Hola! Good morrow! A'right Butt!
After Googling 'Aivis the Burvis' and realising that people wanted to know its translation into Korean, Japanese, German and Spanish, I thought it was about time to add to the dormant blog since Nov 2012.
So what's happened since then?
It is only now, whilst writing this, that I realise myself just how much has been achieved.
In December the funds raised by the Pantomime (Wot I wrote) for the Newport OAPs and veterans Xmas lunch at the ONS, helped to reduce some of our very special guests to tears of joy. The work of Mrs Liz Buttigieg and her volunteers was an amazing example of kindness and charity and filled the heart with warmth and the sensation of real achievement.
In January, fueled by the success above, a new writing team gathered to create the Panto script for 2013. It is absolutely hilarious and has raised the bar. With new organisations on site, it's a great opportunity to mix and build friendships. But, they still don't realise just how good this script is (I'm an international author FFS). If they miss out they'll kick themselves in the not too distant future.
February, I checked out the Cardiff Players, after hearing lots of good things about the amazing play 'Glorious', which was to go on to win awards for the brilliant performances by Ms Bella Kemble and Mr Peter Stickler at the Glammies - see http://www.cardiffplayers.org/join.html . '39 Steps' performed by the Concept Players won the award for best play, and I hear it was fantastic. Congratulations to all those nominated for an award in a very tough competition http://www.glamorgandrama.org/glammies/12-13/glammies12-13.htm
I was so impressed by the quality of the performances by the cast and the technical teams in Welsh AmDram that I joined the Cardiff Players troupe. Soon I was back on stage for the hugely impressive Fringe show, that flowed around 'Albert' the One Act play that won the regional competition and then narrowly lost out to the fantastic A Little Box of Oblivion performance by Solva ADS, at the Welsh final http://www.dramawales.org.uk/pages/festivals/walesfinalfestival.html (Congratulations to them). Playing 3 very different characters in 3 sketches really instilled confidence and whetted my appetite. Bring on Shakespeare...a bit of a leap in six months from Santa in a Panto.
Don Pedro in 'Much Ado About Nothing' was a challenging but hugely satisfying role, when done. The cast was strong and performances throughout 'nailed'. There is nothing amateur about this lot except for not being paid. As could be said about RATS (Rhiwbina Amateur Theatrical Society), who performed 'Blood Brothers' to a standard that any professional theatre would be proud of.
No sooner was 'Much ado...' done, than the next project began. 'The Thrill of Love' was going to be given a miss...until I read the script and had a chat to the Technical Director. The Ruth Ellis story is extremely haunting and atmospheric. The audience will be open mouthed and stunned by this incredibly powerful play and the images created on stage. I had to at least read for the part, or I'd kick myself, these incredible opportunities don't come around very often...and I got the part of Inspector Jack Gale. Who would believe that playing Santa for charity could lead to this. Doing good things for good people for a good cause has its rewards.
All of the above has meant postponing a few writing projects, but hey, it's my life so I'll do what I want when it suits, thank you very much.
Very talented artists are about to show their work at 'The Gate Arts Centre' in Cardiff at the end of Aug-Oct 2013. This diverse collection of art will be very well worth a visit if you have the opportunity. I've seen a lot of this stuff in the flesh, so to speak, and it is fabulous. Enjoy, I might even see you there - http://www.thegate.org.uk/event/6-artists-6-visions/
I will attempt to keep posting at least once a month (I said that last year ;o) ), but I would encourage you to keep up to date on 'The thrill of Love' via the very talented Mr Lance Eggleton's excellent blog http://searchforruth.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/2-august-2013-yield-to-night.html
What you can see from above is that if you try new things, you find out that you have a lot of unrecognised or unappreciated talents....not least by yourself. So try a few new things people, who knows where it could lead.
Whatever it is you try, have fun.
Best wishes
Lurv
