NEWS

The new show, “GLOWING BRIGHT – The Story of Marie Curie” opened at the Backwell Playhouse on 25th February, with a run of three performances. These ‘try-outs’ were very well attended, and huge thanks go to the organisers for letting me use the beautiful studio theatre, and also for publicising the performances so well.

We then did four more ‘try-outs’ in Coytrahen in South Wales, Yorkley in the Forest of Dean, and Gotherington and Frampton-on-Severn in Gloucestershire. More thanks to all the organisers for letting me ‘borrow’ these great venues to get the show into good shape before I actually start charging for a performance. Thanks also to “Air In G”, Gloucestershire’s rural touring scheme, for arranging the three shows in their area.

All these shows were followed by a Question and Answer session, with some extremely interesting questions. Some of the science queries floored me immediately, of course, but google provided the answers! I now know what colour pure radium is, among other things.

The show is now in a fit state to go on the road officially, and the first performance will be in Merthyr Tydfil’s Redhouse on 22 March.

Very pleased that “GLOWING BRIGHT” has now joined my other one-hour shows. I hope it will prove as popular as “MRS BEETON, MY SISTER” and “LARKS AND MAGIC”. I very much look forward to taking it round the country to venues in which I have performed many times, and hopefully some new ones too.

The try-out dates for “GLOWING BRIGHT – The Story of Marie Curie” are now set: three performances at Backwell Playhouse (near Bristol) in February, then on to Coytrahen (S. Wales), Yorkley, Gotherington and Frampton-on-Severn (all in Gloucestershire) in March. Details are on the “Show Schedule” page.

Rehearsals start on 10th February….

Really happy to report that “GLOWING BRIGHT”, the story of Marie Curie, will premiere at Backwell Theatre, near Bristol on 25th and 26th February 2022. A huge thank you to the team there for allowing me to open my show in their lovely theatre.

The show will then visit the Philip Squires Community Centre in Coytrahen, South Wales, at 7pm on 4th March 2022.

There will also be several shows in Gloucestershire during early March, (details soon) and it will then join my other shows, available for bookings anywhere in the country.

“GLOWING BRIGHT” will run for just over an hour, and will tell the extraordinary story of Marie Curie’s life; her amazing scientific discoveries with her husband Pierre, of course, but also her turbulent later years, her astonishing work during World War I, and her love/hate relationship with her adoring fans all over the world.

Very much looking forward to launching “GLOWING BRIGHT” at last!

Live shows began again for me in August 2021. Both myself and the audiences seem to be more than ready to enjoy live theatre once more. Between August and October I have performed eight shows for venues that had to cancel and reschedule on numerous occasions over the past 18 months. Audience members have been given plenty of space, and great care has been taken to keep the events as safe as possible. What a joy to be back, and a huge thank you to the organisers who have taken the risk of opening up their venues again, and audiences who have come to see the shows.

And…thank you to all the audience members who have put money into my charity collecting box at the shows. Pangolins have become a little bit more famous in the last two years, but they still need saving from extinction. I have just emptied the box and sent off another £100 to Save Vietnam’s Wildlife, who do amazing work rescuing and rehabilitating pangolins captured and intended for the trade across the border in China. Every pangolin saved from a hideous fate is a tiny victory.

Happy New Year!

Things continue to be challenging for live theatre, along with so many other areas of life. My shows postponed from last year and pencilled for February and March have had to be postponed yet again. But we live in hope that later this year things may look up for us all. I have a new show ready to go into rehearsal, when this is possible, so there will be plenty to offer in 2022.

If you are considering booking a show, have a look at my cunning plan for “Social Distance-Busting”; the previous post to this one. And one way or another, I hope to be back in business soon…

Wishing you all the very best.

Once public indoor gatherings are allowed again, there will be specific problems for village hall and small venue organisers. Will people want to be crammed into small spaces? How can you keep your audience at a reasonable distance from other people, so they can relax and be entertained safely?

So here’s my cunning plan….

You book two performances of my show on the same day. You split your audience – some will prefer an afternoon show, some will choose the evening. You make sure that you only sell tickets in advance, so you can control the numbers. This way, you can spread out the chairs.

Having two shows is only very slightly more expensive than having one – so it won’t break the bank – and all the advance organisational hassle will remain largely the same (although it will be a long day for your volunteers). There will obviously be all sorts of issues about people arriving, using the toilets, queuing for cups of tea and so on. But if you keep the numbers down so there is plenty of room, all these issues should be soluble.

My one-hour shows do not have intervals, so you will only have to get people seated at the beginning – no half-time hassles.

So it may be possible to get some live entertainment back to your village hall soon…

Contact me if you want to talk through the possibilities. We are all going to have to be flexible and inventive if we want to keep theatre alive!

See you in 2021?

Well, what a surprising situation we find ourselves in. As from yesterday, 16th March, the Government’s advice is to avoid “unnecessary gatherings”, so live theatre has been shut down. I was due to travel up to North Yorkshire today, for a batch of five shows. There have been a number of phone calls and emails over the past week with the village hall organisers, and four out of the five were all set to continue with the show…until yesterday’s announcement. One village hall was already wavering. Luckily for us all, the final decision to cancel at the last minute was taken by the rural arts scheme under whose banner four out of the five shows were being performed. And they had no choice but to cancel, once the Government made its pronouncement.

So…huge apologies to everyone who was going to come and see the shows in Yorkshire, and also the cancelled shows in Denbigh and Grassington. And huge commiserations to the organisers who have now got to try to contact audience members, return tickets, and sort everything out. I do hope we can all have another go when everything has calmed down.

These are strange times for performers….as well as many, many other people whose jobs have suddenly disappeared for an unknown length of time. I am lucky, as I am not the only bread-winner in my household. My heart goes out to all those people who are wondering how on earth they are going to pay the bills over the next few weeks.

I now have an unexpected block of time on my hands….and can get the final (I hope) draft of my new play sorted out. No “I don’t have time” excuses left!

See you all on the other side of this virus……best of luck to us all!

Preparations for a new show are underway…research is more or less completed, and a first draft will be written during November. With the working title “GLOWING BRIGHT”, it will tell the extraordinary story of Marie Curie. There are two problems to overcome; the first is how to cram such an eventful life into an hour-and-a-bit show. And the second is how to get across exactly what she and Pierre Curie did. It’s physics! And chemistry! It’s hard stuff! I have had a crash-course in the basics from a proper physicist, who very kindly used simple words and lots of drawings. Now all I have to do is write an entertaining and intelligible play….