Big Chill – Big Thanks:)

Blimey….. we did it!

Need to say a few thank you’s ‘Oscar style’…. it was an amazing experience, with credit to many people. To quote a line of Rukus from the show – ‘my crew, my dogs….’ or I should say ‘Raucous’ as that’s how our Director Thierry kept pronouncing his name, and it sounded good, so it stuck!

Having spent 3 nights and 2 days together (in an Agatha Christie-style, slightly spooky old house…), we really did bond as a team – and had a good laugh. Sorry to let you down, but no Elton style ‘tantrums and tiaras’, no big egos, just down to earth good people. No tears, just lots of tea and toast for breakfast and enjoying the whole experience.

I’m still in awe of the writing and performing talents of Emma, Byron and ‘Raucous’ and still feel v.lucky to have been able to work alongside them.  Our director was gentle, and we jigsawed chunks of our pieces together organically over the 2 days rehearsing. We found ways to intersect homelessness, postcode wars, consumer decadence and football as if they’d all been conceived in the same petri dish in a lab somewhere.

Sarah from Apples & Snakes and our producer Naomi helped guide us through it all, and remained calm, grounded and supportive as a Wonderbra. They sorted everything out invisibly and didn’t shout when people did really stupid things like leave their cagoul on the train…… thanks for the loan of your poncho Sarah, boy did I need it:)

By the Thursday night we were joined by some of the mentors, and Gerry from A & S who saw the last run through before the campsite…and encouraged it more. Then once in wellies at the Chill, our ‘crew’ expanded with podcast’s beaming Dom, (beard suits you) and many other familiar faces which really helped …. Thanks to Tony Walsh, not just for his poetic genius, and for going ‘commando’ in bare feet in the mud, but also for blagging me a serviette for the loo, as a festival virgin I’d forgotten the obligatory looroll….. Naomi soon gifted me my very own looroll, thanks again and now I feel weird not carrying one with me each time I need a wee….

My own fabulous mentor Jo Bell was there in her ‘Ringmistress’ outfit to introduce us on stage and help reassure me, bless her for her constant enthusiasm and encouragement, and I promise not to go on again about how freakishly tall I am (oops, sorry.) She’s a phenomenally talented writer and performer in her own right but is also ‘Poetic Baby Bio’, as someone described her to me…. and I owe her my ability to get up there and pretend I knew what I was doing due to her kind words and belief in a lanky Brummy.

And on the day itself, my mate Dreadlock Alien helped us get the crowd in the tent and not in the sunshine outside, (or the Ben and Jerry’s stand where I felt at home) ….. and thanks to all the A & S familiar faces smiling back at us as we nervously got ready…to Thierry for giving us a ‘half hour call’, whole new experience for us non-theatrical types, but made it feel professional.

I practised my ‘8 yr old boy’s walk’ for the show while listening to Tricky on my ipod and walking around in my WBA footy shirt, totally confusing fairy winged festival goers… and I must have looked dodgy, as when I paid for ice cream with a tenner, they inspected my note for ages as if it was a forgery….

Finally we were off, and once Byron started, I knew we’d be alright…. he was his usual brilliant shrewdly observed comic genius… and when Raucous, (as he’s now known) started his pre arranged heckling from the audience.. and the crowd totally believed it, and started to join in…… it was the best feeling ever. I lost some of my nerves in the sheer appreciation of how they’d pulled it off so well…. then by the time Emma had finished her powerfully moving words, and I realised it was nearly my cue to join in….. well then it all spun by in a bit of a blur and before you knew it, we’d finished it, phew……. When people were applauding us, I just wanted to clap Emma, Byron and Rukus as I’d loved their stuff so much – so I turned and clapped them on stage. It would have been too weird to look at an audience clapping for what seemed like ages.

I had a bloke come up to me as we left the stage who said he’d never been to a ‘poetry’ thing before and how much he’d loved it and ‘never knew poetry was like that’ – result! Then he started talking football and about my piece, which made me blush

As the least experienced of the four of us, I still feel so lucky to have been involved in the whole process and I’ve learnt so much and it was sooo worth the festival toilets! Massive thanks to everyone who helped us from the beginning on this project – and I’ve still got a few months of my residency left, so I’ll still be working on it, and blogging here, so don’t go away….  If you get a chance to see the other shows of Byron, Emma or Rukus – you must do, as they are all compelling writers and performers. And if I carry on much longer, I’ll do a Halle/Gwyneth and blub… so I’ll stop now – but THANK YOU:)

x