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Recommending: Growing your own vegetables

Rehearsals

I was in rehearsals for my new short play, On the Eve of the Collapse [Soho theatre ths Thursday, do come!] that Talawa are producing.

Rehearsals are both immensely exciting and also a bit nervy. Actors ask you all these questions:

Why did you write the play?
Is the character based on anyone?
What does this mean?
Have you any experience of this…?

And then you have the director:

Can we cut this?
For the purposes of this reading, can we do this…

and the arguments between everyone; rhythmn, pacing, intention, meaning… thankfully everyone wants to serve the work in its best possible light, in which case although there may be disagreements, generally everything works out.

We only had about 3 hours, which is hardly enough to get the play read a couple of times and get some basic understanding done. Still it’s amazing hearing the words and characters come to life.

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  • About me

    I'm a playwright and investment analyst. I have a broad range of interests: food, gardening, innovation & intellectual property, sustainability, architecture & design, writing and the arts. I sit on the board of Talawa Theatre Company and advise a CIS investment trust on socially responsible investments.

  • Recent Work

    Recent plays include, for theatre: Nakamitsu, Yellow Gentlemen, Lost in Peru, Lemon Love. For radio: Places in Between (R4), Patent Breaking Life Saving (WS).

  • Nakamitsu

  • Yellow Gentlemen