It was three years ago that I rocked up to a pub in Salford for the first of my Write for the Stage workshops with the brilliant Mike Heath.
I was nearly at the end of an MA in Scriptwriting when I decided to take the plunge and take advice that I kept hearing over and over again. ‘The best way to attract attention to new writing is to put on a play and invite industry’. And so, the adventure began.
‘Bleeding with Mother’ was developed through those first set of workshops back in 2013, and it’s been through quite a journey with twists in the plot, characters removed from the original draft, big scenes taken out as all they were there for was the comedy and didn’t advance the story.
Two rehearsed readings and several drafts later and ‘Bleeding with Mother’ is currently in rehearsal for what I hope will be a successful run of shows in Manchester towards the end of this month.
I’ve managed to be as involved as much as possible in the journey of ‘Bleeding with Mother’, from auditioning the director and cast, to helping to organise radio interviews and engage in the social media publicity. It’s a really useful learning curve for me watching how the various roles of the production team work. I’ve gained an appreciation into the collaboration that is needed to deliver a staged production.
But the real test is when you have to hand that script over to the director and actors and sit back and see whether the words on the paper come off the page in a rehearsal room.
I was a bunch of nerves during that first actors table read. What if it’s rubbish? What if I’ve made massive structural errors, what if it’s not funny enough, what if they don’t like it, what if I sent them the wrong script and they hate it, what if, what if, what if?
My hands were shaking as I turned that title page over, took a deep breath in and waited for the first line of dialogue. And then I was able to breathe out, because it sounded better than I thought. Not only had I not ruined the play when I wrote draft number eight over Christmas, but we had found the perfect set of actors to bring those characters of mine to life.
We are a number of weeks into rehearsals now, and it’s surprised me just how smoothly that they are running. At least that’s what it looks like from my corner as I sit behind the script and watch in awe as the director and actors bring my characters to life. I’ve had to edit the script from the first table read and first run of rehearsals, but it was needed and vastly improved the script. I’ve trimmed dialogue (a lot) when it’s either slowed the scene down, or it hadn’t flowed easily from the actor. Three weeks in and I’m still finding tiny issues with dialogue that either needs cutting or rewording.
I’ve really enjoyed the journey of ‘Bleeding with Mother’ and I would urge anyone with a script to contact Mike and ask for a spot in the next Studio Salford Development Week. If I hadn’t taken the opportunity last year to have it on as a rehearsed reading then I would never have met Pete Gibson who read for the character Randall. It is down to Pete’s love of the script and finding a producer that ‘Bleeding with Mother’ is being laid to rest during its little tour later this month.
PERFORMANCES
Saturday 21 May 2016 – 2:00pm at Gullivers, 109 Oldham Street, Manchester, M4 1LW - Preview
Sunday 22 May 2016 – 2:00pm at Gullivers, 109 Oldham Street, Manchester, M4 1LW - Preview
Friday 27 May 2016 – 7:30pm at Joshua Brooks, 106 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 6NG
Saturday 28 May 2016 – 7:30pm at Nexus Arts Café, 2 Dale Street, Manchester, M1 1JW
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