Good news! My first solo piece ‘If things don’t change’ has been selected for the Mayfest / Wardrobe Theatre 2013 collaboration! Mayfest is Bristol’s unique annual festival of contemporary theatre which is dedicated to presenting a broad range of unusual, playful and ambitious work.
‘If thing’s don’t change’ is a short piece I wrote in support of a voluntary ‘active citizens’ community project I am working on at Windmill Hill City Farm . The piece draws on my own experiences of family, growing up and growing old. It is about transformation and new shoes. ‘If things don’t change’ is a story of a grandmother and a granddaughter, a tale of loss, acceptance, love and the simple extraordinariness of everyday life. I hope that most people will be able to relate to the themes in it in some way.
I’ve now performed ‘If thing’s don’t change’ twice at Windmill Hill City Farm – the first at the poetry and performance night which was an evening of food, music, spoken word, poetry and even the odd clown intervention from Clowna Patata and the second as part of the Windmill Hill volunteer celebration day. It was a privilege to be taking part alongside such great performers. On the whole I think both performances went well and we had some great audience members in!
One opportunity I missed was to not ask formally for feedback from the audience. I got some comments after the performances which were helpful but I now realise that to review it in depth and develop it further it would be helpful to get a range of feedback on what I’ve written/performed so far. It wasn’t necessarily possible at both events given the nature of them but it’s something I will be hoping to get into the habit of requesting/offering in the future. I hope to create some opportunities for a couple of showings in non-theatre spaces before May so I will also use these as a chance for some more feedback. So I will be busying myself over the next few weeks promoting the show and preparing for the performance.
‘If thing’s don’t change’ will be showing on Thursday the 23rd May at the Wardrobe Theatre as part of a double bill with Chris. Dugrenier ‘s ‘Wealth’s Last Caprice’. All tickets are £5 and are available to reserve by emailing: tickets@thewardrobetheatre.com. Huzzah! Hope to see you there!
Amy-Louise Webber 