Nominate us - go on! Please, please, please...
If you could, take a moment to nominate an audio play I'm rather pleased with - it's a solo play The Project After and features two great performers, but we're hoping for a general production nomination. Below are the details - it takes literally thirty seconds if you're a fast typer. Obviously, I wouldn't want you to nominate something without listening to it first, so here it is in the player below. If you like it then follow the instructions underneath. Any questions, tweet me @RobertCrighton
How to nominate us...
1. Go to - www.audioverseawards.net/site/nominate
2. Enter your name/details
3. Enter nomination for PRODUCTION
4. Click next
5. Add the show name - The Project After
6. Put in the full link - https://audioboom.com/posts/6144050-the-project-after-by-robert-crighton
7. Submit for one lonely episode
8. That it's over twenty minutes
9. That there are no more than 6 actors
10. That it's a Drama
11. And that, Yes, it's new
Showing posts with label fantasy terrorist league. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fantasy terrorist league. Show all posts
Monday, 18 September 2017
Wednesday, 26 July 2017
The Project After - New Audio Version
I've finally finished editing and producing the last audio version of Fantasy Terrorist plays, The Project After. The previous two plays were online the other year, but the last has taken longer, partly because I wanted to get the original cast together, but also because there was another version online and that took any sense of urgency out of the equation.
I am now working on creating a whole new sequence of works that will play around the world of the War on Terror, so finishing this trilogy seemed important. Each play can be listened to separately, or together, they exist on their own, but there are little links between each. Ideally start with Fantasy Terrorist League, then Keynote Speaker and then The Project After acts as a little coda.
Thanks to the original cast, Keith Hill and Simon Nader, for recording this on location one very windy day this spring.
The Project After by Robert Crighton
With Keith Hill as Mark and Simon Nader as Art
Fantasy Terrorist League - written and performed by Robert Crighton
Keynote Speaker - written by Robert Crighton
With Simon Nader as Sir John Spencer
The Project After - by Robert Crighton
Alternative version by Frequency Theatre (External Link) - http://www.frequencytheatre.co.uk/play/the-project-after/
A Little Learning - by Robert Crighton
I am now working on creating a whole new sequence of works that will play around the world of the War on Terror, so finishing this trilogy seemed important. Each play can be listened to separately, or together, they exist on their own, but there are little links between each. Ideally start with Fantasy Terrorist League, then Keynote Speaker and then The Project After acts as a little coda.
Thanks to the original cast, Keith Hill and Simon Nader, for recording this on location one very windy day this spring.
The Project After by Robert Crighton
With Keith Hill as Mark and Simon Nader as Art
Fantasy Terrorist League - written and performed by Robert Crighton
Keynote Speaker - written by Robert Crighton
With Simon Nader as Sir John Spencer
The Project After - by Robert Crighton
Alternative version by Frequency Theatre (External Link) - http://www.frequencytheatre.co.uk/play/the-project-after/
A Little Learning - by Robert Crighton
Thursday, 1 December 2016
Reasons to be Cheerful
What have I done this year? It's nearly Christmas, so time for a recap.
In the realm of free audio I've produced...
Two episodes of Live from the Get In!
A radio version of the award-winning play Fantasy Terrorist League
A re-imagined production of the follow up play, Keynote Speaker, with Simon Nader.
A documentary series using an archive recording of a veteran of the First World War, Wartime Memories.
A reedited version of the comedy Hang
A recording of John John by John Heywood for my other blog - any day now!
The odd totally random thing...
Most of which can be heard below.
And I've also produced the odd bit of live theatre: returning to London with Undead Bard - including Shakespeare: The Ever Living! and a revival of The Shakespeare Delusion - which will be online for free as a radio adaptation very shortly.
And finally, I directed by good friend Anthea Halstead in the well received adaptation of The Yellow Wallpaper.
Actually, this is a bit of a lie. It didn't happen in a year. It was nine months. And none of this could have happened without my fabulous patrons who've all supported my work. Phil Hope, Sara Knight, Fiona Dinning, Sharon Buckler, Pete Richmond, Alan Scott and my family.
And I could do more - with your help. Could you pledge just $1 a month - $12 a year? It's so easy to do and makes such a difference.
And it's so easy with Patreon to give and help my work happen - just sign up and pledge - and you'll get my online audio work before anyone else! And if you pledge more, then you'll get extra special surprises too.
Have a listen, make a pledge, help make next year even more exciting! After all, it is Christmas*.
*It is now the 1st December and so perfectly legitimate to reference Christmas, nay it's practically an obligation. Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! So there.
In the realm of free audio I've produced...
Two episodes of Live from the Get In!
A radio version of the award-winning play Fantasy Terrorist League
A re-imagined production of the follow up play, Keynote Speaker, with Simon Nader.
A documentary series using an archive recording of a veteran of the First World War, Wartime Memories.
A reedited version of the comedy Hang
A recording of John John by John Heywood for my other blog - any day now!
The odd totally random thing...
Most of which can be heard below.
And I've also produced the odd bit of live theatre: returning to London with Undead Bard - including Shakespeare: The Ever Living! and a revival of The Shakespeare Delusion - which will be online for free as a radio adaptation very shortly.
And finally, I directed by good friend Anthea Halstead in the well received adaptation of The Yellow Wallpaper.
Actually, this is a bit of a lie. It didn't happen in a year. It was nine months. And none of this could have happened without my fabulous patrons who've all supported my work. Phil Hope, Sara Knight, Fiona Dinning, Sharon Buckler, Pete Richmond, Alan Scott and my family.
And I could do more - with your help. Could you pledge just $1 a month - $12 a year? It's so easy to do and makes such a difference.
And it's so easy with Patreon to give and help my work happen - just sign up and pledge - and you'll get my online audio work before anyone else! And if you pledge more, then you'll get extra special surprises too.
Have a listen, make a pledge, help make next year even more exciting! After all, it is Christmas*.
*It is now the 1st December and so perfectly legitimate to reference Christmas, nay it's practically an obligation. Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! So there.
Saturday, 10 September 2016
Fifteen Years
It's fifteen years since the World Trade Center was attacked on September 11th 2001. I find it hard to believe it was so long ago. Could it really be so long since the world took that turn, a turn largely for the worse?
In the aftermath of the attacks it became very clear, very quickly, that a knee jerk reaction of violence and aggression was the worst possible course of action, and that this was precisely where the world was headed. The wars that followed 9/11, and the wars that have fed off them, seem no nearer to burning out.
Since 9/11, intolerance of different cultures has increased, terrorism has got worse, religious fundamentalism in its many guises has retrenched, and millions of people are on the road possibly never to return home. In my home country there have been many attacks on our way of life, both physically and in legislation - especially in terms of civil liberties that in some places are in open rout.
Within a day of the attacks I'd started to write about them - mostly not very well. My first effort was presented a year after the events and was truly awful. I feel quite ashamed of it, but I was only twenty at the time. It took me a few years to find what I needed to write about - and, since 2005, our failed response to terror as a society has been a major part of my work.
On this anniversary of those attacks I'm releasing as radio dramas two short plays I wrote around ten years ago - both are about how terror is a catch all excuse to take our rights away. The first is Fantasy Terrorist League, which is about the abuse of detainees, torture and internment. The follow up, Keynote Speaker, was a comic variation to the original story - about a man who wants to get interned so that he could sue the government for compensation. I had hoped these two plays would cease to be relevant after a few years, but both keep popping up. They are available to listen for free, for the first time, see below.
I have recorded a number of variations on this theme - a related but slightly different story is The Project After which another company recorded a few years ago and is linked below. It's a short comedy about censorship, often self censorship, in the modern world - I presented it with the first two plays as The Fantasy Terrorist Variations in 2012.
Lastly, there's the short drama, A Little Learning, based on accounts of the kidnapped school children in Nigeria, but which has been a repeated troupe throughout history. Whilst all the plays below have their moments, that is the only piece I would class as requiring a trigger warning - loath them though I do.
Despite the generally depressing nature of these events in the world, there is hope. Hope that if we treat people with decency and don't club innocents in with genuine 'evil doers', then we might get through the next few decades with our humanity intact. I'm currently planning a large scale account of the post 9/11 world. I fervently hope it will become swiftly irrelevant and that the audiences wonder what the fuss is about.
Fantasy Terrorist League - written and performed by Robert Crighton
Keynote Speaker - written by Robert Crighton
With Simon Nader as Sir John Spencer
The Project After - by Robert Crighton
External Link - http://www.frequencytheatre.co.uk/play/the-project-after/
A Little Learning - by Robert Crighton
In the aftermath of the attacks it became very clear, very quickly, that a knee jerk reaction of violence and aggression was the worst possible course of action, and that this was precisely where the world was headed. The wars that followed 9/11, and the wars that have fed off them, seem no nearer to burning out.
Since 9/11, intolerance of different cultures has increased, terrorism has got worse, religious fundamentalism in its many guises has retrenched, and millions of people are on the road possibly never to return home. In my home country there have been many attacks on our way of life, both physically and in legislation - especially in terms of civil liberties that in some places are in open rout.
Within a day of the attacks I'd started to write about them - mostly not very well. My first effort was presented a year after the events and was truly awful. I feel quite ashamed of it, but I was only twenty at the time. It took me a few years to find what I needed to write about - and, since 2005, our failed response to terror as a society has been a major part of my work.
On this anniversary of those attacks I'm releasing as radio dramas two short plays I wrote around ten years ago - both are about how terror is a catch all excuse to take our rights away. The first is Fantasy Terrorist League, which is about the abuse of detainees, torture and internment. The follow up, Keynote Speaker, was a comic variation to the original story - about a man who wants to get interned so that he could sue the government for compensation. I had hoped these two plays would cease to be relevant after a few years, but both keep popping up. They are available to listen for free, for the first time, see below.
I have recorded a number of variations on this theme - a related but slightly different story is The Project After which another company recorded a few years ago and is linked below. It's a short comedy about censorship, often self censorship, in the modern world - I presented it with the first two plays as The Fantasy Terrorist Variations in 2012.
Lastly, there's the short drama, A Little Learning, based on accounts of the kidnapped school children in Nigeria, but which has been a repeated troupe throughout history. Whilst all the plays below have their moments, that is the only piece I would class as requiring a trigger warning - loath them though I do.
Despite the generally depressing nature of these events in the world, there is hope. Hope that if we treat people with decency and don't club innocents in with genuine 'evil doers', then we might get through the next few decades with our humanity intact. I'm currently planning a large scale account of the post 9/11 world. I fervently hope it will become swiftly irrelevant and that the audiences wonder what the fuss is about.
Fantasy Terrorist League - written and performed by Robert Crighton
Keynote Speaker - written by Robert Crighton
With Simon Nader as Sir John Spencer
The Project After - by Robert Crighton
External Link - http://www.frequencytheatre.co.uk/play/the-project-after/
A Little Learning - by Robert Crighton
Thursday, 19 November 2015
Fantasy Terrorist Variation #5: A Little Learning
It's not even a week since the terrorist attack in Paris and barely hours since the last attack around the world. This is not a response to these latest incidents. That will happen. I've been writing about terrorism for over ten years and the one thing I have learnt is that, whilst the specifics change, the issues, the responses to and attacks by terrorists, remain fairly constant. This piece is about a different kind of terror committed far away from Paris.
And this audio piece is late. Very late. I wrote this short play before Christmas 2014 and rushed it into recording as a response to the attacks on school children in Pakistan and Nigeria. It then got delayed because of recording problems. But the delay it didn't stop being relevant. In many ways it is more relevant now. The use of terrorism against education, targeting children, women and those who want to improve their lives has become increasingly common. Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates as a call for the end to western education, are still at large in Nigeria, having killed thousands of people over the years, whilst the school children they kidnapped last year are still lost. As I type, the dust hasn't settled on their latest attack - where children were used to deliver bombs.
Though the following piece is fiction and potentially set anywhere, it is based on a number of accounts from around the world in the present day.
Be warned: the following piece reflects the horror of what is happening to children around the world and is disturbing and may upset listeners.
Fantasy Terrorist Variation #5: A Little Learning
And this audio piece is late. Very late. I wrote this short play before Christmas 2014 and rushed it into recording as a response to the attacks on school children in Pakistan and Nigeria. It then got delayed because of recording problems. But the delay it didn't stop being relevant. In many ways it is more relevant now. The use of terrorism against education, targeting children, women and those who want to improve their lives has become increasingly common. Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates as a call for the end to western education, are still at large in Nigeria, having killed thousands of people over the years, whilst the school children they kidnapped last year are still lost. As I type, the dust hasn't settled on their latest attack - where children were used to deliver bombs.
Though the following piece is fiction and potentially set anywhere, it is based on a number of accounts from around the world in the present day.
Be warned: the following piece reflects the horror of what is happening to children around the world and is disturbing and may upset listeners.
Fantasy Terrorist Variation #5: A Little Learning
Thursday, 5 November 2015
Metal Harvest Programme
Last week was quite a week - I picked a terrible week to take on additional work, as I only had the world premiere of Metal Harvest going on. Eek! With so much going on I failed to create a programme - not even an info sheet. So... here we go - have an online version - with photos from the tech at the bottom!
Principle dialogue by Robert Crighton
Music and German translation by Richard Fawcett
Metal Harvest was originally commissioned as part of Project 10/52 - ten shows in fifty-two weeks - in 2014. It only took two years to finally get it to the stage.
With Thanks to:
Sonia & Jonathan Lindsey-Scripps for lending the shell casing; Gary Plumb for creating the shrapnel; Alan Scott and Sue Clark for archive material (even though we didn't use it in the end!)
John Bethell for rehearsal photography.
And Everyone at the Quay - Joe, Simon and Sharon.
I've probably missed someone out - sorry!
In 2005 I wrote a monologue about reactions to the war on terror - Fantasy Terrorist League - which sank like a stone at the Edinburgh Fringe. In 2006 it won the award for Best New Writing at the LOST One-Act Festival and since then expanded into a number of related variations on a theme. Whilst I had planned to do a second half based on stories uncovered during the research for Metal Harvest on other themes of WW1, these didn't quite get to the level I wanted; so instead I decided to move forward the new variations for FTV I've been writing. Variation 6, still a work in progress, fitted the previously staged Variation 3 so well I had to show them together. Further variations will premiere online shortly.
FIRST HALF:
Metal Harvest
By Robert Crighton and Richard Fawcett
Music and German translation by Richard Fawcett
Metal Harvest was originally commissioned as part of Project 10/52 - ten shows in fifty-two weeks - in 2014. It only took two years to finally get it to the stage.
With Thanks to:
Sonia & Jonathan Lindsey-Scripps for lending the shell casing; Gary Plumb for creating the shrapnel; Alan Scott and Sue Clark for archive material (even though we didn't use it in the end!)
John Bethell for rehearsal photography.
And Everyone at the Quay - Joe, Simon and Sharon.
I've probably missed someone out - sorry!
SECOND HALF:
The Fantasy Terrorist Variations
Variation Six: (Untitled) A Work in Progress
Written and Performed by Robert Crighton
Variation Three: The Project After by Robert Crighton
Robert Crighton as Mark
Simon Nader as Art
Technical Photos:
These photographs were taken for Metal Harvest, during a very speedy tech, by the marvellous John Bethell. The stage isn't fully set, my hair isn't slicked back and we're not properly in costume. But we got something recorded, which is nice. The photos haven't been fully adjusted yet - there's some cropping and colour adjustments I would normally do, but I wanted to get this post out today and so... hey.
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| Richard Fawcett, getting the fiddle warmed up... |
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| In the lighting box, going over the cues. |
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| The desk, which I didn't appreciate was so wonky... |
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| Is the back light on... oh yes, there it is. |
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| Still on... good. |
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| Sitting down. In performance I am sans glasses, waistcoat and the hair... |
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| The one real(ish) statistic used in the show. |
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| No idea where the cat impression comes in. That's another show. |
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| On my Fisher Price telephone. |
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| "WHERE'S MY COFFEE!" |
And now the German section - which Richard and I did in unison. A surprise hit during the show.
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| "Richard, what's my next line?" |
Monday, 12 January 2015
Fundraising Clearance Sale
FUNDRAISING CLEARANCE SALE
To help raise funds for this year's tour of The Summoning
of Everyman I'm holding a clearance sale of all my previously
published scripts. They'll all be signed and will come with a special
thank you - every penny will go to making this tour great.
First up are The Fantasy Terrorist Variations -
which features my award-winning Fantasy Terrorist League - and
the ghost story collection, Ghost Storyteller. Either or both
are available for £6 each (or £12 both) including P&P.
Help get make this tour happen, while giving yourself a little light reading - what's not to like?
Just use the Paypal button below - and if there are any problems then get in touch with me direct.
Wednesday, 27 August 2014
Just When You Think You're Out of Date...
I wrote couple of follow up pieces, variations on a theme, if you will, which I had performed with it a few years ago - I called this The Fantasy Terrorist Variations. I then thought, enough, and put it to bed.
And then Boris Johnson piped up and started the ball rolling again. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/25/boris-johnson-britons-visiting-iraq-syria-presumed-terrorists
In response to the crisis in Iraq and Syria, to the numbers of British citizens travelling abroad to support terrorism, he wrote that: "The law needs a swift and minor change so that there is a 'rebuttable presumption' that all those visiting war areas without notifying the authorities have done so for a terrorist purpose." Basically, shift the burden of proof - if you return from a terrorist state then you are automatically presumed to be a terrorist and you must prove you aren't. Which is exactly what my plays have been about - a shift towards a presumption of guilt. Once again, they are no longer a bit out of date.
The governments response was swift and dismissive (thank goodness) but I wonder whether this was just because they saw it as a genuinely stupid idea, rather than a knee-jerk response to anything Boris says - i.e. that the response was more about domestic politics than good governance. I hope it was both.
So, what is my response? Well, we shall see. I have a project in hand this year. In fact I have written a new Fantasy Terrorist Variation to add to my collection. It is called A Swift and Minor Change. And I'm about to record it now.
Additional - I've just posted my response online. You can listen to it below.
Thursday, 6 December 2012
Pictures of the Fantasy League
Usual plea, buy tickets, etc...
And now some pictures... I haven't done any work to them - there are a couple that will need adjusting... but I'm rushing around at the moment so here they are. All photos (bar one) from The Fantasy Terrorist Variations.
And now some pictures... I haven't done any work to them - there are a couple that will need adjusting... but I'm rushing around at the moment so here they are. All photos (bar one) from The Fantasy Terrorist Variations.
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| Keith Hill in Fantasy Terrorist League |
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| Keith again, in The Project After |
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| Robert Crighton... mucking about with camera |
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| Simon Nader in Keynote Speaker |
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| Simon Nader in The Project After - sans trousers |
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| Keith and Simon in The Project After |
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