Category Archives: directing

Has Old Vic lost her way?

On Tuesday this week, as part of International Women’s Day celebrations, I was street-canvassing for the Women’s Equality Party in Waterloo. We had decided to wait outside the Old Vic for the audience from their Gender Debate to exit – … Continue reading

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Aspiration, poverty & art

I haven’t blogged for a while but a couple of things recently made me start thinking about this all over again. One was the article by Dawn Foster on the ‘poverty mindset’ (http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/30/poverty-negative-spiral-fear-self-loathing ) providing rather harder evidence than my … Continue reading

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Challenges for the Arts – response to Maria Miller (et al)

Maria Miller has made her speech and many have responded, mostly we are rehearsing the old arguments, couched in terms that Government can understand.  I am going on Monday to a meeting of the movement ‘What Next’ which seeks to … Continue reading

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Of Men and Fringe (yes it’s NOT alliterative)

For the last two weeks most of my spare time has been taken up with Bits of Obits, a new writing mini-season featuring pieces inspired by obituaries.  I got involved because @bitsofobits and I mutually followed each other within about … Continue reading

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If you build it they will come

Tempting though it was to write another blog post about women’s attitudes to their own looks/self-esteem/each-other in the wake of Samantha Brick’s unintentionally hilarious article in the Daily Mail today, I am instead writing on the rather drier topic of … Continue reading

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Spit and Polish

Well I seem to remember back in November starting this blog by saying I was going to attempt to direct ‘democratically’.  I don’t think I have been particularly successful in this aim – my January mantra of ‘ruthless optimism’ has … Continue reading

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Dad’s Army or Shakespeare in Love?

I haven’t posted here since the beginning of the year.  Why? Lack of time? Not sure what to say? Mostly what I have been saying is: “Don’t panic” “It will all be fine” “There has been progress….” In fact at … Continue reading

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Welcome to the War Zone

And I don’t just mean Christmas parties and Christmas shopping! Our last two rehearsals have concentrated on the end of the play, which culminated yesterday night with me issuing the instruction ‘anyone who isn’t actually dead at this point can … Continue reading

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Riot Girls!

This week’s rehearsals have been really exciting – counting down to the point where everyone in the cast will have rehearsed at least one scene (just two more people to go!). On Sunday our biggest group of actors so far … Continue reading

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Thus falls Caesar

Last week’s rehearsals were ones of great contrast. On Sunday we focussed on Brutus at home.  Her relationships with her secretary, Lucius, and her wife, Portia.  We also looked at the scene with Ligarius and briefly at the street scene … Continue reading

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