The rambles of a non-professionally produced playwright and his attempts to make the big time.

Tuesday, 25 September 2007

Sorrow

I have just removed the content of the Missing Person Appeal post I made a while back due to recent events.

My thoughts are with her family and friends.

Friday, 21 September 2007

Auditions 1

That was a challenge!

It was great to see so many people turn up to the theatre. It was great to see that so many of them were new.

But it was my worst nightmare – and just like my nightmares, it was worse than a nightmare (if that makes sense).

Problem 1 – Only one man auditioned! I need a minimum of 5! I’m not going to cast 2 women as the ugly sisters, I’m not that brave!

Problem 2 – The women were damned good. And I mean good. This is going to be a real pain to cast on the basis of ability!

I just hope that I have some men turn up on Tuesday so I can cast them (casting men in Panto is really easy) and that the ladies take me at my word and come back that night so that I can get a second view of them.

This is going to be fun!

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Wednesday, 19 September 2007

Into the Panto Swing

Last night we held the Fresher’s Fair at my college. This was our opportunity to see if we could inject some new blood into the club and recruit a few members.

It was all a bit of a mad dash in the event, as it was just the two of us (me and one of the other directors) setting up the stand, pushing out the flyers and cajoling people to our stand. And there was a wide range of activities to get involved with; from beagling to rowing, from badminton to wargames, from fencing to polo.

But it was very worthwhile as the timing worked so well for us. The auditions for the panto are tomorrow night, so it was a matter of saying “come along, see what we’re about, have a drink and see if this is something that you want to have a go at”. Indeed we had a professional stage makeup artist sign up! (That’s the Ugly Sisters sorted then!)

But in the rounds we took another step closer to Denim being produced here at the club spring next year. There are a couple of suggestions for that production, but Denim is gaining more of a following as all it requires is a single box set and the construction of the bar. As Denim runs in a single timeframe, there is no requirement for scene changes and requires a minimal stage crew – something that the other plays being suggested lack.

So I made the call that when it comes to the selection of the next production, I can not be on the script reading committee if Denim is on the list. But my job now is to ensure that the panto runs well and retains enough actors to make the casting of Denim possible… This club hasn’t been able to put on a play with a cast of 15 for a number of years, but with the interest we gained last night, we might be able to change that.

Let’s see how the auditions run tomorrow.

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Monday, 10 September 2007

MISSING PERSON APPEAL

Removed due to recent events.

Facebook

After a lot of badgering from a number of friends I have eventually joined the 21st century and created a profile on Facebook. I also took the chance to create a group about my plays. If you are a member of Facebook, take a look and maybe you’d like to respond the event I’ve placed there regarding the production of Denim at the Waterside.

Monday, 3 September 2007

Publicity

So I’ve been getting down and dirty with the word processor (or more accurately, Celtx) and have been producing a series of related shorts. This has been going very well and should have something to blog about the outcome by the end of next week.

But I received a couple of emails regarding my website from the director of the forthcoming production of Denim at the Waterside Theatre. One about a change in their website address and one about the dates of the production.

As lock would have it, my internet connection was down (I got the emails on my BlackBerry – which should be renamed the CrackBerry, as they are as addictive as that evil narcotic) and I was in huge battles with my ISP. Eventually I managed to restore my connection and made the required changes to my website.

I fired off a quick email to the director, just to point out that I had made the changes and hoped that all was going well with the rehearsals (I really must free up some time to visit the company). Before I knew it, I got a reply telling me that they wanted to up the profile of the production. As such there is an opportunity to run an article on me in the Southern Daily Echo, concentrating on my writing, aims and aspirations.

Talk about some good publicity, albeit somewhat restricted in its audience. But here’s a chance to sell myself – and who knows, if there is a professional that lives in the Southampton region that reads that paper… maybe they’ll come along and see the play!

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