Stonehenge

This is a picture I took at Stonehenge during the summer solstice celebrations. it looks light but it was only about 4 o clock in the morning. Before I went I imagined the stones would be swarming with Hippies, Druids and New Age souls chanting free the stones. It wasn't like that. The event was heavily staffed with security personnel, there was a drugs amnesty and a vast bucket for people to drop their spliffs etc in before they went near the monument. Some people were drunk and cheerful, others were dancing, some to the music inside their own heads. There were one or two druids, a few hippies and a lot of new age travellers. I enjoyed the event enormously but didn't get any of the spiritual vibes I secretly hoped  I might.

Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles features a scene in which Tess is lost in Stonehenge, trying to feel her way around. I was imagining this scene when I was there.

I thought there was a lot of potential for stories at Stonehenge. 

Could you write a story about the lives of Druids or others who may have used the stones when they were first erected? 

Is there a story in the people whose caravans filled the field nearby or a person who visits sacred sites? Write some notes. See if you have the makings of a short story. 

BBC writersroom - fantastic up to date information for writers

BBC writersroom is a great on-line resource for writers. Opportunities in the form of competitions and initiatives to submit scripts for radio, television and theatre are updated frequently. It's possible to read examples of scripts and watch interviews with writers of current programmes. There are tips, inspiring success stories and a definite flavour of what's currrent and important in the world of commercial writing. 

Find this resource at  www.bbb.co.uk/writersroom 

Broken Plate Story Scenario.

I found this broken dish and couldn't remember how I broke it or why the broken pieces hadn't been thrown away. Always on the lookout for writing exercises I wondered if there was a story in these pottery pieces that were once a pretty and useful dish. 

Why don't you try using these important story elements to create a story.

Who.
Where
What
When
Why
How

Is there a mystery to be found or a comedy? 

Is it the start of something or the end?  

Is there one story or several?

Pop Up Theatre

A performance I saw by the Hardgraft Theatre Company called I Love Oldham, written by Mark Whitely, who also played one of the parts alongside Rayyah McCaul was a fun event. These hardworking actors greeted their audience, sorted tickets and then performed a two act play whose action is set in a charity shop and in this case, a real charity shop.

A vacant retail unit in Oldham's indoor market was transformed into a play set. To passers by it looked like a regular charity shop but it was laid out with a collection of mis-matched chairs and was a theatre for a two week run.

Vacant shops are a part of life at the moment and with a bit of planning could be put to better use. I know that pop up restaurants have been coming and going in empty shops, particularly in London. I'm aware that craft workshops and exhibitions were commissioned in Lancashire a couple of years ago. With arts funding being reduced and in some cases cut it might be an idea for small theatre groups and community projects to have a look at some of these spaces. The only rental needed is for the run of the play and with the glut of shops available and the right script the idea could work anywhere in the country.

Well done Hardgraft.

Fictional Characters. Who would You Be?

Some great characters exist in fiction and I tried to imagine which character I most resemble. I so wanted it to be someone exciting and female but the character I kept thinking of was Don Quixote....Maybe not all the time and it could have been worse. Mrs. Danvers in Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca or a munchkin in L. Frank Baum's the Wizard of Oz.

I sometimes read poetry and books and find characteristics in people being described that remind me of myself. Perhaps we all do and thet's why we read - to find ourself reflected in the world.

If you were a character in a story or poem,


Who would you be and why?

What makes a character memorable?


What makes people love or hate characters?

Keys to Paradise and Other Locks.

Go to any museum and you'll find rusty and rotted keys from thousands of years ago, ornate and elegant keys that hung from the waists of Victorian or French housekeepers. In the drawers and cupboards of all our houses there are likely to be keys, put there for safekeeping, that belong to locks that no longer exist.

Keys take on a different form in the twenty first century. Safe combinations, swipe cards, iris and fingerprint recognition and keys smothered with bling and patterns to make them stand out.

However you look at it, everyone from the Roman Soldier to the Modern Art Teacher had or has something they want to lock up. Salt, saffron, sugar, secrets. Love letters, evidence, diamonds, people.

Make a list of everything you have locked up. Do you see the beginnings of a poem in that list? Or a story?

Look at the photo of keys above. Select one. Imagine you keep it somewhere safe. Write about the lock it opens. Tell a story about what's locked away and why. 

Write an intriguing sentence that includes the word key.

Have you any interesting stories that involve keys?

Stones in his Pockets. A play by Marie Jones

I'm re-reading Stones in his Pockets by Marie Jones. It's a play with a large cast that has traditionally been played by two actors. Set in Ireland, it looks at the effect a visiting American film crew has on a close knit community.

The dialogue is very effective. All characters come to life on the page and not a word is wasted. I'll be using this play in September when I will be running a play reading course.

It's inspiring to see what can be done with two actors, a fantastic script and no props. Somehow the essence of how powerful theatre can be is embodied in this layered and thought provoking piece. The tone is humourous but the play doesn't shy away from large and small politics.

Reading it reminds me of something I wrote. It's a play with two characters who are both played by one actor. I must get it out, blow the dust off it and see if it's any good.

Has anyone seen a production of Stones in his Pockets?

What did you think of it?