March 2014 (nuts!)

Greetings...

So, March was a pretty busy Month. I've been enjoying spending some time at home of late, working on some new bits and having a bit of a rest after all the activities of the last month...

A Tale From The Bedsit

It all worked out well. I really enjoyed the run at BAC, had some great audiences in and lots of new faces which was really nice, managed to pick up a couple more reviews as well, got another one from EVERYTHING THEATRE and POEJAZZI which I was chuffed about. The British Library came and filmed it for their archives, which is nuts! The show they came for, was probably the best one as well, it never works that way!.. I'm waiting to see what happens next with the show, hopefully more..err shows! In the meantime, here's some pictures Stef took from the rehearsals..

No Milk For The Foxes

So straight after I finished the Bedsit show, I went straight into rehearsals the next day, with Conrad Murray, for the Foxes show. We were performing a work-in-progress, kind of like a first draft really, at the Camden people's Theatre. We had no idea what to expect, I think what Conrad and I are doing is quite different, in the way we perform and how we've developed it but it went really well. So much so, were hopefully going into full development..fingers crossed

This was pretty much our set for the show

Play Festival

The Young Producer program at Battersea Arts Centre I have been working with as artist, since the beginning of the year had their 3 day festival in March and it all went off pretty damn well! they had programmed several artists and installations and fun rooms, all around the theme of childhood and play. It went off a treat, really proud of the team!

The team, minus Charlie

A Tale From The Bedsit - Photos

These were some pictures that were taken prior to the first run at Roundhouse, in the Camden Lock Hotel, hopefully you get the gist...

All Pictures by Stuart Leech

Deep in thought, or just pretending for the cameras? 

Is this what I look like when I talk?..I look like I'm gurning.. I was probably talking about Raves again.

Me and Phil, Davies, the All star looking trainers, they're Stef's, the AirMax are mine, course they are!

No caption

Look at the Rave flyers!!!

A Tale From The Bedsit @ Battersea Arts Centre

Greetings, on this fine glorious today.

On Monday the 21st Match I'm going into to Battersea Arts Centre to begin the second run of A Tale From The Bedsit. I've been spending the last few weeks re-familiarising myself with the text again, though December wasn't that long ago, it's surprising how much I had forgotten! I'm on course though and looking forward to getting into a new space with Stef O' Driscol (director) and Phil Davies (Sound designer) and India Banks (set designer) we're doing it for a good sized crowd this time, should be a lot fun!

You can book tickets HERE

..also here's an extract from the show I recorded for Soundcloud

A TALE FROM THE BEDSIT

Paul Cree 17 - 21 Mar 9pm Running Time: 45min Price: £12, £9 concs Recommended for ages 14+ Come in, kick back, take your shoes off, or keep them on, have a cuppa and make yourselves comfy. This intimate and autobiographical coming-of-age tale by spoken word artist and writer Paul Cree set in his bedsit amongst the books, tapes and comics of his youth. Leaving the mundane monotony of his hometown for the bright lights of Brighton, a new job and his first love the world seems bigger somehow. A witty & honest tale that reminds us of our own journeys, mistakes and joys. A Roundhouse Production Written and Performed by Paul Cree Directed by Stef O’Driscoll DOUBLE BILL See A Tale from the Bedsit with John Berkavitch's Shame at 7:30pm (17-19 Mar only) for £20 (£15 concs). This offer will be applied automatically to your baske

The Bedsit Is HERE!

...Technically it never went away, but I did, I moved away, into a flat and then about 8 years later I've made a show about living in that Bedsit and you can come and see that show, next month, at the Roundhouse, look, here's is a LINK where you can purchase a ticket! (can you tell I'm excited??!..and nervous!)

Approximately 2 years ago I'd written the first segment of the show, which I sent via some muggy audio clip to my mate and don of dons Talia Randal, later that summer I attended a workshop session at the Roundhouse where you could pitch an idea for a show, after speaking with Roundhouse legend Sylvia Harrison, she then put the wheels in motion and set up a meeting for me with another Roundhouse legend Lucy Aitkinson, who's been producing the show ever since. This time last year I was finishing the second part of the show and starting the third. (It was originally a trilogy of stories) I then joined forces with the mighty Stef O' Driscol  in January and almost a year later, several scratches, feedback sessions, meetings and god knows how many versions and script amendments later, here we are with one big hour long show, A Tale From The Bedsit. Completing what has now become a wicked little team, there is a banging sound design by Phil Davies, an amazing set design by India Banks and Lucy Mcgowan, and another Roundhouse legend Liz Counsell!

It's a site specific thing, all the shows (bar the final one on the Sunday which will be in the studio theater for a bigger audiance) will take place in the Camden Lock Hotel over the road. It will be small groups in with me, nice and intimate, just like it was back in the real bedsit!

Yep, that's me

The show forms part of a 2 week long festival the Roundhouse have curated called The Last Word and as far as I know, is the first spoken word festival, of sorts, in London and features work form the likes of Kate Tempest, John Berkavitch, Poejazzi, Talia Randal, Sean Mahoney, Katie Bonna, Lemm Sissay, Roundhouse Poetry Collective and MORE!
This is what it states on the website:

THE LAST WORD

"A Festival of Spoken Word, Storytelling and Live Performance

16 Nov - 1 Dec

London’s first ever spoken word festival, The Last Word is two weeks of words, live performances and storytelling.

The UK’s leading spoken word performers alongside an new generation of artists bring an unmissable line up of shows, installations, take-away poetry, opportunities to get involved with master classes and panel discussions."

Here's the You Tube trailer which I got my mug on outside a record shop in Soho (I wanted Blackmarket Records but the noise coming of it was too loud..) All of us in the video were asked to read a poem written especially by Jess Green...

 

If you're interested, I've put a link up where you can see a few other blogs I've put up over the last few months about the show, just click on the right where it says A Tale From The Bedsit. 

Then, COME AND SEE IT! It runs from Nov 26th to Dec 1st.

Hope to see you there!

Paul

ATFTB: Round 2 Complete!

 Hello again

Last week, I was attempting to justify my addiction to both Peep Show and Don't Flop (which you can now add King Of The Dot, Smack URL and Grind Time too) by writing about what I've been up too, including what I was currently working on, A Tale From The Bedsit, which is what I'm going to talk about...

...now. So the comic you see there is The Foolkiller, which I talk about in the show. Now the show, is set in a bedsit, in which the audience come in and sit with me whilst I tell the story, about a bedsit I lived in Brighton and some of the things that went on whilst I was there, with a few mild moments of interaction that we've been playing with.

So Stef O'Driscol, who is directing me, and I had 2 weeks of development back in January at the Roundhouse. This Monday, after 3 scratch performances, we've just completed another 6 days, this time with a sound designer named Phil Davies. Battersea Arts Center kindly put us up for the week and we did a scratch there on the Friday, and then 2 at Roundhouse this Monday just gone. It all went pretty well and we tried out some things, there's been several more edits to the script (which has now gone though about a zillion drafts) and we got some really good feedback from the people that came along.

So the next stage of development will be in June, and all going well we will have a set designer on board who is going to make the show, which is all quite exciting, for when the full show happens in November!
Here's some pics...

 The BAC Bedsit.

The Roudhouse bedsit feat. Stef