Heating the Ink - Update

Dilemma: how does one make the invisible visible?

I’m seriously asking pals - thoughts on a postcard please.

This was the hurdle that we full-throttle flung ourselves into this week. How do we show what a character is experiencing internally? The pain, discomfort, the anxiety – everything. The whole point of invisible illness is that you can’t see it (clue’s in the name).

The problem with trying to show pain on stage is that it is, fundamentally, intangible. We never know how anyone else experiences pain, only how we ourselves do. And so how can we show a character’s pain to an audience? And more than that, how do we show that it’s not the same pain they saw represented earlier? That this is hurts where as before it ached. That it’s changed or developed or is actually just rooted in a completely different bit of the body? So we need to find a way to show it and explain it.

Pain is just one of the ways we’re looking to describe the experience of invisible illness but obviously it isn’t the only aspect. There’s a plethora of emotions too  – a tasty cocktail of frustration, fear, anxiety, not to mention the positive bits (I genuinely believe there are some!), the pride of doing what should un-doable, feeling cared for and looked after. But all of these are frustratingly personal and internal.

We’ve set ourselves a bit of a challenge in making this piece but hey – ain’t that the fun?

And of course we’ll be looking at healthcare as a whole – something that most people can relate to. From GP appointments, to extreme waiting lists, endless referrals. and the absolute heroism of medical professionals.We all know the NHS is a mixed bag, but aren't we all fecking grateful it exists?

I was thinking about this a bit and remembered a BBC questionnaire that did the rounds a few years ago where you could calculate how much you cost the NHS. I thought it was fascinating, and sobering – my total was easily in the hundreds of thousands – because it showed exactly how pricey this healthcare stuff is.

So, those are the thoughts that have been plaguing us this week.

More updates soon!

Sweeney x

And now for something completely different.

Well it's been a while since we last shared any news and to be honest, it's all change round these parts... if you missed the exciting news here is is (screenshot for your reading ease).

And this week is when it all began... 

Our project has been funded by Stellar Quines “Make Mend Do” programme – which we’re so lucky to be a part of. We’re one of four funded projects who are responding to

How have the rights of women changed since 1918 and what does the future hold?

(If you want to read more about the other projects, check out Stellar Quines twitter page here)

Rosa and I have chosen to look women in medicine and particularly on the gendered experience of medicine, specifically when dealing with invisible illnesses and conditions. We’ve been talking about this show, or something like it, for months. This is because we have the same condition, which I’ve known about since I was three, and Rosa only found out recently. Both having Ehlors Danlos Syndrome (to find out all about that – check out this page) it seemed fitting that we made a show that explored, not only our own experience of medicine and healthcare, but spoke to a broader range of female experiences. Hopefully the piece will also shine some light on how healthcare and treatment could be improved.

To learn more about how other people view invisible illness and think about medicine, we launched our survey last week. The responses to that have been amazing. It’s so useful to get insight and information from all kinds of people, from those whose lists of conditions could fill a book, to people who can’t remember the last time they went to their GP.

This weekend we started looking at the play itself, putting some very early material in front of actors. Which (indulge me in a sidebar) is a complete shift in how I normally do things. Anyone who’s worked with me before (apologies Low) will know that I like to have a full 7th draft of a play before even going near a rehearsal room, where I will then whine in the corner because I’ve used “right” three times in four lines. I'm a delight to work with, I promise. Anyway, this was a totally new experience – but so useful! In practical, dramaturgical ways, but also in reassuring us that the experiences and problems we want to explore are understandable, relatable and, in some aspects, universal.

We've loads more planned for this week and we'll be keeping you all updated as we go!

Sweeney x

Shows. All the shows.

Edinburgh Fringe 2018 kicks off this week and I have to say, staring down the barrel of it without a show to worry about, isn't exactly the worst thing in the world. Mostly because it means I have much more time to actually see shows! Who knew that was the point in the whole thing?

So instead of being bombarded by TwentySomething news, I thought I'd bombard you with my very scientific and entirely unbiased top show picks for the Fringe this year. 

By no means are they shows either made by people I know or ones I want to see myself... Of course not. I'm a theatre professional. Nae favouritism here.

My home for the Fringe is at Summerhall and the whole programme looks amazing. I started going through my copy by turning down the pages with shows I wanted to see... the thing looks like a concertina artwork now. However, my top pick is -

Everything Not Saved 

I saw Malaprop's two shows at Summerhall last year and was completely in love with them both. I'm literally still telling people how good BlackCatfishMusketeer was. Everything Not Saved is going to be my first show at Summerhall Fringe and I cannot wait. 

/https://festival18.summerhall.co.uk/event/everything-not-saved/

I'll also be spending a fair bit of time at my old Fringe home, Assembly, mostly to see these two -

Fringe Wives Club Glittery Clittery 

I've been waiting for this show to make it's way to Edinburgh ever since it started in Adelaide. Everyone I know who's been to see it has absolutely loved it. It promises sequin covered feminism  and I have no doubt it's going to live up to the hype. 

https://www.assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/fringe-wives-club-glittery-clittery

The Dragon and the Whales 

My pals at Modest Predicament have put together a beautiful children's show which will be on at Assembly Roxy at 12pm every day. I have it under good authority that it is not just a children's show, but also the perfect way to cheer up a hungover morning. 

https://www.assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/the-dragon-and-the-whales

My last recommendation is more like life advice. Go see this show. It will be good for you.

Hot Brown Honey 
If you haven't seen HBH before, you haven't done Edinburgh Fringe right. Their show is incredible. It's important. It's hilarious. It will recharge you and send you back out into Fringe madness feeling empowered and ready to change the effing world. GO SEE IT.
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/hot-brown-honey

Moving across town, our spy on the inside, Rebecca Low has given me her top picks from the Traverse programme. She recommends Underground Railroad Game, Class and Coriolanus Vanishes. 

Which leads us quite nicely to our final recommendation of EdFringe18

Youthquake : The Breakfast Plays 

So I might have told a tiny white lie when I said I didn't have a show to worry about. Amazingly I was chosen to write a Breakfast Play for the Traverse (*cue mild panic*). And so my play Squall will be on from Wednesday 15th. 

Although it's on at 9am, the joyous thing is you get a cup of tea and a breakfast roll with your ticket. So come for the bacon, stay for the theatre. 

https://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/event-detail/1469/breakfast-plays-youthquake.aspx

So, hope y'all enjoy your Fringe. Look after yourselves. See shows. Have fun cause one day it'll be September and the whole thing will be over.

Sweeney x

Prague Fringe 2018

We're all finally back from Prague Fringe 2018 and what a truly excellent time it was. 

Important information, beer at the Fringe Club is now 43kc - an insane piece of inflation which now puts the cost of a pint at almost £2!!?? What is the world coming to? 

Once again I spent the Fringe wearing two hats of stressed out venue supervisor, and slightly less stressed out playwright. My favourite thing about this double life this year was being able to chat to all the Fringe regular attendees (people who have been flying out for the Fringe for years) about The Orchid. The response was simply wonderful and I'm so proud of the whole cast and obviously Ms Low for wrangling 4 plays out of them in just a few short weeks. 

That's right, these dafties put on a different play every night for the audiences of Prague Fringe. I was able to see three of the performances this year - which I was very happy about - and was just as excited as anyone else to see how the brand new couples worked. I'm eternally grateful that this company were keen to make this play work the way I had imagined it.


The guys are posing in front of our BEAUTIFUL venue, Cafe Club Misenska. The room is a mismatch of alcoves and carpets and random chairs. It was the perfect place to put on the show (and not as exhaustingly warm as our previous Prague Frigne venue...)

I want to say a particular thank you to our excellent cast. Suzanna, Rowan, John and Tom - you guys worked so hard and were utterly excellent. If you could try not to lock yourselves out of an AirBnB next time, that would be great.

I'm happy to report that the audiences of Prague Fringe Festival liked The Orchid so much that we came 4th overall in the Audience Award! For a show that only ran for four nights of the Fringe - I am pretty dang happy about that result! 

It's a mad festival to say the least and it's been amazing to take another show over there. I hope we get to do it again in the future. There's nothing like the warm atmosphere for companies in Prague and, coming from Edinburgh last year, the small size, intimate venues and amazing staff care, were just incredible.

Up next for TwentySomething... 

Ask us in a few weeks! 

Sweeney x

Flower Power (All things Orchid)

We've had a fair few busy weeks here at TwentySomething. The Orchid  had it's Edinburgh previews at Assembly Roxy and it was time for our second (probably going to be) annual TwentySomething Pub Quiz. It's been non-stop I tell you. 

The Orchid 

The Orchid previewed over the weekend of April 21st/22nd at Assembly Roxy and went pretty darn well. Thanks to everyone who came along and, as always, to our amazing cast of actors. Both they, and Low, worked incredibly hard to rehearse not one, but two plays. Because at TwentySomething we enjoy making things just a little more complicated than absolutely necessary. 

The Orchid tells the story of a couple, Alex and Sam, and their relationship. The audience watches as it grows and develops. Because of how I wrote it, we wanted to emphasize that this couple could be absolutely anyone and that the important thing is who they are to each other and who they are together. To that end we had a different couple each night. Saturday was John and Tom, Sunday was Rowan and Suzanna. And if you come see the show in Prague, you'll see a different couple on each of the four nights we're performing! (Oh yeah, four plays for Prague - nbd) I'm so glad we were able to make the show work this way and so excited to see our two new couple combinations in rehearsals over the next few weeks. 

Can we also have a moment to appreciate this gorgeous image? Cat Thomson is amazing. And we're very close to having this image turned into beautiful posters, courtesy of the totally wonderful Katie Wilkinson (who designed our Hell Has No Fury poster) who we've so glad has been able to work with us again! 

Cat also popped along to our dress rehearsal for our Sunday show and snapped some lovely photos of Rowan and Suzanna. 

Pub Quizzin'

It's safe to say our pub quiz was another riotous success. We managed to raise over £150 for the Prague Fringe Fund. Our winners were.... my family. They went home with four tickets to Summerhall's Courtyard Ceilidh and a bottle of rum (my sister disappeared pretty sharpish with that.) As always we had a plethora of fantastic raffle prizes. The winners went home with booze, vouchers and even more tickets for Summerhall events, plus a Tennant's brewery tour. 

Thanks to everyone who came along. We appreciate your support SO MUCH and literally wouldn't be able to keep doing what we're doing without it. 

If you weren't able to make it along, here's a question for you. This was part of our Explain a film plot badly round. Basically, what's the film? 

 

Sudden inflation causes a housing crisis

Tweet us your answers! 

It's less than two weeks before I head off to Prague, the rest of the team will be following quickly afterwards. Make sure you're following us on twitter and instagram to keep up with our time at Prague Fringe. We cannot wait to be back there! 

Sweeney x 

The Turn Vol. 1 Speak

The Turn kicked off last Saturday night with what we hope will be the first of many evenings like it. Vol. 1 Speak was host to a whole range of performers from singers to actors to playwrights to spoken word artists and dancers. It was a brilliant evening of performance and concluded, as was only proper, with an excellent ceilidh (top tip, at your next ceilidh event, as the band if they know the Sprial Dance - you will not regret it.) 

First things first I want to thank all of our amazing performers and I'm going to do that with the help of our gorgeous event photography, courtesy of Cat Thomson. 

Rachael Sweeney and John Crooks 

Rowan Hall and Rosie Al-Mulla (reading a piece from The Orchid)

Erin McGee who performed her play Scuttle

Matt Norris (singer/songwriter) 

Jess Matthew (poet)

Charlotte McLean (dancer) 

Steph Leach and Hannah Sutherst

We cannot say thank you enough to these amazing performers! And to everyone who braved the awful weather to make it to the show! 

So, on to the next one for TwentySomething. We have a few (LOL we're so busy) things coming up in the next few weeks.

Dates to Remember

April 21st and 22nd - The Orchid at Assembly Roxy 

May 6th - The Second Annual TwentySomething Fundraising Quiz 

May 30th-June 2nd - The Orchid at Prague Fringe Festival (if you happen to be in Central Europe, come check it out!) 

That's all from us 

Sweeney x

clappity clap. 

Ahoj Fringe Fans

Ahoj.

That means Hello in Czech.

Why do I know that?

Well, because
...
...
...
WE'RE GOING TO PRAGUE FRINGE 2018.

Yes, that's right, they're letting us back, and we are so excited.

We're taking our new show The Orchid, another play by me, which is looking better and better by the week.

We'll be performing at Cafe Club Misenska from 29th May to 2nd June, but if you can't wait until then, (or don't fancy the luxury of a RyanAir return trip) keep an eye on our social media because as usual, we'll be previewing it in Edinburgh before we go.

I don't want to give away too much about The Orchid just yet, especially as we have another exciting project to keep you occupied, but I will share the image you might have seen floating around our Facebook/Instagram

This is our gorgeous poster image taken by the wonderful Cat Thomson. 

Those are, of course, Low's hands, which also made an appearance on our Hell Has No Fury image. Although this time they are a little more recognizable and much colder given this was taken in the meadows at 10am in the middle of December. Never say we don't suffer for our art.

Our first event of the year The Turn: Speak is getting well under way and we'll be releasing information about the artists who will be performing with us very soon.

It's all very exciting.

Sweeney x

New Year Same Us

I'm not entirely sure how it's 2018, I feel like I fell asleep and missed something. It feels like only yesterday that the evenings were filled with twinkly lights and mulled wine. Now everyone's doing dry January except me so I feel like an alcoholic and all the newly enthusiastic exercisers are filling up my gym so I can't get on an elliptical machine.

So yeah, Happy New Year.

At TwentySomething we're hitting the ground running in 2018 with a whole host of projects to get us through these cold and dreary days.

Our first project is something entirely new. That's right, for the first time TwentySomething are producing something that wasn't written by me! (I can sense relief across the board).
On March 10th we'll be presenting The Turn: Speak

turn (noun) 1. a short performance, especially one of a number given by different performers in succession
2. a change in direction, a development or change

Taking inspiration from the party tradition of ‘doing a turn’ and the joyful, expressive atmosphere of a ceilidh, The Turn is a place for some of the country’s brightest performers, writers, musicians and performing artists of all disciplines to come together in a showcase of exciting new work.

Speaking up, speaking out, finding our voices and using them for good – or ill – free speech, hate speech, lost languages and new dialects, speaking without any words at all, private conversation and continuous broadcasting to the world.

We're really excited about this new venture and are looking for artists and performers from all disciplines to get in touch and collaborate with us. There's more information on our Facebook page if you want to find our how to get involved!

After the excitement of The Turn, we're going back to our roots with another play by me...
In April we will present The Orchid  a play about love and relationships and all that fun stuff. We're workshopping it at the moment and have been super lucky to get some amazing actors to come along and help us out (it only took bribing them with KitKats and Fruit Pastilles).
We'll let you all know more about The Orchid later on in the year so watch this space....

And that's us, starting as we mean to go on!

Sweeney x

Life Lessons from Edinburgh Fringe 2017

Don't worry, the Fringe didn't destroy us, we're still here. However some serious post-Festival detoxing has been required. I've almost forgotten it happened at all...

We had an amazing Fringe, great audiences, brilliant feedback, all in all a fine old time. 

At the grand distance of almost two months PF (that's Post-Fringe) I've tried to pull together all the things we learned over our first Edinburgh Fringe. 

And here it is, the TwentySomething Guide to Surviving the Fringe 

1. Flyers are not that vital.
   
   The two unopened boxes of flyers in my flat are testament to this truth. When we looked at buying posters and flyers the quantities all seemed huge, so huge in fact that we asked to reduce our flyer order. In hindsight I would have halved it. People came to see Hell Has No Fury because we spoke to them about it and whilst sure, sometimes that involved passing over a flyer, it didn't always. Less is more, for sure.
   Not to mention the trees guys - think about the trees!
   
2. Small spaces are not to be sniffed at.
   
   Our venue was a 60 seater black box with seats on three sides, pretty standard. Add to that three chairs, three mirrors, a dust sheet and a smattering of LED candles and what do you have? Well a pretty swanky looking set, if I do say so myself. Little venues and small budgets really aren't the hindrance they can appear.
   
3. Outside life happens.
   
   Whether this be a building site with an over-enthusiastic pneumatic drill (oh, I wish I was exaggerating!) or work schedules that relentlessly beat on, the real world continues in August. Something to remember when booking a show for lunchtime when 1.5 members of the company have full time jobs.
   
   
4. Any ticket sales are good ticket sales!
   
   We knew this already but it's worth reiterating, the average Fringe show sells 6 tickets. That's across the hundreds of performances, from one-to-one shows to sold out 500-seat venues, the average is 6. So appreciate every person who comes to see the show, because they came to see yours, not the others.
   
5. Turnaround? Lol. 
   
   Turnaround times are literally non-existent. 5 minutes feels like 5 seconds (and we had a pretty basic set!). It's worth thinking about waaaaay in advance, because the stress of throwing set together in mere minutes, isn't healthy for anyone.
   
6. Make pals with the venue staff and companies.
   
   With these tight turnarounds, the venue staff and other companies are super important. Helping someone else with their get-out will definitely help you with your get-in - simple.
   And friends are great.
   
7. Look after each other.
   
   Buy chocolate (or lacto-free treats for some) and drinks, and check-in with each other.
   
8. ENJOY EVERY SECOND CAUSE SEPTEMBER IS SO DULL. 
   
   
   

Sweeney x

Basically just photos

I wonder what Hell Has No Fury looks like, you ask? 

Well wonder no further because here are our some of our beautiful production photos taken by the lovely Cat Thomson!

I'm not going to lie, this blog is mostly an opportunity to show off Rowan looking fantastically moody in some stellar dusk light. 

And as the Fringe has started today, I'm exhausted in anticipation of what is going to happen in the next four weeks and my brain has already turned to mush. 

With only two and a half weeks before Hell Has No Fury comes to Edinburgh we're in the final stages of prep. Soon our flyers and posters will be in and around Edinburgh. Tweet us if you spot any, cause that'll be a little too cool for me to handle. 

Have a happy Medea to finish off. 

Sweeney x

#WorldFringeDay

Happy World Fringe Day!!

I'm unreasonably happy that there's now a day dedicated to my favourite thing - FRINGE. 

As I (ever so wittily) commented on Twitter this morning - 

'I didn't choose the #fringelife, #fringelife chose me.'

And World Fringe Day has come just as TwentySomething begin rehearsals for Hell Has No Fury at the Edinburgh Fringe. It's kinda crazy to think that we're bringing a show to the original Fringe Festival in it's 70th year, like a lot crazy, like ohmygodwhatarewethinking crazy. 

My first Fringe - yes this is when I get nostalgic - was in 2010. I started what would be a seven year stint working at Assembly Hall every August. I can't believe it's been that long, but I also can't really remember a time when my year didn't revolve around Fringing. I love it so much I now travel to Prague, just to get to do it again. I've met some of my best friends at Fringe, seen the best (and worst) theatre of my life at Fringe, I've laughed so hard I've cried and cried so hard I've laughed at Fringe. To me, it's absolutely astounding that we get to be part of it every single year. 

We did a little Q&A for our Insta last week and I was asked, "What's your favourite thing about #edfringe?" I had to think for a bit, mostly because I wanted to be funny, but also because there are so many answers to that question:

I love the way Edinburgh comes alive during Fringe. I love how many new people get to experience the city. I love the number of new companies who've chosen Edinburgh as the place to share their brand-new work for the first time ever. I love the people who come back year after year, like there's a magnetic pull that stretches across continents and oceans, bringing them back to the Fringe. I love that there are now Fringes all across the world who took inspiration from Edinburgh and decided to dare to be different too. I love walking down the Royal Mile and seeing warring companies vie for flyering privileges. I almost love getting annoyed at tourists in town who don't seem to understand that, 'I'm late for work plz move!' 

I could have said any of those things - instead I went for, "my favourite thing is that you can say you're having an early night when you go home at 4am." Which I promise is more poignant than it sounds! Edinburgh doesn't go to sleep in August, there's always something going on, no matter what time of day or night and it's that buzz, the hum in the background, that I love. 

I feel incredibly lucky that we're getting to bring Hell Has No Fury to a whole new Fringe audience in Edinburgh and I cannot wait. 

A reminder that tickets are on sale on the Fringe website, and that healthy presales allow my blood pressure to remain at a semi-reasonable level. 

(I have used the word Fringe 16 times. Just FYI) 

Sweeney x

Prague Fringe 2017

Although I'm here without the TwentySomething crew Prague Fringe is ALWAYS worth talking about. So on Fringe Sunday (the holiest of holy days) I thought I'd give a little round up of everything Prague Fringe 2017.

First of all meet Fringeon - which I cannot for the life of me pronounce- our new mascot. He's so cute I think he deserves his own kids show next year. He's all over our new branding which is equally attractive. Now, although we all know a TwentySomething tote bag is the ONLY tote bag worth owning, you have to admit these ones are pretty spectacular too. And this year in colour!


It's boiling in Prague. The boiling point of the average Fringe goer was bypassed around yesterday afternoon. Luckily there are many awesome shows to enjoy in dark, (but equally boiling) rooms.


I've seen a whole 3 shows thus far, not a great record but it's early days. My list of shows I want to see is getting longer and longer and longer, hopefully I get enough time to do it.



All in all, a brilliant Fringe thus far.

Just hope I don't melt!

#prahaismydestiny

Sweeney

x

Quizzical

It's been a busy few weeks for us at TwentySomething. Our beautiful tote bags arrived last week and we've started getting them out to our KickStarter backers. We will also have some available to buy for £10 if you missed out on getting one already! They're pretty great if you ask me. Our TS logo designed by the wonderful Katie Wilkinson was made to be printed on canvas!

Yours for only £10!! 

Sunday was QUIZ DAY! We had a brilliant night at Summerhall and raised over £100 for our Fringe Fund, which will go a long way in helping us.

You've got to love quiz team names, they might be my favourite part of any pub quiz, which is why I found it hilarious that we ended up with not one but two teams named Universally Challenged. (One renamed to Really Universally Challenged after the first three rounds)




The winners of the quiz were Yaasss Qweens (which despite being the team that included Ms Rowan, was not a fix!) They went home with a TwentySomething badge each and a bottle of Edinburgh Gin!

Now while I think all the questions were more than fair, we had quite a few complaints about Low's Only Connect bonus round in the second half. So I thought I'd pop a few on here so you can have a go if you didn't make it along.

Give us a tweet if you get any of them!


1. Rear Window            The Royal Tenanbaums            The Lobster                    Weiner Dog


2. Wombats                    Shins                                         Beloved                          Cars


3. Carmen Sandiago       Paddington                               Tommy Cooper              Captain Morgan



It's Fringe-prep madness now. There will be lots getting shared on our social media as we get ready for the Festival so keep an eye on Twitter, Insta and Facebook to keep up to date.

Now I'm off to read Low's press release which I'm sure will be much more eloquent and succinct than the rambling above!

Sweeney x

We did it.

Over the past month TwentySomething have had a lot to celebrate. Not only have we successfully launched a KickStarter campaign which was funded by many, many incredible people but...

We're officially part of the Edinburgh Fringe 2017.

Let me say that again -

WE'RE GOING TO THE FRINGE!!

I really wish I'd recorded the moment that Low and I sent off our registration. There were definitely squeals unbecoming of young ladies like ourselves. One click of a button and it was done. We've joined the Fringe society. We're taking a show to the biggest arts festival in the world. NBD. Whatevs.

Hell Has No Fury will be performed at the Space Triplex from 21st - 26th August 2017.


I mentioned the KickStarter earlier. We had an unbelievable response to our fundraising and made our target with over a week to go! Overall we raised £540 towards our Fringe trip. Everyone who backed us will be mentioned in our show programme and some people chose to pledge a little extra and get TwentySomething badges, magnets and even.... tote bags. (the bags look amazing. I'm so excited about them).

We still have some fundraising coming up. On April 23rd we're hosting a pub quiz at Summerhall - there's an event page on our Facebook with more information about that.

Basically, it's all go.

Sweeney x

Excel will be the death of me.

My eyes have gone square. I've been crunching numbers for the past few hours and unlike last time I have had neither Low nor her dairy-free cake to help me through it, I had to settle for a pot of tea and the Book of Mormon soundtrack - bizarrely invigorating to listen to!

It's occurred to me several times before, but more so today, that it would have been hugely helpful to have taken a class on fundraising applications at some point, as it seems to be a crucial part of any creatives existence. They're horrible. They go on for pages and pages and come with PDF's of guidelines and FAQ's and "Advice on How to Complete..." none of which is any use when you're actually writing them.
If you can imagine writing a cover letter for a job and thinking of all the reasons you're perfect for it and putting them into succinct sentences without too much repetition of "responsible" and "hard-working," and managing to finish it off with the correct variation of "yours whatever," but then, realising there's a second application in which you have to document how you'll spend every penny of the wage they probably aren't going to give you anyway, and explain what each expenditure brings you and justify it's cost. If you can imagine, that's what I've been doing today.
Fairly unsuccessfully.

Anyway, hopefully something comes of all this. Something more than my improved Excel sheets and ability to guestimate the cost of everything from printing to performances. We should be, and I certainly am, grateful that any kind of funding for new creative ventures exists at all!

TwentySomething will be sharing our plans for 2017 soon, (once we finalise them!) so keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter for what's coming next!

#KeepTheSecrets

First and foremost I should apologise because I’m about to deviate from the normal theme of this blog. Although when we first decided to start blogging our adventures we thought about blogging stuff we’d seen, not just stuff we’d made, but I haven’t really felt the need to write anything about something I’d seen, until now. On Saturday I saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Now, whatever your thoughts on the global, corporate, seemingly never-ending world of Harry Potter, I have to tell you that it was one of the best things I’ve ever seen. In all fairness I am a self-confessed Harry Potter obsessive, born at just the right time to climb on board the Hogwarts Express with him, live through high school, live through being a teenager (the fifth book where he basically only communicated in capital letters? That’s exactly what my brain felt like too.) all at the same time. So I am a sympathetic audience member to say the least.

It’s been just over forty-eight hours since I saw it and I have tried to stop thinking about it but it keeps coming back, constantly, because all I can think about is that I want to talk to someone about it. I want to talk about every bit of it, I want to go back over it again and again in minute detail. I want to talk to somebody about every movement, every look, every cadence in speech, I want to talk to somebody about everything I thought was wrong with it, every opportunity I thought they missed, every character who didn’t quite work, everything that didn’t quite make sense. And I want to talk to somebody about everything that was brilliant about it, everything that was perfect and sensational and purely, beautifully magical about it. I want to talk to somebody about every moment that made me jump out of my seat – I think I should have apologised to the people sitting behind me because I was the worst kind of audience member.

I should be so lucky to see theatre like that.

I should be so lucky to make theatre like that.

Because that’s what theatre is. Theatre is magical and transformative and transporting and it makes you gasp, and scream out and shout at these people on stage who are pretending to be something they aren’t. That’s what theatre is and I should be so lucky to make it.

In between the two shows I said I would have given my right arm to have been in the technical rehearsals, which I can only imagine went on for several weeks. There must have been something pretty amazing about being in the room when the magic worked for the first time. Because there was magic in that theatre and I believed in it. It’s magic that I’d seen hinted at before in a John Tiffany play. Peter Pan at the Festival Theatre, years ago, I had the same feeling then. The same feeling when I watched Peter crawl out of the top right-hand corner of the proscenium arch and walk, horizontal down to the stage. I felt that magic, magic that only happens in the theatre and while I can’t go in to detail about what happened this time round because #KeepTheSecrets I can say that it was even better. We all, everyone who makes theatre, be that as a writer or a director or an actor, we all wait for that moment when it works. It might be a line that wasn't landing but then suddenly it does and the whole play makes sense, or a prop that was clumsy until it became essential. The people who made Cursed Child got to experience that on a mammoth scale. They saw the characters click into place, the dialogue flow and they saw the magic work, they saw magic come to life. I would've given anything to be in the room when it happened. 

The story of Cursed Child was like finding a hidden chapter at the end of the seventh book – a hidden chapter that went on for several hours – and the best bit about it was I got to experience it with an entire theatre full of people. I got to learn more about that world at the exact same time as the people around me, which isn’t something I’ve been able to do with Harry Potter since I decided I couldn’t wait for my Dad to read them to me and started the third book in secret without him. I heard people gasp from the stalls and stood up with everyone in the circle to peer down below us and it was that collective experience that made it all the better. 

I’m so relieved that I loved it because I was terrified when I sat down. “Don’t touch your idols, the gold comes off on your hands.” That’s what I was scared of, I was so scared that this would ruin the perfect and sacred world, but it didn’t. I can’t shake the feeling that the world’s biggest Harry Potter fans were responsible for the production, because it could only have been made by people who really, really loved and respected the story. And (I say again!) that's what theatre is about. The best kind of theatre is made with love and respect and inspiration. So thanks to J.K., John Tiffany, Jack Thorne and the cast and the crew and whoever it was who made the end of the first play work because OH MY GOD. 

I count myself lucky to have seen theatre like that. 

I'd be even luckier if I could make it. 

Sweeney x

Coming out of Hibernation

I'm currently sitting at my dining room table surrounded by empty coffee cups, a tea pot, a half-finished slice of a delicious dairy-free chocolate cake and what seems like several thousand post-it notes. Oh yes, it's that time of year again - APPLICATIONS. Low and I have just trundled through the first batch of Fringe and funding applications for the year, accompanied by the relaxing sound of BBC Radio 4. Whilst we are nowhere near finished, thanks to the mammoth size of most funding application forms, we've definitely made a decent headway - decent enough that I will probably allow myself to finish off that half eaten slice of dairy-free cake that Low clearly didn't want or she would have taken it with her... It's a bit strange to already be thinking about Edinburgh Fringe when outside it is very clearly still the bleak midwinter, but terrifyingly most Fringe programmes will be confirmed within the next three months. Eek.

2016 was a great year for TwentySomething with Hell Has No Fury and For Our Tomorrow and we're hoping to build on their success in 2017. This year should see the emergence of some new work, although that is dependent on my ability to actually write anything new - so fingers crossed! We're also hoping to revive Hell Has No Fury and bring it to some new audiences.

Watch this space!

Sweeney x

(I ate the cake.)

Time to Breathe

As always it takes us a little while post-production to get a blog out. This time more so than most as Low and I whisked off on a sunny getaway just moments after For Our Tomorrow finished!

I should start off by saying thank you to everyone who came over the two nights. We appreciate it so much! Especially given they were mid-week, fairly late performances. Those who dealt with rail-replacement buses are heroes in our minds! We had a great time and the feedback has been amazingly positive. And no ones mentioned the ropey lights operated by yours truly so clearly I got away with that one!

If you weren't able to make it to the shows then fear not - I'll be adding some "production" photos (AKA pictures I took on my phone during dress rehearsal which will be heavily filtered before publishing) onto our Instagram and Facebook pages soon.

I'm sure I've said this before but it bears repeating how incredibly lucky TwentySomething are to have such wonderful people want to work with us. We simply couldn't have made For Our Tomorrow without the dedication and enthusiasm of our actress, Rowan, Jacqueline and Alex. It was no mean feat, getting to Edinburgh for late and long rehearsals in cold rooms, not to mention dealing with re-writes only a few weeks before the performance (sorry again Alex!) and they dealt with it all like the complete and utter professionals that they are. I can only hope that we haven't scared them all off and that we'll be able to work with them again sometime soon!

Up next for TwentySomething... who knows?! We'll keep you posted!

Sweeney x

Progress

I don't know how your Sunday night was but mine was fantastic. Last night we showed For Our Tomorrow to a small group of invited audience members  (eg. My parents, Alex's mum and assorted pals). It was great to have a proper audience - albeit one that was predisposed to positivity. The idea behind last night was for us to get feedback on how the play is shaping up and how we're staging it. Luckily everyone we invited had notes for us: parents can be surprisingly cutting - I'm looking at you Valerie!

It's always nerve-wracking to ask for feedback on work, especially when it's at such an early stage, but it has given us a few things to think about during the next few weeks.
By choosing to perform a play set during the First World War we've given ourselves a lot more work than we needed to. Low and I have spent a long time talking about how our limited (non-existent) budget will affect how we can make it clear to an audience when the play is set. Our thoughts, in general, are that naturalistic setting and costume only work when they can be done well. Realistically we can't create an authentic looking 1914s living room inside Roxy Central and so we aren't going to! Likewise our costumes won't be historically accurate either! Instead we're going to be giving a nod to the period without being too precious about naturalism!

Our other challenge is performing in the round. If anyone saw Sex and God, Low's first foray into directing in Dundee, you'll know that we love a play in the round. However it isn't easy to block, or light for that matter - but that might just be my inability to use a lighting desk. Roxy Central is a beautiful space too and so we want to make the best use of it we can.

Low and our actresses have a few more weeks of rehearsals before the show opens properly in October. I'm going to try not to send over too many rewrites in the meantime!

A reminder- Tickets are on sale on the Assembly Roxy website and we'll be selling them on the door too.

Sweeney x

Introducing: For Our Tomorrow

TwentySomething are back! After a few months of rest and relaxation... who am I kidding?! It was Fringe - Low and I are just happy to be alive! But anyway, the three of us are back in business and getting ready to share something entirely new. 

Our latest project, For Our Tomorrow, has been brewing in my mind for the best part of a year and a half now. It started in a classroom in Dundee and took me to the Progressive Playwright event at Tron Theatre, and now it's going to the Roxy. It's a period piece (something I'm always worried about telling people, less they think I've tried to dramatise Jane Austen) set during the First World War. I've always been fascinated by the lives women lived during both world wars; the way they took on jobs and responsibilities that would be handed back over to men a few years later. In particular I've always been struck by how their lives would be irrevocably and immeasurably changed by a war that would take away almost all the men they knew. 

For Our Tomorrow follows theee women from before the war starts to halfway through. Mairi, Anne and Lucy are each affected by the war in different ways and deal with it in different ways. I wanted to show the scope of what could happen to a woman during that time, and what a woman could do herself. 

Our characters will be played by three marvellous women; Jacqueline Thain, Alex Forrest and (we didn't scare her off in Prague!) Rowan Hall. We started rehearsals last nighr and despite the hilarity (keep your eyes peeled for an egg motif throughout the play) we actually managed to get a fair bit of work done: with Ms Low at the helm we were always going to be in safe hands! 

Tickets will be available from the Roxy website very soon and on the door each night of the performance. Keep up to date with our rehearsals on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! 

Sweeney x