DOWN AND OUT AND STRUGGLING IN LONDON – PART NINE

As I stare at my to-do list, not sure where on earth to begin, despairing about money, and forgetting to be ‘living the dream’ I wonder: what led me to this point, what sacrifices have I made, all the be ‘living the dream’.

Does that make sense?

Hello readership. I do hope you’re surviving the credit crunch.

Well, things are certainly good over here. The trees are lush with fresh green leaves, the daffodils are fading, only to be replaced by fragrant lilacs. All around me are amazing historical monuments. Susan Boyle is charming the world. I just have to remember to appreciate them.

I am currently up to my eyeballs in projects. I have this three week season at The Tristan Bates Theatre in July/August that we are working towards. It’s quite frightening on many accounts. First of all, it’s a difficult time because, apparently, everyone leaves on holiday around this time and all the theatre types are up in Edinburgh, enjoying the festival up there. So that is a huge obstacle to overcome. Basically we need to sell 1260 tickets to sell out the season. And sure, there are a lot of people in this city, but how do we get them along??? The play I’m putting on is LUV which I’ve mounted in Auckland and Wellington. At the moment I am trying to get ‘name’ actors interested in the project. Shoot, I’m so useless at this shit. All I want to do is crawl into bed with some DVDs and never emerge. I have to approach the actors through their agents, which I think should happen, but I may need to organise contracts etc. I guess this is just the next stage of making theatre, but I just don’t know if I have the know-how.

Be bold, Tom. Be bold.

We also have quite a hefty venue hirage to pay. So I’m working on some Arts Council Grants applications and writing a fundraising show. It’s never ending! One must enjoy the process otherwise there is no point.

I’m also getting two shows up and running in New Zealand when I return next month. They’re Little Blonde Hen and Cindy and Eric Go To Hell. More on them later. But there’s a gargantuan list to do for those two as well. 

So I guess the topic I want to discuss with this blog is the battle of producing a lot and creating quality. I’ve often had people spout their opinions at me. And sometimes I wonder if I should just concentrate on one or two shows a year. And make them truly amazing. But in all my experience I have gathered that ‘truly amazing’ is something you have to gage yourself. You can’t make every member of an audience happy. Believe me, I know. I’ve had some shows that people have adored whilst at the same time others have hated them. So one must strive for their own perfection. Also, in terms of having a huge output, I guess the alternative is having a small output. Obviously. And just hope that that small output puts you on the right path. That just seems so powerless. If you can achieve more, why not achieve more? And surely by having more output you’ve got more chances of achieving what you want. This all seems a bit abstract. Maybe I’m trying to justify my existence. I just don’t want to reach the end of my life and wish I’d done more, I guess. And there is so much to achieve in one’s lifetime and time is forever ticking.

Here’s a great quote from George Bernard Shaw which I particularly like. I hope it is inspiring: ‘This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognised by yourself as a mighty one, the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it onto future generations.’

 Isn’t that amazing? So I hope you all read that and strive forward with your endeavours. Being bold, brilliant and beautiful. Right, I’m off to work aka editing my scripts when my boss isn’t looking.

 Take care y’all.