New Design – Hope you like it?

Hello!

Don’t worry, you’re not lost, instead you’ve found your way to my recently designed blog! As the name suggests there will be a tilt on theatre related matters from reviews of local/national shows/plays, interviews with anyone I can get my grubby mitts on to my musings on the industry as a whole.

Aside from this there will be tons of other content for those less ‘artistically’ inclined. I sometimes eat food and like to have an opinion on it. This mantra goes for many things in my life from charity raids on a Saturday morning to real life angst from yours truly. If there are any suggestions lurking in the backs of your mind then don’t be shy, comment or email me (link to the right) and let me know what you’d like to see/read about.

On the topic of charity shops, I love them! So I will try to go armed to the teeth with a meagre amount of money and see what treasure I can come across. This may extend to the occasional cheeky car boot, but as the weather is unreliable at the best I can’t make any promises. Just last week I came across the greatest.. wait, that’s a blog article right there waiting to be plundered! You can hear about those adventures at the weekend.

Back to the re-design. I decided to have the layout and image of this blog changed for engagement reasons really. No, I’m not engaged and nor will be I any time soon unless someone comes crashing through the door and makes a move. Single guy here! What I mean to say is that there is no point having a great message to spread or an idea to express if the packaging and frame aren’t attractive. Cancel that, they don’t have to be overly pretty but certainly can’t afford to be dour and frumpy.

Clean lines, white space and some good content. I think that’s a good starting point, don’t you? :)

My tumor

Some of you may have come to realise that despite the title of my blog, I haven't spoken at great length about theatre. This isn't a conscious decision, more that I have allowed events of excitement or related thoughts space to feel and grow. 

I initially got 'into' theatre when I nearly died.

Sweeping statement, but also very very true. Some years back I was diagnosed with having a schwannoma tumor behind my left eye, actually inside my skull. I was shocked, upset, crushed and aware I had to remain strong for my mum. She was the person that brought me up to be the person I am, so I felt I owed it to her in part to smile through it and do everything I could to see a bright side. I ended up taking it to the extreme one day when leaving hospital with her after a consultation with a surgeon by quoting a line from 300. 

'It's just an eye. The gods saw it fit to grace me with a spare'.

She didn't really see the funny side. Well, she did but she cried a bit too as we walked slowly down the hill towards the town below. It goes without saying, but I lived. One day I may go into more detail about it but if you're desperate to find out then feel free to email me at chris@cd-productions.co.uk 

Fighting through the 'eye' episode of my life and coming out the other side certainly left me a strong person. I undertook a great deal of charity work with my best friend, Dan. He had had his own medical hardships and the achievement of reaching various milestones and raising money for good causes was a time of my life I will never forget. For anyone out there who supported me during this times, thank you. 

Coming out of the battle with my tumor made me not only value life but also challenge what I wanted. Naturally at school I was a very quiet kid, which lead to a bit of bullying and probably made me a pretty soft target. Growing up in a single parent family wasn't always easy but the love and support I received was far more then many others get in 'conventional' upbringings. The feeling I get when I take to the stage is a total departure from those days and I feel blessed for the turnaround of fortunes I have experienced. Many aren't so lucky and lose the battles life puts in front of them. 

I realise this isn't about theatre, but I think it's a heavy nod towards how I ended up 'in theatre'. You can look around St Pancras and see a vast multitude of people, but how did they get there? What purpose brought them to the capital? Will they ever leave? The questions we could ask are endless and to an extent futile, much the same as if you were given all the answers to a quiz before taking the hot seat. You're pulse won't race nor will any challenge present itself.


If you're reading this and your battling against an obstacle, whatever it is, know that you can overcome it. I did. I'm just like you, a person who has had his fair share of knocks and setbacks but used them to motivate me to succeed and be the person I know I can be.

The fight isn't easy, the journey will be tough, but you can do it. Good Luck. :)