In other news, I got the best surprise in my email a few weeks ago from John Nobbs & Jacqui Carroll of Ozfrank Theatre, which went something like this:
"Dear Kenny,
How ya doin', sport? (They're Aussie, see. That's the Oz, in Ozfrank ~ ed)
We were just throwin' some shrimps on the barbie, and opening a few tinnies, when we thought of you and thought, ya know what, we could give that kid a break and invite him to Switzerland in July to do some training and then to perform in our small cast version of Macbeth called "The Tale of Macbeth" so how ya up for it, blue?"
To which I said, "Well, let me just check my diary full of lucky breaks and performance opportunities with professional theatre companies to see if I have a free window coming up...(check, check...check) - ah, you know what, J&J of Ozfrank, I'm actually free in July, so yeah, go on then, you've twisted my arm..." or words not quite to that effect...
...So there you have it. Little Kenny is going to play with the big boys and girls without any inflatable armbands or safety nets, and now with a copy of the Ozfrank script (a version based on the Bill Shakey effort) in his hands which came with the instruction "Learn everything which isn't Macbeth or Lady Macb" - gulp, and double dry gulp. I do sincerely hope I don't drown, or fall from a great height, playing with the big children...
...and then like a number 73 bus, first you wait for ages and then two turn up at once, I've got another professional offer in the pipeline to do some Forum Theatre workshops with some mental patients or something, where there is some bullying taking place in the unit...
...Look, you just take the gigs as they come.
It might be ages before another bus comes along again.
Congratulations Kenny
From what I've read of your creative efforts, you deserve it. Well, you deserve it anyway but especially with all that hard work and talent :-)
Bob
Thanks Bob! I am of course
Thanks Bob!
I am of course dead excited and nervous at the same time. A great opportunity , I have every intention of soaking it all up.
It's going to be a great learning experience, rewarding, fun, hard...what an adventure!
_________________________________________________________________________ Laissez lire, et laissez danser; ces deux amusements ne feront jamais de mal au monde!!
K Wiseone!!
KW/
Can you get your talents online ? Youtubed for instance? Agreeing with BJ's input of encouragement above ; I think your endeavours deserve to be showcased to a wider audience via latest technology?
Trying also to convince similar artists whom we shelter from the storm under the same creative umbrella. It's not rocket science anymore nestcepas? Similarly Roy's recent comments about how he had to apply himself to overcoming technophobia, coz he had always been worried about it detracting from his song inspirational flows of moments of streams of consciousness. Touring ain't necessarily necessary any more. It's available at the touch of a keyboard button. Just depends which button you press I suppose like a fretboard of endless possibilities. Striking a match....
KUTGW!!
chrs
andi
OOoh, Andy, I'm not too sure
OOoh, Andy, I'm not too sure 'bout that. I'm going in as the very grateful "hired hand" (i.e. keeping my mouth tightly zipped, ears pinned back, listening intently, expecting to get shouted at a lot) - whether the directors capture anything for posterity or not remains to be seen. If they do, for archive purposes, these things are usually retained only for training reflections etc rather than a public viewing.
There's something still to be said about the transient nature of a "live" theatrical performance; part of the uniqueness of the artform is that it does pass into obscurity and is not committed to permanence. When an audience views a live performance they retain something of an ethereal memory of it and not necessarily a memory of the performance as a "whole", so that what survives of the performance is a resonance within the spectator, which once absorbed may manifest itself in an external subconscious, or even conscious act. In that way we can speak of theatre as a force to effect change. To view the same "live" performance repeatedly (film, TV, digital capture) has a diluting affect on this phenomenom.
I do however intend on taking out the very latest high-tech equipment to capture something of the experience - MS Bic 2009 and some recording software, probably MS Basildon Bond, watermarked, 2009.
__________________________________________________________________________
Laissez lire, et laissez danser; ces deux amusements ne feront jamais de mal au monde!!
Hey!
KW/
Hey ! I actually got a reply appraisal from a comedy sketch woman at the BBC, regarding my previous blogscript attempt here on 'Good Morning Miss Milton', as follows, which you may find of interest critically.
"Dear Andrew
Thank you for letting me read your script for the Last Laugh competition. Sorry for the delay in sending it back to you. I thought the dialogue was very well written and the way you got straight into the action was good. I also think the two main characters stayed consistent throughout which is great.
Just a few points to bear in mind if you were to do a re-write on this. Obviously I didn't see the brief so please ignore any comments that are irrelevant...
1. The cultural references - to John Major, Michael Jackson's trial etc. Unless it is an historical piece like Blackadder for example, it's hard to use topical jokes without making the piece seem dated within a few months. Especially as the time between writing and broadcast can often be more than a year. Often safer to avoid very topical jokes in this format.
2.Stage directions - could maybe do with a few more details about what is going on and about the set up to help the reader establish the context.
3. Some sections of the dialogue you are a little long without pauses. It's worth reading out things you have written just to make sure it's possible to read in one breath and that it sounds natural.
4. What audience would you be writing for? Obviously some of the content is quite adult so when you sent this to a producer you would need to make it clear what channel you think it would be suitable for and what timeslot. Or, if it was for a competition you need to make sure their brief did not specify that it needed to be family friendly.
That's just a few comments. Hope that is helpful in some way and thanks again for giving me the opportunity to read it."
chrs
andi