Home Coming

"Gosh! It was quite wonderful." * 

My first home show of Everyman this year was great fun - considering how serious the play is.  Normally I do comedy for home shows, or classic stories that hug people like a lovely warm blanket, so I was a little worried that a sombre play about death would jar.  Thankfully, it didn't.

"Amazing performance, although I knew it would be.  So thought provoking and moving.  At one point I thought I was going to cry!!"

I had also been warned that the cottage of my host was somewhat small, so there was a little bit of fear before hand that I wouldn't be able to make the show fit.  When I arrived this fear was dispelled, it was tight, but perfectly workable and my delightful host allowed me to move the furniture about and generally make a mess.

"A triumph! Thought provoking, light & dark, everything for a complete performance - superb!!"

The guests arrived in mixed batches of ones and twos and as they arrived I asked them to add their contribution to my list of Good and Bad deeds.  The Bad deeds were particularly good, but I won't publish them till after the next show, to preserve the anonymity of the confessional - for there were only seven guests in the audience and it is conceivable the dataset could be reverse engineered to reveal identity.  I say only seven guests (well, six plus host), but seven was ideal, and every one responded beautifully to the show. 'Confession' even put a comforting hand on my shoulder at one point, which was perfect.

"Fantastic performance, totally captivating from start to finish. Superb! Thank you Robert."

The only thing I forgot to do was remind people to switch off phones, though as it happened it was the house phone that went off.  And then went to answerphone.  The show survived.

"Fascinating and moving - thank you for an amazing performance.  Very thought provoking."

And after the performance, food!  By far my favourite part of doing home shows is afterwards - but I would say that, I've done my work and get to relax.  Then you get to discuss the play with convivial company before discussion diverts into more general areas and much fellowship is had.
I even got to take home some cheese.

*All quotes from audience members.

As you can see above, a home show can be great fun for everyone - and there's still time to book me so long as you're based in the UK - I usually work on a pass the hat round basis for home shows, but this varies depending on distance - just give me a buzz online or call the number below.

The Summoning of Everyman Tours March / April 2015
All shows will be Pay-What-You-Want and tickets can be reserved by phone or online.
Telephone: 07946 652 196
Email: contact@milkbottleproductions.co.uk
For emails or any phone messages please state your name, contact number, number of tickets and, most importantly, which date/venue you're booking for.
I'll be keeping this blog post updated and there's a page on the microsite and shortly on my website.
If your local venue is not represented it's not too late to be added to the tour.  I'll come to churches, village halls, small rooms or even your home for a private performance for friends and family - just contact me and we'll see what can be done.  Have toothbrush, will travel!

Offton & Willisham Village Hall                  -              Tuesday 24th March at 7.30pm

Chappel & Wakes Colne Village Hall         -              Wednesday 25th March at 7.30pm

Great Waldingfield Village Hall                   -              Thursday 26th March at 7.30pm

Boxford Village Hall                                   -              Tuesday 31st March at 7.30pm

Cavendish Memorial Hall                           -              Wednesday 1st April at 7.30pm

Hitcham Village Hall                                   -              Thursday 2nd April at 7.30pm

Maurice Rowson Hall, Gosfield                  -              Friday 3rd April at 7.30pm

Leavenheath Village Hall                            -              Sunday 5th April at 6pm

Hundon Village Hall                                   -              Monday 6th April at 7.30pm

Creeting St Mary Jubilee Hall                     -              Tuesday 7th April at 7.30pm

Assington Village Hall                                -              Thursday 9th April at 7.30pm

Brettenham Village Hall                             -              Tuesday 14th April at 7.30pm

Steeple Bumpstead Village Hall                 -              Wednesday 15th April at 7.30pm

St Mary’s Church, Chilton                         -              Sunday 19th April at 3pm

Boxted & Hartest Institute                         -              Monday 20th April at 7.30pm

Stisted Village Hall                                    -              Wednesday 22nd April at 7.30pm

All details correct at time of press – updates, corrections and directions to shows can be found online – or contact us direct.

Gazumped-ish...

Typical, you wait ages for one production of Everyman and two come along at once.  No sooner than I'm ready with my tour of Everyman than the National Theatre announce they're doing one - AT EXACTLY THE SAME TIME.  My immediate reaction was facepalm/whyme! - followed by a lot of swearing.  But then I had a cup of tea and calmed down, because really I'm rather pleased.
Firstly, it raises the profile of the play, or at least the title of the play, for early indications suggest this isn't a production of the play, it is an adaptation of the play, so we're not doing the same play at all.   It is notable that their play is simply called Everyman and not The Summoning of Everyman - and that the blurb suggests a more secular take on the narrative.  Death gets a lot of notice, God not one.  So, quite a different play, if the pre-publicity is to be believed.
Secondly, following on from the above, the National production will give the hashtag #everyman a bit more prominence and probably gain me more audience than it will lose me. It's not impossible that you've been dragged to this blog by said hashtag.  (If you have, earlier blog posts go into detail of my staging of the play and some of it might be quite interesting!)
Thirdly, if they bugger about with the text I can say my version has a certain authority.  Even though my production isn't exactly conventional, it does use most of the text and largely as the unknown author left it.
Of course if the National production is a huge popular success I could be screwed.  It coincides almost exactly with my tour, but we are reasonably far apart geographically.  Their production will be live streamed in July, which IS a sod, as that's when I'd be doing tryouts if I make enough money to go to Edinburgh for the Fringe.  And I don't see that a later tour in Autumn/Winter is as much of a goer now.  But we shall see.  I will weigh up my options as I go along.
So, I'm largely positive. Power to the moral interlude people, power to the morality tale!
For more information about my small tour - for small rooms and little theatres only - do have a look at this blog post.  

The Inevitable New Year's Message 2015

2014 was one hell of a year.  For me, it's going to last well into January 2015.  I made a lot of plans and promises for 2014, most of which came true - but there are lots of loose ends, additional thoughts and wrapping up to do, so there'll be a lot on this blog about things that happened, and lots of things that didn't.
But what are my plans for 2015?  Well, to some degree, not be so rigid about my plans.  I'm primarily looking to tour my Everyman show and my house shows and properly get them out and about.  I'm also slotted to do a revival of another medieval play The Pride of Life.  Both feature Death as an important character.  So perhaps I should call 2015 my year with Death.
I will be doing lots of other shows around these project - short ones, long ones, some as big as your head - but a lot of this will be virtual work, existing online, or will appear as pop ups.  I am, frankly, exhausted.  2014 was great, in many ways, but it was a huge drain artistically and emotionally, and I don't see myself writing anything major for a while - or, at least, I don't plan to force myself to.  I may just end up doing it around other stuff.
There are still several projects which I've got on the go which didn't fit into 2014.

Invigilation – the Musical (a one-to-one project); Beware of the Blob & The Brain Eaters (a double bill of projects based around my love of B-Movies - gutted I couldn't fit them into 2014); Shiny Medusa (which will probably be music based); The Single Source of All Filth (which isn't really anything yet) and Metal Harvest (which is slated for some kind of development maybe this year).  These are all shorts, half written or in development.  I've also two full length plays I might write.  But, as I say, I make no promises to do any of the above this year.

I will be doing some more work creating recordings for my Before Shakespeare project, as this will fit in with the opportunities presented by Everyman this year.  It maybe I'll focus on plays by other authors this year, rather than by myself.  It might be a good change.

Whatever happens around Everyman, I can't do it without you - my wonderful readers, followers, friends and supporters.  I must take a moment to add a special thanks to Roz & Denis Brogan, Cecil Qadir, Heather Clayton & Richard Fawcett, Helen & Neil Arbon, Sue Clark and Adam Webster for contributing money upfront for my Artist Residency.
I will probably have a clearer package put together for fundraising in February to support the tour, but if you want to help support my work and I, then please make a little donation now.  There are no rewards, just my silent thanks - but any donation will make the new art of 2015 possible.  Thank you.

How Much You Want to Give

Thank You £1.00 GBP That's So Kind £3.00 GBP Thank You Sooo Much £5.00 GBP This Makes a Huge Difference £10.00 GBP Now I Can Really Get To Work £20.00 GBP Thank You, Thank You, Thank You £50.00 GBP

The Unexpected Early Arrival of Squirrels

One of the projects for Project 10/52 is my private home show - Attack of the Christmas Squirrels.  I'd intended to launch this show in July, making it project seven, I think.  However, I've been rather busy with home shows and other private gigs this month and so I've brought the first performance forward.  By six months.  Eek.  As a squirrel might say.
A little background - I do storytelling, I do readings, I do a lot of telling people stuff to their faces.  It's fun.  I did one, readings of classic mysteries, the other day and everyone seemed very happy.  But I planned to create a special show to tour to peoples houses, not just any old material, something created for a house setting.  You would organise a party, fill your house with people and I'll appear to entertain you.  All you have to do for my payment is pass a hat round.  So, if you'd like to have a storyteller come and visit you, I'm on call - or I'd planned to be from July.
But, since I announced the plan people got in touch and wanted something now - which is lovely.  So I said, for now it would have to be an old show as I don't really have time etc.  And then I wrote Attack of the Christmas Squirrels six months early.  Yesterday.  I'm tweaking now.  And testing the show out on Friday.  Sooooo, if it works I'll put in some midnight oil, tighten it up and offer my services from March onwards.  You read right, the July show will be available in a little over a month.
Book an evening with me, get some friends round and I'll tell you some silly stories.  Just email me contact@milkbottleproductions.co.uk or give me a call 07704 704 469.  So far this is on offer for the UK only, but I could be persuaded to travel quite far if possible.
And don't worry - if Attack of the Christmas Squirrels sounds like a Christmas show - it sooooo isn't.  It's about a chap called Reg who hates it that Christmas adverts come around earlier every year.  So, it's a sort of anti-Christmas show.
And it has squirrels in it.  Regulars on the blog will know that I have promised that this will be the last cute animal I will use in a story.  I've done cats, hamsters, badgers and various others.  So, no more animals.
Apart from Hang, which will feature a zebra.  And lots of animals.  Apart from that.
Eek!
P.S. Part Three of my online storytelling show Lost Tribe of the Trolls is available now! https://audioboo.fm/boos/1837513-lost-tribe-of-the-trolls-part-three