So, really exciting developments in the life of the play this week, as yesterday we got the actors together for the first time and had a read through of the script.
It’s a funny thing watching a script emerge. Because of the unusual process of making this play, I’ve been writing lots of short scenes and sequences, which weren’t necessarily connected together because they were suggested by different people, or from different strands of my own research. But over the past month, I’ve been trying to pull the threads of the play together - asking myself, what would happen if this character met that character? What if that situation happened at this place? What if that line connected this scene and another one?
It’s been a funny process, at times dreadfully frustrating and quite scary as you feel like you’re fumbling around trying to make a jigsaw puzzle in the dark. But sometimes it’s a really liberating process, as your sub-conscious suddenly offers up an off-the-wall solution out of nowhere that fits perfectly and joins two elements together seamlessly.
At some point, when you’re writing (if you write like me in lots of little chunks) you have to put all of your writing together in one long piece, and take a look at what you’ve got. Usually the process of doing this offers up further solutions and creative discoveries. For me, this point has occurred in the last couple of weeks as Nathan and I have had to try to decide what kind of actors we need to play the many characters that inhabit the play. I then did another spurt of work on the play after Nathan and I discussed it, wrote some more, took some out, joined some things together…..but I still didn’t know what kind of creature I’d made until we took to the actors to read.
I was really really pleased in the read-through, however - suddenly it became clear that all the parts were connected, and that there are some strong themes running through the play. An actor throwing their emotional weight behind the words suddenly animates them in a way it’s very hard to see on the page, and allows you to step back and assess the person you’ve created and what they’re saying, how they’re saying it, with fresh eyes. And the read-through inspired some animated discussions with the very brilliant actors, which was nice - a whole new set of creative minds step in to the fray.
In the afternoon yesterday, Nathan and I and the cast went for a walk, looking at the route we’re going to try to set the play in….and a whole new bunch of creative problems emerges…Where are we going to put our words, now that we’re taking them off the page? And how do we deal with distinguishing them from the everyday life going on all around? I’ll keep you posted on our progress.
From Parliament to Elephant, Vauxhall Farm to Lower Marsh.....
One Mile Away is a new play about a one-mile-radius area of London, created by 
One Comment
I really enjoyed the performance last night.I have never been to this kind of street theatre before &now I wonder why.Do you have an observer of the reaction/interaction of the local residents/passers by?It would make several subplots if not a play in itself.For me it was as if I was in some play of my own as I spent many years of my life as a social worker at Castle house & therefore with the population in the area.retreading the walkways of the Heygate,only too familiar with the pattern of of excitement when people are offered new homes ,only to see it fall apart as the failure of planners to forsee problems,& other social pressures turns peoples dreams into a waste land of powerlessness.That aspect of the play was very well done it really made me want to weep.Having also been involved as a mental health worker & a ‘client’{glad that myth of choice in the matter was highlighted] I much appreciated those scenes.I could go on & on, but thats enuf.Many congratulations to all,especially for listening to local people & giving them a voice,the least powerful need your work.