I am still here, I swear!!

Hello, is anyone still out there? I have been very absent recently, not because I don't love you all, I have just been really busy and something was going to suffer... well a few things suffered, but let's not dwell on all of the things I've not got round to doing in the past few months.

So you may well ask what I have been doing to keep myself so busy. What an excellent question, and one I was hoping you wouldn't ask!!

After a very successful run as assistant director on Six Degrees of Separation, I was approached to be AD on another two projects. The first of which was Nobody Will Ever Forgive Us which ran for a week in the Edinburgh Fringe.

Nobody Will Ever Forgive Us

"I was in this very room at my wits' end when I heard buzzing and there was a wasp trying to get out of that window. You know how I can't stand wasps. So I opened the window as wide as I could but it just kept bumping up and down the glass...How could it comprehend me, whose brain is hundreds of times the size of its whole body? How do you know you're not bumping against the glass?"
A family thrown together with a secret they'd rather forget.
So Dad drinks. Mum and daughter Cath pop pills. Their youngest son, Patrick, finds god. And their youngest son, Johnny, finds snooker.

But when the secrets are dug up, there's nowhere to hide.
Premiered at the Traverse in 2008 and written by leading Scottish actor turned writer, Paul Higgins, Nobody Will Ever Forgive Us is a darkly comic look at a family under siege.
In an endles quest for meaning, where do you turn when you can't forgive yourself?

We were over the moon to find out that, not only did this play go down really well, but we won an award for it!! Yay! You can read about us winning the "Spirit Of The Fringe Award" here.

My next project (which may be my last so I can rest) will be Richard III set in the 1930's. Work has only just started on this and I am finding it all very exciting. I will keep you updated on this as we make progress.

The other thing taking up my time over the last few weeks was a well needed holiday to Barcelona. Me and my amazing best friend (commonly referred to as my wife!) spent 10 days splitting our time between visiting friends in Barcelona and laying on the beach in Salou. We were lucky visiting our friend in Barcelona while the Gracia Festival was in full swing. This is where the streets of Gracia are decorated and all compete to be the best. There is also live music at night with different bands playing in every street and mojitos being served out of the windows of the bars until the wee hours of the morning. I think we called it a night (or passed out) a little after 4am. To see some pictures you can check out my best friend Bug's website at Style over Sense, or check out the ones I have posted below.

Catch up with you all soon!!

Me and my BFF

What I'm up to! 6 Degrees!

You may have noticed that I have not been posting as much as I have in the past. I wanted to let you know my reasons for this and let you know when I should be back to normal!! Fret not though, I still plan to post at least 3 times a week.

Well, the reason is that I am currently acting as Assistant Director for a production of Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare, which is being put on by the Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group.

I have not been involved in any sort of dramatics since I was about 13, so it is a little nerve-racking, even if I am behind the scenes. Auditions were held before Christmas and we had an amazing turnout and could have cast a number of the parts a few times over. Myself and the Director (RH) have been meeting over the festive period to try and sort scheduling and costuming etc... which has taken a massive amount of time.

We had our first rehearsal earlier this week and the read through was better than I expected, which has renewed my excitement in the whole process. The play is due to run in April and up to that point I will be manic trying to get everything done. I will certainly keep you posted.

Now for those of you who don't know, or are unfamiliar with Six Degrees of Separation (the concept) then where have you been? Wikipedia classes it as:

"Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that everyone is on average approximately six steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements can be made, on average, to connect any two people in six steps or fewer. It was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthy and popularised by a play written by John Guare."

The play is a bit of a dramatic comedy (with some fantastic moments) which was made into a film with Stockard Channing, Will Smith and Donald Sutherland. The outline of the play, again as classed by Wikipedia, is:

"Fifth Avenue socialite Ouisa Kittredge and her purveyor of high-art husband Flan, are pedigree parents of "two at Harvard and one at Groton." But the privileged insular world inhabited by the Kittredge family, as well as their public status as distinguished arbiters of culture, makes them easy prey for Paul, a consummate con-artist. One night, Paul mysteriously shows up at their front door—injured and bleeding—claiming to be Sidney Poitier's son and a close college friend of the Kittredges' Ivy League progeny. Impressing Ouisa and Flan with his articulate literary expositions, Paul proves to be a sharp-witted, learned young man with epicurean taste and surprising culinary skill. His highbrow façade is so charmingly persuasive, Paul soon has the Kittredges lending him money, putting him up for the night and taking satisfaction in his appraisal of their posh lifestyle. Much to the Kittredge's shock, Paul is revealed to be a highly persuasive con-man, who has charmed his way into many upper-crust homes along the Upper East Side with his wit and insider knowledge. As Paul's plot unravels he becomes an urban legend of the upper crust, a witty anecdote to banter about at cocktail parties. However, he has a profound effect on the many individuals who encounter him, linking them in their shared experience."

I have always enjoyed reading plays, and would recommend this to anyone as a great read. I will keep you posted with updates and as I say above, I will still be here, reading and passing on my thoughts to anyone who will listen.