
Games of Love and Chance exceeded all expectations the team could have had for it. Despite little in the way of advance physical publicity (as opposed to our online campaign), the show achieved a sell-out run across its six performances and the audiences were extraordinarily enthusiastic. It was also delightful to see a wide age range in our audiences, with members both young and old enjoying our farce and laughing in all the places we'd hoped they'd laugh. We gained a clutch of encouraging reviews and best of all were shortlisted for the NSDF Edinburgh Festival Award, gaining special panel commendations for Original Music (Gabriel Chernick) and Original Writing (er, me).
It's been a dream to work on and, if nothing else, we all learnt that flyering definitely pays off. It was also wonderful to discover that there was definitely a place for a show like ours: a piece of traditional comic theatre, suitable for a family audience, which was still infused with what one reviewer called "an entirely 21st century mindset." It was only when I returned home that I realised Games was my first fully performed piece since leaving Edinburgh two years ago. A lot has happened since The Wind in the Willows and I'm feeling greatly energised by the experience of this show. Everybody in the cast and crew did a sterling job and were tremendous company to boot.
And hopefully that's not all. Buoyed by our success, we fully intend to develop Games and give it a much longer life, in London, around the UK, and perhaps beyond! Lord knows how we're going to do it (besides me expanding the script to suit a two hour duration) but we're going to give it a bash and see what happens.
Splendid.