Sunday 30 August 2009

Monday 24 August 2009

48. Kings of England at Forest Fringe + Dad's 75th Birthday

Kings of England will be showing "Where We Live & What We Life For" at Forest Fringe, 6PM-6.30, August 27th-28th, Forest Cafe, Bristo Place £Pay-What-You-Can!

Promises to be a good couple of shows, especially since on the 28th Dad will celebrate his 75 Birthday. 

This will be out last "in-development" show before our residency at Leeds Met Studio Theatre where we will tighten it up for touring (details soon). On Tuesday 25th we will be joined by my Brother, over from Canada for a few weeks and Dad, Mum, David and I will pile into Dad's Honda Jazz for a ROAD TRIP, six arse-numbing hours to look forward to, but the arrival will be worth it. 

Wednesday 19 August 2009

47. Two month residency in Lisbon! Acceptance to The Cycle: Tracks, Traces and Leftovers: Documentation Practices in Contemporary Creation

Good News!

I have been accepted to do a two-month (£paid) residency in Lisbon in 2010. The residencies come under the heading "The Cycle: Tracks, Traces and Leftovers: Documentation Practices in Contemporary Creation", and will be hosted by Atelier Real.

The proposal I submitted was to write and perform in response to an obscure branch of my family archive (archive, in this case, is a grand word for an envelope of photographs of an old Liverpudian family, the Furbers, relatives of my grandfathers).

This is on the back of the little work-in-progress I have shown in Carlisle (for the LANWest tour in february) and Manchester (for Sometimes...'s night at greenroom), entitled "IF".

IF is a companion piece to "Where We Live & What We Live For", concerning my grandfather, and particularly the three years he spent in captivity during World War II, but also more general themes of survival, longevity, speed, velocity and trajectory.

46. Very belated reports of CPT & Performing Lives Gigs

PART ONE: SPRINT FESTIVAL AT CAMDEN PEOPLE'S THEATRE

First night at Camden People's Theatre, about ten in the audience, mostly on comps. A quiet show but do-able. Difficult to get warmed up when there's three quarters of the seats empty, but it was alright. We got through it. Top drinks afterwards with Sylvia, who we were double-billed with, Kate A and my mates Em and Paul (Banjo). Plus, Sylvia really pulled out the stops. I had seen her show at SPILL but this was really, relly funny, bringing out a humour and warmth for us and, I think, for the Sylvia that was there, but not there, in 2003. Anyway, it was fucking fantastic.
Second night four people showed up, three of whom had already seen it. We decided to pull it, so Sylvia and I were taken out by Matt Ball and Robert Pacitti (thanks chaps!) and, I for one, was drunker than I care to be by the end of it. The next day was all anxiety attacks and difficult travelling. I heard that Sprit was poorly attended throughout, which seemed like nobody's fault, just London summer, expensive tickets, a culture of 'A Night Less Ordinary' and a cheaper West End to contend with. So, the Kings are writing that off to experience.
For our trouble, Sylvia and I received £10.70 in ticket sales, which we have promised to keep in special envelopes and open them when we next drink togther. I hope it isn't too long, what with inflation and everything.

PART TWO: PERFORMING LIVES CONFERENCE

A quiet conference and a split panel meant we performed to about ten people, again, but it was fairly well-received But we took the low turnout on the chin. and I got to meet Simon Ellis and the estimable Kristin Frederickson, who is performing her own Dad show, which was literally astonishing. Dad, the bloody hero, came down & up again in a day. I stopped off at my cousins, which was grand, and stayed in the next day and watched about seven episodes of The Wire Series 1, which was probably better than sight-seeing.