And so it begins...

This week, we started a theatre company. Holy shit.

I mean, technically, we've been starting it for about three years but silly things like university and moving house and new jobs and life have been getting in the way. But this week, we truly, honestly, 100% grabbed the bull by both balls and launched Bespectacled Theatre Company.

In case you were wondering, we mind-mapped the crap out of that name. Some other options included (but were not limited to) Vodka Jellyfish, Don't Lick the Plug (Matt's favourite, bane of my life) and Have You Ever Woken Up In A Pool of Your Own Vomit and Wondered If It's Not Yours Theatre Co. Needless to say, we went with the lesser of plenty of evils.

We started out being made up of Franki Le-Voguer (dats me) & Matthew Plummer. In my first year of university, Matt was my director in his third year. We did A Clockwork Orange in which I played his Alex. Gerard, who you'll hear about later, played a terrifying Dr Brodsky - we always tell the story of how I threw up onstage into a bucket and he licked the residue from my chin...mmm. Safe to say, we were broken for life.

And so a beautiful proffriendship began. Matt has been in Liverpool working freelance for a while (he's an excellent theatrical technician) and I've been begrudgingly finishing up my studies (I hated my university and couldn't wait to leave). Pretty much as soon as we both had day jobs and new flats, we cracked open a bottle of wine and got to work.

Now, I'll be honest. Matt works all hours god sends and although he likes his job, it doesn't leave him with much time. I, on the other hand, have a blissful 25-hour contract on the living wage and a controlling disposition. So, naturally, I took it upon myself to run the entire operation.

Unfortunately, Matt became a yes-man. I'd design something or organise a meet and Matt would give the go-ahead or add some suggestions. Neither of us were happy with this arrangement. I started to feel the pressure of the workload and Matt's role wasn't one he was happy with. I was going slightly insane with the design, preparation, organisation and idea-realisation before we had even invited anyone to work with us, and once this started I knew I needed someone else on board.

So, we asked Gerard to be our third artistic director. Thankfully, he said yes, and this week we had our first meeting surrounded by tea and #goodtimes at LEAF. Something about that place makes me feel like an actual adult doing adulty things like realising my hopes and dreams with the people that I trust and love. Who knows, eh?

The wonderful Jackson has been a godsend, too. Him and Gerard are both people-people, although I can't think of a better term. Warm and friendly, effortlessly charming and very funny, very welcoming. Matt can’t hold a conversation with someone without making an innuendo and I have a horrible habit of developing a stutter the first time I meet someone, so having people-persons on the team will certainly improve our chances of not being considered absolute lunatics.

Now, it feels like a proper team and less like trying to frantically hold on to plans and meetings and designs and emails - it feels more like we can do this. We have lots of excited, talented people, who we've worked with before and want to work with in the future, making up the current company. We hope that these people, over the coming weeks, will get to know each other, want to work together and with us, and help us to showcase the company to new members who might be interested. These creative individuals will be our backbone, our lifeline and we can't wait to give them something to get their teeth into over the next few weeks. We then have plans for open workshops on the w/b 12th September which you can find more out about soon here.

Gerard said something very true, though - "We have our heart, our mind and our soul. We need a spine." i.e, a stage manager. So if you're hungry for a new company, send us an email!

I have to admit, I'm terrified. Who wouldn't be? You know when Rapunzel sees the lanterns for the first time and she's all like - if I live my dream what will I do next? That's me right now. It's real, it's happening. Sitting in the boat of expectation waiting for the lanterns of ideas to float into the sky. I'm horrific at metaphors. And it's very early days, yet. Likes don't equal bums on seats or decent theatre - but we've got a team we believe will make that happen. We've spoken at great length about what we want to happen but whether that comes to fruition or not is another story. But we have to try. I have to try, with every ounce of determination that I have. This is what my whole life has been leading up to and I'll be damned if I don't give it my all. And like Rapunzel realises, once you've realised one dream, you find another one. I can see Arts...Arts Council...something...on the hazy horizon of my new dream...whatever could that be...?

Anyways, as you can see already, I've no issue whatsoever with wearing the company's heart on its sleeve, so to speak. So stick around with the blog to find out gossip, home truths & behind the scenes reflections from the team. We hope you'll see more of us soon, and please share and like Bespectacled whenever you can!

Franki Le-Voguer

Artistic Director

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