matthew dunster
@dunster_matthew
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Almost certainly in the garden.
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If you’re a star & know you put bums on seats please pick up the phone to your local regional theatre or theatre in the region where you’re from & commit to appearing in a show 2021/22. With just 4/5 weeks reh & 4/5 weeks playing you could help save a theatre & save jobs. Please!
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If this is any use….I’m 51 & I’ve directed 50 odd shows. This 1st week back at work had levels of anxiety not had for years. Yesterday the first day I didn’t feel sick & loaded with doubt on the way in. It’s so tough re-emerging. Don’t beat yourself up if you‘re finding it hard
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My agent got a call from a producer last week about a show we’d done a deal on before lockdown 1. All signed - I was happy. The producer said the deal was 2/3 years old & so they were increasing my fee by 17%. There are some decent people out there.
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I’ll leave this here.
Honoured.
Olivier Award nominee
#LilyAllen
will star alongside
@BAFTA
winner
@SP1nightonly
in the eagerly anticipated West End premiere of
#MartinMcDonagh
’s
#PillowmanPlay
.
Directed by
@dunster_matthew
at the Duke of York’s from 10th June 2023. 12 Weeks Only.
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Hi Universe. I’d like to do some acting again. Please make it happen. Love Matthew x
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Theatre people - have a look around your office or your rehearsal room, on your zoom - are you working with anyone who is Working Class?
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Theatres - isn’t it time to rebuild your boards, publicly? Nothing will really change til you do. The real power is there. Otherwise you’re just shuffling a deck called ‘opportunity’. Boards must represent your artists & community & that’s who should hold you to account.
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As a teen I got to be in Blood Brothers & Stags & Hens & saw I could explore poetry & art in the stories of the working class. I owe lots to
@WillyRussellUK
he’s a big reason I do what I do. Shirley is 42 my Mum was 42 when the play was 1st done. This is a big 1 for me.
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Everything is about class in this country. EVERYTHING. And never fucking forget it.
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I’m totally in love. Actors beware - it’s comin’
KEEPY UPPY JUST DIED, THIS IS THE NEW REHEARSAL ROOM GAME C’MON!
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I directed a new play. A hit. The play will have productions by other directors. The prods & writer generously told me they’d like me to have a share of profit they make for my early contribution.This is groundbreaking for directors of new plays
@StageDirectors
please retweet
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We’re not hearing enough from Artistic Directors of Theatres. There is no sense of inspired leadership. Talk to us. Find the positives and share them with us. This is no time to wait for a return to the old normal. People need to be a part of something now.
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You know what - forgive me - but Theatre is great - Theatre people are great and audiences are great. We make this searching fun transformative stuff and people come and see it. What a privilege.
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I like many kinds of THEATRE actors for lots of reasons. The best have 3 attributes: They’re technically brilliant, discover things afresh in each moment, have the emotional power & charisma to thrill at will. I’ve seen maybe 5 in my life who have all 3. Helen McCrory was one.
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On the
#FreelanceTaskForce
62% identify as working class! 62%. I can’t believe it. Never thought I’d see any theatrical body with that percentage of working class representation. Right lads & lasses get the fuckin’ fees up😛. No - Seriously it’s wonderful
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Working class / underclass / benefit class artists in Theatre! How are you doing?
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1/2 As a freelance theatre artist, as well as making money through your art you also make it through the hustle. The hustle & art become connected. The longer you have to do it, without salaried or inherited security, the harder it is not to be pre-occupied by the hustle as
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Next up. We thought the pandemic had killed us. Sent home after 10 previews in early 2020 as Covid struck. We’re heading back. I’m so delighted for everyone involved.
@HangmenBway
#HangmenBway
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I tell you what I’d love to see more of in 2021!
TAP DANCING
Please
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Honestly….I don’t know where to start
National Theatre director Rufus Norris has warned that a surge in opportunities with streaming platforms including Netflix and Amazon is taking talent away from theatre
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This is a good day for Theatre Directors. A historic day. But it’s been very hard to get to this point. Personally it’s made me feel vulnerable & exposed. Which is why we need a union so we can act collectively. We need you. All of you. Please help make us stronger.
#joinaunion
Members body
@StageDirectors
has received approval to become a trade union, in a "historic" move it said would help build a "more resilient" theatre sector in the UK and improve working conditions for creatives
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Shakespeare deserves to be met anew. Retold, surprised, challenged, exalted or smashed in ways that justify or question his endless dominating presence. If not - just leave it alone.
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Audiences know. And they spread the word.
#thepillowman
sold out the whole run on word of mouth. People who were up for a challenge in the West End. Alongside the initiatives of Pay What You Can lotteries and bargain Day Seats. Fuck the critics and their precious bullshit.
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ACTORS. Good agents put CV’s on their website. Producers look at insta followers. Casting directors use spotlight so directors can look at a long list. No director wants that. We want smaller curated lists with CV’s. Most spotlight CV’s are out of date. END SPOTLIGHT’S MONOPOLY!
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Desperate to name and shame…..theatres….you lot….on a salary.
#payyourfreelancers
on fucking time. So disrespectful and arrogant and inconsiderate.
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Putting an exciting team together for a fucking exciting project for 2024. Some absolute dons of theatre. I love giving opportunities and meeting new artists and learning from them. I also love expertise. It’s very underrated.
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It’s real then! Gulp! Such a privilege.
The Rebellion Begins. The World Will Be Watching. London, Autumn 2024. Sign up at to never miss an exciting update.
#TheHungerGames
#TheHungerGamesOnStage
#Theatre
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Chuffed about this. First full show in a brand new northern theatre.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM will be NTT’s next show. A Co Production between
@ShakespeareNP
@northernstage
&
@NotTooTame
- Directed by
@dunster_matthew
&
@jimmy_fairhurst
- This will be the first ever production at
#OurShakespeareNorth
MORE INFO HERE👉
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In 2015
@vicfeatherstone
changed my life when she put me together with Martin McDonagh to direct his HANGMEN. It opened up a whole new set of opportunities for me. I will be forever grateful. And wish her well in future ventures.
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2/2 really that’s the element where you can affect your remuneration. Protecting the artist part of you therefore becomes harder too. It doesn’t get your focus. It’s exhausting in both the short and longer term. Salaried leaders need to always be mindful of this.
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Very honoured and excited to be new Co-Chair of
@StageDirectors
alongside the wonderful
@poojghai
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Chuffed
Cheers to Matthew Dunster and the the company of Hangmen on their Drama League Award Nominations for Outstanding Direction of a Play and Outstanding Production of a Play!
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Worst (best) things anyone said about your theatre work. After one play I’d written Lady Somesuch wrote to me on her personalised embossed notecard “Mr Dunster - yours is a name to forget”
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The pandemic & its lockdowns (time) have completely changed my theatre networks & relationships & ambitions. I have new relationships with a much wider section of our sector. I think differently. & I‘ve made things & I’m developing things I never would have. I’m a lucky boy.
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I think a thing that would help all theatre artists is an understanding of theatre economics. How fringe / subsidised/ commercial etc structures work. & what makes it possible / impossible to make work in those different areas of the sector. & what you can expect from them.
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So much classism in theatre criticism. Again & again. Twittering from their Prosecco Chamber in either a patronising or disdainful manor. The working class are something they target with the same vicious relish that their papers and the Tories do.
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Covid hit backstage at
@222aghoststory
today. The people that came in and did jobs that weren’t theirs to keep the show on the road - well it’s just so humbling. Proper all hands on deck heroics. Thank you thank you thank you.
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Just walked out of
#shirleyvalentine
stage door where a crowed was waiting to see
@Sheridansmith1
the groan of disappointment was considerable!! I heard some say ‘awww poor bloke’.
#ffs
#knowyourplace
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I have a brilliant shattering short play by a Palestinian writer about the horrors perpetrated by the Israeli Government. Is there any producer/AD/Theatre out there who can help/host? We can do it on an existing set/outside/in your yard/on a roof. My DM’s are open.
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Just watched KES with my three 9 year olds. They’re devastated. Inconsolable. Not sure they’ll ever forgive me.
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Many theatre people doing things differently they really are. More comms please - let people know - makes freelancers feel less isolated&abused. & for gatekeepers who haven’t changed, not good enough, it hurts people. As things emerge look out for those who feel left behind.
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Going home to
@youngvictheatre
where it all started with The Homecoming.
Young Vic announces productions of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming and Marius von Mayenburg’s Nachtland
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Here we go....
Well this is all very new and exciting ! Come see my theatre debut from Aug - Oct ! For tickets click here
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Hangmen finished its run last night. What a ride. If I never get to Broadway again this show with these humans was enough for me. They worked their asses off, made Broadway roar with laughter & never lost a show to Covid or anything else. A dream. Thank you team
@HangmenBway
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In 2022 (oh here we go!) I’d love to see more work on bare stages. Just a bit Of light. Good actors. Great words. And go!
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And on we go
'2:22 - A Ghost Story' to transfer to London's
#GielgudTheatre
for a strictly limited 10-week season from 4 December 2021!
👉
#222AGhostStory
#Theatre
#WestEnd
#London
#GhostStory
#Scary
#Christmas
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Stood in an actual theatre today and on an actual stage. It was nice.
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I have to confess to a certain amount of excitement
Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor Stephanie Beatriz (
@iamstephbeatz
) is to join the cast of 2.22 - A Ghost Story when it transfers to the Gielgud Theatre, alongside Giovanna Fletcher (
@MrsGiFletcher
) and
@James_Buckley
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I know it’s not possible for everyone based on resources…but apart from the final Saturday, to do a run for the creatives, I’ve never rehearsed on Saturdays. It’s so good for everyone. Body recovers / brain can rest too. I think you achieve more in the week because of it.
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Can’t wait to get going with this lot
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Had the vaccine today so felt I was WINNING. Then the Triplets all complained of itchy arses so I had to take a fuckin’ disgustin’ worm tablet. LOSING AGAIN!!!
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You know when you try and try with someone….and then think….you know what….fuck right off!
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Actin’ n that
Here's your 1st look at the cast of
#TheNewTomorrow
on stage!
@andoh_adjoa
@dunster_matthew
@AnoushkaLucas
@PaapaEssiedu
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Theatre Twitter, man.....fuckin’ rough. It’s just shocking sometimes. Peace x
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I look forward to the day when I’m asked to fill in a form where class is a protected characteristic - and it should start with theatre. Those in power no doubt scared of what they think it might take away from them....
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Theatre Thought: Creatives should get a royalty. Certainly if the text out of copyright & the producer has no royalty to pay. Anything longer than a 4 week run should certainly mean a royalty kicks in. Why should producers make profit from longer run & the makers not benefIt?
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U.K. theatre directors - join
@StageDirectors
SDUK so that eventually (now we are a union) we can negotiate for a 17% rise on our West End rates just like Equity did for Actors and Stage Managers (but not for directors) ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
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These are the kind of achievements I’d like to rack up!
The bar tender at 2:22 tonight told me they had run out of white wine because “the community” were really out in force to support Cheryl. Never been prouder tbh
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Another contender: The Donmar, first preview of my first play performed in London - As the lights fade an old man sat on the front row says to the rest of the audience “Don’t applaud. Do not applaud.” They didn’t. Ouch.
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Feel very lucky and proud to have another bite of this cherry
IT’S HAPPENING AGAIN
Due to phenomenal demand
#222aghoststory
returns to haunt the West End once more!
Catch us
@CriTheatre
from May 2022. Tickets on sale NOW 🎟️
Be careful what you wish for… 😉 👻
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We’re gonna change someone’s life today. Theatre- don’t you just love it……..x
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THE STAGES
1 If my kids are sent home from school again I’ll kill myself
2 The fuckers are going to do it
3 Kinda makes sense to close ‘em but on balance I want my kids in school
4 Schools should close
5 If they don’t close schools people will DIE - so we NEED to close schools
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The words of
@WillyRussellUK
….and working with them every day….and watching
@Sheridansmith1
dance with them….utter joy. What a privilege.
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The good actors are grateful when you let them know you can see their schtick. The bad ones can’t forgive you.
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As I’ve been fucking saying…..for EVER
The UK’s
#CreativeIndustries
would need to employ 250,000 more working-class people to be as socio economically diverse as the rest of the economy. This deficit is equivalent to size of creative workforce in Scotland, Wales & NI combined.
New research👉
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Had a thoroughly inspiring & heart warming meeting with a theatre maker of another generation today. I won’t embarrass him by naming him. He was just full of love for theatre & for the writers he works tirelessly for. I came away energised & ready to make work in 2022. Thank you
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So sad.
#Kneehigh
meant so much to the fabric of British Theatre. Truly local &travelled the world. How many others can say that. They meant a great deal to me - Mike & Emma & Carl & many of their collaborators are dear friends.
@ace_national
please leave the money in Cornwall.
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This girl
@maddy_hill90
in IMOGEN
@The_Globe
that show that time life changing for me on so many ways. My Mum died during rehearsals….we trained…we looked at the sky….we got on with it…we made something great.
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Never really tweeted about it - it looks after itself. But sad that
@222aghoststory
ends on Sat. such a happy job. We smashed it. The actors were amazing. Lily fuckin’ Allen a revelation & dream. we owe her a lot. What a gig. Thanks
@danny_robins
@TrisBaker
@CharlieParsons_
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I hope everyone feels things are starting to come alive for them and that new opportunities are offering themselves up. The sun is shining - theatre people are so resilient and positive. It’s gonna get better by the day.
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Theatre Thought
Co-Created work - respond to people and place. Enrich lives. Including your own.
Subsidised work - take massive risks in every respect. Move theatre forward.
Commercial sector - give ’em a great version of what they want. Make money.
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Keep working.
Try and make work that creates work for others.
Keep fighting.
Fight for better conditions and rights for others.
#joinaunion
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Shoutout!! Any amazing London based participation and co-creation expert/artist/human want to come and work with me and some fabulous artists and an inspiring community for the next six weeks?! My DM’s are open.
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Rushdie. Fuck religion & governments that silence writers & fuck anyone who can’t see how dangerous it is if we can’t offend. Films in UK cancelled after cinemas are picketed by religious groups? No fucking way. I can’t wait to do The Pillowman. Now is the time for that play
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Every new show new process new creative team new voices is an adventure. One starts again. Just as fearfully. Just as doubtfully. Just as excitedly. What a privilege. I love my job. I love making art.
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I’m all for crafts at school. But do they really have to bring it home?
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This show’s been on quite a journey. 500 west end performances through this difficult (Covid) time. That’s A LOT of employment for actors, creatives, technicians, PR, stage management, marketers, crew, FOH & many more. If a show works - WE work! Thanks to all who’ve worked on it!
2:22 REACHES 500!
Tonight we celebrate our 500th performance 🥂
You can catch
@CherylOfficial
and
@mrjakedwood
on
@BBCTheOneShow
from 7pm to mark this momentous occasion.
#222aghoststory
#TheOneShow
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My beautiful friend Martin McDonagh makes my heart soar with pride.
Fucking Oscar noms all over the shop the clever clever cunt.
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1/2 Please take the British Empire off the honors that are given to those who achieve great things in our society. It is White Supremacy enshrined in an award. It's not for me to say who should or shouldn't acccept one. I understand the focus and attention they can bring to....
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This is nice. Thank you
The nominees for Best Director are:
@dunster_matthew
&
@jimmy_fairhurst
for A Midsummer Night’s Dream
@ShakespeareNP
@NotTooTame
@northernstage
@omar_elerian
for As You Like It
@TheRSC
@garryhynes
for DruidO’Casey
@DruidTheatre
@LyricBelfast
#UKTAwards
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Look at this lovely lot
Tom Felton, Mandip Gill, Beatriz Romilly and Sam Swainsbury cast in 2:22 A Ghost Story West End return
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So
@222aghoststory
by
@danny_robins
finally finishes in the West End tonight. After 694 performances! 694!! In five different West End theatres (a record). So much work created for people and so many wonderful people involved. Thanks to everyone. It’s been a brilliant journey.
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Looks good with a bit of light on it......howzabout? 😉
Today, and for the rest of this week, we join our friends across the country in lighting our Globe Theatre red in a show of solidarity for the live events industry.
Sending love, hope and strength to all ❤⭕
#LightItInRed
#16March
#WeMakeEvents
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If I don’t get off my nut with a bunch of you soon I’m going to go off my nut.
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I have a great deal to be thankful for.
Flying home today after a month in LA making a version of
@222aghoststory
which also continues its West End run. My Dream made with the phenomenal
@NotTooTame
continues
@northernstage
& tomorrow I’ll be holding the wife & kids. Lucky fella
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Some people really do not give a fuck about change do they?
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Had one of the greatest days in a rehearsal room ever today. And now I’m pissed and dancing in the kitchen to Funkatarium.
Coz
I
Can
#willyandsheridan
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Here we go….a large scale outdoor piece of co-creation ARRIVAL made by Dunster/Bausor and
@im_possibleUK
with and about communities around the Royal Docks and with a heap of very talented artists!
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It’s easy to attack the ACE NPO decisions. Elements like re positioning London companies feel incredibly dishonest. But it all needs a much bigger rethink. Funding needs to go to communities and artists working within them. Buildings with a large staff are a disaster.
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A sleepless night. A 20 year curse since I started directing. Recently I’m helped by Rollo May’s assertion that anxiety is a path to creativity “It’s as though the world is knocking at your door.” I go through this shit for a good idea or solution to come out at the other side.
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Do you remember when you couldn’t wee when the train was in the station?
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BROTHERS. Our Lenny and Joey.
@theotherJoeCole
&
@david_angland
at rehearsals for
@youngvictheatre
THE HOMECOMING. 2 brilliant actors.
#joecole
#haroldpinter
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I love Stage Management. Those relationships have (nearly) always been one of the most joyous - supportive and grounding parts of my job. Sneaky beer in the rehearsal room when everyone else has gone home. Bliss
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What we know of the world,
We know of the play.
I sometimes envy those who speak with certainty about what a writer meant/the form a drama should take. Rehearsing Pinter’s THE HOMECOMING with 6 sublime actors reminds me that we don’t know. We can only meet it with ourselves.
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