However, last night I was delighted to be part of the Pint-Sized short plays event at the Pleasance Theatre, organised by Matt Maltby and Nicholas Oliver. A selection of startlingly original new dramatic works, followed by the Wooden Overcoats team shuffling on to deliver an excerpt from episode 1. The response was better than we could have hoped, playing to our largest venue yet (180 seats at Pleasance Main House) and getting our loudest laughs. I couldn't have been more pleased with how it went, and extremely proud of my regular cast Felix Trench, Beth Eyre, Tom Crowley and Ciara Baxendale.
Also, a great opportunity to be on the inside of a large theatrical collaboration, witnessing the labours of many smaller groups of writers, directors and actors. T'was an eclectic gathering of styles and no mistake. I know we're not supposed to have favourites but I was particularly taken with the work of James Corrigan, who apparently - the programme tells me - hasn't had his writing performed before. Bloody Hell! It was a tremendously confident debut, dripping with menace and eliciting a lot of laughs over uncomfortable subject matters. I certainly hope I can see more of his scripts on stage soon!
Big congratulations to my Wooden Overcoats team for doing a stellar job, and huge thanks to Matt and Nick for selecting my script for Pint-Sized! We'd love to do it again, guys. Just sayin'.