This is my second in a series of 3 blogs following 3 days working around the Jungle and the Refugee Community Kitchen last week. Please read both/all and share. Thank you. Many hundreds of volunteers go to work in Calais,…
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Calais Refugee Community Kitchen – many many carrots
For the last few days I have been in France peeling and chopping, mixing and moving, driving and carrying vegetables. I have been one of the 150+ volunteers working in and around a warehouse on the outskirts of Calais. This…
Revealing our bodies…
Last weekend I had the honour to facilitate a conference which grew from the broad theme of Clothing Optional Theatre under a working question of “How do we choose to reveal our bodies through life, performance, and art ?” It…
New book – The Anatomy of Your Creativity
There’s something strange that happens when you’ve been in a process for months, in this case preparing for a new e-book, and then you get an email to say it is published. A bit like awaking after months of preparing…
Are we passing the tipping point ?
This week my daughter and her partner started 6 months volunteering in Calais to offer their skills in the kitchen, the warehouse, and the community of refugees. This gives me hope of the care which younger people have for the…
Patience, goodwill, collective support, good behavior
Making theatre requires great patience, good will and collective support. This weekend saw the start of Mosaic 2016 – a festival of 10 new plays created with a company of 30+ actors, 10 directors, 5 designers, 5 producers, a technical…
At a crossroads …. two coaches coming along
I’ve been reading a lot recently about the challenges young people face with the crazy education system we have developed in this, and most other Western countries. I am inspired by the writing of Sir Ken Robinson (Essence) and Susan…
Stagefright – fight or flight
I work in a business where I network a lot, end up standing on stage making announcements, and (as I type this) preparing to lead a workshop for 2hrs with a group of Newcastle based creative who I don’t know,…
Favourite moments – production meetings…
When asked what is my favourite moment in the journey from page to stage, I usually say the moment when the house lights go down on the very first performance and there is a silent buzz of expectation, and nerve-wracking…
I’m back with Odd Shaped Balls…
I have been blog-silent for a few weeks. Not sure why, but it has been a month of supporting the development of the Mosaic 2016 festival of 10 new plays which open June 10th; recruiting for next year’s producers’ course;…