at the launch of A Ghost of A Chance. |
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Ed Morris, the latest Henry V - Lion of England. Contemplating my return to Pub Theatre! |
So maybe its not too depressing going back a bit. John Lennon said about the Beatles reforming, "you can't reheat a soufflé." No you can't John, but maybe you can cook another one and try and make it tastier. So 2012 will be a big year and nothing to do with the Olympics, because I'm gonna write me next new play and see what happens. I'm shall try a similar approach to PALS. PALS was in my head for about five years and this new one, Ron and Juliet, has been around for a similar time. It's due in July. And talking of the Olympics, it has a five-a-side footy match in the second half... Game On!
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
RIP Steve Jobs
It was a bit of a shock to say the least. And there's me asking the question about which is best - mac or pc!
One of the most memorable quotes Steve Jobs said was something like "coming up with a great idea just involves simple thinking. It's just really complicated and hard to think simply."
Apple's iphone 4s launches on Friday. Steve would have been proud?
One of the most memorable quotes Steve Jobs said was something like "coming up with a great idea just involves simple thinking. It's just really complicated and hard to think simply."
Apple's iphone 4s launches on Friday. Steve would have been proud?
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