Six weeks is a reasonably long time for me, in terms of repeating the same show. The nice thing about doing a storytelling piece is that it is genuinely, largely, noticeably, different every time I perform it. And I don't mean in a small way, not in the standard play sense of "it was a difficult house tonight" or "I wasn't feeling it" etc.; the audience in storytelling create the relationship between the performer and them, creates the show in many ways. So, boredom is not a problem. But a routine is. The day to day element of getting up at the same time, doing the same journey, doing the same things. The routine around the show is the problem.
So, how will I keep myself fresh? By writing a new piece over those six weeks. By spending a set hour plus in the morning typing in front of my computer and another hour in a London coffee establishment writing out notes to be typed up the following morning. The three/four hours I'll be spending on a train each day I have set aside for reading. Last year I made good inroads into unread Dickens, but this year I think I'm going to dance about a bit. I'm doing a lot of science reading at present (don't mention the word 'meme' to me at the moment, boy will I bore you) but I'm also working through this years Booker shortlist. Though I will occasionally defer to a George Gently novel if tired. (Rather nice little books, can finish one in a day - though be warned, they are completely different to the television adaptations - in fact the BBC should really be prosecuted under the trades descriptions act for calling the series an "adaptation".)
But here I hit the problem. Which project should I write over Christmas?
Here are the front runners:
The Attack of the Christmas Squirrels - 30/1
Yes, the ever promised story of dangerous furry rodents that regulars on this blog knows will probably never get written.
Trolls 2 - 6/1
The sequel to last years The Natural History of Trolls. More trolls, more action, more memes. In fact, I've got 3 sequels in mind, one provisionally titled: Peter Git.
Portrait of a Singer - 9/1
This is a morality thriller that has been bubbling away, a proper play with characters and everything. I think I will spend sometime this Christmas on the research for this one, but writing probably deferred till next year.
The Juliet Scandal -5/4
A favourite of mine, a reversed version of the Romeo and Juliet story, where their love tears families apart rather than (belatedly) bring them together. Though this would be a monologue, possibly with hints at Venus and Adonis and Lucrece. Or not. Don't know yet.
Something else - 10/1
Some other idea I haven't had yet... might just pop up and I have to do it.
Those are the front runners, there is at least one other play bubbling away under the surface and probably dozens of stories. I'll let you know next week which has won out. Or you could ask me - in person - when you come to see Ghost Storyteller. Go on - book tickets NOW! Here, click HERE, to get them.
Anyway, I'm off to do a run of Ghost Storyteller, wish me luck as you book those tickets.
Ghost Storyteller
Comic Ghost Stories Written
and Performed by Robert Crighton
Returning this
Autumn / Winter following the success of the run last year! Ghost Storyteller is a lightly comic
selection of ghost stories written and performed by award-winning writer and
performer Robert Crighton.
From the ghosts of
empty houses, to the personal ghosts we carry around us, this collection is a mixture
of the fantastic and the “real”: including the tale of a poltergeist hamster
and the pub that cried ghost.
Running Tuesday to
Sunday from 27th November 2012 to 6th January 2013
Tuesdays to
Saturdays at 7.30pm – Doors Open at 7.15pm
Sundays at 6pm –
Doors Open at 5.45pm
No performances on
Mondays, Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Years Day
Tickets: £12 / £10
concessions
Barons Court
Theatre, “The Curtain’s Up”, 28A Comeragh Road W14 9HR
Nearest Tube: Barons Court (Piccadilly/District Lines)
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