The challenge starts here!

Yesterday I attended my first committee meeting for several months.

I may ramble another time why I haven’t been for a while. But for now I’ll tell you what committee it is (as I have checked, and I’ve never mentioned it before).

I’ve been a committee member of the Royal Navy Theatre Association (RNTA) on and off for 7 years. Indeed, I have acted in the drama festival it runs every spring. And I’ve now got 7 of those under my belt.

At the committee meeting, I discovered that this could be the worst year it has ever had.
We all know that the military is under increasing pressure. The knock on has been that there are fewer personnel that can take part in the festival. But this year, it looks like we might only have 4 entries.

I had tried to start a production on at my establishment, but I needed 7 actors (forgetting techies…). I had 3 volunteers. So I had to curtail my participation this year.

Until I heard that news.

Theatre gives us so much in the military. Not the culture. Not the expansion of the mind and our perceptions. While these are all worthwhile things, this is not why it proves of value to a military service.

It’s leadership!

Leadership in a rank-less environment. I performed in a panto once where I was playing the Dame (maybe I’ll post a picture to scare you all!). Me, a lowly junior officer.

My sidekick was a Commander. The Panda (Yep, it was Aladdin!) was a Captain! But there were Lieutenant Colonels, Majors… And not once did rank enter the game. The job was to get a performance in front of an audience. And who ever was the best qualified, or most experienced was the one listened to.

In that panto, that person was me. And they listened – And I learnt so much about myself.
When I heard that there were only going to be 4 productions this year, I felt two things: Disappointment; as this gives so much to my service and I could only think about the establishments that were going to miss out. And Guilt; I failed to put on a production.
But why did I fail? Because I couldn’t get enough actors…

But what if I could find a play that only needed two actors? I’ve got a mate that I can trust to deliver a great performance…

After a half-hearted search, I discovered thousands of one act plays I could do… But the RNTA festival requires a full-length production!

So here’s the challenge.

I’m going to write a two-act, two-header play!

Moreover, I’ve got 14 days to do it!

That breaks to 4 days planning, 10 days writing – leaving me with 4 weeks to rehearse and perform!

I’ve got the concept for the play! (All I’ll say at this moment, is that involves the Secret Service.) I’ve made a few notes… So that means that Day 1 has been spent… I now have 13 left…

I’ll blog each day for the next 13 days (more for me) as to what has happened, so that you can witness the conception, gestation and birth of a play.

When I get to perform it, witness it’s adjudication and the awards process – you can watch this child grow (and maybe die).

Anyone want to share the ride?