The Challenges of being ‘Good’

A saying that I heard a lot in my younger years was ‘you’ve been brought up, not dragged up’. This was a reflection of my mother’s amazing parenting skills and my solid (if unorthodox) family upbringing. I was raised in a single parent family, just me and mum, but we did live next door to my nan and uncle. This provided a very safe and happy childhood which saw me spending time between both houses, my nan teaching me poker aged 6 and my uncle sometimes in an almost brother role playing on the Megadrive with me. The poker carried on till my nan’s death when I was 17 and the Megadrive till I was about 8 and started consistently beating my uncle at any game we owned. My mum has worked for most of her life and gave me as much love as a mother can give a child, this instilled in me a good work ethic and a deep level of compassion and a love for hugs!

But being good can have its obstacles and can provide a strain on an otherwise balanced lifestyle. Obviously we need to start with a definition of being ‘good’, the dictionary would state ‘being morally right’ or ‘showing kindness’. Urban dictionary on the other hand provides these high thinking gems, ‘opposite of bad’ and ‘to be modestly exceptional in bed’. I can assure you before writing this article I wasn’t setting out to focus on the latter! Ignoring the comedy that the internet creates, there are a number of challenges that present themselves when we set off upon the path of the righteous.

Temptation: Everywhere we go there are situations or events that provide us chances to be good and act in a saintly way. Also many people class being ‘good’ as sticking to diets and staying away from junk food. Well, unless you’re a farmer and only eat your own produce you’re going to find a ton of temptation at every supermarket or shop, from chocolate to vodka, and all with gleaming offers and deals to help your conscious give in and indulge. Being good can also class as being faithful when in a relationship. When I was in my last relationship I had a ton of opportunities to cheat if I had wanted to and several girls I knew/know had no qualms about the fact I was in a relationship as they weren’t after commitment or anything. The total lack of moral compass didn’t really surprise me though, it’s the world we now live in.

Money: Or a lack of it can really dent our chances of being as helpful and decent as we would like. Christmas has just been and gone and all the message we are given is that we should all give whatever we can to help people all over the world. I’ve seen an awful lot on Facebook people stating they’ve been getting an increased level of charity letters and phone calls asking for aid and support. This apparent barrage of pleas for aid and help raises in itself an important question, among others such as why aid is needed in the first place. What if you don’t have any money? I know a few people who literally don’t have anything spare to give to others, even if they wanted to, does their lack of donating make them a bad person? The festive period is full of fundraising and photos of people doing ‘their bit’. Does me sitting at home, detached from all this activity make me a ‘scrooge’? On a personal note, no it doesn’t. I actually do a fair bit myself in the local community and donated several hampers I was gifted by people to local charities that help the homeless and those families in need of assistance. The argument against this notion is that there are many things which we can do which cost us nothing but time to get involved and feel that we’ve made a difference. I volunteered at a youth theatre school back in the summer as a director for their debut musical. I didn’t ask for any money for doing this, not even petrol money and did I enjoy the experience and feel I was making a difference? Yes! I got to meet a great bunch of people, make a direct impact on their lives and can sit typing this knowing that many class me as a friend.

Jealousy: Frequently we can overcome most of the obstacles that are set against, only to be faced by the green eyed monster. People (who often live in glass houses) look at those who do great deeds with a dubious suspicion that they must have an ulterior motive. These souls are often ones that are rarely good, therefore they feel jealous when other people can achieve heights they are unable to reach. I help run a theatre company based in my hometown and we have several remits which we try to stick by. For these reasons we could easily be a target for naysayers as we focus on developing new talent in theatre rather than be content with a limited pool of friends and family. Also we have an open door policy which welcomes anyone regardless of experience or background, we further reinforce this may charging no audition or membership fees. Some could try and see our charitable pursuits as vanity, but in actual fact we simply want to help build up our local community and offer assistance in any way we can. To this end we have donated tickets to raffles, given money from ticket sales to worthwhile causes and did a great deal of fundraising for Cancer Research and the British Heart Foundation. Don’t get me wrong, we’re certainly not alone in wanting to help people. There are several others run locally who follow similar veins of thought as us and run concerts and fundraisers, but I’m sure they’ve probably faced the same challenges we do.

I’ve focused on three areas that I feel present a challenge to being good, but there are scores more which I could explore. I think though that these key areas present the main bulk of obstacles and allows you, my dear reader, with a heads up to avoid the fate of less hardy souls. My advice? Everything in moderation, i.e. let yourself be tempted sometimes as this will help your self-regulation. Don’t feel bad if you can’t donate the next time you see someone with a charity tin outside a supermarket, instead give someone you miss a text or hug that loved one a little bit tighter. Lastly on those jolly green giants, ignore them. If they want to fester in self-loathing, let them. You can only answer for your actions to either yourself or him upstairs (if that’s something you believe in). If you feel you’re doing enough, chances are your right. So kick back, enjoy a glass of red and bask in the moment, because chances are, you had a good old climb getting to the summit!

As ever, thank you for your supporting and reading my blog and if you want to get in touch send me an email at chris@cd-productions.co.uk or visit the website www.cd-productions.co.uk

Review - Aura Cocktail Bar

Several weeks ago I was invited to visit a cocktail bar in Kettering called 'Aura'. I had liaised with them a fair bit via our respective Twitter accounts and finally at last the dates all matched up and I went down on a Friday evening which coincided with a music night they were holding featuring local singer Olivia Winterflood.

The evening promised much as I had heard good things about the entertainment and atmosphere at Aura but I hadn't heard a great deal on the food front as it's a fairly new addition to their offering and that can always be a dubious time to visit. When another local bar/restaurant opened a few months back (it shall remain nameless) Facebook was awash with bad reviews about the food, prices and service. Not good, especially with several well known restaurants located closeby in Prezzo and Chimichanga. It's a brave move, but a calculated one when you consider that in a place like Kettering, the vast majority of the town's nightlife is situated in a half mile radius.

Being the hapless singleton that I am I took one of my good theatre friends Megan along with me to gauge her response also and to give me some needed company should the food and entertainment be found wanting!

My initial thoughts entering Aura were that it was somewhere I felt quite at home and welcome. It has that sort of atmosphere that few places locally produce, which remain me of some of my old uni haunts. The music wasn't booming out from speakers and the venue had a good amount of people swilling about. The worst thing when reviewing is when your the only person in the place and you can hear a pin drop. The staff were all really friendly  when we were ordering our first drinks before they could be 'warned' I was reviewing the place, which can cause an artificial reaction.

We decided to skip starters and go straight for the mains which offered (at time of visiting) a limited selection, whilst still providing good meat / vegetarian options. To be honest, I prefer the smaller menu when somewhere initially starts offering food as it can prove unwieldy to the kitchen and I'd prefer somewhere doing 10-15 dishes well rather then 30+ to an okay standard. I point out here that since visiting Aura have added several new additions to the menu including a really tasty looking handmade steak and ale pie and that classic favourite of a generation, ham, egg and chips. I like the new choices as they offer something more 'earthy' and 'British'.

I went for the Char Grilled Steak Ciabatta, with onion confit and beer mustard mayonaise. It came with a portion of fries, small side salad and coleslaw, all presented sumptuously and separated by individual serving bowls. I like this touch as I've lost count of conversation I've overhead when something like coleslaw was added to a dish without the customer saying they didn't want it and the whole plate having to be returned etc. It's also a very clean, considered way of presenting food, rather then shoving a great pile of different food types all on one plate.

It was all really very good. All the food was hot and ready to be devoured (I hate when half the plate is luke warm to cold as it shows inadequacies in the kitchen). The salad was light, fresh with a lively dressing and the coleslaw was creamy and crunchy, just what I would expect when eating out. The whole plate was bursting with flavour and freshness, and I found myself skipping from one thing to another as I couldn't make up my mind which I liked more. The steak was probably the only thing I could pick fault with. I was offered rare or well done when I ordered so I opted for rare (I usually have my steak medium-rare so little to squabble about), but I did find it too chewy, especially towards the end of the meal. It tasted great still don't get me wrong, but I am a steak snob and I think offering a 'medium' option would eliminate this in the future.

Megan choose the Roast Chicken Salad, with coz, baby gem lettuce, garlic croutons, tomato and creamy dressing. I'll keep this part of the review relatively short, she ate it all and refused to share any of it with me. That should tell you enough, but for the more avid reader I will develop this somewhat but saying the presentation matched mine and again the chicken was flavoursome and tender, with the salad mirroring mine in freshness (not a limp leaf in sight!).

The evening developed when the live music started, being provided by Olivia Plus One at 10pm. I had seen Olivia performed once before, as Eponine in a local youth production of 'Les Mis', where I thought she was outstanding. Hearing her sing, years after that theatre production, I can safely say she's even better then she was before and is probably one of the best local singers of her age in the area. I can make this bold claim having performed in over 35 local theatre productions, gone to countless open mics and now owning my own theatre company, so I'd like to think myself relatively qualified.




The sound quality and acoustics at Aura lend itself well to this kind of music and scope, with the place full by the time the first song was being sung. In hindsight I'm not that surprised, not only does Aura look good on the outside, but offering live music on a Friday night in a central town location is a good attraction. Most open mic nights for instance that I go to are on when the pubs are generally quiet and to draw a few extra people in. Maybe they should try mixing the open mics with live music events such as this to develop an audience so that the people who are in on a busy weekend night return during the week if they enjoyed themselves.

Speaking of events I will draw everyone's attention to a charity costume party that Aura are holding on the 1st of November (see poster), with tickets now just £5. As many of you will know I am a massive advocate for helping charities and local community groups and I think events such as these should be be supported to the max. The theatre company I run, C&D Productions (please 'Like' our page on FB by clicking here) has helped countless groups since our inception and I firmly believe that places like Aura doing their bit is a fantastic move in the right direction. I'd urge anyone not doing anything to pop down on the 1st of Nov, there will be a street raffle and all sorts happening.

Before concluding I would like to make a special note of the two young ladies that I dealt with most, Chenience and Becci. Both were amazingly friendly, welcoming and warm, not just to me but to everyone else I could see them speaking with, Chenience in particular was a delight. So, would I go back? Yes! The whole evening was great fun, the food was generally top notch, the music added a really good additional layer of atmosphere and the whole place seemed alive. Also there wasn't a bad pint to be seen and I think Aura offers really good value for money. Well done all, a great success!

* As always I would love if everyone could visit our Facebook page, 'Like' it and continue to support all our work in the community. We've got a bunch of great plays coming up from 'A Christmas Carol' in December, to 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' in February, We are always looking for actors/actresses, or people to help backstage and even direct. If you know anyone who might be interested invite them to 'Like' our page and email us on chris@cd-productions.co.uk - Thanks for reading all and I hope you had a great weekend!

Important links - www.facebook.com/CDProductions.theatre  /  www.cd-productions.co.uk

Why The Rush?

In this age we are always rushing about going from A to D without bothering to stop at B or C to take time to speak to a parent or give yourself 20 minutes to watch the mad speed we all hurtle about in. I took some time out of my day yesterday to take a walk with my mum to visit my nan’s grave, via a shop to buy some flowers. 90 minutes out of my day was a pure delight, we talked about bygone days of my youth and how my mother and hers would walk amongst the graves (visiting my grandfather) and would look for child names from the headstones they passed. Towards the end of our walk I naturally ran up some steps which ended at the top of an embankment which led nowhere, as if half finished. With my mum chuckling to herself I asked what can humoured her and apparently I would make the same mad dash in my very early years. Apparently some things stay with us unconsciously years after they last happened. Was it a trace memory of my childhood that made me run up the steps to see where they led or was it the same curiosity I have held on to since my childhood that urged me into action.

Less about my childhood and more of Chris the adult, I have found myself in the last 6-9 months slowing down a little and trying to appreciate experiences and people more. It’s certainly a hard ask, I work 8:30-5:30 Monday to Friday and have theatre related meetings and rehearsals 3-4 evenings in the average week with a gap of an hour or so between one commitment ending and another beginning. I do try to maximise that time though by eating (always a good idea!) and giving my cat some much needed TLC which he rightly demands when I’m home.

I have a friend who when we used to go into the town centre at the weekends during the day would get really stressed out when people weren’t moving at the same breakneck speed as him. More often than not several curses would utter from his lips as he swerved and veered around and through crowds to reach his destination. This was a very stressed out guy and I’m pleased to report and he has calmed down much since then, but if I asked him now why he was always in such a rush he’d probably just shrug his shoulders in reply.

The same can be experienced when out on the roads driving. I drive at the speed limit. Always. Throughout my life I have been happy to bend the occasion rule and live quite close to the edge, however for some reason I just can’t bring myself to knowingly speed. I’ve actually had people beep and swear at me for doing 30mph in an 30mph zone, why though? Because I’m obeying the legal limit and ensuring I lower the risk of causing or being involved in an accident which could potentially end someone’s life? I just don’t get it. What can’t wait an extra few minutes? I’m always amused when cars zoom past me at 45-50mph in said zone only for me to draw level with them at the traffic lights a little further down the road. The worst is when the cars have young children in them! What example are the parents/guardians setting their kids, by shouting and swearing to high heavens at me for obeying the law. Don’t get me wrong, I’m never unduly slow and ensure that progression is maintained on the roads but I’ll admit I’ve dropped my speed down to further frustrate the odd car behind me when I know they can’t overtake if they've given me loads of grief.

The point I’m trying to get at (and hopefully not overly labour) is that we could all do with slowing down a little and appreciate the people around us. We are only on this Earth for a short time in the grand scheme of things, we never know how long people will be with us or how long relationships or friendships will last. So why not slow down a little, recharge those batteries and give someone you care about a little more time, they might not always be there, appreciate them whilst they are.

As always please do visit our Facebook page - www.facebook.com/CDProductions.theatre and our website www.cd-productions.co.uk

Bygone Fields of Gold

 Every weekend I like many other go to the local supermarkets to find food for the week ahead. It’s a well-meaning gesture that I will make lunch myself, save time during my precious hour before work recommences and also save myself a few quid. A gesture though is nothing more than a good intention unless it is followed up by the associated action and it is sustained. The latter is the hardest part of any bargain you make yourself or others as it is easy to use an momentary surge of emotion to force you into action at that precise moment in time. Hours and days after that moment when you bought bags of carrots, celery and grapes you are left with a struggle to keep it up.

The key may be that you don’t buy 10kg of each chosen fruit or veg that you fancy as you’ll undoubtedly get bored of it and if you need to maintain a routine in its infancy then the key is variety and engagement. If I buy small quantities of lots of different things then it allows me control to vastly alter the availability each day and keep the selection on offer fresh. The other option is of course to run the gauntlet and buy the various items on a day to day basis but here’s the rub. If you do this and you’ve had a crap day thus far you then face the temptations of  the aforementioned terrors.

Now I’m not talking ghouls and goblins, wraiths and demons, not at all. I’m talking about those golden arches, that offer sanctity and relief for people across the globe. MacDonald’s is a giant, not to be confused with the jolly green one of yore. It’s invasion and conquest far outstrip the great feats of Napoleon, Genghis Khan and Darius the First all put together. If I want to walk or drive from work to the nearest supermarket which is a mere 5min walk from my offices I have to contest with going past MacDonald’s, Nando’s, Pizza Hut and several others before I reach Tesco. It would be far easier surrendering to the pizza buffet hour or grab a Big Mac then pass the sights and smells these outlets offer and reach the fortress of every little helps.

This isn’t a lecture of saving money or eating healthy, more it has become an article on the invasion of temptation that exists in our culture now. To quote Henry Wotton from Oscar Wilde’s ‘A Picture of Dorian Gray’, “the only way to resist temptation is to yield to it”, that is the message which seems to have conveyed to us all the time. I remember standing in Saint Wenceslaus square in Prague over ten years ago marvelling at the beauty that existed from the ‘Old World’ but also surprised that in a 360 degree turn I could see five separate MacDonald’s outlets glowing gold like a buried treasure suddenly unearthed.

We have allowed convenience to become an excuse for laziness and a lack of care. If I really cared about saving money, losing weight or maximising my lunch break I’d stick to the routine. I read somewhere recently that the human race has slowly started to lose the ability to self-regulate and control our own behaviours. It’s true though.. think back to when you’re parents or grandparents would ‘do without’ this and that, it’s not just a story from the war or great depression, it was them making the decision to stick to their guns. If they had let loose and decided they would indulge ‘want’ they could have gone out and robbed a neighbour’s house or tried swindling someone down the street. The vast majority didn’t though, if they couldn’t have something they simply didn’t, but they survived and carried on. A trip into any store would likely present you with situation after situation of children screaming and crying because they want this or want that. You want to know a secret? If they don’t have that chocolate or Xbox game, they will survive into tomorrow (unless the child is diabetic and needs an emergency sugar boost of course!).

This article was initially entitled ‘Lunchtime Terrors’ but whilst writing it I realised that it’s not just a situation that exists between 12-2, it’s an everyday occurrence and way of life. So next time you say to yourself ‘I need ….’, check yourself, and ask yourself if you really do..

Thanks as always for reading and if you could give my FB page a ‘Like’ I would be forever in your debt! J

www.facebook.com/CDProductions.theatre   /   www.cd-productions.co.uk

The trouble with Blogging

I love blogging. It allows me to write about anything I’m passionate about and gives me a brief break from reality. I can also write about whatever takes my fancy and feel excited about at that time, be it during a football match, in the run up to a theatre production I’m directing, or even after a hopefully tasty meal at a local restaurant. With the invention of modern technology I can even write articles on the move and away from my computer, which means you can capture the true moment which prompted you to write about it in the first place. So.. what’s the trouble I hear you ask?

Finding bloody time! I hate that life seems to rush by with a thousand things I need to do, which prevents me taking the time to write. The immediate response quite rightly is, ‘you don’t NEED to do anything’, but in my case I beg to differ ever so slightly. I run a theatre company, I direct rehearsals, organise social media and all the other trappings you don’t think about such as make-up and costume. That carries with it a responsibility to my cast to make sure everything is arranged properly and thus deliver the end product – a cracking piece of theatre.

I also have a 9-5 job so my time is severely limited. I think the key word is ‘time’. I remember a conversation I had with a friend recently which in a nutshell was about him having thousands of photos on Facebook of events and places we had gone but couldn’t actually recall the emotions or feelings he experienced at the time as he was so focused on snapping away. We’re all guilty of not giving ourselves enough ‘me’ time which is vital for you to appreciate your life and the people around you. Having time to step back from the spotlight also allows you to decide what things you do or don’t like or enjoy. So often society or the media dictate trends and people we should herald or berate, but why? Because it is fed to us through a drip while we busy ourselves at work or commuting or anything else that doesn’t enrich our lives. It’s easier to be told something then take time to find out for yourself, and thus when having a conversation with someone who asks me my taste in books, music, film or theatre, I tend to give an honest answer which leaves a puzzled look on their face as it’s something they’ve never heard of. I do encourage people to go away and look up whatever my answer was.

The last paragraph gives us an answer to the title of this article, I’ve just written that with a great energy and enthusiasm because I care about the subject matter. Whilst I do welcome people to offer suggestions for articles for me to write I do prefer plucking something out of thin air and typing away for however long and looking at the end result. An article packed with honesty and genuine opinion. I will be reviewing several local restaurants and venues over the next week or two as a nod to all the Northants peeps that read this blog. In any case, farewell for now and speak soon!

Important Links:

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Luis Suarez - What punishment would be enough?

source - bbc.co.uk

Today an independent disciplinary committee imposed a nine match ban (international matches) and a four month ban from football on Luis Suarez, the Liverpool forward who bite Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini. The match ban rules him out of any further participation in the World Cup, which is being held in Brazil, and will have an impact on Uruguay’s future tournament qualification. It’s fair to say that without him, Uruguay haven’t looked in particularly good form and without him I don’t fancy their chances to progress much further. He was the difference against England, scoring both goals in an otherwise drab match and will be greatly missed.

source - telegraph.com

This is nothing new in the world of Luis Suarez, having been found guilty in April 2014 for a similar bite on Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic. The FA banned him for ten matches and resulted in an apparent change of character, with many people believing he should have been PFA Player of the Year. The new leaf doesn’t seem to have been completely turned over and this latest controversy will surely have a long lasting impact, both on the image of the player and also his football career. Will Liverpool welcome him back with open arms after he has spent the next few weeks on holiday, contemplating his foul actions? If he belonged to my club I wouldn’t want him anywhere near the team as the thought of having someone who thinks its normal to bite someone leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

What ban would have been enough though? Well Fifa had it in their powers to ban him for up to two years and I think a ban of four months isn’t a strong enough sanction. Sure it rules him out of the World Cup, which will have a huge impact on the player himself. It also stops him having any involvement in Liverpool’s Premier League matches until October, but in total this results in only eight or nine matches. I would personally have liked to see him banned for one year, from both domestic and international football. It would have given him plenty of time to repent and try to get the necessary help to control this violent urges on the football pitch.

 

source - bbc.co.uk

My verdict is further strengthened by the fact that previous bans of ten matches (in the case of Ivanovic) and seven games when he choose to take a chunk out of PSV Eindhoven midfielder Otman Bakkal. This sort of wanton crime and tendency clearly have no place in football and Fifa should have really thrown the book at him for this latest assault. I am intrigued by what the ban on ‘football activity’ will actually entail and how enforceable it is. Does this mean he can’t train with the first or youth teams? Is he allowed to kick a football in his spare time? In theory it could be argued that he will actually miss several more Premier League matches as he won’t have any match fitness as a result of missing pre-season and having no involvement in any football matches. Hopefully Uruguay will try to appeal and the ban will be lengthened, as has happened in the past with other football disciplinary processes.

source - bbc.co.uk

July to August usually signals a mad scramble for highly sought after players and before this incident it could be assumed that several big clubs would come with tempting offers to test Liverpool’s willpower. I think clubs will still want to sign Suarez, but will Liverpool have the same determination to keep their prized asset? If I were in Liverpool’s position I would sell him for £60 million+ and buy a less temperamental player, one would who serve as a positive ambassador for the club. Every article being written about Suarez will bring more attached between the words Suarez and Liverpool, and with this being the World Cup, people from across the world will be starting to associate the club will his disgraceful actions. Anyone reading this and thinking I am over the top in my language must clearly believe that biting fellow players has a place in football, that racial abuse has a place in football (he served an eight match ban in the 2011-2012 season for racially abusing Man Utd’s Patrice Evra) and that players can nearly get away with murder. If a criminal receives a light sentence after committing a heinous crime, the general public are usually up in arms clamouring for a heavier punishment; surely the same should be true for Luis Suarez. The fact he tried to clutch at his face and went to the ground as if he was the innocent party in his tussle with Chiellini was outrageous.  

 

source - liverpoolfc.com

Still, the world moves on and hopefully we can continue to enjoy the World Cup of 2014 and remember it for skill and brilliance, not the actions of players such as Suarez and Song (the Cameroonian who punched a Croatian player in the back during their group match-up). There is still a lot of football to be played and I think and hope that Uruguay won’t progress much further. They tried to claim that the calls for punishment from various media sources were a witch hunt and any punishment bestowed would be unfair. Why can’t clubs and football associations look at incidents and replays, see their player has committed an awful tackle/act and own up. David Moyes was guilty of it time after time during his short tenure at Utd, Wenger has done it multiple times at Arsenal and Mourinho.. Well, he’s assaulted fellow coaches on the touchline himself. Could this ban on Suarez set a tone for future sanctions on players and will it prove the cure for his bad behaviour?

Thanks for reading this article on the latest controversy at the World Cup and leave your thoughts and opinions below in the comments field. Bye for now! 

Brand Review - Yumchaa

I just so happened to visit London last week with several theatre friends, who were eager to explore the sites and sounds of Camden. I had been several times in the past and loved every minute of it that I could take in. The sites, tastes and smells of Camden are a delight, especially by Camden Lock Market, where I always like to go to get a bite to eat. There are scores of takeaway food stands and some craft stalls too, which offer a plethora of cultures, choices and tastes to the local resident and tourist alike.

Overlooking the market is a lovely tea room-esque place which has a great seating area on a balcony and enough chairs and tables inside for those averse to the sun (in the rare event it shows itself). Yumchaa or yum-chaa, which is Cantonese for drink+tea, has several tea-rooms around London, Soho and Tottenham Street are the other two permanent shops for those that are interested. Their motto is simple.. Tea is at the heart of what we do.

Taking a small paragraph from their website (www.yumchaa.com) they say - "The foundations of brewing a good cup of tea are The Leaf, The Water and the Freedom for the two to mingle. We blend and serve only quality loose leaf tea. Tea leaves contain the essential oils and compounds which provide the basis for a good cup of tea." Basically, what they are trying to say is, they like tea, they make great tea, and they'd like you to try some of theirs!



I decided to go for a 'Courtesan' tea which is to quote Amazon, 'Sexy, Red and slightly tart', which is kinda like me, except the red part! This tea was sensational. It was packed full of flavour and was really refreshing on a warm sunny afternoon. The ingrediants which make up Courtesan are as follows: Strawberries, Raspberries, Apples, Blueberries (plus others) mixed with Rose Hips and Hibiscus. See where all the flavour is coming from?

The tea was survived up in a cute little teapot/cup combo with a tea strainer in which to pour the tea through. I'm certainly not aware of anywhere close to me that offers tea like this, and it adds a little to the occasion and fun when you get to have tea in a different way. The staff inside were really helpful and polite, dealing with the queue of people waiting in a timely and happy manner. Inside you can buy the many many teas that Yumchaa offer, along with the teaspot/strainer to relive the experience when you're at home and work. I was actually going to buy one of these but unfortunately we suddenly realised we needed to be at a theatre we're due to perform at in August as part of the Camden Fringe, so had to rush off without one. 

Would I go back to Yumchaa for a cup of refreshment? Certainly! My friends and I had a great time and would certainly go back. It's also worth noting we went to a honey stall which we were overlooking and tried a sample from 'Wild Hive'. The chap at the stall was really friendly and if I wasn;t going to be walking around London for a while, I'd have definitely invested in a few jars of their honey, which as I said was a delight.

Don't forget you can follow me (@Theatre_Blogger) and my theatre company (@CD_Productions1). If you're a brand, restaurant, theatre company or performer who would like to feature on my blog or would like a review, please email me at cukulen@live.co.uk and we'll have a chat! 

Bye for now!

The West End, Grass-root Theatre and more! w/ Annemarie Lewis Thomas

As the subject line may suggest, today I am joined by Annemarie Lewis Thomas, Principal of the Musical Theatre Academy. I've read with interest several articles Annemarie has written for The Public Reviews website, so jumped at the chance to ask her a few questions theatre related. I'm really passionate theatre (as you've probably guessed by now!) and as much as I want to write about my views on this blog, I'm also taking the angle of interviewing other people from all levels of theatre from performers in amateur dramatics, West End stars and those involved in helping them get there, which is where Annemarie comes in. The MTA has a yearly intake of 22 students each year, who undertake an intense two year course as opposed to the 'standard' three year offering. Why only 22 students a year, I hear you ask? Well here's what they say on their website:

'The MTA does not want to be a large conglomerate college – its inception was to provide first class training for a maximum of 44 students (22 students per year) ensuring that no student gets lost in the crowd. We are confident that we can give 22 students per year top class professional training without losing the personal touch.'

I must say I do like this approach to teaching, as I personally feel people/children of all ages and walks of life can sometimes slip into the gaps and not feel particularly treasured and loved whilst in education. I do hear a lot of young people say they can't wait to finish school, but why? Is it the yearning to 'crack on' and get a job, making an impact in their chosen field? Or is it because they haven't been properly engaged at school/college to then place a value on education and learning? Sure, 'education' isn't for everyone, but then it depends on your interpretation of the word. Leaving school to start an apprenticeship in plumbing is still surely an extension of learning? Back to the MTA though, I found it very reassuring to see in the news part of their site, that so many ex-students or, as the MTA call them, ambassadors, are working in theatre. The trust to label them ambassadors and put the faith in them to represent the ethos of the academy, speak volumes of the teaching ethics in place. In any case and within are further ado, here is the interview I had with Annemarie..

Chris: Last weekend saw the closure of 'We Will Rock You' after more then 12 years on the West End. We've also seen the premature end of Simon Cowell's 'I Can't Sing' musical just six weeks after opening. Why do you think productions are struggling so much at the moment? 

Annemarie: I don’t think that the two cases are related at all…surely one came to its natural end (show years are like dog years…and therefore WWRY lived to a ripe old age, defying nearly every critic at the time of it’s ‘birth’ too I should add), whereas I can’t really comment on I Can’t Sing per se as I didn’t see it…but as you’ve asked the question…what is clearly evidenced is that it had an outstanding cast, the critics, on the whole enjoyed it (whilst a few failed to buy into the surrealism of Harry Hill’s humour), but it failed on a basic level of asking who its audience was going to be…and then before finding out the answer to that question opened it in one of the biggest houses in the West End, where the break even point must have been ridiculous.  Now the easiest way to have overcome this would have been to have put a celebrity in it - personally I applaud the fact that they didn’t, however why Syco didn’t create a celebrity out of Cynthia Enviro is beyond me.  I said exactly the same thing when Spring Awakening closed too early (IMHO) instead of us all moaning about the fact that we need to put ‘names’ in shows to get bums on seats the theatre community needs to wake up and create ‘names’, and I thought that I Can’t Sing was the perfect opportunity to have done that.  Cynthia is one of the most exciting musical theatre performers in the UK today, that production team had the clout to get her on nearly every prime-time TV programme going and yet they missed the opportunity. Therefore an audience wasn’t created, and a show with a quality cast was left playing to half full houses.  Love him or loathe him Cameron Mackintosh gets this right - he makes you think that a show has opened a year (or two) even before it has…therefore ‘the legend’ is already living before the show has got into previews, and audiences will take a punt on the show.  Who’s going to take a £75 punt on a show that they’ve never heard of, full of people they don’t know when down the road they can hear Abba? I don’t know whether the West End really is struggling - I just think that people are having to think very carefully about where they spend their ticket money so the shows have to tick all the boxes, and if they don’t then they’re gone, but you know if they’re brilliant I think that they'll always survive the test of time e.g. Billy Elliot, Matilda etc.

Chris: Locally to myself I have seen several 'am-dram' societies fold in recent years due to dwindling ticket sales and increased costs. Do you think there should be more support at grass-roots levels for such groups to help build up a theatre-goer following which could then have a longer term impact on audience numbers for professional offerings? 

Annemarie: Oh I'm so torn on the whole am-dram thing - when people do it solely as a hobby then I'm 100% behind it, but I wish that they would explore a more interesting rep(which incidentally might bring in fresh blood to keep the societies running) I mean as brilliant as Oklahoma is there are so many new writers/composers out there desperate to get their shows into production and I wish that am dram societies would be bold enough to give it a go (although I understand that they also have to put bums on seats and their ticket sales would be down if they did the brilliant Lift by Craig Adams as opposed to Carousel for example)…but then when I go to see am-dram productions and I hear those fateful words “it’s so good it’s almost professional” I invariably want to scream, or ‘so and so should be a professional’…because being a professional performer is so much harder than having a ‘safe’ job and a secure income and rehearsing a few evenings a week for a few months and putting on a show.  It’s about a constant state of insecurity, getting the show ready in a matter of weeks not months. I’d love to see more youth theatre groups as I think that’s the future of theatre, they will be the theatre going public in the future and even the next generation of actors.  I don’t know what it’s like anymore as I only mix in theatrical circles(I appreciate how rubbish that sounds..but it’s true) but I come from a very working class back ground and I was absolutely ridiculed(even bullied at one stage) for wanting to go to the theatre…so if it's the same now, then I want to see theatre at grass roots level breaking down the social class barriers (but I might be out of touch, and that might have happened in some places….unfortunately I know that it’s still true where I come from)

Chris: As we have all seen in recent years the funding for 'The Arts' has been repeatedly cut and savaged, with this in mind what steps do you think could be taken by theatre companies and theatres themselves to gain additional revenue?  

Annemarie: When MTN was first formed and called MTM, on the panel of experts were a group of Americans who stated that in the UK our thinking in Musical Theatre was at least 5 years behind theirs. It really stuck with me how incredulous they were about our fixation on arts funding, as they don’t have that in the States(of course they are also great believes in philanthropy which sadly hasn’t really caught on here).  I don’t know the answer to this question and I’m not going to pretend to make one up but their thinking has really stuck with me.  I run The MTA and we are not eligible for any government funding streams at all, unlike nearly all the established colleges that we’re in direct competition with, and I am constantly trying to think of ways in which I can find some money from somewhere to fund students that face financial hardship, and ironically all the ‘big independent money’ goes to the colleges that already receive government funding.  I suspect that the same is true for theatre companies.  Places like the Royal Opera House with their guaranteed Arts Council Funding have so many private benefactors it’s crazy…if only one of them would invest in a company that receives no Arts Council subsidy but who has an outstanding track record, or even invest in a writer, or a performer, or a composer…but no…they’ll keep investing in the organisations that have….government investments.  I haven’t answered your question…but I wish I knew the answer.

Hands up if you want more original songs to sing!

Chris: I read with great interest a recent article of yours about theatre schools not taking a proactive approach to encouraging developing new work. What do you think the first steps should be for them to go down this route and should there be some incentive in place to encourage this behaviour, even initially? 

Annemarie: This annoys me - at The MTA we have a policy to support new writing.  We opened in 2009 and have already commissioned 5 completely original musicals (not adapted from any books/films etc), we have gone on to produce those 5 musicals into full productions, plus a further 2 premières; we have been involved in readings and workshops of between 25 - 30 new shows in that time.  In addition to that we have recorded 5 demo albums of new musicals…in other words it’s more than just a lovely sound-bite policy. We really put our money where our mouth is.  Our policy is simple it has to benefit us and it has to benefit the writers therefore creating a win/win situation.  So what bit of this annoys me? We are a tiny college (with a maximum intake of just 44 students) and we can afford to do all of this.  The major colleges have an intake of 100’s, plus as previously mentioned government funding streams and private benefactors coming at them from all angles….just invest the money in people (i.e. writers and students) and not buildings and profits. It’s not rocket science.  It’s interesting how a few of them are dipping their toes in these waters now and shouting it from the rafters…but some of them are producing up to 8 full length musicals a year, we only produce 2 and have managed to do all of the above.  Maybe they should split their productions equally between new and old?

Chris: On the topic of new work being produced, aside from theatre schools themselves taking a more proactive approach, what do you think can be done on a wider scale to a) encourage smaller theatre companies to produce original material and b) give them a platform for such work to be showcased? 

Annemarie: Again harping back to the first MTN conference the American panellists said that they had learnt that the big lesson was to just keep producing the work in every 100 average/rubbish shows you might just find a gem. I just don’t think that we produce enough.  I’d love to see theatre companies commissioning writers to create a piece for their companies.  Give them a topic that you know would generate a local interest…I bet that you would get an audience interested.  Just stop playing safe.  I really do believe that our audiences are more daring than we give them credit for. A few years ago the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds commissioned me to write original songs for their Christmas panto. It's fair to say that I was not met with open arms (and ears). The box office staff were particularly put out that there would not be a familiar pop tune that they could sing along to.. fast forward four weeks later and the my ear worm songs had penetrated their good taste and they were asking me why I hadn't recorded an original cast album as they believed that the demand was there to warrant making it.  I was lucky enough to be asked back a further 2 years and those same box office staff went from resistant to excited to learn the new cheesy offerings that I had written.  We can educate our audience if only we dare to take chances.  Imagine if every QDOS panto had an original score? I really don’t think that the children would leave demanding their money back. People want to hear new stuff - let’s not underestimate Joe Public.  Maybe…just maybe if they got used to going to the theatre not knowing the music before hand they might develop an appetite for new musical writing.

Chris: I've read a fair bit about the unique approach you take with regards to looking after your students and also being more structured in the smaller intake to ensure quality and higher levels of individual focus. I would love to visit the academy to see how it all works for myself and do an article on my impressions, would that be okay? 

Annemarie: We have an open door policy so you are welcome to visit anytime. I’d advise a quick phone call first to check that I'm not working from home, but other than that surprise visits are good because then you can see that we really do operate within the guidelines that I preach about!

Chris: Thank you so much for taking the time to answers my questions, I will definately arrange to come down and visit the academy and hopefully speak to some of your students about their experiences there.

If anyone is interested in learning more about the Musical Theatre Academy then please do click the link to the right and it'll take you to the homepage, which has a lot of good info about the academy and what some of their ambassadors are doing now! Also, if anyone would like to take part in an interview with me, please send me an email or send me a message on Twitter @Theatre_Blogger. It doesn't have to be just about theatre, I'll talk about pretty much anything!

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. :)