A passionate launch
The back room at The Stepping Stones in West Humble was packed as locally based theatre company Damn Cheek Productions presented an evening of poetry, song and insights as part of their Mole Valley theatre project Passion for the Planet. The evening featured speakers from River Mole Watch and charity New Ways as well as singers from […]
Ancient Wisdom for New Times
I wrote this blog for the Damn Cheek website and it can be seen there but I wanted to also include it on my own site and so, here it is. The image above is the image for the show, created by designer Chris de Wilde. When Damn Cheek’s partners in Gateshead asked us back […]
Planting
As part of our show Passion for the Planet last summer audience members were invited to plant seeds and to water them. The result was the vibrant splash of colour pictured above. A reminder that we can create new beginnings, that seeds which we plant can produce something beautiful, an encouragement as we start a new year. […]
Creativity in a time of Covid
It’s a strange phenomenon. Theatres are dark, just a few lights here and there, brave venues operating at 30% capacity. Concert halls have musicians bravely playing to empty seats. Stars of the musical theatre are driving vans. Ballet dancers are encouraged to become cyber experts, an encouragement now denied. And yet, in the midst, creativity […]
The Whistle and the Fiddle
As we face more restrictions on socialising, on numbers at weddings and , for some, on movement, I was reminded of a few verses I penned earlier in the summer after a Damn Cheek performance of Brendan Murray’s play ‘Big Baby’. As part of that production, we were fortunate to have a multi instrumentalist in […]
The return of Little Brother
Some years back I wrote a one act play exploring sibling relationships, family secrets, and the tensions and bonds between two particular sisters and a brother. It was performed a few times at festivals and went down well. Now, it’s back, in a new Zoom friendly version, as part of Mole Valley Arts Alive – […]
Virtual Theatre is a hit
When Damn Cheek teamed up with Brighton Beam for a co production of Maria MacAteer’s ‘On a Wicklow Hill’, we expected a normal run of small venues, a normal approach to ticketing and marketing, normal performances with an audience seated in front of or around the stage. As it turned out, that’s not normal at […]
A day for hope
It’s Easter Sunday and the message of resurrection will be proclaimed from pulpits all over the land – to empty churches with the services beamed into living rooms. Just one example of the changes in our national life over the last few weeks. Whatever our beliefs, faiths or traditions I’m sure we’re all looking for […]
And now we’re in lockdown…
A new phase and a new routine. Gone are the slightly awkward elbow bumps and uncertainties. Now we know what we should be doing and can get used to the new way of life – hoping it doesn’t go on for too long, recognising it will be longer than we want. I still haven’t written […]
Transgression rewarded
Last night I transgressed. I slipped out of my choir rehearsal half way through so I could get to most of the Get The Blessing/John Hegley gig at Watermill Jazz Club. All I can say in my defence is – it was worth it! As a jazz fan and a poet I could hardly resist […]