HAPPY 2018 AND IT'S GONNA BE A GOOD'UN

January is a toughy. There's tax returns, colds to catch, the excitement of Christmas is over and we all head back to work. Some of us in the hospitality industry are dealing with a bunch of punters who are walking around grumpy about the fact that they have to go back to work too and have to continue to spend money on meals with their Aunt Judith. And then they decide to take it out on you when their chips are cold. Charming.

But, despite the worries about needing to start running again and get a hair cut, I am currently feeling excited. We found out BEFORE Christmas that we were awarded a second Grant for the Arts from ACE (in a year?!) to re-rehearse and take What Goes On In Front Of Closed Doors on a Spring Tour. We are travelling back to Guildford, Warwick and Oxford, and for the first time going to the Kings Head in Islington. Hooray!

The fact that we got the funding has again made us feel like legitimate artists (which we are, right?) AND gives us the opportunity to make the work really good because we won't be tearing our hair out over budgets. Our last blog was pretty negative about Edinburgh, but the silver lining to the cloud has appeared and it seems like it was a bit more worth it.

I'm excited to announce that I'll be working again with Katharina Reinthaller as our new director for the Tour as Calum is off doing Mary Stuart in West Endddd. It's official!

The conversation on homelessness is at more of a peak than ever, with even Queenie making her Christmas speech largely about the importance of home. I really look forward to having lots more conversations on the subject with as much of the audience as possible over the next 4 months, and we will hopefully be sharing the show with some young people who have experienced homelessness themselves along the way.

In the meantime though, I have a redraft of the script to learn and the team have some decisions to make about cameras and screens! Wish us luck.

WE ARE ALSO LOOKING FOR A STAGE MANAGER FOR THE TOUR.

This is a paid opportunity and the applicant needs to be able to:

- Drive a small van

- Be comfortable using Q Lab for Sound, Lighting and Video

- Able set up Projection, Video and Live Webcams on stage

- Nice to work with

Please email me on emmabentley17@hotmail.com attaching your CV if you're interested.

Wishing all our supporters lots of 2018 love,

Emma X