2010
10th July: I was one of 4 Bristol playwrights commissioned by Paines Plough to write and perform Come To Where I’m From at Bristol Old Vic, part of a wider scheme involving 65 writers across the UK.
June: shot a film, one- two- three- four-, a very very short comedy about the world’s most inept rock group. Filmed in an immensely cheap, fast and fun way with a fantastic cast: Tom Wainwright, James Stenhouse, Simon Holmes and Fionn Gill.
7th May: a The Heath Robinson set as part of the Mayfest opening party at Bristol Old Vic.
20th - 24th April: my play The Freelance Magdalene was shown at Bristol Old Vic; a strange little story about two travelling companions who get caught up in a year-round passion play staged in a small Russian town. Nice review from Suit Yourself magazine here.
13th March: as The Heath Robinson, I supported excellent banjo-wielding troubador Curtis Eller and depression-era minstrel scamps Boxcar Aldous Huxley at the Cube Cinema, Bristol.
13th February: I was a playwright taking part in Theatre: 24 at Bristol Old Vic, writing, rehearsing and performing a piece for St Valentine’s day in 24 hours flat. It involved working through the night in the environs of the Theatre Royal. I’m somewhat disappointed to report that I didn’t get hassled by anything supernatural during the wee small hours. Not once.
23rd January: and the line goes dead, a performance for two people (one living, one dead) was performed as part of Ferment at Bristol Old Vic. 27th January: also as part of Bristol Ferment, a rehearsed reading of the first 20 pages of my work-in-progress stage play Janet Gaynor. The reading was directed by BOV’s associate director Simon Godwin.
17th January: I joined Stanton Delaplane and his rather marvellous brass ensemble at St Georges in Bristol, playing piano and harmonium.
all my dreams on VHS was screened at: Cambridge Film Festival, UK, 21st and 27th September; Hamptons International Film Festival, NY USA, 10th and 12th October. Austin Film Festival, TX USA, 24th October 2009. Encounters Short Film Festival, Bristol UK, November 2009.
11th December: a gig as The Heath Robinson, my solo music act in which I play faulty torch songs at a battered piano, supported by the glowering Darker Dogs at the Folkhouse, Bristol. It was well wintry.
23rd - 26th September: I wrote and performed a play called Buzzard, at Bristol Old Vic. It was part of the ongoing Theatre Bristol/BOV live performance commissions. We’re hoping to tour the show sometime in 2010.
June: my short film was shown as part of the “Best of SIFF” screenings following the Seattle International Film Festival.
Late May: all my dreams on VHS was part of the official selection at Seattle International Film Festival
May 15th - 16th: I performed a short theatre work, and the line goes dead, at BAC in London.
April: all my dreams on VHS won the audience award at NexT International Film Festival, Bucharest. At the same event, Producer and Script Editor Tanuja Amarasuriya won a residency award, to develop my feature screenplay Waiting For Tommy at Villa Kult in Berlin.
March 12th: I spoke about my work as a live artist (and all the other stuff) at Arnolfini’s Getting To Know You event, along with Kathy Hinde and Michael David Jones.
January - February: three gigs at the Folkhouse in Bristol, one in my solo guise as The Heath Robinson, and two playing harmonium and piano for Stanton Delaplane, as part of the Acoustic Festival and Oh The Woe nights.
2008
June - October: production of a short film wot I wrote and directed, All My Dreams On VHS, starring Gugu-Mbatha Raw and O T Fagbenle. A BBC Film Lab project, produced by George Chan, executive producer Deep Sehgal. The finished result is currently being stuffed into jiffy bags and mailed to film festivals far and wide.
August: recorded a new North Sea Navigator album, Lights In Darkest England, at J&J studios in Bristol.
Summer writing round-up: Realtime mag (Aus) have published my review of Harminder Singh Judge’s Live Sermon. Dance Theatre Journal are also due to reprint the article. In an essay for US journal Theatre Forum, Guillermo Goméz-Peña of performance collective La Pocha Nostra has quoted part of something wot I wrote.
June 1st: a gig with Angel Tech at the Colston Hall bar, Bristol. The full Angel Tech complement of jittery-clattery-electronic-guitarpop atmos. Details here.
May 8th & 9th: at BAC in London, two showings of Astronaut. A quiet, lyrical show about being stuck on the moon. Details here.