It has been a little while since I have written a blog, so this entry is long overdue, as many an exciting thing is happening in the world of Pentabus and beyond. I usually start by commenting on the weather (how terribly British I am) and today is no exception-after a pretty washed out June/July (the memories of a sodden Latitude still fresh in the mind) and a fairly unremarkable August/September, it seems we are moving into Autumn with a last minute glimpse of glorious sunshine. The past few days have been almost like an apology from the weather for such a disappointing summer. And it has been so strange to be basking in incredible heat, but kicking through Autumn leaves, planning BBQ’s, only to realise it is totally dark by 7pm. So as the weather now seems to be reverting back to ‘normal’, I feel reassured that my new Autumn coat will get an outing pretty soon. Apparently snow is predicted for the end of this month. Obviously. While the weather has been doing its crazy thing, things at Pentabus are too in the midst of change. It has been a fantastic summer. We hit Latitude after a wonderful writer’s week and did Pentabus proud in the pouring rain, and For Once hit Hampstead Theatre for a spectacular run. We all felt so close and connected to the project so it was with enormous pride and pleasure to hear how many people responded to its subject matter, characters and Tim’s exceptional writing. I feel really proud to have been part of the company during such an exciting period and it is with great excitement that we continue to plan the tour for next year.

Meanwhile, Orla’s incredibly well deserved appointment at the Traverse means that Pentabus will be searching for someone else to take over as Artistic Director, so it is a rather thrilling transition for both Orla and the company. Not to mention busy. In WE ARE HERE news, our fantastic winner Katherine Chandler is currently in the midst of working on a new draft of the winning play ‘Shoot Doris Day’. I met her a few weeks ago in Cardiff, where we chatted about her journey as a playwright, and about the play itself. We had such a huge response to the project, and read some wonderful pieces of work, but for me, reading Katherine’s work was particularly thrilling and we felt strongly that she had something special to offer Pentabus with this play. So, the process of developing the play with Katherine has begun, with the support of the Sherman Theatre. In a few weeks time, we will be spending a week in Cardiff with 4 actors, myself and Katherine, where we will spend time reading the play, getting to know the characters, the story, and exploring its dramatic potential. More details will be revealed soon on our current programme page.

Well, as things are about to get pretty crazy in the world of Pentabus, I thought I would write with a short update. It’s all very exciting and very busy as we prepare for not one, but two shows! FOR ONCE is building momentum, with rehearsals starting in little over a week in our lovely rehearsal room in Ludlow. We have an absolutely fantastic cast and we will be thrilled to welcome them into the building. It is such a beautiful, intricate and warm piece of writing and I think they are going to have wonderful experience getting into the world of this one family whose lives have been ripped apart by tragedy. I was lucky enough to be part of the casting process, where we heard Tim’s words spoken for the first time and I was struck by how recognisable and familiar these characters were as they confide in us. In a space like the Hampstead studio, that level of intimacy and connection with an audience can only be a great thing. They will rehearse for a couple of weeks in the country, then will head up to London for the final 2 weeks of rehearsal, before we open in early July. I am sure that over the coming weeks you can expect blogs from the FOR ONCE team, so keep checking back.

Meanwhile, I am busy with MAY FAIR, our debut Latitude show. I keep looking at the Latitude website, where they have a countdown to the festival, which kind of makes me feel a bit nervous every time I see the seconds ticking away! But what a festival it is going to be-the range of artists and theatre makers and musicians taking part is quite breathtaking and we are so thrilled to be part of such a huge event. We start rehearsals in less than a month, and will have 9 days to bring to life what our MAY FAIR writers produced in our writers week. Exciting. Terrifying. Exciting again. We had our first design meeting the other day, and it was great to start thinking about how these 5 pieces are going to sit together in one space. Having never been to Latitude before, I am having to go on other people’s experiences, and pure guesswork! The designer Jean asked a bit more about our space and all I could reply was ‘er, I think we are in a wood’. Useful. Fortunately, she has now managed to get some pictures and dimensions from the brilliant people at Latitude and lo and behold, we are totally in a wood. We are dead excited about how we can find ways to use the space to capture a fair experience-and the woodland environment I think will really lend itself to the pieces our writers have written.

It is also the first time I have worked on something outside, and with people coming and going, so it is going to be a fantastic learning experience I reckon! I am casting as we speak, our writers have produced their second drafts, we are searching for clowns, booking coaches, and most importantly, we are thinking of how many uses a plastic yellow duck could have. More info on all of this as plans progress……..

Well. Exciting times. A quick update on what we are up to over the next few months. Firstly, we can now confirm that FOR ONCE, by the fantastic Tim Price, will make its WORLD PREMIERE at Hampstead Theatre, in their studio space, this July. This will be the first time Pentabus has had a show at Hampstead, so its all pretty thrilling. And busy. Oh so busy. Everything seems to be happening at once. Images, marketing, casting, workshopping the play, finding the team, interviewing stage managers…..Orla will be directing and with her she has got the most incredible creative team, more details coming soon……

Meanwhile, things are also busy in the  MAY FAIR camp, our debut show at Latitude this year. Our 5 writers are all working on new drafts of what they produced during the week, the team is being assembled, rehearsal space being sorted, extensive plastic duck research is being undertaken. Not thought about such practical things such as tents and travel yet, but there is still time. Just.

More information about both shows will be popping up on the website very soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

So we have reached the end of our writers’ week for this year. After a slap up pub lunch in Ludlow’s The Church Inn, the 5 writers departed their various ways to head home again, leaving the May Fair to continue its merry making for another 48 hours, before it too, would pack up and move on. It has been a fantastic week and we have had the privilege of meeting some wonderful people, who have all been generous with their time and willing to talk to us about their lives. We have been to beautiful community gardens and met volunteers, we have met market traders, writers, poets, Mayors and former Mayors, we have sipped coffee in Costa with several teenagers, and met the owner of the May Fair himself. And of course, we have been to the fair, weaved our way through the lights and the noise, made ourselves a bit sick on the rides, and on the obligatory candy floss, watched the atmosphere change from after school family outings to after dark alcohol fuelled meetings. (and obviously managed to make time to watch a bit of the Royal Wedding amidst everything else. )

And all the while I wondered how each writer will engage with each experience. It’s a funny thing setting up something like this week-we set up meetings and make schedules and plan visits, but ultimately, we have no idea what it is that will inspire an idea in someone, and that is both exciting and nerve wracking all at once. Particularly as this year, for the first time, we have Latitude in our sights.

On the final morning, we all gathered in Toad Hall (the cottage where 3 of the writers were staying) and the writers shared their early ideas. Gathered around laptops, or huddled over pieces of paper, we took it in turns to read what each writer had produced in just a few hours-a tall order from Pentabus, but a great way to air the beginnings of an idea for a story, a character, a relationship. And I have to say it was a really thrilling morning-it seemed to me like everyone had really invested in the people we had met during the week, and the things that had been said, and the stories that started to take shape were beautifully observed, funny, unsettling, tender.

And then that was that. Our final morning, but the beginning of our journey to Latitude. And what a brilliant starting point. Will be keeping you posted with further developments, and will soon be posting some blogs from the writers, along with some pictures of our week……

A quick writers’ week update. It is now Wednesday. The end of day 2. OK, so the weather has not been quite as glorious as last week, but close. Our 5 writers arrived on various trains yesterday, and after much ferrying to and from Ludlow station, we all gathered in Bromfield to talk about all things May Fair. Hurrah. And what better way to kick off the week than a visit from the Ludlow Mayor himself, who very kindly came and gave a brilliant insight into Ludlow town, and the nuts and bolts of ensuring the May Fair is a successful event. We rounded off the day with a very civilised drink in one of the town’s many pubs, and enjoyed the quiet before the fair began to roll into the very narrow streets of Ludlow today. Before the huge vehicles made their appearance however, the writers had a chance this morning to get a sense of the town pre fair-with a delightful historic chat from a man named Roger, who runs the town tours all year round. Then, a chance to reflect on things so far, another meeting with a resident whose house during the fair becomes a backdrop to some pretty hairy rides and then home for one more sleep before the fair officially begins.

As I drove back into town this evening after a day away, there was a tangible shift in atmosphere as huge caravans, trucks, cars and trailers had popped up, roads had been closed and diversion signs put out. And there seemed to be a significant increase in people, particularly children, in the streets and around the castle square. There was a real air of excitement and anticipation and industry in the air, with a mixture of eager bystanders and efficient workers getting started on things already. Apparently they start setting up the rides at 6am tomorrow morning. We will not be there at that time. But. With meetings planned with some young people who have lived in Ludlow all their lives, the street cleaning team and watching the rides getting built, it is set to be a busy day I think, and I am very much looking forward to witnessing the transformation from market town to thriving fairground in a matter of hours! I wonder what our writers will make of it all……..

So. What a couple of weeks it has been. I am still getting my head around the decisions made by the Arts Council-there is so much to take in, not only in terms of where the cuts have been made, but also in the response from artists and the public to the news. It is such a complicated and delicate situation, and it is really incredible to see the different attitudes and points of view flying around on blogs, websites, twitter and in the news. What feels certain is that things are a changing. In ways I don’t think any of us can predict. At Pentabus, we feel exceptionally grateful that we will continue to be funded by the Arts Council and it feels an wonderful thing to be able to look ahead.

And we don’t need to look ahead very far, as our next exciting project is in a mere couple of weeks. The May Fair is almost upon us. And with it, comes our writers week. We are totally thrilled to have 5 fabulous writers coming to join us this year-we will be putting some more info up about each one very soon, but meanwhile, we look forward to welcoming John Donnelly, Lou Ramsden, Vanessa Oakes, Joe Harbot and Gbolahan Obisesan to our HQ and I for one can’t wait to see what the week will bring and how each of them will respond to the people and places we will encounter.

However. Before they arrive, we have a lot of work to do ensuring that we create a diverse, interesting, challenging and unique timetable for them. Lots of research to be done, phone calls to make, meetings to arrange, press releases to write, little yellow ducks to order (this will make sense in due course I promise)…… I am heading to Shropshire this weekend, where I will be getting stuck into all of this and more.

So all is busy. Will be keeping you posted with all May Fair developments as they happen. And of course information about For Once and We Are Here still to come…….

Yes, I am not imagining it, there are buds and blossom on the trees and I have been going outside with one less layer on. I think spring is definitely on its way. And with it, some exciting times at Pentabus, even amidst the unknown future of our funding. With the Latitude official launch last night, we are totally thrilled to be taking something to this year’s festival for the first time. We will be taking a show to the outdoor theatre, an open air, woodland space where audiences can come and go. What will we be taking? Well, we are not entirely sure as it has not yet been written. Exciting? Definitely. Scary? A little bit. But. We do have a title. And a theme. The May Fair. And 5 pretty excellent writers who we have invited to spend a week with us to experience the fair as it hits Ludlow.  For a few brief days to mark the start of Spring, the ordinarily peaceful town of Ludlow is transformed into a bustling fair ground, filling the streets with neon, noise and hot dog fumes. For some, this is the highlight of the year, for others, it is reason to leave completely and wait until the town has been deep cleaned before they return. Everyone who lives in Ludlow seems to have an opinion, and an experience of the May Fair. So we will spend a week throwing ourselves into the world of the fair, and the effects on the town, and see what sparks the imagination of the writers. It could be anything. So. Now is the time for me to get cracking on planning the week. What will we do? Who will we speak to? What will we eat? Where will we visit? We will announce who our writers will be very soon, meanwhile, progress is also being made on Tim Price’s beautiful play ‘For Once’. There are some exciting developments, which we will reveal soon, but most recently, the Pentabus gang had a great time setting up a photo shoot to get some publicity images for the show, which involved cramming lots of local teenagers into a car and getting them to have a whale of a time. Some of the results can be seen on the website.

And finally, what on earth is happening with our We Are Here project? Well, you might recall that we received over 250 script submissions, so as I’m sure you can imagine, working our way through them has taken a considerable amount of time. But. We are nearly there. I can barely believe it, but we have nearly read every one. And what an eclectic mix it has been. Unfortunately, we cannot possibly give feedback to every individual, but those whose scripts have been put into our shortlist will be receiving an email over the next few weeks telling them so.

And finally, ‘Tales of the Country’ finished last week, a success all round, with glorious feedback from audiences across the UK, which is fantastic. We had a wonderful company who did the play proud, and now must all have muscles of steel after all those speedy get ins and get outs. I hope they are now all having a well earned rest.

Just as a swift update on the WE ARE HERE situation. I popped up to the Post Office this morning for my penultimate collection (bound to be more by the end of the day) armed with my rucksack, ready to load up with submissions. I got there, handed my card over to the man and he looked at me, looked at my bag, and laughed a small laugh. I asked what he was laughing at and he shook his head and said ‘come and have a look at this’. So I went through to the back room (access all areas-I went where no normal member of the public was allowed) where all the PO Boxes were, and there ours was. Stuffed full of scripts. But, so were all the other PO Boxes. Stuffed full I mean. With our scripts. I must have looked so shocked, and saddened that my rucksack was no way going to cut it, that the man offered to help transport them all back to my house. He actually got quite excited about the volume of packages, and rushed away, returning with one of those red trolleys that postmen have these days. Oh yes. He let me use a trolley. So, we filled it up and I am now sitting in my room, surrounded by over 200 scripts. I am having building work done on my house at the moment, which means that there is no where for the scripts to go apart from my bedroom. My weekend will be spent opening, recording and sending emails out to all the amazing people who have taken the time and effort to send us their work. Then. Then. I actually have to start reading them all. Wish me luck……

I have just got back to London after a packed and fruitful few days at Pentabus HQ. We had our AGM and then a big catch up meeting with the company and a lot of ground was covered. My head is still fit to burst with all that is going on over the coming months. Despite the obvious recent arts funding news hanging over us, we did a pretty good job of fighting the dark clouds away. Far from ignoring the cold hard facts, we had many a frank and honest discussion about what the future could hold, but the overriding attitude from everyone is one of positivity, and while no one can afford to be complacent at this time, what we can do is still strive to be excellent, ambitious, challenging and surprising in the work that we do. I came away feeling really proud and lucky to be part of such a robust and resilient company, who have been making work against the odds for over 35 years. To be part of that history, and to be part of its continuing journey is pretty brilliant.

So. What’s new with us? Well, firstly, our board meeting and AGM saw us all together in Pentabus’s sunny main rehearsal space, eating copious amounts of sandwiches and muffins and drinking coffee to see us through the afternoon.

An extra special occasion (surely an excuse for another muffin) because we officially welcomed Kate Organ as our new chair of the board. Kate has been a considerable force in the industry for many years, with an impressive CV and a genuine interest and excitement in what we are about. It was thrilling to hear her speak about her connection with the company-her knowledge of Pentabus goes back virtually to the founding of the company and she has followed our work closely through the years. She spoke with conviction and commitment about the continuing importance of the work that Pentabus does and it feels like such a privilege to have someone like Kate joining our already strong and dynamic board at a time where many of us are feeling uncertain about the future of the arts.

In other news, our script call out to playwrights to send us their plays (WE ARE HERE) is nearing its deadline. Tomorrow in fact. When we launched the project, we had literally no idea what we would receive. We had a PO Box created for this purpose, and it could have all been a bit embarrassing, me turning up to collect the scripts armed with wheelbarrow, only to return with nothing but some junk mail about a new pizza delivery company that had been put there by mistake. In reality however, things have been a bit different, surprising, and quite extraordinary. During my last trip to the PO Box, I was greeted with a ‘thank god you are here where have you been’ from a slightly harassed looking postal worker as I handed over my card. I looked a bit puzzled, perhaps he had mistaken me for someone else? Then he returned. With not ten. Not twenty. But close to 70 scripts. Apparently the PO Box was totally over flowing and they were anxious in case no one came to collect them! So I understood his relief upon seeing that I had not left the country/got bored of making collections.

So, after two trips (bearing in mind scripts are pretty heavy and in reality I did not have a wheelbarrow. Kinda wish I had.) and a lot of envelope opening, we now have over 130 scripts. AND there is still a day to go before the deadline. who knows what tomorrow’s trip will bring! I can’t tell you how exciting this is-on first glimpse there is a vast array of submissions-from very first plays from very first time writers, to more established and well known names. I love that they are all in the mix and all have thought that they might have a play for Pentabus. The task of reading them will begin shortly, its pretty excellent to think there could be a writer, or a play, or a number of plays, that grab our attention.

We are also gearing up for our retour of ‘Tales of the Country’, which was so well received the first time round, we have decided to do it again and it seems booking for the tour is going very well. Full details of where we are going will be on the website soon, but I know we are hoping to visit Cumbria, Somerset, Cheshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, to name but a few places in the UK! We will be casting for this in a few weeks, but we are thrilled that two members of the original cast will be re joining us.

So, lots to do, loads to read, lots to see and lots to look forward to.

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Hello. so. Orla is now officially on maternity leave. which is very exciting. meanwhile, Pentabus remains buzzing and bustling, lots of things in the pipe line and lots to plan for the next few months. The most exciting thing today was that offically, Pentabus embraced technology with open arms and I had my first skype conversation with Thomasina, with me in my bedroom in London, and Thomasina in the sunny Pentabus office. Hurrah! We had a few teething issues with sound initially, but all in all, a successful endeavour. Because I am unable to get to Shropshire on a regular basis, we will be having Skype meetings every week. How official. So today was pretty monumental, as I’m sure you can imagine.

First meeting scheduled for Thursday. What I find funny about it all is that because you are seeing the other person on screen, it feels like you are watching them, as opposed to engaging directly with them, and I often end up tuning out and then realising that they are waiting expectantly for an answer…….mastering the art of skypage conversation may take a bit of time, but I’m feeling fairly confident….!

In other non computer related news, I went to a very intense but exciting day in Birmingham a couple of weeks ago, to watch the work of the 11 playwrights who are about to finish their playwriting MPhil at Birmingham University. A small ensemble of actors had worked with the directors and writers over 3 days to stage the first half hour of each play. No mean feat, but they did a great job and the work was a really diverse mix. We got to meet and chat to the writers after each session and I am looking forward to seeing where these plays might pop up in the future, I know I would be interested to read a couple as they presented intriguing beginnings!

We are also about to launch WE ARE HERE, a call out to playwrights from all over the UK to send us a play that they think might fit in with what we do, for a potential slot in our 2012 season. Not only is it a way to hopefully find a new and brilliant theatrical voice (or maybe voices) but it will allow us the opportunity to get to know who is out there at the moment, and to identify writers who we might want to work with in the future. It feels really exciting to be putting an invitation out there, with no idea what the response will be. Will we get 7, or 700 scripts? who knows. More details will be posted on our website on 5th July, so if anyone reading this thinks they might have a play we will love, please check it out!

I’m back to Shropshire for an actual face to face meeting next week, so more news then.