Brighton #3: All Work, Real Progress


Tonight saw the last of my three Brighton Fringe dates, which was the best of the bunch.

The Quadrant: The Stage is Set (18.05.17)

If you were to ask me what I said at any given moment, I wouldn’t be able to give you much detail, but at the very least, most of it felt right. Things started to find their rhythm, and I didn’t feel there was anything that slowed momentum down, bar two bits, one of which I don’t feel has actually been properly written yet and the other might just need a slight rethink.

It was definitely the best way to draw a line under my Brighton run as, if I’d had a dodgy one tonight, it might have left me unsure as to what to do next. Yet again I’ve discovered that the thing most likely to make sense of the material is to do it in front an audience. That’s what gives the show life - and as long as I’m fairly comfortable with the structure, I can have a bit of fun with it, giving an energy that can never be there without a response.

Tonight my Brighton-based friend Cyndee was on the door, who offered support throughout the evening, as well as someone to chat to beforehand so I didn’t feel I was going into the show cold. We had a quick drink and a debrief afterwards, which was nice - and now I find myself on the Gatwick Express speeding back to London. I know there’s still plenty of work that needs to be done to the show, and I could still benefit from a little direction, but at least I’ve broken the back of it. Now I just need to drum up an audience for my various previews in June, and to polish the beginning and the end of it, easing the transition from a work-in-progress set to an actual show.


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