Morning! It's morning alright, in fact it's very early morning here in Wiltshire.............

Morning! It’s morning alright, in fact it’s very early morning here in Wiltshire………………

Sunrise over Rowde C of E Academy

The sun is rising over the recently awarded OUTSTANDING Rowde C of E Academy (Congratulations by the way!) in my back garden – not literally in the garden you understand but just over the garden fence – and my mind is rambling. Since we last spoke, FINDING THE WILL has been embroiled in Macbeth in Bracknell, Macbeth again (he’s a popular fellow) and The Tempest in Bristol and our show ‘Bard Heads’ in Cornwall. We have Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet coming up for Shakespeare Week 2017 in London and Swindon respectively, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet again (another popular chap it seems) in South West London later in the month, and then ‘Bard Heads’ in Stratford upon Avon and London. Busy time ahead and maybe that’s why the early morning thoughts in my head are tweeting as much as the birds. Have I sent everyone a Teachers’ Pack? Have I adapted all the scenes for the correct number of children? Where is the box of props for each workshop? Can I remember the workshop for each different play? Press Release for the show in Stratford? London? Invitations sent? Enough programmes? Can I remember my own fifty minute monologue? And would another cup of tea help me to think a bit more logically?

You see the thing is that whilst I am awake and posing these questions to myself, I find myself too inert at this time of the morning (it’s about 6am) to look for the answers. I’ve been awake since 4am mulling over all this but I think I’ll just have another cup of tea before I start ‘work’ properly for the day. I’ll also tell you a bit more about FINDING THE WILL’s visits to Kennel Lane School in Bracknell and St Peter’s Primary in Pilning, Bristol – or is that just procrastination? Well anyway………..

Kennel Lane School is a leading provider of education for young people with special educational needs. It is a fabulous school with dedicated staff and a warm and safe environment where students can flourish whilst having all their individual needs met. FINDING THE WILL is privileged to be part of a rolling programme meaning we visit every three years to work with KS3 on ‘Macbeth’. As with all our work in schools, the students at Kennel Lane play all the parts in the story and come up with their own ideas of what may or may not happen next in the story – one interesting and memorable idea this time was that Lady Macbeth offered King Duncan’s body guards wine laced with a laxative rather than a sleeping draft! Brilliant idea for a re-write – rather than fall asleep outside the King’s bedroom the body guards could spend the whole night on the loo ……this is where imagination is key!

We were at St Peter’s Primary in Pilning https://www.stpetersprimary.co.uk/ on one of the windiest days of the year so far – not sure if that was Doris Day (if you see what I mean) but it was windy enough to close the Severn Bridge and cause all kinds of disruption. Appropriate weather for ‘The Tempest’ although the wind had abated somewhat by the time this workshop started in the afternoon. ‘Macbeth’ again in the morning – no laxatives here – and some great performances from Years 3 & 5. Another lovely hospitable school (and a very nice lunch there thank you) left us hopeful it may not be our one and only visit.

Now I could go on to tell you about ‘Bard Heads’ at The Burrell Theatre, Truro last week but I really need to crack on with some work. Oh alright then…this theatre really is, as it says on the website, ‘Truro’s hidden gem’. It is the perfect sized venue for our show and with wonderfully welcoming staff. Special thanks to our technician for the evening (not to mention great friend and fan of FINDING THE WILL) David Gibson. Considering we were only booked about a month ago, it was a really good house and some of our actor chums came too, which made it even more special for us. We’ll be back to Cornwall in the summer to perform at Trebah Gardens (check it out here) https://www.facebook.com/FINDINGTHEWILL/posts/10155426210500101?notif_t=story_reshare&notif_id=1489391223497585 and Penlee Open Air Theatre.

Now come on people, play the game, stop distracting me – I’ve work to do. But first I’ll just have another cup of tea……….