Workshop Week!

It's Wednesday the 14th September. We're halfway through our workshop week. Matt is lying half-pissed on my sofa. We are both holding colour-coded pens in our tight fists, staring at a wall chart I have mounted on my wall specifically for company dates. All I want is a hot chicken sandwich with cheese that I have to go and buy from Tesco before it closes at 11pm and we're both trying to frantically figure out show dates for the first performance of Bespectacled.

And this, I have to admit, is the most fun I've had so far.

Our workshops were going a-okay. We were meeting fantastic people who had some really creative, interesting ideas - people who were inspiring and driving us in this excitable babble of organisation. We unfortunately had some trouble with attendance - lots of people interested and signing up to the workshops, about half actually turning up. I had to learn not to take it to heart - we're a new company, we're a risk and people know nothing about us. Our job is to change that. Plus, the weather was super nice, go figure. Outdoor workshops next summer round, anyone?

You can tell that we're babies at this - we're not pretending otherwise. But I worked really, really fucking hard on that workshop week - and many great people chipped in, gave ideas, developed exercises & most importantly, gave their time to that week. I cannot thank you all enough. I've been feeling very lonely throughout this process - constantly planning, reviewing, writing, organising & posting - and your input has made me feel like it's worth my hours upon hours of time. Hearing so many excited voices that week made me so happy - it's why I'm doing this. We feel that it was a great introduction to Bespectacled and what we want to stand for - now we just need your help to realise this performance and help it to be the best it possibly can be.

Our venues were phenomenal with us too - I'd like to thank both Leaf & Fredericks for accommodating us, especially when numbers were lower than we expected. Also thank you to Moloko, who held our social on the Friday night.

But all formalities aside, I realised, whilst throwing ideas from my sofa at my precisely colour-coded wall chart, was that for the hours of organising, the countless social media posts & emails back and forth is that this is what I'm doing it for - the excitement, the passion in my gut when an idea springs out of a workshop and forces me to DO something. It came from the quick-change-wit of an actor in a workshop. It came from the insight of a brilliant, new director who - quite literally - saw things differently. It came from the meeting of a patchwork of creatives - who weren't quite sure what to expect or how to feel (and that counts for the artistic directors as well) but who knew that whatever it was, they wanted it to mean something. And that we are here to be the glue that pulls those things together.

So, next steps. Christ Almighty.

1. We're in talks with several venues to try and secure a performance for mid-to-late January - we wanted a December date but figured out that we can't audition until the 10th October (it was too much short notice to organise auditions for this coming week and the week after that is my birthday week and I'm back in Bonny Donny - sorry guys, my bad being born and all that). We're giving ourselves fair leway as we all have day jobs and want enough time to make this production something to talk about - for good reasons, hopefully!

2. As soon as this is finalised, we'll be posting a callout for directors, writers & actors who definitely want to be involved - so look out for that. We'll all go and have a drink sometime and get the ball well and truly rolling.

3. Pray to the almighty theatre gods for help and guidance?

In all honesty though, as Matt said very rightly - we must do this because it is fun. As soon as it isn't fun, we need to re-evaluate what it is that is going wrong. The problem is is that with every bone in my body - I want Bespectacled to go well. Not for profit or for self-acknowledgement, but because I want the voices we give our platform to to be recognised. I want our experiments with process and form to produce really meaningful results for the people who experience it. I want Bespectacled to be respected and listened to so that those who are part of it can feel like they are making whatever difference they wish to on the world.

And that comes through hard work, initiative and staying up til 3am writing these banging ideas that come into our heads.

So enough wining about hard bloody work - we've got a show to do.

#theatre #theatrecompany #bespectacled #drama #liverpool #liverpooltheatrecompany #liverpooltheatre