View From a Sick Bed! Blog 38

No early blog today as I have been struck down with the lergy! So I am sitting here imagining I am looking at this view out of my window. I am in fact listening to radio 3 and its totally dark outside the window.

Isn't imagination fun! 

Just thought I would check in anyway! 

Have a good evening. I will continue to cough my way through it.

Simply Jon After Five Days and Arc's Girls! Blog 37

Early morning in Barking and I can just hear the birds beginning to chat away to each other. Lot to do today. One of two final project proposals' deadline is imminent and I want to make sure we have covered everything.

Last night was brilliant - Jon Snow who has been a Patron of Arc for precisely five days welcomed four of our Finding the Words girls Ebun, Precious, Sefunmi and Esosa to sit in the transmission Suite for his Channel 4 evening news broadcast. 

We were about half an hour early and stopped off for a hot chocolate in a cafe near ITN on Grays Inn Road. The girls were excited about the experience, but had no idea what to expect. Ebun and Sefunmi know who Jon is and the others recognised him immediately when he arrived in reception to pick us up. Once they had got over the 'OMG it's Jon Snow off the TV' moment - they relaxed and chatted like they had known him for ages. 

Of course Jon is pass master at making people feel at ease at the same time as posing the killer question, or/and forensic observation. He wouldn't have survived his 24 years at ITN if he couldn't navigate with elegance the murky and not so murky waters of British life. His unflappable style and ability to sniff out the inauthentic is great fun to watch, as is the empathy and genuine regard for other human beings. These coupled with dayglo lime green socks and matching tie and you have the measure of the man, or should I say our new Patron! 

The girls asked about his job and he said he loved it. It doesn't matter how many hours you work if you really enjoy what you are doing! He asked them about what they want to do, Criminologist, Midwife, Actress/accountant......
I think a job in TV  might have been added to the list yesterday.

Through our Finding The Words Programme (led by Natalie) the girls aged 15-16 work as peer leaders and presenters in schools across Barking and Dagenham, sharing their film and talking to other young people about gangs, violence and domestic violence. Meeting Jon today and knowing he has just joined the Arc Tribe means a lot to them and to us all. The bond is already established - and we can't wait for more opportunities to play! Big thanks to Jon.

Me, Esosa, Jon!, Ebun, Sefunmi, Natalie and Precious. C4 News Feb 12 2013

Arc Community Players The Final Curtain: Blog 36

'The end of a melody is not its goal: but nonetheless, had the melody not reached its end it would not have reached its goal either. A parable.'

 -   Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche

Good morning.

I had to stay overnight at a hotel last night and I woke up this morning without the familiar things I normally have around me. This means having to adapt my blog writing ritual, and I left my earphones at the office to boot! Hotel rooms are pretty soulless places, especially in these big chains. But I guess they serve their purpose. I am in a Faure Requiem mood this morning, and I realise just after I have put on the album that it is an appropriate accompaniment. 

Banjo of Doom by Clifford Oliver

Last night was a significant one. It was the very last performance of our Arc Community Players Group in its current incarnation. The group was created in 2008 with funding from the Arts Development Department in Barking and Dagenham. It was funded initially for 3 years and its ambition was to bring together people from all backgrounds and ages to work together purposefully in making theatre. The idea is that this process and the end product break down barriers to understanding, builds new and strong relationships and is fun. 

Our three years of funding specifically for this project ended in 2011, however thanks to an ongoing funding stream we were able to sustain and maintain the project for a further 2 years. The group is a strong collective of people who have found a space for heart and imagination at Arc. Of course all projects are ultimately time limited, and this one managed 2 more years than its original plan. Theatre has a way of offering us beginnings and endings over and over again, in its microcosmic mirror to life. My objective for this group in my original funding proposal was that it should be self sufficient and sustainable when the funding ran out, and I believe this group of people will want to make it so. There will be opportunities for applying for further funding for similar initiatives going forward. 

As well as writing all the last 5 shows, Olly has led this group for the past two years with excellent project management support from Josh and direction from Cat, which she has done voluntarily. The Banjo of Doom is the last show Olly has written for them with original music. It was profoundly touching to watch the group take their places on the floor at the Malthouse and begin with their opening song 'Our street'. There was a real sense of joy and sadness simultaneously tonight in our studios. The space is imbued anyway with all the performances that have happened there over the past 5 years, and last night's performance captured the essence of all of these too. 

Unfortunately I was only able to see the first three quarters of the show before I had to leave, so missed what I imagine were the emotional goodbyes. I am sad that I wasn't there. I do know in my heart though of course that every ending leads to a new beginning. 

Today Natalie, Theresa and I are off with four of our girls from the Finding the Words programme to meet Jon Snow at ITN. The girls will sit in the control room and watch Jon present the Channel 4 News live and then have their photo taken with Jon our new Patron.  This will be so exciting for them.

Have a good one!

'There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.'
― Frank Herbert

The Beggar and The Starving Artist: New York 1982 Blog 35

Namaste!

Canal Street NYC

Last time I woke up to snow, my mind found its way to the Poland of 1981 when I was first working as an actor with Triple Action Theatre. Today there's no fresh snow but the sudden heavy downfall of last night has settled and there is that particular sound of stillness that accompanies snow. 

I've run out of builder's tea and instant coffee, so I rummaged in the cupboard and found some old green tea with lemon. Its quite refreshing. My blog writing is usually accompanied by music, and in my trip into my past I find myself drawn to listen to Bread. The first track, Make it with you transports me back nicely to 1982. Then I had it on a cassette in one of those early Sony portable players, one of just a few possessions I had in those years of itinerant touring with Triple Action Theatre. Music is exquisite in its ability to instantly take us straight to the heart of past times, loves, experiences.

So here I am on Canal Street in the sweltering summer of 1982. We had been invited to Manhattan by a production company for a residency in a converted warehouse in Greene Street. We drove down from Chicago where we had been working with a small theatre company called Remains, an offshoot of the famous Steppenwolf Theatre. Our show was an adaptation of Ulysses by James Joyce. I played Molly Bloom, and had that wonderful stream of consciousness monologue which called on a good Irish accent. Thanks to my heritage it was within my gift to find the lilting softness I needed for Molly. 

Chicago had been a heady time. This bright young company had set up in an old corner shop on Halstead Street, one of those wonderfully triangle shaped streets that distinguish the windy city. And the young actors I worked with there turned out later to be some of America's brightest things, John Malkovich, Glen Close, Gary Cole, Laurie Metcalf, Amy Morton and Billy Petersen of CSI fame. We were all young and hopeful and hopelessly poor but that didn't matter, these guys had a space of their own, tiny as it was to make theatre. These were pure and joy filled days. We had met at the Toronto International Festival of Theatre earlier that year and had brewed our plans for Chicago with them there.

The guys invited us to bring our show to their tiny 50 seater theatre, where they were producing themselves in Balm In Gilead  by Lanford Wilson. The 1965 play was Wilson's first full-length effort. The play centres on a cafe frequented by heroin addicts and prostitutes (both male and female) and thieves. It featured many unconventional theatrical devices for its time, such as overlapping dialogue, simultaneous scenes and largely unsympathetic lead characters. The plot draws a parallel between the amoral, often criminal activity that the café's denizens engage in to provide temporary relief from their boredom and suffering, and the two main characters becoming a couple in order to escape from their lives. I remember an eerily beautiful rendition of Mona Lisa sung by Gary Cole. 

During these brilliant days in Chicago, where I stayed in Billy's squalid basement flat, the show was seen by a 'Producer' from the Big Apple. We jumped at the chance to take him up on his offer of a run in NYC. Little did we know that this guy was a fantasist!  Anyway we believed him and packed up with excitement for our Off-Broadway experience. 

How wrong we were. We got to Manhatten to discover the very 'Producer' curled up in a corner of his theatre in Greene Street pleading poverty. The money he had promised us had never existed. And we were stuck with him too. As you can imagine we had not a dime between us and not much hope of earning one! Fortunately there were some kind supporters of this failing theatre who took pity on us and gave all seven of us rooms in their lofts and apartments. Mine was just off Canal Street, a converted office building, where the makeshift shower was on the landing between appartments. It was pretty seedy. Outside the front door downstairs, vagrants and drug addicts huddled in the doors of the 7/11.  I was told by my kindly but uninterested host to make sure that I walked fast through the street and not to make eye contact with anyone. 

The resilience of youth inoculated us against what was potentially a disastrous situation. We decided that we would go ahead and perform the show in the theatre for the three weeks we had planned, and we would sell tickets ourselves and share the proceeds  (sound familiar?!). And we did. In the meantime the producer was actually having a nervous breakdown and the bailifs were due any time to evict him. But we did it. We photocopied our poster and we leafleted around the area, slapping posters on pillars and lamposts. We still had the advantage of marketing ourselves as a 'British avantgarde' company which had a certain cachet! 

James Joyce

The show was well received and we did manage to get 20-50 people most nights. At $5 per show, if we got 20 people that meant $100 which divided between the seven of us gave us each about $14 a day. This was just about enough to buy some food from a street stall and some breakfast from the 7/11. Some days it was more and some days less. 

I thought I was the only one who counted the heads whilst doing the show to work out how much I would get that night, but soon discovered that we all did it!  But it was a fabulous experience. We all got a bit thinner and looked like the archetypal starving artists. I quite liked the look. And we were also-rans in the vicinity, full of its beggars and half way houses. My God we knew we were alive!

That three weeks was my Off-Broadway debut! I went back there a couple of years ago and the old warehouse and the deluded 'Producer' were long gone, replaced by a swish office block. But in my mind's eye I could still see the funny little theatre that had been there in 1982. 

Those were good times.

Have a great week.

Conversation With Two Franciscan Friars: Blog 34

Good morning.

This morning I am prompted to write a little bit about ritual and theatre because of a conversation I had with my daughter Grace yesterday as we were walking the dog! Bit of a tenuous link maybe, but I am always curious about what things come into my mind at any time, and the natural desire I usually feel to investigate the connections!

Abbottswick

I was telling Grace about how I had left my bank card at a friend's the other day, which left me stranded with £5 in coins in my purse last Friday! I had forgotten this as I went into buy some things in Tesco (I particularly need some shampoo!)  and happily filled up my basket to arrive at the till and suddenly remember that I had no means of paying other than the coins in my purse! So I dutifully returned all the things to the appropriate shelves, and worked out what I really wanted to buy and what was possible with £5! (The shampoo I had picked up without a second thought was itself 3.95!). This was not something I can remember experiencing before and yet I know its the reality for many people on a daily basis. That's a bit humbling. Amazingly I did manage to find some rather nice smelling coconut shampoo for 99 pence, and some bread and milk and the bill came to £4.93! It did require a considerable amount more thinking of course, but it also pointed out to me just how oblivious I am generally about what I put in my basket and what I think I need! 

So it was in remarking on this experience to Grace that I found myself recalling the chance meeting I  had a couple of weeks ago at Abbotswick with two young Franciscan Friars. Abbotswick is a retreat house run by the sisters of Our Lady Of Walsingham. I go there from time to time to have a break from the cut and thrust of leading Arc. Although its run by Catholic nuns, its a sanctuary and a space of respite open to people of all faiths or no faith. Its a deeply relaxing space to step into, set in beautiful grounds near Brentwood in Essex. Its a place largely of silence and reflection, where there is no pressure to be or do anything. No one asks you questions, nor expects you to ask them any either. Its a good place to be and think and to step outside the normal demands of daily life.

Everyone goes about their own business there, and sometimes perhaps you might bump into someone else in the kitchen at meal time. It was over lunch (some lovely fish cakes - well it was Friday!) that I got to meet Brother Oshiem and Brother Angelo, both young men in their early thirties, attired in their friar's robes, rosaries around their waists and sandles.  I had never spoken to a monk before, and I was intrigued to do so! They live and work at St Fidelis Friary in Canning Town, just a couple of stops from Arc on the District line where the group of five brothers run a drop in soup kitchen and work in the community.

I wasn't sure at first if I could speak freely to these 'holy' men - but very soon realised that these were simply two lovely and very funny people! It was brilliant to talk to them, and no subject was barred. I was curious to know how and why they got to be where they are and they were both happy to share their stories which were funny, moving and powerful. But the thing I was most curious about was how they cope with the vows they have taken, indeed which they were renewing the next day. Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. Pretty tall order in anyone's book. Interestingly for Brother Oshiem it was obedience that was the toughest call. But we got to talking a great deal about poverty and the ownership of and attachment to 'things'. 

St Fidelis Friary Canning Town

Brother Angelo, who is American made me roar with laughter as he told me about his struggle to let go of his attachment to his faithful old football! A couple of months ago Angelo's football had finally given up the ghost and he had to admit this and throw it away! He knew that he could never own another football himself and that was hard as he loves playing with the other Friars and local kids in Canning Town. Much to his delight, the next day a parcel arrived for him from Brother Oshiem's sister, and lo and behold it was a new football. Angelo grinned as he told me that of course it must belong to everyone, and then sheepishly added that he actually 'looked after' it in his room!  

They also gave me a new insight into the beggar. I naively asked about how they source the food for the kitchen, and Brother Angelo said they beg every day for it. They never buy food for themselves or those they feed daily, which can be as many as 40. For them the begging thing is no big deal, its just what they do. They go to the street market at the end of the day, or to the supermarket and there is aways food in abundance. They also have supporters who drop in stuff when they can. I was impressed by the matter of fact way these guys live their lives and faith. And actually the freedom they have. 

We got to talking about what I do, and this led us to debate the connection between religion and theatre, a subject very close to my heart, and which I will develop more fully in a future blog. Suffice it to say the conversation centred on the nature of ritual, the coming together of people in a shared space to experience something together that touches the heart and soul. 

Paines Plough

We know as theatre makers the extraordinary heights of creating work and then sharing it with an audience. It is a kind of communion with its own rules, many of which come down through history from religious ceremony. The sacred and the secular are much more firmly linked then some are comfortable with. But I know from my own experience in the rehearsal room and in the theatre performance, that there is something very precious and special in the art form that moves people to another imaginal space for its duration. 

My education in theatre at Exeter University was steeped in work that explored this connection, Antonin Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty, Peter Brook's Empty Space, Eugenia Barba, Grotowski, Joe Chaikin, Richard Schechner, Mercia Eliade, Alan Watts, shamanism and the great canon of the Greeks and much more!

But that's enough on this for now probably. I will pick this subject up again in the next few days.

Have a good Sunday! 

Jon Snow Becomes Arc Patron and Our Rising Stars: Blog 33

Good morning.

Jon Snow

Listening to Art Garfunkel's Angel Clare. I just downloaded it from Itunes. There is a reason for this which I will explain later. I haven't listened to this album since I was about 17! 

What a day yesterday was! I got into the office at 7.30 am and had a lot to do in finishing off proposals for new work. This time of year is always interesting, many seeds that have been sown through the year start to break through the earth. I guess its a spring thing! And as importantly perhaps its when people realise they have underspends for the past financial year! Its often the case that we successfully bring in about a third of our year's income during February and March. Its as certain as anything is in this funny old industry. In the fallow parts of the year I often lose faith that it will happen, because I can't see it. After 28 years I ought to have got the hang of the annual cycle a bit better than I have. Its always been thus. We put in the work to develop and make new work continuously, and some just doesn't take seed, but much does. Its always a lovely surprise to get the phone call from someone you have been sharing ideas with months ago, to say that they have got the funding to make the project a reality! So it was that I got a call yesterday too from Mina in Luton to say she had a significant sum of money to make a new show! 

And yesterday was a redletter day too because I got an email from Jon Snow (Journalist and Broadcaster) to confirm that he will take up the role of Patron for Arc! I am thrilled. We have known Jon now for about 4 years. He was of course instrumental in supporting Doreen and Neville Lawrence in the work of the Stephen Lawrence Trust. Neville of course has been an Arc Patron since 2001. This is how we got to meet Jon who is also a theatre lover. It was my friend Amari Blaize who suggested that Jon would be a great Patron for Arc only last week. In spite of his busy public life and many commitments he came back to me straightaway with his acceptance. I am so excited. I feel strongly that Jon is the right person for us, because we share many of the same values and beliefs. I love the fact that Jon refuses to wear any symbol which may represent his views on air; in the run up to Remberence Day he condemned what he called 'Poppy Fascism' because "in the end there really must be more important things in life than whether a news presenter wears symbols on his lapels". And he refused an OBE because he believes working journalists should not take honours from those about whom they report. His ethics are clear. I signed up to his Snowmail recently, and its always interesting reading to get his take on current affairs. You can signup at Snowmail <snowmail@mailing.channel4.com>. 

So I very much look forward to welcoming Jon to Arc and the inevitable adventure that will mean! 

Yesterday was rounded off nicely by the Barking and Dagenham Rising Stars Awards at Jo Richardson School. Natalie's young women's programme Finding the Words had been short listed for an award in the Performing Arts category and about 16 of our girls attended the event which was hosted by our own Teejay Jembere and his partner in Acting Up  Ashley J. TJ  and Natalie had also just come from touring with our show Crossing Over in Camden schools. He and Ashley brought their own unique and very funny presenting style to the evening.  

Our project didn't win but the citation was fabulous and the project was celebrated. There will be more about them in a couple of weeks when the girls all receive commendations for their work from Chief Superintendent Andy Ewing, Borough Commander for the Barking and Dagenham Met Police. The programme is funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and focuses on developing leadership and presentation skills for a group of young women who are exposed to the risks of gang involvement and teenage domestic violence. They made a film with Natalie, Neelofer Wildflower Mir with the content and shape facilitated and led by our film maker Grace Pluckrose-Oliver. The girls then presented their film and facilitated a workshop and discussion with their peers in schools in Barking and Dagenham. They have become influencers and role models for many of our young people. I am so very proud of them and their achievements.

Rising Star Awards 2013

So all in all a great day for Arc in our home borough alongside lots of people working hard to raise opportunity and aspiration with and for our young people. Well done to Helen Jenner, Director of Children's Services for the vision to have an awards ceremony that celebrates our young people's efforts and achievements. Its a great borough to work in!

Our Fabulous FTW Young Women

The girls show their film at Jo Richardson School

Have a lovely weekend.

ps. I was prompted to re-buy Angel Clare by something TJ said whilst chatting on stage about the impact of the music we listen to when we are young! Not sure what it says about me! 

An Accidental Meeting: Director Tim Major: Part Two. Blog 32

Tim Major - The Sixth Sense

Good morning -

I am still rolling about with laughter at an email I received yesterday from Tim, the enigmatic and lovely director I found myself in conversation with last week. I have tried to call him and sent him an email in response - but his enigma trail means he's not available today! He's wonderfully nonchalant! (and a little Bah Humbug? I don't believe it for a minute!) So I am biting the bullet and sharing it here anyway. I'll deal with any flack later! 

This came from Tim in response to my blog about Stanislavski's Seven Questions.

Tim: 

So I have been trying to get 'into' Facebook. To be honest I don't see the point and find a great deal of the postings shockingly banal but figure a trillion people can't be wrong and I must be missing something. So I have applied myself and look at it on my iPad as I fall asleep so as not to waste too much time!!!

On the morning in question (yesterday actually) I had to be awake early as I was running a schools workshop. I had been at an event the night before so had not had enough sleep. As is the way in this modern world the first thing I do as I wake is reach for the iPad to check emails. 

As the last thing I have looked at the night before is Facebook, that page is still open and your blog entry is the first thing I see. I am immediately drawn to it as its title references Stanislavski's Seven Questions....

... The very questions I have the day before sent to one of my students to feed into the preparations for her imminent Drama School auditions. 

(Cue Spooky Music)  - (He can't resist the dramatic structuring can he? CP)

Now then .... In my sleep deprived, foggy headed state yesterday morning, it will not be too much of an imaginative leap for you to understand my confusion. 

Is this a huge coincidence? 

Are Carole and I so much on the same page that we are having the exact same thoughts at the exact same time? 

Am I in some kind of a 'A Beautiful Mind' meets 'The Sixth Sense' psychotic episode and will eventually wake up and discover I AM Carole!! (A perfect example of a bifocal perspective! CP)

Of course I eventually did wake up fully and decided it was a coincidence.  Two theatre practitioners would be constantly referencing the great man's work, right? I have to say though it did affect me through the day in the way dreams sometimes influence your waking moods (or is just me maybe?). No big thing but definitely there. 

You will imagine my relief though when a friend reveals he is the colleague to which you refer in the blog and reminds me I cc'd him in on the email sent to the student!!!

Once I had calmed down, realised I am not insane or in some huge coincidental universe and had another look , your blog once again makes intriguing reading. In the interests of discourse I thought I might try to extend your theory a little ....

A friend with whom I trained and I came up with a (probably drunken) thesis that if the tools of the actor were to be applied to everyday life generally, people would have a much more focused and fulfilled existence. 

We imagined a world in which everyone plays clear, strong objectives, achieved through creative and inspired tactics. A world in which, through examination of the text and application of 'the work', ones hopes and ambitious were suddenly clearer and obtainable. 

Whipped into a drunken frenzy over our brilliance, we further reasoned that since actors are generally the only ones privy to this thinking and training, they must all be driven, centred, balanced individuals.....

Our argument fell apart at that point and we probably brought another drink.

Anyway - just thought I'd share.

Tim 

Sixth Sense

I love that drunken thesis - and it really holds water up until the moment that they suggest that actors have special access to this human motivation thing which by definition must make us more aware as people! Ah therein lies the flaw of course! Physician heal yourself.

So there you have it - I have to say I am not surprised that Tim doesn't like banale Facebook postings - I don't either - but I hope he'll join me as a guest blogger here from time to time! 

A beautiful Mind

Ps (Uncanny - the similarity in the looks in the eyes in the photos eh? - I'd say be afraid, be very afraid!)

Pps Just got from Tim at 9.42 am

'....Glad you had a little chuckle. There's nothing funnier than real life. 

If you feel the story warrants a wider readership then I am more than happy for you to 'do your thing' - I shall look forward to reading it.'